Geoff Brittain

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And Josh, why do we do this?
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I don't know, I'm really enjoying it. And I think
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this podcast is helping me, you know, doing every sort of,
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you know, it's a nice Monday night thing to do.
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What are you talking about Monday?
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It's Friday.
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What?
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You made me change it, remember, because you had rehearsals.
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It's Friday. Yeah, yes. We always do this on Monday.
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Do you have a diary?
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No.
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We've got Emily.
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Yeah, but it's one thing to have Emily. It's another
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thing for me to remember what.
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To tell Emily.
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What?
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Emily's the most organised person I know.
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Yeah.
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You are not.
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But it's seriously Friday.
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Yes.
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I think I had a lunch to get to today.
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Yeah, well, I'm surprised you rocked up tonight.
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Welcome, welcome back everybody. We are back again to those
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of you who are listening. Thank you so much for listening.
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We're getting a lot of good feedback, which has been lovely.
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Lots of feedback, it's great.
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Welcome Lee. Welcome Josh. Thank you and welcome to Why
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Do We Do This? A podcast about why us crazy
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people involve ourselves in a... It's not really a profession
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because we don't get paid for it. We don't, but
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we love it. But we spend so much more time
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on it than I think a lot more people do.
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So with that in mind, we have someone who has
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dedicated a large amount of time to theatre and particularly
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Adelaide Theatre. amateur theater or community theater however you want to.
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And even in china and even overseas in other aspects
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of his career which we'll talk about um we have
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the great i believe award-winning we can.
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Cut that out if it's not right but i believe
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he's an award-winning he is director um jeff britain is
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here how are you going.
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Jeff i'm very well thank you thank you for you
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too good all right thank you for coming in and
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joining us that's okay this is um what we've started
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here is more of an archival podcast it's just to
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get some ideas about why certain people who have been
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quite prevalent in Adelaide theatre do it you know we
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we want to understand the idea of it just.
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As a story more or less why do we do
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it yeah so I guess we always kind of start
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with where did your love of theatre start um I
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don't know.
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I was born in England and I went to.
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Oh, whereabouts? Kent.
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Oh, wow.
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Down south.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And I had an English teacher or a classroom teacher
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who did amateur dramatics himself. And so we used to
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go and see a couple of his shows. And of course,
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we were only 10 or 12, didn't really know what
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it was all about. But I think that was so
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the seed, even though I never really did anything about it.
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We just went and saw him in things and saw
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him cut his hair for roles and things like that
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and thought that was fascinating and and i do remember
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we went to see a production of his of long
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in the short and the tall which is a war
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i said in the jungle thing and um they had
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a prop gun on stage because somebody had to get
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shot and after the show he invited us back to
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the dressing room and all we were interested in was
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this prop gun and seeing whether we could fire it
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or not but he was a the sort of teacher
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who he was our classroom teacher and he used to
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read to us things like Wind in the Willows and
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stuff like that. And he used to put on all
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the voices and stuff like that, which was amazing. And,
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I mean, at the time I didn't think it would
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have any effect at all. We just thought it was
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something that teachers did. But then when we came to
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Australia in 1969, My dad, who loved singing, joined the
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local Norwood Theatrical Company, which was a musical company that
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used to perform at the Norwood Town Hall. Yeah. And
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he was only in the chorus. That was all he
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was interested in. And I was 15 then when we
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came to Australia, and he used to drag me along
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to rehearsals. And I used to sit in the auditorium
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and watch him up on the stage. And, of course,
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gradually people would say– well, as you're here, why don't
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you come and do some lighting for us or come
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and do some backstage for us? And basically that's how
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I got involved. Oh, wow. So it was all backstage stuff,
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technical stuff. I remember doing some lighting for a couple
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of their musicals and things like that, along with another
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guy who was older than me, obviously.
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Yes.
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And that's how I got into it, really.
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And no desire to be on stage yourself?
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Not at that stage. A couple of years later, the rep,
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Adelaide rep, used to run workshops, acting workshops in the evenings.
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And I went along to some of those. And after
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a while, a few of us got together and became
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friends and that sort of thing. And we all wanted
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to be actors and stuff. But to get into a
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show at the rep at that time.
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It was a cattle call back then, wasn't it?
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Well, you had to be invited.
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Yeah.
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And so you didn't just get parts, even when they
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were looking for an 18-year-old or something like that. So
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like everybody else, we used to just work backstage. And
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they used to do seven shows a year back then.
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Wow.
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And we used to work, this group of us, we
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used to work on all the different shows. One, you'd
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do sound. One, you'd do props. One, you'd do something
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else and stuff. always hoping that they were going to say,
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we've got a role for you. And I think I
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ended up doing one out of all of that. Yeah,
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so that's how it started. And I guess, you know,
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everybody wanted to be an actor to start with. But
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that seemed more off. I wasn't really.
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So your kind of perspective on acting was more almost objective.
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You're observing quite a lot more than you were actually participating.
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Yeah, and I think that. That's how I, even today,
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when I'm directing shows, I look at it from that
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point of view as somebody who's observing it and what
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I want to see happening.
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Is that not what a director should be doing in
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a way, thinking about how is this going to look
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in objective sense?
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I often wonder that when I go and see things,
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but that's how I look at it. I figure, you know,
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if I'm sitting in the audience... This is what I
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want to see. It really annoys me when I see,
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you know, a couple of people up on stage just
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standing there talking to each.
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Other and not doing anything.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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So in 1980, though, you obviously took this a little
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bit more seriously because you went to like a tech
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production course, right?
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Yes. Originally, after working in the rep for a few years,
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working on all their shows, Bruno Nez used to run
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the workshops there and then he opened his theatre at
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La Mama at Highmarsh.
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Yeah.
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It wasn't much bigger than this room. And, of course,
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a lot of us went down there with him and,
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of course, we got more opportunity to be in shows
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then because he was always looking for, you know. So
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we did quite a lot of shows in this tiny
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little theatre with him. And then I moved to Sydney
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hoping that, You know, I might break into the big time. Yeah. But,
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of course, I had to get a job to support myself.
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And so I was working for a while with a
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couple of other people. And then we decided we'd go
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to WA and work in the mines because you make
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more money. So we went to WA and, of course,
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that didn't work out. So when you say we, who's...
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A friend of mine.
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Yes. We just drove over. Uh-huh.
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And.
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Just to be a FIFO for a while? Yeah.
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I mean, we were only young then. We didn't care
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about saving up for a house or anything like that.
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And when we got there, I got a job as
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a night auditor in a hotel because I had experience
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working with finances and things from other jobs I'd done.
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So I was available during the day. So I enrolled
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at the Institute of Technology in their theatre arts department
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just because I had nothing to do during the day. And,
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of course, attached to that, of course, they had their
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major arts people who used to put major shows on. And,
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of course, we could be involved in those. But a
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lot of the time, as students, we were doing, they
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had what they called upstairs theatre. It was little tiny
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theatre above the main theatre. And the students used to
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write plays, act in plays and direct plays for the
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other students at lunchtime and things like that.
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Yeah.
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And that's where I started directing things because, you know,
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somebody would write a play and say, oh, put this
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on and oh, well, I'll direct it and you can
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be in it.
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Would you get immediate feedback from that? Like you would
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workshop it?
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No, not really.
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We just see what works.
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Yeah, because they'd say, you know, it's got to be
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ready in a week to put on for the lunchtime,
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you know. But they were only short plays. They weren't
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even one-act plays, some of them. But that's where I
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think I got into it.
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It's kind of like a laboratory, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
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And it was a good learning experience because you got
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to learn everything. You didn't just learn one thing. And
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I guess that's how it stayed. And then while I
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was there, I applied to get into NIDA. and I
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got into NIDA to do their technical production course. So
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then I went back to Sydney to do that. And, um,
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and then after that I that's when I just got
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involved when I came back to Adelaide because my family
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were here well.
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What was NIDA like like do they do what they
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do that do they break you down to bring you
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up in the technical course as well or.
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What they did when I was there we were in
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their old premises not their fancy new premises that they've
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got now But it was just at that time when
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they were encouraging actors to work in film and television
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rather than on the stage so much.
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Do you mind if I ask what year was this?
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I can't remember. It was in the 80s.
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Yeah.
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The new wave kind of coming in. It was 1980.
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Yeah, because people like Hugo Weaving were in the year
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above me, and I was.
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A mature age student at that time compared to them,
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but they decided that everybody had to do everybody else's classes.
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So even though we were there to do technical production,
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we still had to do movement classes, voice classes, all
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the classes that the actors do, and they had to do.
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I think that's kind of a smart idea because it
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means that you've got a holistic idea of how the
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show can come together.
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And that year I went there, it was the first
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year they started doing that. But I'd done a lot
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of stage management and stuff at the Arts Theatre.
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Yes.
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And I found that they weren't really teaching me anything.
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I already knew it all. And so after a year
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I left because I couldn't see the point in it
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because everything they were teaching me I already knew.
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Yeah.
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So.
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So I came back home to South Australia and just
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got another job and started doing, you know, community theatre.
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Wow. What was the first show you directed when you
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came back to South Australia? Did you start directing then
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or were you more stage managing when you came back?
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No, I was doing everything.
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Everything, yeah.
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Everything. My first main show for directing was for St
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Jude's Players. I did The Secret Rapture by David Hare
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and we did it with, back curtains and things like that,
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those dudes weren't really into. So it was a bit
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too sort of modern for them. But that was the
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first major one I did when I got back, a major,
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a full-length show. And it just went on from there.
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And you know that space quite well now, like the
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back of your hand, I would say.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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It changes every time you do it. So when you
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came back and then obviously, you know, you come from
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Sydney and you're trying to develop your plays and your
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shows that you want to do, what was in the
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00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:41.840
back of your mind? What were the plays that you
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00:12:41.860 --> 00:12:44.519
wanted to bring to life in those earlier days? Do
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00:12:44.539 --> 00:12:45.059
you remember?
264
00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:50.610
I've always liked drama rather than and because I spent
265
00:12:50.629 --> 00:12:53.370
a lot of years, well, a couple of years at
266
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the Rep, the sort of stuff the Rep were doing
267
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wasn't the sort of stuff I liked and unfortunately it's
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the sort of stuff they're still doing. So, yeah, and
269
00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:08.629
then I found it was difficult. to get companies to
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00:13:08.690 --> 00:13:10.629
want to do the stuff you want to do rather
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than the stuff they want you to do.
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Because certain companies will have a bunch of, I know
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theory does this, is like, you know, they will say,
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this is the scripts that we're thinking about. Would you
275
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like to direct this?
276
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Yeah. And I'm okay with that as long as it's
277
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a script I like.
278
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
279
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But I just find it, it's difficult to, You have
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to tailor what you want to do to what they
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00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:39.750
want and hopefully come up with something that you're happy
282
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with and they're happy with, but maybe you'd like to
283
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do something else.
284
00:13:43.309 --> 00:13:46.629
I would imagine when you read a play or you
285
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see a play and then you go, oh, I'd like
286
00:13:48.929 --> 00:13:51.389
to put that on, so it's already starting to gestate, right,
287
00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:54.519
like it's happening, but then if you get given a
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show or get asked to do a show, is the
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process different from creating it and– because I imagine if
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00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:04.320
it's a show that you've been wanting to do, you've
291
00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:07.990
had years, maybe months to kind of think about execution, cast,
292
00:14:08.070 --> 00:14:10.850
how you want to do that compared to somebody that's like, hey,
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00:14:10.870 --> 00:14:12.269
can you just do this for us, Jeff? Is it
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a different process?
295
00:14:13.610 --> 00:14:17.269
Yes, definitely a different process. It's not very often that
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00:14:17.309 --> 00:14:20.509
a company asks you, they don't give you a script
297
00:14:20.529 --> 00:14:22.509
and say we'd like you to do this. What they
298
00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:24.740
tend to do is say you submit three things to
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00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:28.740
us and we'll decide and then you have to decide
300
00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.879
what right, this is the company that I'm sending this to,
301
00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:34.179
so there's no point in sending this play because they'll
302
00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:38.059
never do that. So you tend to find that you
303
00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:41.879
submit the stuff you think they want, which is not
304
00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:45.720
always the plays you want to do, but they're plays
305
00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:48.679
that you won't mind doing if that's all you can do.
306
00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:49.590
Yes.
