5 Questions with Giles Gartrell-Mills and Bishanyia Vincent

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Giles Gartrell-Mills

Giles Gartrell-Mills

Bishanyia Vincent: What can Sydney audiences expect from you as a director?
Giles Gartrell-Mills: As much as possible I like to put story first. My favourite thing about theatre is that we ask the audience to endow the world they are seeing. We need them to create it for them-selves. I generally like to keep my production simple in terms of design and fit them to the space I’m working in. One of the best things about the late shows at the Old Fitz is that you need to work with what you have. It inspires creativity, which is why we do it in the first place.

What do you love most about Where Do Little Birds Go?
Cheesy as it sounds, I love Lucy! She’s a wonderful character. She sees the best in bad situations and manages to remain somewhat sweet through a very tough and brutal world. I think audiences will love her too.

I’ve heard you really love to know your stuff. Is Wikipedia your greatest addiction?
Possibly. Wikipedia, Jiu Jitsu and coffee are my greatest addictions. I love to learn and these days if I come across something I don’t know or a person I’ve not heard of from any field, I often jump on Wikipedia or Google to get any information I can about them. It’s not work… I just get interested in things I’ve never heard of.

What would you like to see change in the Sydney theatre scene and would you like to keep the same?
The scene in Sydney is great. If anything I would like to see a bit more confidence in it. Since moving here I’ve found everyone to be very open and welcoming. I think there is opportunity for more site specific work too. Last year I saw a show produced by the Kings Collective in an unused floor of a shopping centre. It creates new challenges and is a welcome change for a loyal theatre audience.

Ok so lastly and most importantly, how do you find directing your other half in a one woman show? Is she much of a diva?
Haha! Luckily enough because we trained at the same school we have a lot of common language when it comes to approaching the work. A one woman show is a big undertaking and a bit of that diva confidence can be very helpful sometimes too.

Bishanyia Vincent

Bishanyia Vincent

Giles Gartrell-Mills: As a relative newcomer to the Sydney theatre scene, what do you think makes it different to other cities you have visited?
Bishanyia Vincent: I think the biggest difference I have noticed between here and London is the sense of community within the independent theatre scene. London is such a big city and often you can feel like your tube stop is an island and there’s a giant gulf between you and your creative friends.. In Sydney you can bump into numerous creative souls on jaunts about town and feel a huge sense of belonging and support for one another. I feel very grateful to be a part of it.

What is the biggest difference preparing for a one woman show than preparing for a show with other performers?
Lines…SO MANY BLOODY LINES. Also creating the show with your own energy and sustaining that for an hour with the audience’s attention. We’ll see how that goes next week! Although I do have a lovely handsome pianist on stage with me playing so he’s definitely a reason to come along! *wink*

Who are your greatest influences as a performer and why?
The people around me everyday in my life who are battling the same demons and still get up and try again anyway. Life. Love. Stories. Human beings. People I bump into, happen across and experience in my day to day life. Because that’s where it all begins. Storytelling wouldn’t be storytelling without people and their stories.

Why do you think Sydney should meet Lucy Fuller (from Where Do Little Birds Go?)
Because it’s a true story. Because the real Lucy (Lisa Prescott) never got to share her story and Camilla Whitehill read a little bit about her in a novel about the Kray’s and took the time to write her story and give her a voice and that is a beautiful gift to give to the world.

If you could travel to any time in history when would it be and what would you want to do when you got there?
I can barely even decide what to choose on a dinner menu without getting FOMO when I order the wrong thing and someone else’s looks better and you ask me THIS? No comment. I plead the fifth.

God there are so many amazing time periods. I can only hope to be lucky enough throughout my career I get to experience ALL OF THEM in some capacity.

Giles Gartrell-Mills and Bishanyia Vincent are working on Where Do Little Birds Go by Camilla Whitehill.
Dates: 30 August – 10 September, 2016
Venue: Old Fitz Theatre

Review: Before The Water Gets Cold (Smoking Gum Theatre)

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smokinggumVenue: Sydney Theatre School (Chippendale NSW), Aug 23 – 27, 2016
Playwright: Charles O’Grady
Director: Lucinda Vitek
Cast: Samuel Beazley, Robin Chen, Julia Robertson, Amy Zhang

Theatre review
Part poetry, part dance and part play, Before The Water Gets Cold is a multidisciplinary exploration into the nature of artistic expression. With themes of love and loneliness providing its main threads of inspiration, what we see on stage are four performers inhabiting a range of personalities, not to convey a narrative, but to evoke sensations and emotions that we are all familiar with.

