All My Sons: The Reviews Are In!

The reviews are in – and we are buzzing!

Here is just a taste of what they have to say …

Jeffrey Thomas and Emma Kinane in All My Sons. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

“Susan Wilson has again brought Wellington an unforgettable Miller classic.

A few years ago her ‘Death of a Salesman’ was a knockout.

‘All My Sons’ is another one.” - Lynn Freeman

 “The second half is an explosion of emotions … the confrontation between idealistic son Chris Keller and his father Joe makes for one of the most electrifying moments I’ve seen in 17 years of reviewing.

“Wilson has brought together a dream team. Jeffrey Thomas, Emma Kinane, Richard Dey - these three actors turn in career best performances, supported strongly by Martyn Wood and Jessica Robinson.

“Paul Jenden’s costumes are a delight.

“Arthur Miller’s story resonates with a 2012 audience in ways he could never have imagined. … It is a masterful and insightful work that is one of the year’s must-sees.” 

- Capital Times

“Having seen so many modern plays, it was refreshing to go to an old classic -

I was on the edge of my seat for the entire second half of the play … You could have heard a pin drop, the audience were so captivated. 

“Jeffrey Thomas dominates the play with his portrayal of Joe Keller. Even though you are suspicious of him, you just cannot help but like him.

The other star was Emma Kinane playing Kate. She gets it pitch perfect – it is a magic performance.

“The stage is also worth mention -  a wonderful replica of the backside of a 1940s house, and the back lawn. The artificial grass actually went all the way to the first row of seats, which made you feel very close to the action.  

The costumes were also spot on, especially the frocks for the ladies.

“All four of us raved about the play. … and the Circa performance of it was first class.”

- David Farrar, Kiwiblog 

Jessica Robinson and Ricky Dey in All My Sons. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

“I’d never seen a production of All My Sons… Susan Wilson’s inspiring direction of this particularly powerful and passionate production means that I shall now seek out more of a similar genre.

“Particular congratulations must go to Kinane, Thomas, Dey and Robinson who held the audience in the palm of their hands as they took us on a roller-coaster ride of emotions.

“Awesome set as well!“

- Kate Spencer, City Life News

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"Susan Wilson’s production beautifully captures the sense of time and place.  The realistic set of a house and backyard with symbolic weeping willows down the sides, the mood lighting, the costumes and make-up and the hair styles, all convey perfectly a sense of style of the period.

Arthur Miller is a truly great writer … a compelling piece of drama … well worth seeing."

- Dominion Post

(Left to right) Beck Taylor and Dino Karsanidis in All My Sons. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

Meet Beck and Dino – the two young boys who alternate the role of Bert.

Beck Taylor

Beck is ten years old and goes to Houghton Valley School. He is a very busy boy. He loves karate, swimming, soccer, guitar and circus and participates in these each week.

Beck got a part in a feature film called Love Birds when he was eight. “The part was large and we spent seven weeks flying up and down to Auckland,” said his mother, Tanya. “He stumbled into acting - the mother of a friend from school thought he'd be good. He loves it!”

And from Beck...

"Being in All My Sons is extremely fun and the people are really nice. Acting is awesomely cool  :D"

Dino Karsanidis

Dino is 11 years old and and is currently in his first year at Hutt Intermediate School. He is going to take part in the school production of Aladdin next term and he also enjoys learning the drums.

“Dino had a knack for re-enacting movie parts, so we sent him to Hutt Theatre Drama School, which he has attended for 2 1/2 years,” says his mum, Liza. “This part in All My Sons is his first major role!”

Dino has said this of the play: "I like the play because I like how there are some funny parts and there are some sad parts and there are action parts as well".

All My Sons runs until 7 July in Circa One. There will be an audio described performance for blind and visually impaired audience members on Sunday, 1 July at 4pm, with tour tours commencing at 3:15pm. This performance will also be open to the general public. For more information or to book, please call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992.

When the Rain Stops Falling: "It is an absolute joy to work on this play"

drama on the waterfront chats with actor Jude Gibson about When the Rain Stops Falling, particularly what it is like to share a role with another actor, how it feels to return to a production with a different cast and crew (Jude starred in the Silo Theatre production in Auckland last year) and how theatre is the family business.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your character in When the Rain Stops Falling?

JG: I don’t want to give too much away, or it will spoil the audience’s pleasure in putting the puzzle of this play together. She is a 50 yr old woman called Gabrielle, who lives in Adelaide with her husband of 25 years Joe. If I say any more I will have to kill you!

DOTW: You share this character with Sophie Hambleton; how did the two of you work together in order to play different ages of the same character?