307
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.490
Whereas other groups, you submit stuff, you know, the play
308
00:14:53.529 --> 00:14:55.970
you want to do and you submit it and think
309
00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:58.809
they're the type of people who will probably do this.
310
00:14:59.789 --> 00:15:04.029
But I also find that I get a play that
311
00:15:04.210 --> 00:15:06.610
I really want to do. And as you say, you
312
00:15:06.629 --> 00:15:08.509
sit there and you cast it in your head and
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00:15:08.549 --> 00:15:10.730
you work out all the bits and pieces that go
314
00:15:10.750 --> 00:15:13.909
with it. And because nobody picks it up, it sits
315
00:15:13.950 --> 00:15:16.190
there for a while and then something else comes along
316
00:15:16.230 --> 00:15:18.490
and you think, well, I like that now. And that
317
00:15:18.610 --> 00:15:21.190
one gets pushed aside. And so you end up with
318
00:15:21.230 --> 00:15:23.690
all these scripts at home that you want to do,
319
00:15:24.269 --> 00:15:25.789
but of course you can't do them all.
320
00:15:25.929 --> 00:15:26.149
So.
321
00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:30.320
You just wait and hope that, you know, when somebody says,
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00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:34.230
we want to do that script you've submitted, it's the
323
00:15:34.269 --> 00:15:35.649
latest one you're into.
324
00:15:35.909 --> 00:15:38.850
What's the play that you've always submitted that's always got rejected?
325
00:15:39.210 --> 00:15:41.230
Is there one that you've always gone, oh, fucker.
326
00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:46.580
No, not really because, as I say, they change all
327
00:15:46.620 --> 00:15:50.320
the time. But I do remember one year the Guild
328
00:15:50.990 --> 00:15:55.139
had somebody submit something and they dropped out for whatever
329
00:15:55.210 --> 00:15:57.990
the reason, whether it was illness or whatever. And they
330
00:15:58.049 --> 00:16:02.250
rang me and said, look, we need somebody urgently. You
331
00:16:02.269 --> 00:16:03.830
can do whatever you want to do.
332
00:16:04.049 --> 00:16:05.470
Oh, nice. Yeah.
333
00:16:05.509 --> 00:16:07.250
And so I said, I want to do Who's Afraid
334
00:16:07.289 --> 00:16:10.909
of Virginia Woolf? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they said, fine,
335
00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:13.850
do it. You know, and that's the only time I've
336
00:16:13.909 --> 00:16:14.850
ever really.
337
00:16:14.870 --> 00:16:18.639
Is that Julie Quick? Yeah. Chris Leach.
338
00:16:18.779 --> 00:16:22.879
Chris Leach. Because that's been done a few times. What
339
00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:24.720
made yours different, do you think?
340
00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.700
It was better. It was better.
341
00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:28.679
Why, though?
342
00:16:28.980 --> 00:16:29.519
I don't know.
343
00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:32.039
Julie got pneumonia on that one. Yes, she did.
344
00:16:32.139 --> 00:16:35.379
We had to cancel for a week because she was sick.
345
00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:37.080
Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up, Julie.
346
00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:37.419
Sorry.
347
00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:41.610
But she did talk about having being sick on that.
348
00:16:42.450 --> 00:16:48.870
I work with Chris now, so it was a great production. But, yeah,
349
00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:51.740
we've seen Virginia Woolf, what, Four or five times. I've
350
00:16:51.779 --> 00:16:52.299
not seen it.
351
00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:53.639
No.
352
00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:55.720
I see a new version of it probably every two years,
353
00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:56.019
I think.
354
00:16:56.259 --> 00:16:59.370
Yeah, there's been a couple of versions recently of it.
355
00:16:59.710 --> 00:17:00.000
Yes.
356
00:17:00.019 --> 00:17:02.110
Because did you do the full?
357
00:17:02.590 --> 00:17:03.429
Yeah, we did the full.
358
00:17:03.450 --> 00:17:04.769
You did the full one, didn't you? Yeah.
359
00:17:05.029 --> 00:17:06.470
There's more than one version?
360
00:17:06.930 --> 00:17:10.430
Well, there's a lot of editing done usually because it's
361
00:17:10.450 --> 00:17:11.849
very wordy.
362
00:17:12.390 --> 00:17:14.069
And like everything, or I.
363
00:17:14.069 --> 00:17:17.650
Find nowadays, people don't have the concentration span to sit
364
00:17:17.690 --> 00:17:22.130
through a three-hour video. three-act play anymore. So you've got
365
00:17:22.150 --> 00:17:25.089
to be very careful about what you submit as well
366
00:17:25.670 --> 00:17:26.950
because of that.
367
00:17:27.390 --> 00:17:28.890
But it's also, you know, you've got to be proud
368
00:17:28.910 --> 00:17:31.529
of what you're doing. And if you're like, I've always
369
00:17:31.569 --> 00:17:34.170
wanted to do this, we're doing it. And if you're
370
00:17:34.190 --> 00:17:36.240
committed to it, that's it, isn't it?
371
00:17:36.329 --> 00:17:39.369
Because how do you find plays to do? Are you
372
00:17:39.410 --> 00:17:42.930
just an avid reader of plays or do you see.
373
00:17:42.769 --> 00:17:44.490
A lot or...? Well.
374
00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.759
I mean, I see a lot in Adelaide, but of course,
375
00:17:48.779 --> 00:17:51.180
there's no point in doing those because they've been done.
376
00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:57.480
But yeah, I read a lot. I look to see
377
00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:00.720
what's on in London and New York and places like that.
378
00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:02.980
And if I like the sound of something, I'll order
379
00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.000
a script and read it. So I've got piles of
380
00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:09.839
scripts at home that, you know, and quite often you'll
381
00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:12.900
read one and think, well, it looked good, but now
382
00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:15.259
I've read it, I don't like it. And then you
383
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.240
have the pile that, yes, I'd like to do that
384
00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:21.349
one day. And that pile gradually grows. And then when
385
00:18:21.369 --> 00:18:24.369
you're ready, you know, people put out their advertisements saying,
386
00:18:24.410 --> 00:18:26.930
submit to us. You go through that pile and think,
387
00:18:27.009 --> 00:18:28.809
would that suit them? Would that suit them?
388
00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:32.609
Do you have a script reading ritual? Is it like
389
00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:35.269
a bed or you pour yourself a nice cup of
390
00:18:35.309 --> 00:18:37.430
tea or it's just whenever you can squeeze it in?
391
00:18:37.670 --> 00:18:38.619
No, I just read and went on.
392
00:18:38.630 --> 00:18:38.829
Yeah.
393
00:18:38.890 --> 00:18:41.930
Do you find if someone says, hey, Jeff, I reckon
394
00:18:41.950 --> 00:18:44.450
you'd like the script, does that switch you off a
395
00:18:44.470 --> 00:18:48.480
little bit? Because I've found like my partner likes to direct,
396
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:51.960
but if someone gives her a script, she's automatically kind of.
397
00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:55.960
I don't know. I'm always happy to read it.
398
00:18:55.980 --> 00:18:56.859
Yeah. You know.
399
00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:57.180
Yeah.
400
00:18:58.190 --> 00:18:59.670
Do you find you want the idea to come to
401
00:18:59.710 --> 00:19:01.730
you rather than someone give it to you?
402
00:19:01.750 --> 00:19:06.029
Not necessarily. As long as I see something in the
403
00:19:06.069 --> 00:19:06.609
script and.
404
00:19:06.569 --> 00:19:08.930
I think I can do something. Oh, yeah, there's something
405
00:19:08.970 --> 00:19:09.589
interesting here.
406
00:19:09.630 --> 00:19:12.150
Yeah, there's something there that I want to, you know,
407
00:19:12.529 --> 00:19:14.309
follow up on or whatever.
408
00:19:14.950 --> 00:19:18.210
What makes it interesting is a particular, like, oh, this passage,
409
00:19:18.410 --> 00:19:21.410
I could make this, yeah, like I really want to
410
00:19:21.509 --> 00:19:23.710
control what this scene looks like or.
411
00:19:24.009 --> 00:19:24.589
Yeah.
412
00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:25.329
Yeah.
413
00:19:25.410 --> 00:19:28.539
Oh, definitely because... From a personal point of view, when
414
00:19:28.660 --> 00:19:32.519
I go and see shows, I mean, you always sit
415
00:19:32.539 --> 00:19:34.259
there and you think, oh, if I was directing this,
416
00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:35.200
I would have done this.
417
00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:37.740
Me and I are terrible at sitting at the shows.
418
00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:39.400
We're like, yeah.
419
00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:41.569
I think, but you've got that luxury, don't you, that
420
00:19:41.589 --> 00:19:44.089
you actually weren't involved in it. You were coming in
421
00:19:44.250 --> 00:19:46.410
as an audience member. So it is quite easy to
422
00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:50.259
pick apart any show, really. But I think the ones that... make,
423
00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.759
that really impress me the most is when I'm not
424
00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:56.200
doing that because then I go, oh, wow, like this is,
425
00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:58.400
you know, like it's really taking me out of my
426
00:19:58.460 --> 00:20:00.650
own head and I can actually watch this and be
427
00:20:00.769 --> 00:20:03.630
really enthralled and involved in it. And I think they're
428
00:20:03.650 --> 00:20:05.829
the shows I walk away from going, God, that was amazing,
429
00:20:05.990 --> 00:20:08.640
you know, because I'm not, there's nothing that like the,
430
00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:11.369
like Heather and Jan and stuff will say it a lot.
431
00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:14.130
Like if it's like a little tag on a, you know,
432
00:20:14.170 --> 00:20:16.630
flower pot or something, all those little bits that have
433
00:20:16.670 --> 00:20:18.730
to come together to make a really great production. And
434
00:20:18.769 --> 00:20:20.170
when they do, it's so beautiful.
435
00:20:20.309 --> 00:20:21.329
Yeah. Yeah.
436
00:20:21.609 --> 00:20:24.819
And I also think with my experience of, you know,
437
00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:28.500
before I even got into directing and acting and that
438
00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:32.259
sort of thing with backstage work and that I, I
439
00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:34.980
find I look at everything. I don't just look at
440
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.859
the performers. And I find that when I go and
441
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.779
see things, I quite often think, well, they've done a
442
00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:45.460
lot of work with the performers, but they haven't done
443
00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:47.180
much with the lighting and, you.
444
00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:48.440
Know, that sort of thing.
445
00:20:48.740 --> 00:20:51.019
And I know you bring people in to do.
446
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:53.160
Those things for you. It's a hard thing to get
447
00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.380
right in amateur theatre when, you know, your funding is
448
00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:01.190
not state theatre level, obviously. Yeah. But you're right, sometimes
449
00:21:01.250 --> 00:21:02.819
it's like, yeah, they worked a hell of a lot
450
00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:04.500
with the actors, but I don't know what was going
451
00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:07.720
on with the props in that one. When you can
452
00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:10.380
see the IKEA label at the bottom of the thing,
453
00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:12.259
you're like, you probably should have removed that.
454
00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:15.519
Whereas I think because of my background in that stuff,
455
00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:19.039
when I've put together a team to put something on,
456
00:21:19.450 --> 00:21:21.890
you make sure that they know that you want to
457
00:21:21.930 --> 00:21:24.609
know what's going on with the props or what's going
458
00:21:24.730 --> 00:21:25.789
on with the lighting.
459
00:21:25.910 --> 00:21:29.259
Speaking from my experience of being directed by you, particularity
460
00:21:29.339 --> 00:21:31.700
was probably the thing that came through. It was like,
461
00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:35.000
get it right. Yes. Get it right.
462
00:21:35.180 --> 00:21:36.720
Yeah, and I'm a bit of a stickler for that
463
00:21:36.779 --> 00:21:37.279
sort of thing.
464
00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:40.079
What do you have to get right, though? What are
465
00:21:40.099 --> 00:21:42.880
we specifically talking about?
466
00:21:43.049 --> 00:21:45.589
I mean, working with St. Jude's was great because they
467
00:21:45.990 --> 00:21:47.450
are a great company to work with.
468
00:21:47.809 --> 00:21:48.029
Yes.
469
00:21:49.029 --> 00:21:53.059
But I know just Jeff's particularity and trying to get
470
00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:56.500
everyone in sync firstly as well, not just the actors,
471
00:21:56.539 --> 00:22:01.180
but getting talking, you know, blowing shit up your ass here.