The work is guided by an innovative spirit, and is often a refreshing experience, although significant portions can seem clichéd, due to its inability to transcend the derivative. Writing, direction and choreography exhibit moments of beauty through their various modes of experimentation, but a greater sense of originality, or perhaps boldness, is missing in the production.

Performer Julia Robertson is memorable for her captivating presence, and a surprising authenticity that she brings, even to the more absurdist sequences of the show. Her work with Robin Chen in a montage composed of romantic movie quotations is particularly delightful. Composer Josephine Gibson and sound designer Jeaux Pfeffer contribute proficiently to this collaboration, both sensitive and understated in style, for a delicate air that envelopes the auditorium.

Before The Water Gets Cold wishes to marry logic with something more ephemeral, but a greater trust in the visceral instance would allow us to dive in deeper into its artistry. The mind gets in the way of much of life’s pleasures, and at the theatre, an opportunity for us to be in touch with the magic of the here and now is always present, if only we resist the temptation to analyse everything even before it begins to happen.

www.smokinggumtheatre.com

5 Questions with Lulu Howes and Caitlin West

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Lulu Howes

Lulu Howes

Caitlin West: So you’re condensing 15 books and 250 stories down to a single show. Is there a theme or set of themes that have guided and tied together your telling of these stories?
Lulu Howes: I’d say our approach to adapting such a large body of work was inspired by the vastness of Ovid’s original text. Metamorphoses is such a sprawling book, it picks up threads of myths and then drops them, tells half stories, revisits characters sporadically. Ovid really seems to pick and choose what he’s interested in, then loosely ties everything up in the theme of ‘metamorphoses’. So the myths we’ve chosen to work with and the way we’ve decided to adapt them is pretty eclectic. We were all drawn to different stories for different reasons, and I think this boundlessness is what binds them together, embracing that vastness rather than running away from it. That being said, there are definitely some themes that have continued to crop up. If I had to pick, the big three would probably be gender, politics and power.

How closely has the language of the original text shaped your telling of these stories?
I’m not even sure how many translations of Metamorphoses we now have between us – probably too many. Trying to find the right mode of expression to represent a myth has been half the battle of adaptation, so language has definitely played a massive part. Sometimes we’ll quote directly from a translation, or use the Elizabethan adaptation, or delve into how Ovid has presented a particular idea. More than anything else I think the comedy of the original text has worked its way into a lot of the play. There’s a lot of satire and a lot of silliness.

Saro has directed you in a few shows in the past. How have you found working with him as an actor?
The same but different. It’s been a very collaborative process – everyone’s open to each other’s ideas and feedback so in that regard it feels very familiar. Having done shows together in the past we went into Metamorphoses with a great friendship to work off and a good idea of what it might be like devising together. I think it’s been a really natural transition, especially with Imogen stepping into a more directorial role and just generally being amazing. Saro’s got great comic timing and likes improvisation more than I do, which is good because it keeps me on my toes and terrible because I can’t always keep a straight face.

Can you tell me a bit about how you’re approaching the task of characterisation in a show that presumably is dealing with multiple character voices?
There’s such a huge array of characters in the show, there hasn’t been a set approach. As almost none of the characters reappear in more than one scene, it’s been about establishing really strong voices or images in a short amount of time. Different methods have worked for different scenes, whether we’re improvising and working off each other in the room, or painstakingly going through the script to create these really defined voices for a two-minute scene. We’ve both been able to pick and choose who might play which character, with no expectation that if the character is a man it should be played by Saro or vice versa. In general there’s been a lot of freedom with how we tackle these characters, and way, way too many costume changes.

Seriously, will there be Kanye West references?
There are already too many, we need to be stopped.

Caitlin West

Caitlin West

Lulu Howes: Tammy & Kite is delving into the world of children and the things they ‘do or don’t see.’ What first drew you to this idea?
When Hannah and I first came together to make this show, we both knew that we wanted to talk about children, siblings and the imagination. As someone with a much younger sister, and with a personal interest in child play therapy, I was keen to look at how children process and express difficult emotions. This was complemented by Hannah, who came at this as an artist, and as someone with an incredible visual imagination. She had a million ideas for how we could translate those concepts into something really beautiful and tangible. So I guess it was kind of a crossover of our own personal interests and skills, and a shared desire to try to communicate and think about the way a child sees the world.

