Tell us about the story behind Shellshock.
Wayne Harrison, the director, approached the playwright Justin Fleming with the true story of a tortoise that had been taken from the shores of Gallipoli and is now 100 years old, making it the oldest known survivor of that campaign.
Justin has written a funny, poignant play about family, hope and renewal based on that premise. There’ll also be puppetry!
How much resonance does the ANZAC story have a century down the track?
I think it continues to resonate strongly today. The large numbers of audiences that have been attracted to the nation’s numerous creative responses to the Gallipoli Centenary, and record crowds at the dawn service this year, all point to this.
It’s not your first involvement with the ANZAC story, after your appearance in television’s Gallipoli. How do the two interpretations compare?
Gallipoli was about the horror of the war and the pain and the suffering. It threw you into the thick of it. In contrast, Shellshock explores some of the themes of the war without being about soldiers and fighting and death. It also has a Turkish narrator and that lends the play a different perspective.
Is it a bad thing that the history of ANZAC has become shorthand for what it means to be ‘Australian’?
The choice to invade another country had disastrous consequences. Many Australians were touched by the horror of the First World War, either directly or indirectly. It certainly had an effect on the psyche of the country, particularly in the decades that followed. Consequently, the ANZAC story holds a special place in the history of this nation and is an important one to tell. But what constitutes nationhood is a complex question with no single answer. I don’t think there is a shorthand for what it means to be Australian in 2015.
What’s next on the agenda for your stage and screen career?
I’m finally performing in my first Chekhov play! Ivanov at Belvoir, adapted and directed by Eamon Flack, starring Ewen Leslie in September/October. That role may also have a Turkish flavour.
Shellshock runs Thursday July 30 – Saturday August 8 at Riverside Theatres.
