Daffy: Interview with Rachel Currie
Rachel Currie (she/they) is a 2T3 and Daffydil enthusiast. She filled both of her Foundations years with Daffy, first in person and onstage as an evil robot infiltrating the medical class to weed out students who lied on their ABS, and then online and in film as a bisexual PhD-MD-PhD student head over heels for her time-travelling classmate. You know, the usual medical school experiences.
Q: Please introduce yourself to our readers and how you are involved with Daffydil.
My name is Rachel Currie, and I'm a 2T3. I was in Daffy for both of my foundation years as cast and loved it.
Q: What has been the most memorable part of being in Daffy so far?
Man, it's so hard to pin down, especially because our years were so different. It's hard to compare, working from home and not seeing anybody while filming alone [my first year] versus being in Hart House and practicing in the middle of MSB in the cafeteria while people are trying to study [during my second year]. The feeling of having people around you working in person and practicing the dances, you don’t really think about it as much, but it was such a core part to that season in first year, that fall and winter time. Now, when I'm walking outside late at night, it feels like I'm walking home from rehearsal. But also in my first year, it was a really big part of my time, and it meant a lot to me. It was the thing that kept time, the thing that kept me on track, and the thing that genuinely got me through all of second semester.
One of the best moments this year was the day when I got to meet you [Judy] and Maya—two major people that I've worked with so much—for the first time in person. It was such a lovely moment. But in first year, too, I remember just being backstage…I was just sitting there watching everybody and just feeling so awed by everything. There's nothing like that moment.
Q: What does Daffy mean to you?
Honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, Daffy is family, and it certainly does mean that. And beyond just the people that you work with immediately, it’s incredible to think about how long it’s been around; hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people have done this before you. It's really wild, but it's also something that brings you together with 20 to 30 similar people in different academies and different years, potentially even different faculties. It’s this community that you're working with to put together something that you eventually get to share with people that you care about. There's something so lovely about talking to your non-medicine friends and family about these people that you spend so much time with every week and then finally get to show them the performance and be like, “Look, these are my friends. Aren't they amazing?”
Q: Where do you see Daffy in the future?
You know, we've had several years of shows that have been original written ones or parody ones. But it's only been like a handful of years that we've had this full, cohesive, story-type show. My understanding of past Daffy shows is that they were more like one-act skits, more like a cabaret. And that's so fun, too, but the fact that it's become this massive, all-encompassing thing that brings everybody together, I very much hope it continues to be that, and I hope it continues to be something that draws people in. Medical students have such a wildly diverse background, which is so lovely, and it's so encouraging to have a space that feels so different and apart from medicine. It feels like there's some separation. I hope it continues to be that for people.
Q: Anything that you thought of before that you wanted to talk about?
I suppose just an apology to literally anybody who's been trying to live their life in MSB and has had to scoot around a bunch of assholes dancing in the middle of the jungle or in the cafeteria. There's also nothing like being an idiot on stage in front of all of your faculty professors and Dr. Marcus Law and all of your peers that will be doctors, too. You only get a once in a lifetime chance to do that.