I am so excited to see you and Hannah (Cox) onstage together; you’re both such energetic, engaging performers. What does the inside of your rehearsal room look like at the moment?
Well, at the moment, I’m sitting here writing this, while Hannah plays a pretty intense game of handball with herself against the wall. There’s a pile of discarded toys and books on the floor, a half-finished Lego spaceship on the bed, and Phillip the duck is sitting next to me. We’ve just finished rehearsing a scene where Kite saves Tammy from a monster armed only with a light sabre, so we’re taking a break before we move on to some of the more tightly choreographed puppet scenes.

A ten year old wants to come see Tammy & Kite. How do you describe the play to them?
In this show we’re trying to use a language that will be accessible to both young people and adults (although perhaps for different reasons and in different ways) so to be honest, I think I’d tell them the same thing I’d tell an adult. In a nutshell in Tammy & Kite we’re taking the best and the worst parts about being a kid, and trying to translate them into something that grown-ups can understand.

What’s the scariest/hardest/most challenging part of devising your own show?
I think the scariest thing, when creating a show from scratch with another person, is knowing how to trust that person enough to fail. When you’re rehearsing a show with a bunch of other actors, or with a pre-written script, or with a director who’s always in the room with you, it can be easier in a sense to hide behind those things or to use them to fall back on when you get it wrong. Hannah and I were already great friends before we started working on this show, which was a big help, but over the rehearsal process I think we’ve both gotten a lot better at trying out new things, and not being afraid to do that. I think once you let go of the fear of trying something that might not work, that’s when you end up finding the seeds of the best stuff.

If you could go back in time and give kid Caitlin one piece of advice, what would it be?
When the ice cream truck plays “Greensleeves” that does not mean it has run out of ice cream and don’t let anyone tell you that it does.

Lulu Howes and Caitlin West can both be seen in Sydney Fringe Festival shows by Montague Basement.

Tammy & Kite
Dates: 13 – 17 September, 2016 at 8pm
Venue: Erskineville Town Hall

Metamorphoses
Dates: 13 – 17 September, 2016 at 10pm
Venue: Erskineville Town Hall

Review: Look Back In Anger (Red Line Productions)

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redlineVenue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), Aug 16 – Sep 10, 2016 | Belvoir St Theatre (Surry Hills NSW), Sep 13 – 17, 2016
Playwright: John Osborne
Directors: Damien Ryan, Lizzie Schebesta
Cast: Robin Goldsworthy, Andrew Henry, Melissa Bonne, Chantelle Jamieson
Image by John Marmaras

Theatre review
Jimmy is a very angry young man, and in Look Back In Anger, we are subjected to a series of his incessant, long and very tedious rants that prove themselves to be ultimately ineffectual, and highly irritating. At one point, he insists “that voice that cries out doesn’t have to be a weakling’s does it?”

1956 it seems, was a completely different time. Today, a white man with youth and a university education, living in a Western society, is considered to be in possession of the greatest of privileges, and we have no patience for their complaints about their perceived (and possibly, imagined) injustices of life. Of course, residing in positions of advantage does not automatically absolve a person of angst and self-proclaimed victimhood. Jimmy’s grief with our troubled existence is valid, and it is his right to refuse to suck it up, grin and bear it, but like all the furious white male voices that rule the talk-back radio waves, we can choose to ignore their shrill babble. John Osborne’s play is well structured, but its themes and concerns could not be more dated, and for many feminists, not much is lost if Look Back In Anger, along with its overt misogyny, is left dead, buried and cremated.

From a technical perspective however, co-directors Damien Ryan and Lizzie Schebesta have revived the play with admirable accuracy and nuance, delivering powerful drama, especially to those more welcoming of its ethos. Also accomplished are its designers; Jonathan Hindmarsh’s set and Anna Gardiner’s costumes add meaningful, dynamic touches to the look of the piece, thoughtfully utilising the space’s intimacy to provide a vibrant immediacy to the experience.

The cast is uniformly strong, with each actor contributing impressive depth in their characterisations of less than inspiring personalities. Osborne’s dialogue is provocative (to say the least), and his lines are given tremendous fervour by an ensemble insistent on winning us over. Andrew Henry is at his bombastic best as Jimmy, with a portrayal so passionate and convincing that we struggle to detach our dislike for the character from what is actually an excellent performance by the leading man. Henry finds scintillating chemistry with each of his co-stars, and it must be said that every scene is captivating, but also undeniably excruciating for audiences less tolerant of its turgid drivel.