472
00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:04.349
But you know what I mean? Like you actually got lighting, set,
473
00:22:04.829 --> 00:22:05.470
even music.
474
00:22:05.690 --> 00:22:05.990
Yes.
475
00:22:06.289 --> 00:22:10.910
Yeah. I'm very into the whole thing, not just the actors.
476
00:22:10.930 --> 00:22:15.509
I mean, actors are important, obviously, but so is everything
477
00:22:15.569 --> 00:22:17.359
else just as important.
478
00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:17.980
Yeah.
479
00:22:18.529 --> 00:22:24.660
And my experience of, you know, watching professional theatre as
480
00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:28.339
opposed to, say, community theatre, to me, there's no reason
481
00:22:28.380 --> 00:22:31.420
why our actors can't be as good as those people
482
00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:34.319
in professional theatre if they thought about what they were
483
00:22:34.380 --> 00:22:36.829
doing and, you know, and all that sort of. And
484
00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:41.000
obviously that, you know, some people do, but. amateur theatre
485
00:22:41.019 --> 00:22:43.740
or community theatre always used to have this, oh, we're
486
00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:47.079
just in it for the fun. Well, we're not. We're
487
00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:47.980
in it to put them.
488
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:49.920
Well, the people I work with, I don't feel as though.
489
00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:52.420
Are we having fun anymore? Yeah, this is kind of
490
00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:54.089
what we're talking about. You know, why do we do this?
491
00:22:54.150 --> 00:22:57.730
It's like it's I think what we've come to really
492
00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:00.650
recognise is we like the community, but we also like
493
00:23:00.690 --> 00:23:01.309
the challenge.
494
00:23:01.369 --> 00:23:05.529
Yes, yeah, exactly. And from my point of view, and
495
00:23:05.549 --> 00:23:07.900
this goes back to submitting plays and stuff like that
496
00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:12.819
to different groups, Some groups are better at it than others. Yes.
497
00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:14.380
And I think there's room.
498
00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:15.519
For groups to have fun with it.
499
00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:17.720
Oh, so do I. There's no point in doing it
500
00:23:17.779 --> 00:23:18.539
if you're not having fun.
501
00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:20.779
No, no, yeah. But I think, you know, we treat
502
00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:25.619
our craft seriously. There is room for fun. But at
503
00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:27.599
the end of the day, we still want to strive
504
00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:30.880
for truth. I think that's been my goal as an
505
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:36.089
actor anyway, and your goal is to be absolutely truthful. Yes.
506
00:23:36.369 --> 00:23:38.630
To the point where you learn your lines.
507
00:23:38.650 --> 00:23:38.950
Yeah.
508
00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:45.339
And my job as a director is I want you
509
00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:48.339
to do that. Yes. I don't want you to sit
510
00:23:48.380 --> 00:23:49.619
there and say, tell me what to do.
511
00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:53.440
So how do you, so stepping through that process, how
512
00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:56.849
do you communicate that vision to the production team? Is
513
00:23:57.410 --> 00:23:59.589
it something you sit down or you write pages or
514
00:23:59.609 --> 00:24:00.549
send them visuals?
515
00:24:00.569 --> 00:24:04.910
We talk about it. Yeah, yeah. And on a relaxed
516
00:24:04.970 --> 00:24:07.769
level as well, it's nothing sort of kind of you're
517
00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:09.960
What I find is you tend to work with the
518
00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:10.579
same people.
519
00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:10.940
Yes.
520
00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:13.519
So you've got props people, you ring up and say,
521
00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:15.789
I'm doing a show, are you interested? Yep, good, come along.
522
00:24:16.450 --> 00:24:20.410
You're lighting, yep, come along. And they know how you work,
523
00:24:20.450 --> 00:24:24.700
you know how they work, and it gets disruptive when
524
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:26.180
one of them's not available.
525
00:24:26.220 --> 00:24:28.349
Yes. And you've certainly got to bring somebody else in.
526
00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:29.920
You've got a new element to rope in.
527
00:24:29.940 --> 00:24:33.630
But I imagine for them... with someone as experienced as
528
00:24:33.670 --> 00:24:37.829
you and that's probably a blessing, right? Like, cause that
529
00:24:38.009 --> 00:24:42.390
also then gives you an opportunity to experience and train
530
00:24:42.470 --> 00:24:45.619
and teach somebody else, you know, how to do it well,
531
00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:49.019
I guess, which is so, yeah, I don't know. Maybe
532
00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:51.339
you need to do that more or something.
533
00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:54.549
Well, that's it, isn't it? Because like quite often, I mean,
534
00:24:54.589 --> 00:24:57.970
I like to encourage people to get involved and quite
535
00:24:58.049 --> 00:25:01.039
often you, you get somebody who comes along and says,
536
00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:03.200
I'd like to help. And you say, well, you could
537
00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:05.599
do props for us. And I've never done props before.
538
00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:07.480
And you say, well, I'll show you how to do
539
00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:09.619
it and what you need to do. And you just
540
00:25:09.660 --> 00:25:12.039
make sure that they do it the way you think
541
00:25:12.099 --> 00:25:14.480
it should be done or the way you've been taught
542
00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:17.180
to do it. And then that rubs off on them.
543
00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:21.740
And hopefully they tell the next person so that everybody knows.
544
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:26.000
I used to find it with stage management that you'd
545
00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:27.599
get a lot of people that say, yes, I'm the
546
00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:30.039
stage manager, but, they don't do half the things that
547
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:33.640
a stage manager is supposed to do. And so consequently,
548
00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:37.880
you know, they're doing 50% of the job of a
549
00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:42.089
stage manager, whereas really they should be doing, you.
550
00:25:42.049 --> 00:25:44.970
Know, a lot more stuff. It is a thankless task.
551
00:25:45.470 --> 00:25:48.049
And I think a lot of kids out of high
552
00:25:48.089 --> 00:25:49.750
school like to be like, yeah, I was a stage
553
00:25:49.789 --> 00:25:52.990
manager at my high school. And, yeah, you had a
554
00:25:53.079 --> 00:25:57.029
teacher that was kind of actually calling the shots. And
555
00:25:57.069 --> 00:25:59.049
then you kind of have to say to them, like, no,
556
00:25:59.089 --> 00:26:01.410
you actually have to be, you're kind of the captain
557
00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:04.470
on the ship. The director's done his job or her job.
558
00:26:05.170 --> 00:26:08.630
So you, it's, yeah, it's about trying to almost teach captaincy.
559
00:26:08.670 --> 00:26:11.309
Like it's like an officer's course to be a stage manager. Yeah.
560
00:26:11.410 --> 00:26:14.069
And it's really hard to teach that to somebody who's
561
00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:17.210
never done it before or doesn't even know what a
562
00:26:17.250 --> 00:26:21.930
stage manager is. You know, yeah. But when you find
563
00:26:21.990 --> 00:26:25.039
somebody who's good at it, then you hang on to them.
564
00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:25.799
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
565
00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:28.440
Is that where you were teaching in China when you
566
00:26:28.460 --> 00:26:29.079
went over there?
567
00:26:29.539 --> 00:26:32.059
No, that was different because it was my partner who
568
00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:34.940
got the job in China because she's a schoolteacher.
569
00:26:35.029 --> 00:26:35.309
Yes.
570
00:26:35.589 --> 00:26:37.309
And I just went for the ride.
571
00:26:37.390 --> 00:26:38.069
Yeah, you're cool.
572
00:26:38.089 --> 00:26:40.789
We were only going for a year and we went.
573
00:26:41.509 --> 00:26:45.950
It was an international school and we got there and
574
00:26:45.990 --> 00:26:48.839
so I had nothing to do. And the guy who
575
00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:53.190
ran the school, He only wanted South Australian teachers.
576
00:26:53.609 --> 00:26:55.400
It was a SACE China school, was it?
577
00:26:56.059 --> 00:26:58.039
It's an international school.
578
00:26:58.180 --> 00:27:01.859
Because I know a lot of China schools teach SACE.
579
00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:02.880
There are a few, yeah.
580
00:27:03.099 --> 00:27:06.579
Yeah, and he only wanted South Australian teachers because he
581
00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:10.609
was from South Australia. And so all the staff were
582
00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:15.029
from South Australia. And each staff member had a Chinese
583
00:27:15.710 --> 00:27:20.250
teacher working with them. So each classroom had a South
584
00:27:20.289 --> 00:27:24.210
Australian teacher and a Chinese teacher because they wanted to
585
00:27:24.269 --> 00:27:29.289
learn our system. And so I was there and they
586
00:27:29.349 --> 00:27:30.809
asked me what I did. And I said, I'll do
587
00:27:30.829 --> 00:27:32.769
stuff in theatre. And he says, well, come and teach
588
00:27:32.789 --> 00:27:33.690
the kids drama.
589
00:27:33.950 --> 00:27:34.329
Oh, yay.
590
00:27:34.470 --> 00:27:36.990
So I used to go in three times a week
591
00:27:37.069 --> 00:27:42.170
and teach them drama. But the kids were arranged from
592
00:27:42.309 --> 00:27:45.799
little tackers up to, you know, high school kids, and
593
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.039
they were from all over the world because their parents
594
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:50.460
had got jobs in China.
595
00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:50.779
Yes.
596
00:27:50.859 --> 00:27:54.579
And so we had Mexican kids and, you know, Australian
597
00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:58.240
kids and some kids who couldn't even speak English. And,
598
00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:02.650
you know, so you had a real motley group of kids.
599
00:28:02.789 --> 00:28:08.089
And so trying to teach them English. just drama classes.
600
00:28:08.109 --> 00:28:09.809
So in the end, we decided to do a production
601
00:28:09.829 --> 00:28:10.599
of Macbeth.
602
00:28:10.910 --> 00:28:11.450
Oh, wow.
603
00:28:11.470 --> 00:28:15.039
A cut-down version, but they loved it.
604
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:19.920
Yeah, they were like the Chinese Orson Welles. Orson Welles
605
00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:23.799
did the first ever all-black production of Macbeth. I know
606
00:28:23.819 --> 00:28:27.910
we shouldn't use that word, but... Macbeth. But, yeah, so
607
00:28:27.950 --> 00:28:31.089
you're kind of like putting a whole new spin on things.
608
00:28:31.609 --> 00:28:33.150
I would have loved to watch that.
609
00:28:33.210 --> 00:28:35.700
I mean, the kids didn't know anything about theatre.
610
00:28:35.819 --> 00:28:36.039
Yeah.
611
00:28:36.259 --> 00:28:38.859
So, you know, they were just up for anything. And,
612
00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:40.920
of course, you had some who couldn't speak English and
613
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:44.400
some who could, and then you had some Australian kids who,
614
00:28:44.579 --> 00:28:47.660
you know, were right into it. So we had a
615
00:28:47.700 --> 00:28:49.740
cut-down version because you can get versions.
616
00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:51.859
So at that point you were just teaching intentions.
617
00:28:52.250 --> 00:28:54.690
Yes, yeah, because I'm not a teacher, so I don't
618
00:28:54.710 --> 00:28:57.150
know how to teach people stuff. But I used to
619
00:28:57.210 --> 00:28:59.309
run classes and get them to run around the room
620
00:28:59.369 --> 00:29:01.869
and do the classes we used to do when we
621
00:29:01.910 --> 00:29:06.009
were at NIDA and stuff like that. But it was
622
00:29:06.069 --> 00:29:08.309
more interesting for them to actually do it.
623
00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:09.970
Well, it would have built up their confidence.
624
00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:12.259
Oh, yeah, definitely, yeah.
625
00:29:12.390 --> 00:29:14.880
Like they're just like, if you can do that, you know,
626
00:29:14.940 --> 00:29:17.160
and you're in, like, I can imagine it would be
627
00:29:17.180 --> 00:29:21.039
terrifying being in an international school. It's like, who am I? Yeah.
628
00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:23.799
They're like, wait, theatre? Yeah. Holy crap.
629
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:25.759
And, of course, the school never really had a theatre
630
00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:27.920
program either. It was only because I happened to be
631
00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:29.279
there that they said, come and do it.
632
00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:29.880
They did it. That's amazing.
633
00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:30.500
Amazing.
634
00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:31.980
And what was the food like?
635
00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:32.440
Sorry?
636
00:29:32.569 --> 00:29:33.529
What was the food like?