JG: At first we just worked through the processes of our own character (albeit the same person) and then we began watching each other closely for personal mannerisms, physicality and vocal patterning – much of which was already there in the script, or starting to happen in rehearsal– probably as a result of our shared “history”. Then, it was just a matter of refining it in an economical way.

Jude Gibson (back) and Sophie Hambleton. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

DOTW: You have performed this play before, at the Silo Theatre in Auckland; how does the Circa production differ? What is it like to return to the play with a whole new cast and creative team? 

JG: Well, for a start, the general shape of the auditorium at Circa is completely different.  It is very wide and open, and the set at Circa reflects this, with a very wide playing space.  The audience is straight out front, whereas the Herald Theatre where the Silo production was housed was much more compact – like a box. There, we played in the thrust, with audience on 3 sides. This of course helps it to feel like a whole new experience for me.  The music is different too – and composed specifically for this production - as is the A/V – although strangely, magically, they seem to me to tell the same story as the Silo production. My character is costumed differently as well – so I feel like a whole new person/character, which is great.

It is an absolute joy to work on this play – I love the script so much – and with a whole new team of creative people working on it, I was once more swept up in a wave of enthusiasm and curiosity about the depth of the piece.

As an actor, it is exciting to play with different actors on the same piece. Every actor is a unique being with unique qualities they bring to their role. Their voices are different, their bodies move in different ways, their inner rhythms are different. They help to create my character by the way they react to me, and vice versa – we don’t do it alone. So of course I will react – in the moment – to what is coming at me from them, and because they are different people my responses will be slightly different too. It’s an organic, spontaneous process resulting in the audience receiving exactly the same story night after night.

DOTW: What new challenges did you discover in the role or the play itself while working on this production?

JG: I guess in a way this question also relates to the one just asked.  When you have already played a role and then return to it with a different cast, you have to find a way to escape the rhythms of your previous performance – if they still linger – and come to the work as a blank canvass. Concentration is an essential ingredient of this task – I have to listen even more intensely to what my fellow actors are saying, doing and projecting to me. This helps to break any previous patterning in the work and find fresh responses to what is happening in front of me. As a consequence, I think my work in the role has grown, deepened and expanded.

This time around I was also responsible for the choreography of the piece – which was a whole new challenge. The script calls for certain choreographic work at times from the ensemble of actors – and while it is not dance that’s required, some of it is fairly complicated – my fault - and demands precision in order to achieve the desired effect.  Luckily, it is a very generous cast, and everyone committed wholeheartedly to the undertaking, helping to find solutions to problems for themselves and each other.

Christopher Brougham and Jude Gibson. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

DOTW: I understand that theatre, particularly at Circa, is a bit of a family business for you, with daughter Lauren Gibson having performed in Blackbird and August: Osage County and partner Iain Cooper doing the set construction for most Circa shows. How is it to have the whole family involved in the same industry and, sometimes, working in the same building?

JG: It’s brilliant actually – even though it probably sounds like a potential nightmare.  Dinnertime conversation has often involved the theatre and current projects.

My daughter Lauren has lived alongside – and in – my life in the theatre since she was born. I guess that was the norm for her – the same goes I suspect for families of lawyers and doctors etc – a genetic predisposition plus constant exposure – nature and nurture finally reconciled! Lauren does her thing – without any involvement from me – and I do mine – and we support each other and talk freely about our work when we get together – mother and daughter – friends and colleagues. I am proud of the work she’s done so far – as a parent and as a fellow actor – and look forward to seeing her future work – whatever that may be – she has her whole life ahead of her. I haven’t worked with her onstage yet myself – but would relish the opportunity should it arise.

My partner Iain was working as a tree surgeon when we met – and when we moved to Wellington he got work on The Lord Of The Rings in the Green’s Department – dismantling huge macrocarpas and putting them back together on set – creating swamps of glue, etc Along with various television jobs, ie. The Tribe, he worked on King Kong creating New York city out at Seaview, Avatar, and the ill-fated Kingdom Come.  By then he’d started to work on theatre sets in Wellington and really enjoyed the constant change of monthly theatre production. It was great to come home and discuss the day’s work over dinner – especially when we were both working on the same show and had sets in common – him building and me having to perform on them! 

I guess we all have a certain empathy for each other’s work and a kind of shorthand when talking about our own. We have yet to all three be working in the same building at the same time! But I certainly wouldn’t be averse to that should it arise.

The cast of When the Rain Stops Falling. Photo by Stephen A'Court. 

