67 years ago, Jimmy Stewart befriended an invisible six-foot rabbit named Harvey. In 2007, the foul-mouthed, beer-drinking dog Wilfred debuted on SBS. Come 2015, the Belvoir Downstairs Theatre saw Xavier Samuel tap into his feline nature for the Brendan Cowell/Lally Katz rom-com collaboration, The Dog / The Cat. Clearly, comedies about love and pets hold a special place in our cultural heart. Popular demand now sees this pair of short interconnected plays staged Upstairs at Belvoir, and Samuel can’t wait to step back into these hilarious, parallel worlds.
Returning to this material is like returning
to an old friend.
“It’s such great material to work on and return to,” Samuel says from a dark rehearsal room. “I’ve never done that before, to come back to a play. We just read it again yesterday. It’s a really surprisingly moving, funny piece of writing from both Lally and Brendan. The two plays complement each other, but they’re also very different. They reference each other in amusing ways. I think that was one of the things that Brendan and Lally really enjoyed, how they could incorporate peripheral characters back into each other’s stories. So that hopefully ends up being something quite satisfying for an audience. It’s like you have this in-joke. It’s just a pleasure to return to that material, and hopefully people enjoy it the second time around as well.”
Such was the success of the first season, not only did it see the production revived in the first place, but this current season has already been extended. Across two different characters – the eponymous Cat, and struggling writer Ben in The Dog – Samuel is rediscovering what drew him to the roles in the first place, and though conscious of the original season’s popularity (and what exactly made audiences laugh) he is adamant not to rest on his laurels.
“I think you can never make assumptions. You still need to work hard to recreate the world. It’s nice to know people have enjoyed it in the past, and that probably takes the edge off in some ways. You’re not creating it for the first time, there are less of those questions. But we’re also bringing the show upstairs, so it has a different feel, it’s larger, but hopefully still retains the original intimacy we had. But I think naturally when you revisit something there’s going to be change, there’s going to be difference. It almost feels like it changes from night to night, so I’m certain it’ll be a new experience every time.
Theatre is like a marathon; film is like a short sprint.
“Sometimes you’re jogging your memory, trying to remember what you did at certain parts,” Samuel continues. “Returning to this material is like returning to an old friend, for want of a better analogy. Feeling like there’s something comforting and familiar about this world that we’re creating. I was talking with Benedict [Hardie, who co-stars alongside Sheridan Harbridge] earlier, and he was saying that it’s such a rare experience to finish a play and come out on an exuberant, joyful high. The night ends in an uplifting way, where sometimes you come out of the theatre sighing, ‘Oh, God!’”
He chuckles, though the sentiment is certainly true; it’s an unusual contemporary show that sees an audience walk away buoyed by a happy ending. Given some of the darker film roles Samuel has embodied – movies such as The Loved Ones, Frankenstein and Twilight – a chance to flex his comedic muscles is a welcome move. It also allows him to explore a side of creativity he finds quite distinct from screen performance.
“I feel like in the theatre you have more of an opportunity for collaborations. I mean, there are no absolutes, but in my experience I’ve found that there’s a real community feeling, you’re creating something together and everyone’s opinion is valid. I really enjoy that process, where I find that film can be, ‘Well, we’ll just figure it out on the day.’ It can sometimes be a bit of a lonely experience. Not always, but if you’re painting in broad strokes, you can find yourself alone sometimes.
“They’re also very different staminas. Theatre is like a marathon; film is like a short sprint, where you have to be constantly ready for that call to arms. They really couldn’t be more different.”
Stepping into one half of his characters – Ben, the writer – isn’t too much of a leap for Samuel. After all, there are few creative folk out there who haven’t experienced frustration and rejection. Getting into character for the Cat, though, requires a different kind of insight.
“It usually comes when the zip on the cat costume comes up,” Samuel laughs. “The two plays have very different sensibilities. It’s also not drama, so those shifts are… well, I wouldn’t say easier, but clearer. Brendan and Lally are very different playwrights, so it’s not something you can really get mixed up. The lines don’t really blur, though I suppose there are some similarities between my character in both pieces.
“Regardless of how surreal or absurd or ridiculous a play might be, in order for it to work you have to ground it in some reality, some sort of truth. So here I guess it’s trying to keep it honest. The world might be magic, or something ‘other’. But what the play asks you to do is entertain this as a reality, so I don’t really treat it any differently from any other project. You still end up just as invested.” ■
[The Dog / The Cat photos by Brett Boardman]
The Dog / The Cat runs Thursday April 13 – Sunday May 7 at Belvoir St Theatre.