637
00:29:33.849 --> 00:29:34.250
The Chinese food.
638
00:29:34.269 --> 00:29:34.910
The Chinese food, yes.
639
00:29:35.029 --> 00:29:35.769
It's brilliant.
640
00:29:35.869 --> 00:29:36.829
I bet.
641
00:29:36.950 --> 00:29:37.589
I can't wait.
642
00:29:37.609 --> 00:29:38.170
I so want to go.
643
00:29:38.190 --> 00:29:38.269
Yeah.
644
00:29:38.789 --> 00:29:40.500
A lot of people are going there. now.
645
00:29:40.579 --> 00:29:44.319
Yeah. It's a beautiful country. I mean, they put us
646
00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:46.700
up in an apartment. So you had an apartment. The
647
00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:48.920
car used to come around, pick you up every morning,
648
00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:49.890
take you to school.
649
00:29:49.930 --> 00:29:50.390
Oh, my gosh.
650
00:29:50.410 --> 00:29:52.950
I mean, it was very, you know, it was brilliant
651
00:29:52.990 --> 00:29:55.130
for us. We ended up staying three years. Yes.
652
00:29:56.150 --> 00:29:59.920
Yeah. So it was... Where in China was this? Ningbo.
653
00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:04.200
Ningbo. Yeah, it used to be a– it's a port,
654
00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:06.779
and it used to have a big brewery there at
655
00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:10.450
one stage. It's just across the bay from Shanghai.
656
00:30:11.309 --> 00:30:14.250
So a lot of Western architecture and all that sort
657
00:30:14.269 --> 00:30:14.589
of stuff.
658
00:30:14.609 --> 00:30:20.009
Well, Ningbo was– Ningbo's bigger than Adelaide. Yeah. But, yeah,
659
00:30:20.049 --> 00:30:22.109
because they're opening up to.
660
00:30:21.990 --> 00:30:23.549
The Western world.
661
00:30:24.049 --> 00:30:26.329
So some of it's good and some of it's bad.
662
00:30:26.569 --> 00:30:31.039
I mean, for instance– Everybody travels by bus there because
663
00:30:31.099 --> 00:30:35.440
it's easier. We weren't allowed to drive while we were there. Right.
664
00:30:35.460 --> 00:30:36.240
So we all.
665
00:30:36.109 --> 00:30:38.970
Had to catch buses. But the government decided one day
666
00:30:39.009 --> 00:30:41.970
that they were going to replace all the buses to
667
00:30:42.009 --> 00:30:45.230
brand-new buses, and they did it overnight. You'd wake up
668
00:30:45.329 --> 00:30:49.369
one morning and there's brand-new buses everywhere because there's so
669
00:30:49.390 --> 00:30:52.920
many people. If they want to build a highway... They
670
00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:55.319
can do it in a week. Yeah, wow. Boom, and
671
00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:58.680
up it comes. So things are changing very quickly here.
672
00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:03.240
But the old town where you used to go to eat,
673
00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:08.480
and it was so cheap. But all these, like, little garages,
674
00:31:08.579 --> 00:31:11.460
concrete garages, they turned into restaurants.
675
00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:11.940
Yes.
676
00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:14.319
And run by just local people. But it's the best
677
00:31:14.339 --> 00:31:15.180
food you've ever had.
678
00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:15.819
Oh, God.
679
00:31:15.859 --> 00:31:18.720
And it's so cheap. I want to go. We should go.
680
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:19.759
We should go.
681
00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:21.599
You eat out every night because it's cheaper.
682
00:31:21.619 --> 00:31:22.500
I'll be tailed, but.
683
00:31:23.009 --> 00:31:24.390
Okay.
684
00:31:24.829 --> 00:31:27.059
Well, now we've talked about the food. I've actually got
685
00:31:27.099 --> 00:31:31.059
to hear what was the food like, actually. But jumping
686
00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:36.210
back to the theatre podcast stuff, you seem to be
687
00:31:36.289 --> 00:31:39.589
really drawn from... what I've seen of your work as
688
00:31:39.650 --> 00:31:45.490
well as previously to kind of quite emotionally heavy theatre
689
00:31:45.789 --> 00:31:48.710
and also heavy kind of playwrights. I mean, you've done
690
00:31:48.970 --> 00:31:53.759
Pinter and Bovell and Marber and Albie and stuff. What
691
00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:56.400
do you think that says about you with the kind
692
00:31:56.440 --> 00:31:57.700
of shows that you select?
693
00:31:58.220 --> 00:32:00.839
It's more about what I want the actors to do
694
00:32:00.900 --> 00:32:05.740
with it. I don't, I like actors to have to,
695
00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:10.400
put in. And, and, and I think, I mean, a
696
00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:13.279
lot of actors would, you find it in auditions when
697
00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:15.920
you audition for these sort of shows and people come
698
00:32:15.980 --> 00:32:19.630
along and audition and you say, right, here's a piece of,
699
00:32:20.069 --> 00:32:23.470
you know, text. I want you to read that, interpret
700
00:32:23.529 --> 00:32:26.930
it any way you want, but show me what you
701
00:32:26.990 --> 00:32:30.890
can do with that piece of text. And, and quite
702
00:32:30.950 --> 00:32:34.269
often people, They just read it and you sort of think, no, no, no, no,
703
00:32:34.549 --> 00:32:36.329
show me what you want to do with it. It
704
00:32:36.369 --> 00:32:39.349
doesn't matter whether it's what you think I want or
705
00:32:39.410 --> 00:32:41.279
what you think the play is about.
706
00:32:41.450 --> 00:32:41.670
Yes.
707
00:32:41.710 --> 00:32:43.839
This piece of text I'm giving you here, I want
708
00:32:43.900 --> 00:32:48.220
you to interpret it any way you want. And that
709
00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:51.680
way you sort of see where they're going as actors
710
00:32:51.799 --> 00:32:55.059
with what they want to do with something. And that's
711
00:32:55.079 --> 00:32:57.059
why I like those sort of plays because they've got
712
00:32:57.099 --> 00:32:57.740
those sorts of.
713
00:32:57.779 --> 00:33:00.039
Roles in them. It almost feels like you're creating a palette.
714
00:33:00.299 --> 00:33:03.390
Like you're trying to just get. oh, they're capable of this,
715
00:33:03.450 --> 00:33:06.210
they're capable of that. We might use that colour. Yeah.
716
00:33:06.509 --> 00:33:10.309
Yeah, we might put that through. But I think you
717
00:33:10.369 --> 00:33:14.089
seem to be drawn to really strong emotional storytelling.
718
00:33:14.130 --> 00:33:17.690
Yeah, a lot of dark stuff, let's be honest. Yeah.
719
00:33:17.869 --> 00:33:19.339
I like that sort of stuff anyway.
720
00:33:19.430 --> 00:33:22.220
Where does that come from? Do you mind if we
721
00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:27.039
ask that? Like what draws you to those more darker themes?
722
00:33:27.619 --> 00:33:31.140
Because I don't like the light ones. I don't like the...
723
00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:34.640
like comedies and that sort of thing.
724
00:33:35.740 --> 00:33:38.119
But I don't see your work as cynical.
725
00:33:39.160 --> 00:33:42.039
I think it's like Dave, right? He likes lighter stuff.
726
00:33:42.059 --> 00:33:43.359
He doesn't like heavy stuff.
727
00:33:43.660 --> 00:33:44.720
And I'm the opposite.
728
00:33:44.900 --> 00:33:46.980
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think because a lot of
729
00:33:48.140 --> 00:33:50.039
theatre groups and a lot of people aren't directing the
730
00:33:50.059 --> 00:33:50.940
stuff you are directing.
731
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:51.700
No, and that's why it's difficult to.
732
00:33:51.700 --> 00:33:53.349
So it's actually kind of some brave stuff.
733
00:33:53.109 --> 00:33:55.309
There, which, I mean, I love.
734
00:33:55.349 --> 00:33:57.170
I mean, one of the best shows I've ever seen
735
00:33:57.210 --> 00:34:00.750
was– and I think I sent you a message afterwards
736
00:34:00.769 --> 00:34:05.250
because I was so blown away by Of Mice and Men. Oh, yeah.
737
00:34:05.269 --> 00:34:07.789
And it was like it was the best thing I've
738
00:34:07.829 --> 00:34:10.820
ever seen Leighton do. And, I mean, the whole cast
739
00:34:10.840 --> 00:34:13.519
was amazing. The set was phenomenal. And I just remember
740
00:34:13.539 --> 00:34:17.179
being so emotionally impacted by that. And it was just amazing.
741
00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:20.139
It was so well done. Like it was, yeah, it
742
00:34:20.179 --> 00:34:23.570
was great. And your ability to kind of get the
743
00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:29.280
performances out of those guys was seemed to be done
744
00:34:29.340 --> 00:34:32.659
with such a deft hand. Because do you have, like,
745
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:34.519
favourite actors that you like to work with? I know
746
00:34:34.539 --> 00:34:36.559
Nicole Ruddy is someone that you work a lot with.
747
00:34:36.619 --> 00:34:40.920
Yeah, but I also like to find people. I don't
748
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:43.320
know if you saw The Wild that we did recently.
749
00:34:43.389 --> 00:34:45.469
No, I missed it, unfortunately, but I heard it was phenomenal. Sam,
750
00:34:45.510 --> 00:34:48.730
who was in The Wild. Sam is in a... I
751
00:34:48.829 --> 00:34:51.710
really like watching Sam on stage. I've worked with Sam
752
00:34:51.750 --> 00:34:52.449
a couple of times.
753
00:34:52.929 --> 00:34:56.420
He came along to an audition for... I think when
754
00:34:56.460 --> 00:34:58.960
we did Pittman Painters.
755
00:35:00.119 --> 00:35:01.679
Brilliant accent worker too.
756
00:35:02.099 --> 00:35:05.579
Yeah, he's very good at accents. But also his voice
757
00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:09.119
at the audition, you know, his voice just grabbed me
758
00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:11.989
and said, I have to be in this play.
759
00:35:12.070 --> 00:35:13.050
I've got this voice.
760
00:35:13.369 --> 00:35:13.650
Yes.
761
00:35:13.750 --> 00:35:16.670
You know, and things like that that you pick up
762
00:35:16.769 --> 00:35:20.570
from different people. So we cast him in Pittman Painters
763
00:35:21.210 --> 00:35:23.619
and we, Now he's a favourite one of mine that
764
00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:26.059
I use where I can because I've said to him,
765
00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:30.260
you know, you're going to get typecast just because of
766
00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:34.750
who you are, your size and this sort of thing.
767
00:35:35.090 --> 00:35:37.730
And I said, but you don't have to be. You
768
00:35:37.789 --> 00:35:42.550
can do these roles that, you know, and like we've
769
00:35:42.570 --> 00:35:46.929
just done Blue Remembered Hills up at the Star Theatre
770
00:35:47.230 --> 00:35:52.429
and he played a 10-year-old. Yes. Because he can do
771
00:35:52.510 --> 00:35:54.429
those things, but quite often you've got to.
772
00:35:54.909 --> 00:35:58.590
He's an amazing find because I worked with him when
773
00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:01.519
he was just starting. I was like, who's this guy?
774
00:36:01.960 --> 00:36:04.000
He was just, you know, former chef kind of.
775
00:36:04.019 --> 00:36:04.280
Yeah.
776
00:36:04.900 --> 00:36:07.639
And I was like, this guy's got depth. He's got like,
777
00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:09.579
he knows stagecraft.
778
00:36:09.820 --> 00:36:10.090
Yeah.
779
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:13.670
And he's willing to do the things you suggest.
780
00:36:13.730 --> 00:36:14.889
Can take direction. Yeah.
781
00:36:14.989 --> 00:36:17.250
And you say, you know, try doing it like, you know.
782
00:36:18.230 --> 00:36:19.650
And that's what I like.
783
00:36:20.150 --> 00:36:22.760
Do you like that play in rehearsals? Like where you,
784
00:36:22.820 --> 00:36:24.900
because I know there's some directors in Adelaide that are
785
00:36:24.920 --> 00:36:26.980
very specific, like say the word this way.
786
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:27.780
Yeah.
787
00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:29.480
You sound like you don't work like that.
788
00:36:30.139 --> 00:36:33.579
No, I do. It does worry me sometimes when say
789
00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:38.690
the word like this. No, I like actors to show
790
00:36:38.829 --> 00:36:42.150
me what they can do before I start saying, no,
791
00:36:42.210 --> 00:36:43.449
I want you to do it like this.
