Every show has a story, an origin. Some stories are better than others. Some are filled of tales of excitement and trepidation, some of surpassing great odds in the face of failure. Some are even karmically inspired journeys into the very soul. This is the story of The Batrachophone. 

Join me as I venture where no journalist has ever gone before: into the psyche of Aurélien Guéroult.

So Aurélien, thank you for taking the time to have this chat! Can you give us some clues as to the basic premise of The Batrachophone?

Well, several moons ago I did some work experience in Tibet with a yak herder. He was a nice man. Harsh, but honest, with both yak and human-kind. It was while I was with him that I was introduced to tantric meditation. It is a well known fact that through higher levels of meditation one is able to perceive one's previous births. I have always suspected I was once a frog, but it was vividly confirmed to me in a recent vision. Through further meditation I traced the incarnative cycles of 10 of my batrachian friends. They're an odd, but loquacious bunch.

But the premise? …There is a premise right?

Of course! Each has agreed to monologue for you. Ten characters. Ten different voices. Ten ex-frogs.

And how does the writing process work for you? 

Confucius once said –

I actually didn’t ask about Confucius actually, I asked about—

- my mind is like my favourite bowl of noodles. My mum makes it for me: vermicelli noodles in a bonito broth, topped with bamboo shoots, shiso leaves, shiitake mushrooms, griddled tiger prawns and fried tofu. The ingredient I find most delicious are the pieces of fried tofu, but I must extricate them with my chopsticks from the mêlée of noodles and vegetables. So it is with my mind, to find the choicest morsels to put down in my analects.

Shall we just move on to the next que—

There is a lot of truth in what Confucius says. I have a lot of ideas and it's about sorting the wheat from the chaff. Once I have the seeds I can sow them- and my amazing director-cum-script advisor helps me tend to my garden of ideas. Hopefully our comedic roses and peonies will blossom on Monday.

I’m sure they will blossom Aurélien. How would you describe the comedic style of the show?

The Batrachophone will be unlike anything seen before. Everything will be thoroughly bizarre. Expect a multi-sensorial concatenation of curiosities. Only cryotherapy has proved to be an effective acclimatising procedure.

Have you tried cyrotherapy? Actually, don’t answer that. Why should people be excited about your show?

Tantric buddhists believe in three bardos: the bardo of the moment of death, of the experiencing of reality and of rebirth. The Batrachophone is crucially linked to sidpa bardo, the bardo of rebirth. It is the closest physical manifestation of the karmically impelled hallucinations which result in rebirth as a frog.

So they should be excited because of the idea of being reborn from a frog?

Yes. This show is exciting. It is the closest thing you will experience to karmically impelled hallucinations before you are reborn as a frog. And that excites me. 

 They’re not messiahs, they’re just some very funny people

As Aurélien ceilidh’d out of the café we had met in, I couldn’t help but think I too had had some sort of out of body experience. Perhaps it was just the assault of concentrated French aristocratic charm, or perhaps it was the influence of a creative genius mixed with complete unhingedness. Either way, I questioned why I thought ever previewing for Varsity was a good idea. Expect a myriad of creative explosions as The Batrachophone delves into the 10 ex-frogs of one man. Is your curiosity piqued?

The Batrachophone runs for one night only on, Monday 13th March, 9:30pm at the Corpus Playroom