Like many works of art (good or bad) that cause exasperation, Look Back In Anger will spark discussion. In its time, the work was relevant for its interest in class consciousness and issues of poverty, but these ideas have evolved into something that is now inseparable from contexts of race and gender. In the past, audiences were able to understand the world from Jimmy’s perspective, but today, the world turns the tables and puts him under scrutiny. We are made to look at anxieties of the white man, but his anger scarcely raises a brow. Perhaps it is only himself who could possibly benefit from wallowing in that distorted and narcissistic reflection.

www.oldfitztheatre.com

Review: Orpheus (Lies, Lies And Propaganda / Suspicious Woman Productions)

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liesliesVenue: Blood Moon Theatre (Potts Point NSW), Aug 18 – 27, 2016
Director: Michael Dean
Dramaturg: Jasper Garner Gore
Cast: Dymphna Carew, Curly Fernandez, Victoria Greiner, Lana Kershaw, Daniel Monks, Bodelle de Ronde, Michael Yore
Image by Sasha Cohen

Theatre review
Orpheus’ story is often told with emphasis on a husband’s drudgery in trying to rescue his wife from the mouths of danger, but in Michael Dean’s revision, we explore the possibility of Eurydice being a more provocative character, whose own desires are more complicated and less convenient for her husband’s legend. Hell is an Australian outback hick town, from which Eurydice finds herself unable to leave, but Orpheus is determined to bring her back to their life in the city, where a previously shared reality seems to be fading with the passage of time.

Similarities with David Lynch’s surrealism where “this whole world is wild at heart and weird on top” can be observed in Dean’s portrayal of an ugly yet seductive foreboding, set within a seedy bar where the drawing of raffle tickets is “the moment we’ve all been waiting for.” Michael Yore’s music and Liam O’Keefe’s lights provide splendid transportative atmospherics for an operatic expression of an ancient mystery suited to contemporary times, and Rachel Weiner’s illuminative choreography, although excessively demanding at certain points, demonstrates a healthy instinct for space as a fundamental device of communication.

With little in terms of dialogue that could be employed, the depiction of characters relies heavily on movement and presence, which the cast accomplishes with dexterity, but there is a gentleness to the overall approach that contradicts some of the darker elements in the piece. A greater sense of gravity and perhaps bigger personalities would generate a more sinister edge to fortify its enigmatic tone. Daniel Monks leaves a strong impression in the title role, authentic and captivating with his ability to meaningfully embody Orpheus’ sentimental qualities. The actor’s unequivocal focus and connection with all who are on and off stage, is the basis on which the production addresses its emotional dimensions.

Michael Dean’s vision of theatre as a dynamic and unpredictable art form is marvellously realised in Orpheus. Adventurous, playful and iconoclastic, Dean’s presentation is a surprising and delightful show that challenges not only notions of storytelling, but also conventions of our cultural endeavours. It is a virtuous exercise, made even more wonderful by sheer, undeniable talent and exquisite taste. There is exceptional work to be found here, the kind that makes us want more of the same from every stage, but it is the utter unorthodoxy and subversive nature of its appeal that provides its avant-garde lustre.

www.liesliesandpropaganda.com | www.suspiciouswomanproductions.com

Review: Bijou (Smallshows / The Depot Theatre)

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smallshowsVenue: The Depot Theatre (Marrickville NSW), Aug 17 – 27, 2016
Playwright: Chrissie Shaw
Director: Susan Pilbeam
Cast: Alan Hicks, Chrissie Shaw
Image by Lyndel Arnett

Theatre review
Bijou has lived through a lot. Now in her autumn years, she looks back and recounts stories, with the aide of abounding song and dance, to share her experiences as a woman on the fringes of Parisian society. Chrissie Shaw’s script is charming, with surprising revelations that are guaranteed to delight, and even though it shies away from a stronger sense of drama that could deliver greater poignancy, it is certainly not afraid to touch on the raunchier aspects of Bijou’s past.

As performer, Shaw’s vocal abilities are her greatest asset. Interpretations of yesteryear songs are consistently enchanting, and the sharp focus she maintains in her one-woman show format is thoroughly impressive. Alan Hicks is on the piano providing accompaniment, with tremendous style and effortless flair. His voice and humour make only brief appearances, but they are very memorable indeed.

