What links the two plays,Dead CentreandSea Wall, showing as a double bill at the Old Fitz?
The two plays cover one story, but not in a linear way.
You have to figure out the connections from within. The plays are from different time periods, and are told by different characters. The production builds a visual and aural world to fuse them into a single theatrical experience. At their heart is a shared event, which I won’t describe because it would spoil the show.
Was Dead Centre commissioned and written specifically as a response piece to Sea Wall?
Yes it was. It was a tricky writing task, a dramatic retrofit. Dead Centre had to complement and add to Sea Wall in story, character and dialogue without blowing any of the reveals or encroaching on it as a standalone piece. Sometimes in theatre the hardest problems look the most straightforward. A short companion work to an already great play: what could be easier? It took Tom [Holloway] and I eight months to develop a performance draft.
How supportive is the Australian theatre industry of emerging talent?
Not very. Australia is the only country that pretends to be more boring than it actually is. Its self-image and self-promotion is generic – the outback, fauna, sport, the weather. Nobody mentions our complex history, our odd political structure, the strange headspace the population as a whole inhabits. Australian drama is a supreme tool for exploring all this, for showing us our difficult soul. Support for theatre takes two forms: money and relationships. You don’t need a lot of money to get new work happening. Theatre is about relationships and good work comes out of good relationships. The cooperative networks which exist between companies and artists – that’s the important thing.
Tim Freedman of The Whitlams once sang, “There’s no aphrodisiac like loneliness,”and that seems appropriate to this show. Does the saying ring true?
Tim’s song is about the love people have for each other: romantic love. Dead Centre and Sea Wall has that, but it’s also about another kind of love – the love parents have for their children. This is so intense that I’m tempted to say it escapes music altogether.
How has your experience been working with the two cast members?
They are divine. I’m an old git now. I get tired in rehearsals and have to lie down. Rosie [Lockhart] and Ben [Prendergast] are funny and talented and full of energy. I’ve done a lot of shows with difficult themes, and I hope I was able to give them some pointers there. Creating good work onstage is hard work. It takes talent too, which both Rosie and Ben have. But you can have talent and still be crap if you don’t work your butt off.
[Dead Centre / Sea Wall photo © James Ballard]
Dead Centre/Sea Wallplays at the Old Fitz Theatre until Saturday November 14.