792
00:36:43.469 --> 00:36:43.730
Yes.
793
00:36:44.530 --> 00:36:45.190
If it looks.
794
00:36:46.230 --> 00:36:48.550
Well, that makes it a partnership, doesn't it? Yes.
795
00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:52.550
And if it. In the rehearsal process, if it looks
796
00:36:52.650 --> 00:36:54.809
as though, you know, I mean you can only say
797
00:36:54.869 --> 00:36:57.650
to them so many times, show me something.
798
00:36:57.690 --> 00:36:57.929
Yes.
799
00:36:58.190 --> 00:37:00.090
If they don't, then it gets to the point.
800
00:36:59.969 --> 00:37:01.289
Where you say, well, do it like this.
801
00:37:01.309 --> 00:37:03.110
Well, and you've got the practicality in that. Like there's
802
00:37:03.139 --> 00:37:04.760
going to be points where the script is like you
803
00:37:04.780 --> 00:37:05.739
need to pick up a telephone.
804
00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:06.019
Yes.
805
00:37:06.039 --> 00:37:07.579
Like it's kind of pretty obvious.
806
00:37:07.619 --> 00:37:11.300
And also the interpretation of lines. I don't know what
807
00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:14.519
it is, but, you know, I look at a script
808
00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:18.010
and I read a piece of dialogue and think, oh,
809
00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:20.559
Do it like this. And you give it to somebody
810
00:37:20.579 --> 00:37:22.800
and they do it, you know, and you think, can't
811
00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:24.539
they see what that's telling them?
812
00:37:24.820 --> 00:37:25.059
Yes.
813
00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:27.139
You know, and maybe you just need to point it
814
00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:30.239
out to them or, you know, stress this word, not
815
00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:30.699
that word.
816
00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:32.900
And it's also telling the story. Like if you say
817
00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:35.019
it that way, the audience is not actually going to
818
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:35.900
understand what you're saying.
819
00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:36.599
Exactly.
820
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:37.099
Yeah.
821
00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:41.610
And just little things like, you know, when you first
822
00:37:41.670 --> 00:37:45.380
mention somebody's name on stage, if the audience miss it,
823
00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:48.519
You know, so you as an actor has to make
824
00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:51.119
sure that, you know, we know who you're talking about.
825
00:37:51.139 --> 00:37:51.460
Yes.
826
00:37:51.579 --> 00:37:52.460
Just things like that.
827
00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:54.639
But I think it's also that's part of the director
828
00:37:54.659 --> 00:38:00.550
is kind of like turning on that focus because actors
829
00:38:00.590 --> 00:38:01.969
also work differently too, right?
830
00:38:01.989 --> 00:38:02.250
Oh, yeah.
831
00:38:02.530 --> 00:38:05.969
So some people are very heavily text-driven and want to
832
00:38:06.010 --> 00:38:09.000
do everything from like, you know, the commas and stuff.
833
00:38:09.539 --> 00:38:12.119
I mean, I tend to want to play first without,
834
00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:14.969
and then kind of organically start building a performance. Like
835
00:38:15.010 --> 00:38:16.309
I don't really, I don't want to come in.
836
00:38:16.889 --> 00:38:18.989
No, no, that's good, yeah.
837
00:38:19.329 --> 00:38:21.070
Because I want to be able to play and plus
838
00:38:21.110 --> 00:38:22.869
that's what acting is, right? Like if you've got someone
839
00:38:22.909 --> 00:38:24.449
else delivering a line a different way on the other
840
00:38:24.489 --> 00:38:26.179
side of the room, then you have to adapt to that.
841
00:38:26.239 --> 00:38:29.519
So I love that play stuff while there's other actors
842
00:38:29.559 --> 00:38:31.300
I've worked with who are like, no, no, tell me
843
00:38:31.320 --> 00:38:32.179
where to put my hand.
844
00:38:32.219 --> 00:38:33.320
You're going, are you joking?
845
00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:36.420
Like seriously, just try. So I think as a director
846
00:38:36.460 --> 00:38:39.489
that's probably the challenge is kind of keeping up all
847
00:38:39.530 --> 00:38:42.849
these different ways of actually doing a performance and moulding
848
00:38:42.889 --> 00:38:45.670
a performance and kind of keeping them all in the
849
00:38:45.710 --> 00:38:49.000
same line. doing it probably in the same pace at
850
00:38:49.039 --> 00:38:50.940
some stages as well because you don't want people to
851
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:52.460
peak too early and all that kind of guff.
852
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:55.679
Well, it's reaching balance, isn't it? You don't want someone
853
00:38:55.739 --> 00:38:59.969
overtaking the show or being too loud, which I can
854
00:39:00.030 --> 00:39:01.190
sometimes be.
855
00:39:01.670 --> 00:39:03.510
But then you've got to be able to say to
856
00:39:03.530 --> 00:39:06.010
those people, you know, you need to tone it down
857
00:39:06.070 --> 00:39:09.030
a bit or you guys need to get to his level.
858
00:39:09.170 --> 00:39:11.780
And if they can't take it on the chin, then,
859
00:39:11.969 --> 00:39:15.539
you know, that's a conversation that's quite difficult, isn't it?
860
00:39:15.579 --> 00:39:18.309
You're like... Well, that's kind of what it's about. And
861
00:39:18.329 --> 00:39:21.960
we're all like this mixing board here. If the levels
862
00:39:22.019 --> 00:39:23.420
aren't going to work, no one's going to want to
863
00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:24.000
listen to it.
864
00:39:24.099 --> 00:39:26.760
And it's the same with, even though you're up there
865
00:39:27.010 --> 00:39:29.519
performing a character and all that stuff, there's an audience
866
00:39:29.599 --> 00:39:32.099
out there watching you and you have to be aware
867
00:39:32.179 --> 00:39:35.519
of them so that you know when they're laughing and
868
00:39:35.539 --> 00:39:40.320
when they're crying. So really you've got to departmentalise everything.
869
00:39:40.340 --> 00:39:43.099
This is my performance. This is my bit that's watching
870
00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:46.889
the audience. All those sorts of things that, you know,
871
00:39:47.250 --> 00:39:51.210
especially actors who are have just come up through the,
872
00:39:51.489 --> 00:39:54.420
you know, by being in plays. They've never had any
873
00:39:54.500 --> 00:39:58.019
formal training or anything like that. You tend to find
874
00:39:58.059 --> 00:40:00.239
they're the ones who you have to say those sorts
875
00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:03.469
of things to because they've never been taught that.
876
00:40:04.610 --> 00:40:07.130
You have to serve the story at the end of
877
00:40:07.170 --> 00:40:08.030
the day, don't you?
878
00:40:08.050 --> 00:40:08.210
Yeah.
879
00:40:09.170 --> 00:40:11.659
But even that's a skill. Like I think you do
880
00:40:11.820 --> 00:40:15.019
and I think, you know, that's where the people and
881
00:40:15.059 --> 00:40:17.239
community theatre and all these people that come through and
882
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:23.019
teach you because if you're caring about, as an actor speaking,
883
00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:26.059
if you care about anything about the craft, you are
884
00:40:26.360 --> 00:40:29.239
just a sponge really. You're taking lots of information and
885
00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:33.210
interpreting it and throwing a ball over to the other person.
886
00:40:33.250 --> 00:40:37.070
So I think it's just. It's sucking all that information in,
887
00:40:37.079 --> 00:40:39.019
but these people need to be given a chance, right,
888
00:40:39.099 --> 00:40:41.920
and opportunities for roles. And it sounds like this is
889
00:40:41.960 --> 00:40:44.739
what you've done for, what was his name again, from
890
00:40:44.760 --> 00:40:45.139
the Wales?
891
00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:45.800
Sam.
892
00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:49.550
Yeah, you know, amazing lead role and beautiful part.
893
00:40:49.869 --> 00:40:51.469
Especially if you think they can do it.
894
00:40:51.610 --> 00:40:51.909
Yes.
895
00:40:51.929 --> 00:40:54.250
You know, even if they don't think they can.
896
00:40:54.269 --> 00:40:56.150
Yeah, I would say you've taken on a lot of
897
00:40:56.190 --> 00:40:56.909
new actors.
898
00:40:57.030 --> 00:41:00.349
Have you cast someone before and went, oh, fuck, this
899
00:41:00.550 --> 00:41:01.289
is a mistake?
900
00:41:03.219 --> 00:41:05.409
Not that I can think of. I mean, sometimes then
901
00:41:05.610 --> 00:41:08.590
they don't quite get where you think they should get to,
902
00:41:08.650 --> 00:41:11.210
but not necessarily a mistake.
903
00:41:12.429 --> 00:41:14.409
Is that a heavy burden as a director to kind
904
00:41:14.449 --> 00:41:17.070
of see a scene or see and go, that's not
905
00:41:17.090 --> 00:41:19.780
what I wanted? But knowing that you're kind of going, well,
906
00:41:20.139 --> 00:41:22.599
I can't change it now. I've just got to accept
907
00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:24.079
that that's what it is.
908
00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:26.360
Yeah. Like painting a picture.
909
00:41:26.380 --> 00:41:27.219
I guess.
910
00:41:27.260 --> 00:41:28.849
Directing is compromise, isn't it?
911
00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:33.340
Yes, it is compromise, but also it's... You know, you
912
00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:36.760
guys are performing up here. You have to be adaptable.
913
00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:38.519
So if at the last minute we decide we've got
914
00:41:38.539 --> 00:41:44.039
to change something, you have to adapt. Yes. Yeah, it's
915
00:41:44.099 --> 00:41:44.880
all those things.
916
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:47.800
Do you keep directing throughout the show or do you
917
00:41:48.050 --> 00:41:49.449
after opening night?
918
00:41:49.469 --> 00:41:53.429
No, once opening night, I mean, I still hang around. Yes.
919
00:41:53.550 --> 00:41:53.739
And I.
920
00:41:54.670 --> 00:41:56.409
Is it not boring? You've seen it so many times.
921
00:41:56.429 --> 00:41:56.610
I know.
922
00:41:56.710 --> 00:41:58.630
I don't watch it all the time. I don't watch
923
00:41:58.690 --> 00:42:01.809
it all the time. Some nights I stay backstage and
924
00:42:01.869 --> 00:42:04.510
listen to it without watching it. Other nights I go
925
00:42:04.530 --> 00:42:05.630
for a walk around the streets.
926
00:42:05.829 --> 00:42:06.090
Yes.
927
00:42:06.949 --> 00:42:09.250
I mean, I try to watch it, you know, as
928
00:42:09.309 --> 00:42:09.869
often as possible.
929
00:42:09.889 --> 00:42:11.809
When we did Things That Know To Be True, you
930
00:42:11.849 --> 00:42:12.789
were there most nights.
931
00:42:12.829 --> 00:42:14.210
Yes, because there's nowhere to go.
932
00:42:14.329 --> 00:42:16.650
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, true.
933
00:42:16.809 --> 00:42:18.130
Why do you feel like you have to be there
934
00:42:18.170 --> 00:42:20.010
every night? Who's that for?
935
00:42:20.389 --> 00:42:20.650
Me.
936
00:42:21.050 --> 00:42:21.309
Yeah?
937
00:42:21.409 --> 00:42:24.369
Yeah, it's for me because I know that, you know...
938
00:42:25.030 --> 00:42:28.650
my stage manager, whoever it happens to be, you know,
939
00:42:28.710 --> 00:42:32.309
is running the show. Yes. And as they should be.
940
00:42:32.809 --> 00:42:35.210
And I've got confidence in them to do that. And
941
00:42:35.309 --> 00:42:37.880
I know that they will go and tell somebody, you know,
942
00:42:37.929 --> 00:42:40.619
you can't do that. You've got to do whatever. I mean,
943
00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:42.719
back in the old days when people used to lark
944
00:42:42.739 --> 00:42:46.599
around on, you know, and do stupid things on stage. But,
945
00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:48.880
I mean, it used to happen quite a lot where
946
00:42:48.900 --> 00:42:51.889
people would leave obscene things in the cupboard so when
947
00:42:51.929 --> 00:42:52.889
somebody opens it.
948
00:42:53.050 --> 00:42:55.110
That's been completely ironed out now.