The elders of every community are truly the most valuable in terms of the wisdom they can offer, yet we relegate them to minor roles, often forgetting to include them in our ways of life. In Bijou, we are shown that many of the answers we seek, have already been found by those who had come before us. The seniors are ignored at our own peril, and the beauty of Bijou’s story, and of Shaw’s work, demonstrates how much there is to lose, if we persist with that ignorance. We can learn from going through firsthand, every high and low of life, but we must also listen to those who had taken the hard road, so that we may explore newer, more peaceful ones.

www.bijoucabaret.com

Review: Tribunal (Powerhouse Youth Theatre / Griffin Theatre Company)

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pytVenue: SBW Stables Theatre (Kings Cross NSW), Aug 12 – 20, 2016
Concept: Karen Therese
Collaborators/text/performers: Sarah Coconis, Paul Dwyer, Iman Etri, Katie Green, Rhonda Grovenor Dixon, Bilal Hafda, Mahdi Mohammadi, Karen Therese, Jawad Yaqoubi
Image by Gracie Partridge

Theatre review
Any story can be told at the theatre, whether exaggerated or realistic, but to create something convincing is often a struggle for practitioners. In Tribunal, key personalities play themselves, leaving no room for us to doubt their authenticity. The presentation is a discussion of colonialism in Australia, with a particular focus on our habitual mistreatment through the years, of groups that are systematically subjugated and persecuted by a rapacious government, and its complicit populace. The production places side by side, an Aboriginal elder and an Iranian refugee, not only to convey the injustices inflicted upon them, but also to emphasise the delusionary insistence by White Australia of the land’s Westernness and its racist exclusion of all that it considers “other”.

Our weathered sensibilities may no longer be able to react with shock at the show’s revelations, but its verbatim, anecdotal format is unquestionably powerful, due especially to the sheer presence of those who have suffered under our cruelty. The act of putting on display their pain and damage, creates a palpable state of emergency and crisis that we simply cannot extricate ourselves from. In the guise of a tribunal hearing, the production turns its passive audience into the awakened body politic; we are all implicated in these harrowing recounts, no matter how long ago or how far away these events had taken place. Powerless individuals who shirk responsibility are, for the moment at least, given passionate idealism, and the audience begins to think about its part, as citizens involved in the machinations contributing to the humanitarian catastrophes that must be addressed.

We may not all run off into the night with radical courses of action inspired by Tribunal, but it sows the seeds required for a nation to evolve stronger morals and to inculcate better humanitarian values into its every decision, especially the tough ones. Bringing people from abstract consciousness, into a real life sharing of space, is theatrical magic that can do wonders to how we experience society. It is easy being inhumane to those who only live in imagination, but when confronted face to face, we can only be guided by compassion and love, which are after all, the most valued of all our qualities as the earth’s beings.

www.pyt.com.au | www.griffintheatre.com.au

Review: House Of Games (New Theatre)

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newtheatreVenue: New Theatre (Newtown NSW), Aug 9 – Sep 10, 2016
Playwright: Richard Bean (based on the film by Jonathan Katz, David Mamet)
Director: Louise Fischer
Cast: Ben Brock, Hannah Day, Cheyne Fynn, Charles Jones, Mark Langham, Rebecca Levy, Colin McCarlie, Katherine Shearer, Benjamin Vickers, Cindy Wang
Image by Bob Seary

Theatre review
House Of Games features a psychiatrist and a group of con artists. It wishes to be full of surprises and unexpected twists, but the unsophisticated writing relies on the unbelievable gullibility of its protagonist, as well as a gullible audience, for any of its plot to be effective. Its premise is interesting, with a straitlaced academic type finding herself embroiled in the underground activities of the Chicago lowlife, but there could not be a more predictable way to tell the story. Every revelation aims to deliver thrills, but is only disappointing in its failure to offer anything more than what is obviously anticipated ahead of every juncture.

Leading lady Katherine Shearer shows good conviction, in spite of a frankly ridiculous role that seems to take pleasure in depicting a woman’s status and accomplishments as an esteemed doctor, only to take her down more than a few notches by turning her suddenly, and unreasonably, stupid and naive. The actor’s impressive presence almost holds the show together, but we struggle to reconcile her character Margaret’s undeniable intelligence with the absurd predicament in which she finds herself. Co-star Ben Brock displays enough charm for initial scenes of flirtation to work, but to make Margaret “blinded by love” and be so thoroughly entangled in his deceptions, is a tall order that is beyond any sensible performance.