DOTW: Finally, how have audiences been reacting so far to When the Rain Stops Falling?

JG: The response has been amazing! It seems to touch people very deeply. They generally start out enjoying the setup of the “mystery” and the seemingly random humour, and as the play’s story and mystery deepens they become really absorbed – listening so carefully. Then as the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place, I can hear them gasp or sigh, and by the time the end of the story approaches we can hear them sniffling. Some people are literally sobbing by the end, but also feeling really uplifted and hopeful. Afterwards, in the foyer, many people have approached me to say how much they enjoyed it and how satisfying it is as a piece of theatre to experience, how moved they were. I take this to mean that they have experienced a catharsis of some sort – which in my experience is the most satisfying experience one can have in the theatre – not just to have been taken on a journey, but to have experienced something so deeply that you feel changed in some way – or better for it.

The critics too have been unanimous in their very high praise of this production – as you can see on www.theatreview.org.nz. However, as always we are dependent on word-of-mouth as an important form of advertising for this production – which is of course the best form – so if you do come and enjoy it, please spread the word!

When the Rain Stops Falling runs in Circa Two until 27 August. to book, call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or go online at www.circa.co.nz. 

When the Rain Stops Falling: It is a beautiful play

Actor Richard Chapman returns to Circa for the third time this year (after August: Osage County and The Lead Wait) to take on the 'mesmerizing' Andrew Bovell play, When the Rain Stops Falling. He stops by to tell drama on the waterfront all about his favourite play of the three, and also shares about his time in Japan teaching music and arranging for the Tokyo Philharmonic.

DOTW: What is the basic story of When the Rain Stops Falling?

RC: Set from 1959 to 2039, the story follows four generations of a family and moves between England and Australia. It is an examination of nature versus nurture and the effect we have on our own future through our intentions. Whether knowingly or unknowingly.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your character? What challenges are involved in playing this character?

RC: I play two characters and they are the link between the English side of the family and the Australian side. I play my own grandfather. The older character, Gabriel, leaves his mother in London and travels to Australia to retrace the steps of his father who he hasn’t seen since he was 7. Later, I play the grandson of the Gabriel character who is visiting his father who he also hasn’t seen since he was 7.

Sounds confusing, but that is the beauty of this play. It jumps quickly between generations and countries; which is a convention we are used to seeing in films but not so on stage. Therein lies the challenge; keeping track of where, when, and who I am.

DOTW: What can you tell us about the rest of the cast and director, Sue Wilson?

RC: Having worked with Sue on a few occasions now I’ve noticed that her great strength is casting. This is truly an ensemble piece and the complicité of the cast is very important. Sue has once again assembled a great cast each with their own strengths. We all work very well together and there are no egos ruining things. As a director Sue is great at having an in depth understanding of the play as a whole. She knows exactly what is where and who is who, which is really important in a play that jumps around like this one.

DOTW: I understand that you lived in Japan for a few years – what did you do there?

RC: I went over with my wife who was posted there as a NZ diplomat. I had great ideas of doing nothing and being a kept man. Alas, no such concurrence was reached with my wife and I was cruelly thrown into the work force. I tried to get a job as an English teacher like everyone does but apparently the grasp I had of my native tongue wasn’t good enough. Luckily, I happened upon a much better job as a music teacher in The British School in Tokyo. I brought the language of love to children aged 3–18. It was a fantastic place to work and a great job. It took me to several places around Asia and gave me great opportunities to do things I never would have imagined. The thing I’m most proud of doing over there was arranging a couple of pieces that the Tokyo Philharmonic played.

DOTW: What brought you back to New Zealand to take up acting again? Do you have a preference between acting and music?

RC: Our time in Tokyo was always finite. The posting was just 4½ years. I had decided very early on that, despite very much enjoying my job, I didn’t want to continue as a teacher. I was also unable to act in Japan to the degree that I was in NZ prior to leaving. The language was one issue but the main reason was that I just didn’t look like anyone else. I would have been pigeon holed into one area that didn’t appeal to me. My time in Japan teaching music was more of a hiatus from acting. It did, however, rekindle my love for music. I majored in composition at Victoria University and it will always be my first love. I have no preference between the two, acting or music, but for the time being I’m pursuing acting.

DOTW: This will be your third play this year at Circa (after August: Osage County and The Lead Wait); what can audience members expect from When the Rain Stops Falling?

RC: When the Rain Stops Falling is my favourite of the three. The audience can expect to be mesmerized. It is a beautiful play. 

When the Rain Stops Falling opens in Circa One on 30 July, and runs until 27 August. Tickets are available now, call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or visit www.circa.co.nz. 