949
00:42:55.469 --> 00:42:57.550
I mean, it's terrible, those sorts of things that used
950
00:42:57.590 --> 00:43:01.610
to go on. But, yeah, I don't like that sort
951
00:43:01.670 --> 00:43:02.510
of stuff.
952
00:43:03.369 --> 00:43:06.380
But it's also the human thing of, you know, we
953
00:43:06.659 --> 00:43:11.360
get applause as actors, but you've put probably more energy
954
00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:15.239
and effort. It's the human idea of validation. I would
955
00:43:15.340 --> 00:43:17.510
like to hang around just to be like, did this
956
00:43:17.590 --> 00:43:19.619
audience like it or did that audience like it?
957
00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:24.760
Yeah, I mean, it is more that. It's more I'll
958
00:43:24.800 --> 00:43:26.739
sit in the audience and see how the audience reacts
959
00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:28.699
rather than what they're doing up on stage.
960
00:43:28.719 --> 00:43:31.110
Because it's not going to be the same show every night.
961
00:43:31.130 --> 00:43:33.670
No, but I know what they're doing up there. So,
962
00:43:33.869 --> 00:43:37.650
you know, and that's why sometimes I stay backstage and
963
00:43:37.690 --> 00:43:40.690
just listen to it just to see what it sounds
964
00:43:40.750 --> 00:43:45.699
like backstage, you know, without seeing it. Other times I'll...
965
00:43:46.590 --> 00:43:49.400
You know, just watch a bit of it. But, yeah,
966
00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:54.019
I like to be there. And you also get fed up.
967
00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:58.340
I've seen this show so many times. Yeah, I bet.
968
00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:02.440
I get fed up being in them sometimes. I'm done
969
00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:03.119
with this show.
970
00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:08.389
I mean, we don't have exceptionally long runs or anything. But, yeah,
971
00:44:08.409 --> 00:44:10.809
it can get a bit, you know, after you've seen
972
00:44:10.869 --> 00:44:11.690
it a few times.
973
00:44:12.429 --> 00:44:17.260
Well, because you're also, your shows are very heavily praised. justifiably,
974
00:44:17.800 --> 00:44:22.329
and you're award-winning and you've got great reviews. How do
975
00:44:22.389 --> 00:44:28.309
you take the criticism when people aren't so raving about
976
00:44:28.530 --> 00:44:31.010
a show or a performance or something? Does that affect
977
00:44:31.050 --> 00:44:33.039
you at all if you've ever had that happen to you?
978
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:38.320
No, not really. I mean, reviews and things like that,
979
00:44:39.340 --> 00:44:42.090
I'll take the ones that tell you you're wonderful. And
980
00:44:42.110 --> 00:44:44.429
the ones that I don't worry about.
981
00:44:44.449 --> 00:44:45.070
Yes, yeah.
982
00:44:45.090 --> 00:44:49.070
Because I think we as a production group know whether
983
00:44:49.110 --> 00:44:54.030
what we've created is good or bad. And if somebody
984
00:44:54.070 --> 00:44:56.409
doesn't like it, well, that's their personal taste. I mean,
985
00:44:56.489 --> 00:44:58.349
I go and see a lot of things I don't like,
986
00:44:58.530 --> 00:44:59.949
but that doesn't mean it's bad.
987
00:44:59.969 --> 00:45:01.530
Have you ever left an interval?
988
00:45:03.610 --> 00:45:04.840
Yes. Good boy.
989
00:45:04.860 --> 00:45:05.980
I have too. Yeah.
990
00:45:07.019 --> 00:45:08.500
You needed that one, didn't you?
991
00:45:08.619 --> 00:45:12.289
Although I try not to because I remember somebody once
992
00:45:12.329 --> 00:45:15.250
saying to me, you know, if you leave it until
993
00:45:15.269 --> 00:45:16.849
when it gets better, you've missed it.
994
00:45:17.210 --> 00:45:17.309
Yes.
995
00:45:17.329 --> 00:45:19.969
So you need to stay to the end. And sometimes
996
00:45:19.989 --> 00:45:21.579
you think, I wish I hadn't stayed to the end.
997
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:24.559
But so I try not to do that.
998
00:45:24.579 --> 00:45:24.659
Yes.
999
00:45:24.780 --> 00:45:28.639
I have done it, but not very often. But I,
1000
00:45:29.079 --> 00:45:31.360
you know, you've got to have confidence in what you're
1001
00:45:31.389 --> 00:45:35.409
putting in. And I know that, you know, Like I am,
1002
00:45:35.510 --> 00:45:38.070
I don't like everything I see and crits come along
1003
00:45:38.110 --> 00:45:41.030
and they don't like everything they see and public don't
1004
00:45:41.090 --> 00:45:44.880
like everything they see. But if you know it's good,
1005
00:45:45.519 --> 00:45:46.840
you know, it doesn't really matter.
1006
00:45:48.579 --> 00:45:50.440
And then when you do a show like The Diary
1007
00:45:50.460 --> 00:45:54.929
of Anne Frank, another amazing show, beautifully cast, the set
1008
00:45:54.949 --> 00:45:55.690
was phenomenal.
1009
00:45:55.730 --> 00:45:56.690
Who did the set for that?
1010
00:45:56.889 --> 00:45:57.469
Ollie.
1011
00:45:57.590 --> 00:45:58.210
Oh, my gosh.
1012
00:45:58.230 --> 00:45:58.489
The late.
1013
00:45:59.400 --> 00:46:02.820
So good, so good, and then like the beautiful. But
1014
00:46:03.059 --> 00:46:06.010
when you're doing a show like that, is there like
1015
00:46:06.050 --> 00:46:09.429
a heavy responsibility telling a story like that? Like that's,
1016
00:46:09.949 --> 00:46:11.909
you know, it's about the Second World War and all
1017
00:46:11.929 --> 00:46:14.650
that stuff. Do you come in going, okay, is the
1018
00:46:14.690 --> 00:46:16.070
responsibility there at all?
1019
00:46:16.389 --> 00:46:17.230
Yeah, yeah.
1020
00:46:17.949 --> 00:46:20.610
Yeah, and I do a lot of research.
1021
00:46:20.670 --> 00:46:20.969
Yes.
1022
00:46:21.489 --> 00:46:23.699
Even though it might not be part of the play,
1023
00:46:24.599 --> 00:46:28.050
you know, just to find out because I like to–
1024
00:46:28.460 --> 00:46:31.539
I like things to be right. And even though, um,
1025
00:46:32.679 --> 00:46:34.989
you know, it might not be in the script, you, you,
1026
00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:37.389
you've read somewhere that, you know, this sort of, um,
1027
00:46:38.389 --> 00:46:41.199
stuff used to come in this shape tin. And so you,
1028
00:46:41.489 --> 00:46:43.530
you've try and find that shape tin to put on
1029
00:46:43.570 --> 00:46:46.230
the set because, you know, even though it's, it's got
1030
00:46:46.349 --> 00:46:49.929
nothing to do with the play, um, I just like
1031
00:46:50.070 --> 00:46:50.449
that detail.
1032
00:46:50.469 --> 00:46:52.329
But I think so it does because it touches back
1033
00:46:52.369 --> 00:46:54.889
on what I was saying before, all those little elements
1034
00:46:54.969 --> 00:46:56.449
that go unnoticed.
1035
00:46:56.469 --> 00:46:58.989
Well, that's why I do it because I'm hoping people
1036
00:46:59.010 --> 00:47:03.630
are going to go, ah, you know. And Ollie was
1037
00:47:03.690 --> 00:47:04.349
good at that.
1038
00:47:05.110 --> 00:47:08.050
Ollie's sets used to be intricate. Yes. I've worked on
1039
00:47:08.130 --> 00:47:10.389
several of Ollie Whipkin.
1040
00:47:10.969 --> 00:47:12.909
Yeah, he used to do all my sets at one
1041
00:47:12.929 --> 00:47:16.690
stage and then unfortunately he passed away. And now Leah
1042
00:47:16.750 --> 00:47:17.590
Clem does them.
1043
00:47:19.039 --> 00:47:20.340
I've never heard of her.
1044
00:47:20.400 --> 00:47:23.360
Nobody has because we don't let her go. She stays
1045
00:47:23.400 --> 00:47:30.530
with us. She's under contract. Her background is interior design
1046
00:47:30.929 --> 00:47:33.909
and she used to do props and stuff for us.
1047
00:47:34.070 --> 00:47:37.929
And one day I was chatting to her backstage and said,
1048
00:47:38.530 --> 00:47:41.309
you know, I see you used to do interior design.
1049
00:47:41.349 --> 00:47:43.809
I said, well, have you ever thought about doing set design?
1050
00:47:44.449 --> 00:47:47.929
And she said, you know, because she's very particular doing props,
1051
00:47:48.170 --> 00:47:52.489
you know, She's very authentic and dedicated to it and
1052
00:47:53.030 --> 00:47:55.730
all this sort of stuff. So I suggested to her
1053
00:47:55.769 --> 00:47:58.829
that she design, have a look at designing. And the
1054
00:47:58.849 --> 00:48:01.329
way I used to work with Ollie was we used
1055
00:48:01.349 --> 00:48:04.409
to get together, you know, he'd read the script, I'd
1056
00:48:04.429 --> 00:48:06.750
read the script, he'd tell me what he thinks, I'd
1057
00:48:06.769 --> 00:48:08.739
tell him what I think and then we'd come up
1058
00:48:08.780 --> 00:48:09.400
with something.
1059
00:48:09.559 --> 00:48:09.820
Yes.
1060
00:48:09.840 --> 00:48:13.300
So I started doing that with her. So now she's
1061
00:48:13.340 --> 00:48:17.699
starting to design our sets for the last three shows,
1062
00:48:17.760 --> 00:48:17.980
I think.
1063
00:48:18.420 --> 00:48:19.039
Wow.
1064
00:48:19.199 --> 00:48:19.500
Yeah.
1065
00:48:19.699 --> 00:48:20.400
How amazing.
1066
00:48:20.960 --> 00:48:21.619
She's good too.
1067
00:48:21.820 --> 00:48:22.239
Yeah.
1068
00:48:22.760 --> 00:48:24.639
She's totally different from Ollie.
1069
00:48:24.900 --> 00:48:25.139
Yes.
1070
00:48:25.239 --> 00:48:27.610
I mean, Ollie's sets used to be held together with,
1071
00:48:27.739 --> 00:48:30.849
you know, bubble gum and string and all this sort
1072
00:48:30.889 --> 00:48:31.309
of stuff.
1073
00:48:31.429 --> 00:48:31.949
Look good.
1074
00:48:32.349 --> 00:48:35.250
But, you know, whereas she's the opposite to that. She's
1075
00:48:35.349 --> 00:48:39.170
very particular about every little thing. Yes.
1076
00:48:39.210 --> 00:48:41.239
Well, it sounds like it's a good fit for you.
1077
00:48:42.039 --> 00:48:42.280
Yeah.
1078
00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:43.380
Yeah, yeah.
1079
00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:46.179
And having confidence in those people takes so much off
1080
00:48:46.219 --> 00:48:49.539
of you because you know, I've said this is how
1081
00:48:49.619 --> 00:48:52.840
I want it, you've told me what you want, let's
1082
00:48:52.920 --> 00:48:54.619
combine it and come up with something.
1083
00:48:54.820 --> 00:48:56.510
What are you like at home when you're doing a show?
1084
00:48:56.550 --> 00:48:58.929
Are you obsessive about it, like it's all you're thinking about?
1085
00:48:59.989 --> 00:49:03.090
No, I do spend a bit of time on it.
1086
00:49:03.170 --> 00:49:05.829
I mean, I tend to read the scripts. I like
1087
00:49:05.849 --> 00:49:08.940
to do all the practical stuff first, like, the rehearsal
1088
00:49:08.980 --> 00:49:12.030
schedule and who's in it and who's in what scene
1089
00:49:12.130 --> 00:49:13.369
and how long each scene is.
1090
00:49:13.369 --> 00:49:14.289
Oh, you do that as well.
1091
00:49:14.329 --> 00:49:15.590
Yeah, I like to do all that.
1092
00:49:15.809 --> 00:49:17.989
So that when you get to a rehearsal, you know.
1093
00:49:18.010 --> 00:49:19.429
It's a tight ship then.