Names of three male writers are attached to this play. It is arduous, and deeply boring, to take them to task for a misogynist creation, but the show offers little else worthy of discussion. It is to their credit however, that the driving force behind House Of Games is Margaret’s ambitions, but it seems that diminishing those very desires is the only way to make sense of things. Feminist readings do not require that every woman comes out on top, but the masochistic treatment of “a strong female” here is reprehensible, because her degradation results from weak logic and too little plausibility, a figment of the imagination of a boys’ club, intimated, perturbed and panicked.

www.newtheatre.org.au

Review: Aladdin (Capitol Theatre)

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aladdinVenue: Capitol Theatre (Sydney NSW), Aug 3 – Oct 23, 2016
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Chad Beguelin
Book: Chad Beguelin
Director: Casey Nicholaw
Cast: Aljin Abella, Adam Jon Fiorentino, George Henare, Arielle Jacobs, Ainsley Melham, Adam Murphy, Michael James Scott, Troy Sussman, Robert Tripolino

Theatre review
Based on their own 1992 film, Disney’s musical version of Aladdin is everything one could hope for in an adaptation of a much loved family classic. Fondly remembered for Robin Williams’ hilarious interpretation of Genie, and the chart-topping song “A Whole New World”, this theatrical rendering first appeared in 2011, and is now a well-oiled machine that delivers every bell and whistle expected of the format, including jaw-dropping state-of-the-art stagecraft, along with genuinely effective comedy, that provide sensational entertainment for young and old alike.

The show’s visual design is lavish and inexhaustibly dynamic. Costumes, sets and lights are a real treat, fascinating our senses at every moment like a kaleidoscope that constantly amazes. The manifestation of an actual magic carpet that literally flies around the stage is a gimmick that will captivate any viewer, including the very seasoned theatregoer.

Performances are strong, and the cast will likely grow in chemistry as the Australian season progresses. Michael James Scott’s work as Genie is particularly likeable. Although his energy levels do appear to falter after vigorous sequences, Scott impresses with charisma, sharp humour and a brilliant singing voice, making the larger than life character as commanding a presence as we wish for him to be. Ainsley Melham and Arielle Jacobs are the extraordinarily attractive leads, both delightful in their respective roles, and perfectly charming as the saccharine lovebirds.

It is an innocent romance that blossoms between Aladdin and Jasmine, but the show is a sophisticated one with its naive conceits kept in check. The world is a dangerous place in Aladdin, and its people must access their sense of morality to make the right choices. Themes of slavery, feminism and poverty are only lightly touched upon, but they provide the story with a meaningful foundation on which it discusses the eternal struggle between good and evil. This Disney musical has all the froth and frivolity that fans spend their money on, but at its heart is an ancient folk tale from the legendary One Thousand And One Nights, where the human condition is scrutinised, to reach an understanding of how we are, on our very best days.

www.disney.com.au

5 Questions with Melissa Bonne and Robin Goldsworthy

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Melissa Bonne

Melissa Bonne

Robin Goldsworthy: Cast your mind back…you’ve picked up Look Back In Anger for the very first time. You read it cover to cover and gently set it down beside your play reading chair. Walk us through your immediate gut reaction.
Melissa Bonne: Well, I actually read this play for the first time while I was studying acting at The Actor’s Pulse, but I was 17 so I don’t know if I was smart enough or open enough to truly take the story in. When I read it for the first time, since the first time, I actually just sat there (in my play reading chair), staring at the last page for a while, not only unsure of what to make of how the play ended, but also unsure of why it made me feel so uncomfortable. At the time I didn’t exactly know how to articulate why I was feeling that way but I knew that because of that, I had read something very special and that this play was probably going to be very important for me in some, if not many ways. It also didn’t feel like I had just read a play. It felt more like I was right there in that tiny room with these four people. I think that’s a pretty rare gift for anyone — artist or audience — that when it comes to a play or film or story, it feels almost too real to be something you are watching but more something that you are a part of, and I think maybe that is one of the things that is great about this play…it is so confronting and ruthless in everything that it is saying, that it’s almost impossible for audiences not to get pulled in and become so personally involved in the experiences of the characters.