August: Osage County - "One of the great plays of our time."

Taking time from rehearsing Circa’s mammoth 35^th anniversary production, August: Osage County, former Shortland Street actor Laura Hill tells drama on the waterfront all about this “epic family story”.

DOTW: Please tell us about August: Osage County; what is the basic story?

LH: On a stinking hot August day in Oklahoma, Beverly Weston, award-winning poet, world-class alcoholic, and patriarch of the Weston family, goes missing ... In the following days, his family gathers at the family home where his wife Violet now presides, and more than a few skeletons are rattled from their closets. It's an epic family story, but very recognisable and very funny (in a kind of dark and twisted way).

DOTW: What is your role? How do you feel about your character?

LH: I play Karen, the youngest daughter of Beverly and Violet Weston.  She hasn't been home for a long time, but is here now and has some big news to share.  She's great to play, and a real contrast to the other characters. I feel very affectionate towards her – she's relentlessly positive, but very deluded.

DOTW: August: Osage County is a huge production – are there any particular challenges to being part of such a large show?

LH: Getting everyone together in the same room for rehearsals!  Sue (Wilson, our director) has been doing something of a jigsaw puzzle with the schedule to make sure we have the right people for the right scene there at the right time. We've got a fantastic cast though, so the audiences will be in for a real treat when they see thirteen actors on stage.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your fellow cast members?

LH: They're awesome. I have to single out Jennifer Ludlam, because her character, Violet, is the real lynch-pin of the show, and Jennifer does a simply outstanding job.  I missed the ATC production, which Jen was also in, so I consider it a real privilege to be able to work with her on this production.

DOTW: What has been your favourite part of the rehearsal period thus far?

LH: It's great working on such a richly-textured play, but for sheer comic value, I loved this moment the other day when Sue was giving us notes after a run through: one of the actors said, “I'm like a little onion with all my layers”, to which Sue replied, “Just put on the outer layer again.”  Brilliant.

DOTW: Finally, what do audiences need to know about this show?

LH: They need to know that if they miss this, they will kick themselves and forever after regret not seeing a performance of one the great plays of our time.  No pressure.

August: Osage County opens 2 April and runs until 7 May, with a $25 Preview on Friday, 1 April and a $25 Special on Sunday, 3 April.  To book your tickets, call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or go online at www.circa.co.nz.

A good time with your family: Robin Hood

After delighting audiences throughout the country (including a season at Circa earlier this year) and around the world in He Reo Aroha, Jamie McCaskill returns to Circa to take the title role in Roger Hall’s Robin Hood, the Pantomime. He tells drama on the waterfront all about what it’s like to play that “good fulla” Robin Hood.

DOTW: Most of us know the classic story of Robin Hood – has anything changed in the pantomime version of it?

JM: All the typical characters are there apart from one of my favourites, Will Scarlett. We’re made outlaws because of the evil Prince John.  The Sheriff of Nottingham collects taxes, Robin falls in love with Maid Marian and he splits an arrow at the archery contest. That’s all there but I’m pretty sure that Robin Hood’s mother hasn’t featured this much in any other version of Robin Hood. This will definitely get the record for the most times “Nonny nonny no” has ever been said in a Robin Hood story, and the sheriff has a pet viking called Thor.

DOTW: The last time you were at Circa, you starred with Kali Kopae in He Reo Aroha. Now you’re back and starring together in Robin Hood – how would you describe/compare each experience?

JM: He Reo Aroha was a huge creative process for Kali and myself which made the experience of that show a lot more personal to us. Being in Robin Hood is relaxing in a way that we can keep it at arms length, we can have fun with it, we put in the hard work, but we’re not being effected by the pressure of presenting our own kaupapa in regards to story telling. We’re just enjoying being actors solely and putting 100% into that and bringing Roger’s script to life.

DOTW: How does it feel to play the title character, Robin Hood? What do you think of him?

JM: It’s pretty cool. I’m having a lot of fun and Sue gives us a lot of freedom in regards to working out our characters. Robin seems to be a bit of a good fulla who cares about the people. He likes singing and fighting in the bush. He doesn’t know what an orange is and he is an exceptional archer. What more can I say? I want to be him.

DOTW: What can you tell us about the rest of the cast?

JM: Loving working with Gavin Rutherford and Jeff Kingsford-Brown again, they’re cracking me up. I’m working with people who have years of experience in the craft so I sit there and watch how they work then steal their tricks. Weird thing is, Gavin seems to sing in an American accent. It’s just bizarre.

DOTW: What is the rehearsal process like for a show like this?