1094
00:49:20.019 --> 00:49:22.260
Yeah, because I hate it when people come to rehearsal
1095
00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:24.179
and you only use them for one page and they
1096
00:49:24.219 --> 00:49:26.599
sit there for three hours and think, oh, I've only
1097
00:49:26.639 --> 00:49:28.840
done three lines and then that's it.
1098
00:49:28.920 --> 00:49:29.300
Yeah.
1099
00:49:29.320 --> 00:49:31.320
So it's nice if you can say, well, I don't
1100
00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:34.179
need you tonight. We'll pick up on those three lines
1101
00:49:34.260 --> 00:49:35.179
at another time.
1102
00:49:35.280 --> 00:49:35.570
Yes.
1103
00:49:35.619 --> 00:49:37.789
I think a lot of actors would appreciate that, particularly
1104
00:49:37.809 --> 00:49:41.820
in a, you know, we're not getting paid to be
1105
00:49:42.079 --> 00:49:45.079
waiting around, you know, and it can be quite tiring
1106
00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:47.000
after you've worked all day.
1107
00:49:47.019 --> 00:49:49.280
Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's the other thing, of course,
1108
00:49:49.300 --> 00:49:52.500
because I'm retired, so I don't do anything during the day. But,
1109
00:49:52.539 --> 00:49:54.840
of course, a lot of people work during the day
1110
00:49:55.280 --> 00:49:58.900
and it's the same with keeping them late at night afterwards.
1111
00:49:59.420 --> 00:50:01.400
You know, I like them, show's finished, go home.
1112
00:50:01.619 --> 00:50:03.659
Do you find, like, in a rehearsal you go, I'm
1113
00:50:04.579 --> 00:50:06.599
not going to get much out of them past this point?
1114
00:50:06.659 --> 00:50:06.860
Yeah.
1115
00:50:07.280 --> 00:50:10.030
And you're like, you know what? Let's go home.
1116
00:50:10.090 --> 00:50:12.849
I'm one of those people who I can't see the
1117
00:50:12.869 --> 00:50:15.449
point of just hammering something over and over and over
1118
00:50:15.510 --> 00:50:17.809
and over again. Do it a couple of times.
1119
00:50:17.869 --> 00:50:18.940
This is how I want to do it.
1120
00:50:19.250 --> 00:50:22.159
That's what you're doing. Right. Let's go home. Yeah. Cool.
1121
00:50:22.179 --> 00:50:22.599
Awesome.
1122
00:50:22.639 --> 00:50:22.920
Yeah.
1123
00:50:23.260 --> 00:50:25.340
And hopefully you give notes before everyone goes home. I
1124
00:50:25.360 --> 00:50:27.820
like notes before I go. So then I can have
1125
00:50:27.860 --> 00:50:29.380
a couple of days to process.
1126
00:50:29.139 --> 00:50:30.500
And go, okay, I need to change this.
1127
00:50:30.519 --> 00:50:32.340
The worst part about it is when you give notes
1128
00:50:32.400 --> 00:50:34.940
and they don't do anything about it. Next time they
1129
00:50:34.960 --> 00:50:37.360
come back, nothing's changed. Right.
1130
00:50:37.409 --> 00:50:37.570
Yeah.
1131
00:50:38.780 --> 00:50:41.539
So you always keep your notes. Yes. Last time I
1132
00:50:41.599 --> 00:50:42.119
told you.
1133
00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:44.880
So have you planned out? I'm not going to ask
1134
00:50:44.900 --> 00:50:46.840
you what you planned out, but have you planned out
1135
00:50:46.880 --> 00:50:49.159
a few shows coming up? You've kind of got ideas.
1136
00:50:49.179 --> 00:50:49.760
For next year.
1137
00:50:49.780 --> 00:50:50.400
Yeah, yeah.
1138
00:50:50.579 --> 00:50:53.320
I'm doing first show for Galleon next year.
1139
00:50:53.340 --> 00:50:53.780
Yeah, cool.
1140
00:50:54.030 --> 00:50:55.909
And then the final show for St Jude's.
1141
00:50:56.210 --> 00:50:58.909
Yeah. So you're a busy man, even though.
1142
00:50:59.250 --> 00:51:01.730
I like to. I'm retired. I've got nothing else to do.
1143
00:51:02.469 --> 00:51:04.789
Well, it keeps the brain active and you're very good
1144
00:51:04.809 --> 00:51:05.940
at it, so please keep doing it.
1145
00:51:05.969 --> 00:51:06.650
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1146
00:51:06.929 --> 00:51:09.219
Well, saying that, like. We should jump into the pivot.
1147
00:51:09.239 --> 00:51:11.739
I think we should. We've got about ten more minutes
1148
00:51:12.219 --> 00:51:13.340
left on my clock.
1149
00:51:14.059 --> 00:51:15.260
Time does not matter here.
1150
00:51:15.280 --> 00:51:18.550
Sorry for being a stickler for time. All right, Geoff Britton,
1151
00:51:18.590 --> 00:51:23.210
this is the Bernard Pivot questionnaire from the late French broadcaster.
1152
00:51:23.250 --> 00:51:24.909
You might have been aware of it if you've ever
1153
00:51:24.929 --> 00:51:28.230
watched Inside the Actor's Studio. Geoff Britton, what is your
1154
00:51:28.309 --> 00:51:29.110
favourite word?
1155
00:51:29.969 --> 00:51:30.570
Ensemble.
1156
00:51:30.969 --> 00:51:31.690
Ensemble.
1157
00:51:31.929 --> 00:51:32.329
Nice word.
1158
00:51:32.349 --> 00:51:36.489
Very good word. It actually says togetherness and yes. Why
1159
00:51:36.550 --> 00:51:37.090
do you like it?
1160
00:51:37.510 --> 00:51:42.230
Because of that. Yeah. I think, you know, crew, actors,
1161
00:51:42.489 --> 00:51:47.269
everybody involved are the same. They all work together, following
1162
00:51:47.309 --> 00:51:49.809
the same path, creating the same thing.
1163
00:51:50.329 --> 00:51:53.199
It's almost not to, you know, be too crass, but
1164
00:51:53.429 --> 00:51:59.280
it's almost the opposite of dickhead, isn't it? What is
1165
00:51:59.300 --> 00:52:03.519
your least favourite word? Impossible. Yeah. Why?
1166
00:52:03.539 --> 00:52:06.429
Because I hate it when you say to somebody, I'd
1167
00:52:06.449 --> 00:52:08.210
like you to try doing it like, oh, no, I
1168
00:52:08.250 --> 00:52:10.690
can't do it like that. Why not? Try it.
1169
00:52:10.699 --> 00:52:12.159
It's not impossible.
1170
00:52:12.840 --> 00:52:15.099
I was talking about this today. I was at lunch
1171
00:52:15.360 --> 00:52:18.960
and we were talking about how at work if someone says, oh,
1172
00:52:18.980 --> 00:52:22.420
it is what it is, that angers me to no
1173
00:52:22.559 --> 00:52:25.409
end of being like, but we could change that.
1174
00:52:26.389 --> 00:52:28.710
But isn't that the part of rehearsals and the fun
1175
00:52:28.730 --> 00:52:32.610
part is kind of going, okay, let's try it that way. Yeah, yeah.
1176
00:52:33.110 --> 00:52:36.739
But I find a lot of actors... are quite content
1177
00:52:36.800 --> 00:52:40.360
with what they're producing until you say to them, let's
1178
00:52:40.420 --> 00:52:43.420
try going a bit more. Let's try pushing it this
1179
00:52:43.519 --> 00:52:46.050
way or that way. How many times do you hear, well,
1180
00:52:46.090 --> 00:52:48.389
you probably, I don't know, but how many times do
1181
00:52:48.530 --> 00:52:50.789
I hear an actor say, oh, I didn't think of
1182
00:52:50.869 --> 00:52:51.349
it like that.
1183
00:52:51.389 --> 00:52:51.789
Yes.
1184
00:52:52.510 --> 00:52:56.210
But do you think sometimes that's really good actors who
1185
00:52:56.289 --> 00:52:58.289
previous directors have just left them alone?
1186
00:52:58.610 --> 00:52:58.889
Yes.
1187
00:52:59.090 --> 00:53:01.309
And not challenged them? Yes. Yeah, I find that.
1188
00:53:01.590 --> 00:53:04.519
And also... you know, there's nothing wrong with the actor
1189
00:53:04.539 --> 00:53:08.679
saying back, oh, no, that doesn't work for me. I
1190
00:53:08.719 --> 00:53:13.050
don't see it that way. But let's not just forget
1191
00:53:13.110 --> 00:53:13.559
about it.
1192
00:53:13.610 --> 00:53:15.690
Let's talk about it. Or give it a go.
1193
00:53:15.710 --> 00:53:17.289
Yeah, and see what happens.
1194
00:53:19.190 --> 00:53:23.369
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
1195
00:53:23.650 --> 00:53:28.750
I found that one hard because for me– Good drama,
1196
00:53:29.030 --> 00:53:32.269
and when I say drama, it can be comedies or drama,
1197
00:53:32.309 --> 00:53:38.010
but good theatre done well. It just annoys me when
1198
00:53:38.050 --> 00:53:42.130
I go and see things that you can see it's
1199
00:53:42.190 --> 00:53:44.630
obviously not very good and you think whoever's doing this,
1200
00:53:44.690 --> 00:53:46.869
can't they see that it's not very good?
1201
00:53:47.170 --> 00:53:49.369
Do you feel like they haven't pushed themselves, like they
1202
00:53:49.409 --> 00:53:50.650
haven't challenged themselves?
1203
00:53:50.670 --> 00:53:51.849
Well, I don't know because I.
1204
00:53:53.750 --> 00:53:53.909
Think.
1205
00:53:53.929 --> 00:53:56.900
Because I see you as someone who's like, How much
1206
00:53:56.980 --> 00:53:58.800
further can we go with this?
1207
00:53:58.900 --> 00:54:01.579
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think you should always do that.
1208
00:54:01.699 --> 00:54:03.760
I mean, sometimes it doesn't work and you have to
1209
00:54:03.800 --> 00:54:07.079
pull it back. But when you see stuff and you think,
1210
00:54:08.239 --> 00:54:10.500
you know, haven't these people ever gone and looked at,
1211
00:54:10.949 --> 00:54:14.429
you know, this production to see, you know, what people
1212
00:54:14.469 --> 00:54:20.110
can do with, you know, their performances? Yeah, I just
1213
00:54:20.130 --> 00:54:23.719
think it's a good drama but it's got to be
1214
00:54:23.760 --> 00:54:24.400
done well.
1215
00:54:24.500 --> 00:54:24.780
Mm-hmm.
1216
00:54:25.679 --> 00:54:27.500
Which I guess is hard to do, right, because you've
1217
00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:29.659
got all those elements and all those pieces that you
1218
00:54:30.110 --> 00:54:30.489
put together.
1219
00:54:30.510 --> 00:54:31.219
But it's truth, isn't it?
1220
00:54:31.320 --> 00:54:34.869
Good drama is truth. Yeah, but truth, yeah. Well, that's
1221
00:54:34.969 --> 00:54:35.510
the object.
1222
00:54:35.590 --> 00:54:36.230
And good sets.
1223
00:54:36.809 --> 00:54:37.090
Yeah.
1224
00:54:37.789 --> 00:54:39.829
And it's got to include all those things. You can't
1225
00:54:39.849 --> 00:54:40.849
neglect one.
1226
00:54:41.150 --> 00:54:44.590
So I guess that answers that next question, what turns
1227
00:54:44.630 --> 00:54:49.190
you off? Yeah.
1228
00:54:49.289 --> 00:54:53.630
And laziness. And, again, if we're talking about performers or
1229
00:54:53.710 --> 00:54:58.119
even tech people, You know, that's good enough. No, it's
1230
00:54:58.179 --> 00:55:01.119
not good enough. You know, don't be lazy. Come up
1231
00:55:01.159 --> 00:55:01.940
with something else.
1232
00:55:02.559 --> 00:55:04.449
What is your favourite curse word?
1233
00:55:04.800 --> 00:55:06.989
Oh, the one I've grown up with, which is bugger.
1234
00:55:07.530 --> 00:55:08.309
Bugger.
1235
00:55:08.630 --> 00:55:10.090
It's a good word. It is a good word. Mum
1236
00:55:10.110 --> 00:55:13.610
and dad all through my life have said bugger, bugger.
