Third Sister and Theresa Buchheister in Conversation
Last Laugh has 3 hot nights in Brooklyn before embarking on a grand Edinburgh Fringe Festival journey, so catch it while you can at Vino Theater July 27-29! I wanted to interview this team because I am intrigued and delighted by their vibe, their marketing, their collaborators… so I am stoked that they took the time to go back and forth with me.
Theresa Buchheister:
If so, first question is always - tell me about yourselves! Who are you? What’s your vibe? Who is Third Sister?
Third Sister:
Third Sister is a production company founded by sisters Ibby and Kate O’Carroll, specializing in film and theater producing, party planning, and performance art. We gravitate toward surrealism, comedy, costumes, pop stars, twins, Bob Fosse, murder mysteries, and primary colors. The titular “Third Sister” refers to our friends and collaborators who become family to us, including Last Laugh’s director Elena Messinger and playwright Zoe Redlich. We all want to tell funny, interesting, affecting stories about girls being friends, among other things.
TB:
Amazing! Were you always close/always collaborating? Or is there a moment where that came into being?
TS:
We (Ibby and Kate) grew up making music videos on iMovie and hosting costumes-required Oscar parties. When we graduated high school, we met Zoe and Elena and were thrilled to find out that they wanted to join in on the fun.
TB:
What do you find the most exciting about creating and producing theater and events? The most challenging? The most confusing? The most rewarding? The most elusive?
TS:
Exciting: We’re so excited to be a part of Fringe and see what everyone else has been cooking up, meet fellow flyer-ers, and share Last Laugh with the festival!
Challenging: Working on Last Laugh through many timezones - some of us are in LA, some are in NYC, but soon we’ll all be in EDI!
Confusing: Converting dollars to pounds (oops)
Rewarding: Getting to spend time diving into such a wonderful play in the rehearsal process with our two brilliant actors! We’ve had most of the rehearsals in our apartment that Ibby, Kate, and Elena share. It’s a family affair!
Elusive: Going viral on Tiktok
TB:
If someone wanted to work with Third Sister, how would that happen?
TS:
They can DM us at @thirdsisterentertainment on Instagram!
TB:
What kinds of things are you interested in hearing from people or being pitched? For example, how did you meet your collaborators for this project? What drew you to saying yes and creating a world in which you bring this show into reality?
TS:
Our playwright, Zoe, had worked at Fringe and regaled us with stories of her Scottish adventures. We all had FOMO so she wrote this play so we could go! We're interested in making theater and film that is funny, strange, vivid, and joyful. We love the work of Annie Baker, Lucas Hnath, Liza Birkenmeier, Julio Torres, Todd Haynes, Cheryl Dunye. If you also do, reach out!!
TB:
Speaking of artists you love, for each of you, what’s the first thing you saw or listened to or read that cracked open your brain or expanded your universe?
TS:
Zoe: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder when I was 11
Kate: A high school production of Grease the Musical I saw when I was 6. The teenagers who did the high school musicals were the biggest celebrities in the world to me when I was in elementary school, and it was the first time I experienced real life theater magic. I grew up and did the high school musicals, too, but nothing beats watching those first few shows!
Elena: I can’t say exactly why, but when I was 11, the 1995 BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice totally captured my imagination. I started watching over my dad’s shoulder one night, and basically demanded that we watch all six hours in one sitting. I now credit the adaptation as starting a life-long love of the romantic comedy. It was witty, heart-wrenching, and built with a clear tenderness for its characters. That Pride and Prejudice helped define my artistic sensibility before I even knew what those words meant.
Ibby: Lorde’s Melodrama tour choreographed by Andrew Winghart. Seeing Lorde’s Melodrama tour showed me the true magic of a live performance — from the communal catharsis to the stage presence to the emotional reverence. The strong vision of the music, the set design, and the choreography all meshed and told a story, and only further inspired my love of creative collaboration!
TB:
Very cool… I loved Gentleman’s Guide. Jefferson Mays is a dear friend! I feel like these inspirations are starting to paint a very fun picture for me of Third Sister… I guess the last question I will leave you with is - Why should people come see your show?
TS:
Every year, no matter what is going on in the world, thousands of people throng to the Edinburgh Fringe to enjoy live performance. Last Laugh aims to answer why live performance remains so central to human joy and connection. Our characters are Fringe performers themselves, and we suspect our audience of artists, art lovers, comedians, theatre nerds, and clowns will feel seen by Alice and Bee's desperate need to create art at the end of the world. We also hope that this play fits in along with other new work at the Fringe that blurs the boundary of form. Part improv show, part scripted play, Last Laugh aims to bring spontaneity and honesty to theater in a way that feels particularly welcome at the Edinburgh Fringe.
TB:
Thanks, all! I cannot wait for the show!