What an amazingly complex character Alison is! A true gift for any actress to sink her teeth into. So my question is: If Alison were a sandwich, what type of sandwich would she be?
Hmm. Well, she would have to be the best bread made from the finest ingredients by maybe a French Chef or something. And I’d say her crusts would have to be gently sliced off. Her bread parts would also have to be right out of the oven so that she was still warm when served. Inside there would have to be something with bite, but tender, like a spicy piece of organic chicken. She would need a bit of razzle dazzle, so maybe something like a slice of avocado with a drizzle of olive oil and some broccoli sprouts. And she wouldn’t be complete without something sweet, so perhaps a thin slice of beetroot. When served, Alison would need to be gently sliced into triangles, as a triangle is her favourite shape.

Have you, yourself ever looked back in anger with regards to any moment in life thus far?
Oh dear. Well in regards to my own life, I’ve mainly looked back in anger at the not so great things that I myself have done or the great things that I had the opportunity to do but didn’t do… times in my life where I could have been kinder to people or paid more attention – like during a card game or something, where I would be in my own world and end up losing every time. One of the things that comes to mind that I would be angry looking back at, is growing up as a teenager and thinking I knew what was best for me. So silly. Should’ve listened to mum more. Grrr.

What is the best/worst thing about working with the prodigious acting talent of Robin Goldsworthy?
Haha, well it’s been delightful so far. I think you were perfectly cast and I am so glad because you’re a very authentic person to work with and you always make me laugh – which is so very important! Overall I feel very blessed to have you, Andrew and Chantelle to work with because you all make it very easy for me to believe you in every moment and believe you are the characters you are playing. So the best thing would totally be that you are completely believable as Cliff, but the worst thing would be that you have such a great, charming accent… which is, just so you know, quite the distraction. Oh and your jackets… I’m a big fan of how you dress to rehearsals. Very cool you are.

If John Osborne wrote Look Back In Anger today, how do you think the play would shift thematically?
If you think about what the themes possibly mean in the context of this story, I don’t think they would have to shift all that much to be relevant today or in other words, for audiences to relate to, especially when you simplify it all. For example, you have Alison and Jimmy — from two completely different backgrounds — who fall in love, only to find that their backgrounds are a constant obstacle in their relationship with each other and their lives together. I feel like there is always this human need for connection through understanding and you can see it in so many stories and it is such a dominant force in this play. When people come from different upbringings and backgrounds, it sometimes seems to cause conflict and that conflict eventually separates people from one another. That’s what happens throughout this play. But there is this truth that everyone can relate to on some level, and that is, through understanding all bridges are formed, but that understanding is only really possible when people are heard. I think that finding your voice and having your voice be heard is such an important part of this play and ultimately, every voice being just as relevant as the next, is a message that we are left with. Although Osborne may use a more modern way of delivering this story, I think using the same themes would be just as a gift now for people as they were in 1956.

Robin Goldsworthy

Robin Goldsworthy

Melissa Bonne: What would you like people to take away from this play, or in other words, what about this play would you like to stay with our audiences after they have seen it?
Robin Goldsworthy: Mainly how relevant this play still is. 2016 has been a pretty ugly year so far and there’s so much fire in the heart of this play that slots perfectly into our modern context. There’s a lot of anger and passion around the world at the moment, and this play’s got that in spades.

If you were alive and living in London in 1956 and still you — a wonderful person and actor — what do you think it would be like to play Cliff in the original production of Look Back In Anger?
Oh I think it would have been tremendous fun! There had never been a play like this on the London stage before… The institutions and ideas that are raged against in Look Back make it such an exciting and dangerous play. To do that for the first time, who wouldn’t love that?

Cliff’s upbringing and background is a bit of a mystery in this play. What story would you give him that could possibly change everything that we think about this man and his journey in the play?
Well we talked about Cliff’s sexuality in rehearsals for a while. There’s such a closeness and tenderness between him and Alison that’s totally non threatening to Jimmy (husband to young Alison) so yeah, we discussed the possibility of Cliff being gay. Would it change much? Not sure. In another production it would have been really fun finding out.

What has this play and/or Cliff taught you about yourself?
That Welsh is an incredibly hard accent to tame. At the moment I sound like Mrs Doubtfire’s gone to India. We’ll get there, hopefully.

What is the one question you would ask John Osborne?
I’d ask him if he were a sandwich, what kind of sandwich would he be? 😉

Melissa Bonne and Robin Goldsworthy can both be seen in Look Back In Anger by John Osborne.
Dates: 16 August – 10 September, 2016
Venue: Old Fitz Theatre