1237
00:55:14.469 --> 00:55:16.090
And I think it's a nice word because it doesn't
1238
00:55:16.150 --> 00:55:18.829
quite sound like swearing, but it's there.
1239
00:55:18.869 --> 00:55:23.190
Yes, but it's still a reference. What sound or noise
1240
00:55:23.210 --> 00:55:23.690
do you love?
1241
00:55:25.130 --> 00:55:27.409
I didn't know whether you wanted this related to theatre
1242
00:55:27.469 --> 00:55:28.030
or not.
1243
00:55:28.150 --> 00:55:29.429
Just anything you love.
1244
00:55:30.309 --> 00:55:33.900
I'd just like to know that whatever you're doing, that
1245
00:55:34.059 --> 00:55:39.570
whoever's watching is involved in it. Is it appreciating it,
1246
00:55:39.800 --> 00:55:43.630
laughing with it, crying with it, whatever, that you're moving people.
1247
00:55:43.650 --> 00:55:44.130
A reaction.
1248
00:55:44.170 --> 00:55:46.389
A response. Some sort of reaction.
1249
00:55:46.670 --> 00:55:51.719
Not booing. It means they felt something.
1250
00:55:52.659 --> 00:55:55.159
It depends on what they're booing for.
1251
00:55:56.099 --> 00:55:57.699
What sound and noise do you hate?
1252
00:55:57.880 --> 00:56:01.860
Well, fingernails on a blackboard.
1253
00:56:02.699 --> 00:56:07.349
I can feel that in my fingers. What profession, other
1254
00:56:07.389 --> 00:56:10.309
than what you've done in the past, would you have
1255
00:56:10.349 --> 00:56:11.210
liked to have attempted?
1256
00:56:11.590 --> 00:56:14.389
I'd like to have been a singer. I can't sing
1257
00:56:14.409 --> 00:56:14.750
for the lot.
1258
00:56:15.320 --> 00:56:16.239
Oh, really?
1259
00:56:16.539 --> 00:56:19.820
And I just love, I mean, we did a show
1260
00:56:19.840 --> 00:56:24.539
up at Stirling, a piece in our time, and it's
1261
00:56:24.579 --> 00:56:27.639
an old coward play, so it's fairly.
1262
00:56:27.659 --> 00:56:29.420
It's an alternate history one, wasn't it?
1263
00:56:29.480 --> 00:56:29.760
Yeah.
1264
00:56:29.820 --> 00:56:30.300
Yeah, yeah.
1265
00:56:30.320 --> 00:56:31.760
Which sounds so interesting.
1266
00:56:31.780 --> 00:56:32.199
It is interesting.
1267
00:56:32.219 --> 00:56:33.760
Like, you know, the Nazis winning the war, right?
1268
00:56:33.840 --> 00:56:38.519
Yeah, and in fact, they were telling me that that's
1269
00:56:38.539 --> 00:56:41.969
the biggest houses they've had for a long time for that.
1270
00:56:42.699 --> 00:56:44.980
And I think it was the subject matter that did that.
1271
00:56:45.139 --> 00:56:45.320
Yes.
1272
00:56:45.340 --> 00:56:48.369
But within it, one of the characters is a cabaret
1273
00:56:48.429 --> 00:56:52.730
singer in the play, but she never gets to sing,
1274
00:56:52.750 --> 00:56:55.550
so we decided to make her sing. And she used
1275
00:56:55.590 --> 00:56:58.369
to sing these beautiful songs, a couple of beautiful songs
1276
00:56:58.510 --> 00:57:01.590
to somebody playing the piano. And that was a show
1277
00:57:01.610 --> 00:57:04.500
all in itself. And I thought, geez, I wish I
1278
00:57:04.519 --> 00:57:05.079
could do that.
1279
00:57:05.280 --> 00:57:05.539
Yeah.
1280
00:57:06.639 --> 00:57:08.699
I'm a believer that anyone can sing.
1281
00:57:09.480 --> 00:57:10.320
Not like that, though.
1282
00:57:10.380 --> 00:57:10.619
Yeah.
1283
00:57:10.679 --> 00:57:10.840
Yeah.
1284
00:57:11.869 --> 00:57:13.070
Not like Delta Goodrum.
1285
00:57:13.409 --> 00:57:17.230
Oh, my God. What is with you and her? What
1286
00:57:17.329 --> 00:57:19.159
profession would you not like to do?
1287
00:57:19.320 --> 00:57:21.400
I wouldn't like to be an actor because I couldn't
1288
00:57:21.460 --> 00:57:22.179
learn lines.
1289
00:57:22.719 --> 00:57:24.699
I hate learning lines. I hate learning lines.
1290
00:57:24.760 --> 00:57:27.760
Yep, so do I. And I mean, as you get older,
1291
00:57:27.940 --> 00:57:30.880
you find it even harder because you Can't remember things.
1292
00:57:30.980 --> 00:57:31.280
Yes.
1293
00:57:31.900 --> 00:57:33.679
But I always had trouble with lines.
1294
00:57:33.780 --> 00:57:36.139
I just find it more daunting every year. I don't
1295
00:57:36.159 --> 00:57:40.219
know what it is. And I'm like, we have done monsters.
1296
00:57:40.610 --> 00:57:43.789
Yes, but you also don't stop. So surely your muscle
1297
00:57:43.829 --> 00:57:46.769
memory is used to it, right? Yeah, yeah.
1298
00:57:47.329 --> 00:57:50.150
I can read a script probably the night before normally
1299
00:57:50.210 --> 00:57:51.349
and probably get it in there.
1300
00:57:51.389 --> 00:57:53.710
See, I can. Which is why I like to learn
1301
00:57:53.730 --> 00:57:54.969
my lines before we start rehearsals.
1302
00:57:55.010 --> 00:57:57.590
But I always get, like, if I'm... a lead like
1303
00:57:57.650 --> 00:58:01.730
i'm really liking being not a lead anymore it's just
1304
00:58:01.789 --> 00:58:05.329
like oh yeah it's good walk on here i am
1305
00:58:05.789 --> 00:58:08.550
josh you didn't say any of that right i don't
1306
00:58:08.610 --> 00:58:09.480
care i'll get.
1307
00:58:09.570 --> 00:58:13.579
It okay well i do i do sorry michael and
1308
00:58:13.619 --> 00:58:18.099
libby i care sorry i made that about me uh
1309
00:58:18.420 --> 00:58:20.260
so you you don't want to be an actor.
1310
00:58:20.380 --> 00:58:24.369
No i've done it a few times and um It
1311
00:58:24.409 --> 00:58:27.179
never appealed. Everything I tell actors to do, I couldn't
1312
00:58:27.219 --> 00:58:27.780
do myself.
1313
00:58:29.019 --> 00:58:32.920
Well, sometimes that's the objective thing, the nature of directing,
1314
00:58:32.960 --> 00:58:34.420
isn't it?
1315
00:58:34.619 --> 00:58:35.239
All right.
1316
00:58:35.639 --> 00:58:38.389
I'm not sure of your predilections, but if heaven exists,
1317
00:58:39.309 --> 00:58:42.610
what would you like to hear God say when you
1318
00:58:42.650 --> 00:58:43.909
arrive at the pearly gates?
1319
00:58:44.670 --> 00:58:46.590
Yeah, I did find this one difficult because I don't
1320
00:58:46.630 --> 00:58:47.389
believe in heaven.
1321
00:58:47.469 --> 00:58:48.130
No, no.
1322
00:58:48.489 --> 00:58:50.969
I think bravo would be nice.
1323
00:58:51.139 --> 00:58:52.840
Beautiful. You did good.
1324
00:58:52.860 --> 00:58:53.360
Uh-uh.
1325
00:58:53.900 --> 00:58:56.800
And the big one, Lee. The big one, Geoffrey. Geoffrey Britton.
1326
00:58:57.559 --> 00:58:59.010
Why do we do this?
1327
00:59:00.050 --> 00:59:02.010
Well, we do it. I don't know why you do it,
1328
00:59:02.030 --> 00:59:05.570
but I do it because it creates situations and tells
1329
00:59:05.650 --> 00:59:10.840
stories that people can relate to and relive. and see
1330
00:59:10.860 --> 00:59:13.619
their own lives. But most of the time it doesn't
1331
00:59:13.679 --> 00:59:17.719
hurt anybody. We just put it out there and people
1332
00:59:17.760 --> 00:59:21.159
can interpret it any way they like and we're not
1333
00:59:21.219 --> 00:59:25.179
hurting anybody, whether we're doing the most violent play or whatever.
1334
00:59:26.519 --> 00:59:29.690
It's just out there for them to look at. and
1335
00:59:29.829 --> 00:59:31.659
they can make up their own minds about it.
1336
00:59:32.090 --> 00:59:34.010
And thank you so much for doing that because you
1337
00:59:34.030 --> 00:59:40.409
do such beautiful, challenging, emotionally driven, tough. I love the
1338
00:59:40.449 --> 00:59:42.840
shows that you select and I love the shows that
1339
00:59:42.860 --> 00:59:45.400
you do and you should be very proud. And I'm
1340
00:59:45.440 --> 00:59:48.639
saying bravo to you because you do such a great job.
1341
00:59:48.719 --> 00:59:49.179
Thank you so much.
1342
00:59:49.199 --> 00:59:50.840
I remember the show we worked on, it was the
1343
00:59:50.880 --> 00:59:53.280
first time I could hear the audience cry.
1344
00:59:53.300 --> 00:59:54.019
Oh, good.
1345
00:59:54.320 --> 00:59:57.280
And I've never had that experience in my life when
1346
00:59:57.300 --> 01:00:00.949
that curtain went down and going, We made them cry.
1347
01:00:01.789 --> 01:00:06.250
Well, the feedback we got from the while was, I've
1348
01:00:06.329 --> 01:00:10.159
never had feedback like it before because I think people
1349
01:00:10.199 --> 01:00:12.860
are so close at the Guild, you know, sitting around
1350
01:00:12.880 --> 01:00:13.159
like that.
1351
01:00:13.179 --> 01:00:14.119
Such a great theatre performing.
1352
01:00:14.139 --> 01:00:17.719
Yeah. So good. And, yeah, just the feedback we got,
1353
01:00:18.480 --> 01:00:21.380
you know, just from the emotional feedback that we got
1354
01:00:21.420 --> 01:00:24.340
from people, I've never had for any other show I've done.
1355
01:00:24.840 --> 01:00:26.340
It was absolutely amazing.
1356
01:00:26.440 --> 01:00:27.679
And you created that, so.
1357
01:00:28.369 --> 01:00:30.090
Yeah, well done. And the actors.
1358
01:00:30.130 --> 01:00:31.570
Yes, yes, of course.
1359
01:00:32.110 --> 01:00:35.369
But tonight we get to talk about you. Well, thank you, Geoff,
1360
01:00:35.389 --> 01:00:37.760
for coming in. We do appreciate it. I know I've
1361
01:00:37.780 --> 01:00:40.300
been told it's a Friday night. My brain's all over
1362
01:00:40.320 --> 01:00:44.679
the place, but I thought it was Monday. So thank
1363
01:00:44.699 --> 01:00:47.059
you to Stepney Studios. Thank you, Lee, once again.
1364
01:00:47.079 --> 01:00:47.699
Thank you, Josh.
1365
01:00:47.739 --> 01:00:50.460
But, again, yeah, another thank you to Geoff, actually, for
1366
01:00:51.420 --> 01:00:55.210
coming in on a long weekend Friday. So that was
1367
01:00:55.250 --> 01:00:56.909
a big ask. So I really appreciate it.
1368
01:00:57.230 --> 01:00:57.809
That's my pleasure.
1369
01:00:57.849 --> 01:00:59.570
We really appreciate it. Well, see you, Josh.
1370
01:00:59.610 --> 01:01:00.539
I'll see you at the next one.
1371
01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:07.400
Yeah. When's that? About half an hour? Friday. Friday. All right.
1372
01:01:07.619 --> 01:01:08.360
Thank you all.
1373
01:01:08.380 --> 01:01:08.860
See you.
1374
01:01:09.239 --> 01:01:10.460
Please enjoy. Chook us all.
1375
01:01:10.719 --> 01:01:11.000
Thanks.
1376
01:01:11.079 --> 01:01:11.300
Bye.
1377
01:01:11.519 --> 01:01:13.599
Bye. Bye.