JM: It’s extremely frustrating until I get over myself.

DOTW: What can audiences expect from Roger Hall’s Robin Hood?

JM: They can expect a fast-paced, witty script with accessible humour. Crack up performances by actors I look up to, Kali Kopae singing beautifully, a smiling Michael Williams whose music you will be singing when you leave the theatre, and a good time with your family.

Nga mihi ki a koutou katoa

Robin Hood opens 13 November and runs until 23 December, returning in the New Year for a two week season, 4-15 January. Tickets are available by calling the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or going online at www.circa.co.nz. 

Celebrate the holidays with Robin Hood! Bring your family or a group of friends to the panto and enjoy a pre-show platter or dessert at Wharfside Restaurant. Platter (sweet or savoury) or dessert packages cost just $12.50 per person (beverages additional), on top of the ticket price. For more information, contact Audience Development Director Cara Hill at 801-8137.

"This fantastic play": Parlour Song

After five years (two of which were spent touring the comedy sensation Le Sud), actor Heather O’Carroll returns to Circa to star as the enigmatic Joy in the current Circa Two hit Parlour Song. She sits down with drama on the waterfront to tell us all about her experiences working on this “fantastic and intriguing” play.

DOTW: What is the basic story of Parlour Song?

HOC: Parlour Song is about a couple who’ve been married for 11 years, Ned and Joy; they don’t have any children and they live in a very suburban area of London. It’s one of those new-built estates where the houses are all very close together and the neighbours are in each others’ pockets, that kind of thing. Ned is a demolition expert, so he blows up buildings for a living, and he’s started to notice that possessions of his are disappearing. He’s a collector, a hoarder; he will go to a garage sale and pick up all this crap he doesn’t need and just hold onto it. But he’s also got some specific items that are pertinent to his and Joy’s relationship that he holds dear, sentimental things. These things start disappearing first: a pair of cufflinks, a soapstone birdbath that he gave Joy on their honeymoon, things like that. He’s also got this problem with insomnia, he’s having bad dreams and doesn’t want to go to sleep, and he’s also having these paranoid fantasies. Then there’s Dale, the next door neighbour, and his wife Lyn, but we never meet Lyn. Ned starts revealing to Dale that things are going missing and he doesn’t know why. So it’s about Ned trying to work out his own mental state and  his relationships with Dale and Joy. And it’s gradually revealed through the play where these disappearing items might be going.

Gavin Rutherford and Heather O'Carroll in Parlour Song. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

DOTW: What was it about this story that drew you to the play?

HOC: First of all, I am kind of obsessed with Britsh theatre. I absolutely love it. I was in London five years ago for seven months and just saw as much as I could possibly see and went to all these places like the Donmar Warehouse, the Royal Court and the National. And I found these really cool little theatres as well in London, like Soho Theatre and the BAC ; places I had heard of that were doing really exciting stuff. I love that kind of theatre, theatre that is contemporary, provocative. I love language; language is probably the biggest thing for me. I really enjoy playwrights who have their own vocabulary and play with language in a way that’s really interesting. In Parlour Song, for example, there’s a lot of repetition, but there’s also a lot of pausing, a lot of moments where what’s not being said is just as important and it’s about the space between the characters and what’s going on in the silence. I really love that kind of stuff. The language definitely really appealed to me in this play, Jez Butterworth is highly influenced by Harold Pinter, so there’s a lot of space around the words. I also have this ridiculously warped sense of humour, really black, so I love black comedy. And I think with Parlour Song, a lot of the laughter comes from the tragedy, from people recognizing themselves and recognizing something darker going on underneath. We’ve had so many nights where there’s been this really nervous laughter, and I really dig that. I mean, there’s some really good laugh out loud moments, and it’s real English humour and there are some really funny physical moments as well in the play. But the moments for me that I really enjoy are the moments where people are really nervous about laughing because that’s exciting. Also, I hadn’t done anything distinctly Britsh before, even though I really love that kind of theatre. Gavin Rutherford and I have just spent the last two years doing Le Sud to packed houses around the country and it was great to exercise those big comedy muscles; you’re on gag alert the whole time, you’re looking for the biggest gag, what’s going to make people laugh. And it’s just literally nonstop laughter during that show. So it’s exciting to do comedy in a way that’s more subtle and more complex. I mean, laughter is laughter, you get a buzz from it; we had 900 people for our closing night in Christchurch for the Christchurch Arts Festival, and having 900 people laugh hysterically is the most amazing feeling ever. You can’t even speak because they’re laughing so much. And Parlour Song is exciting in a different way. Doing something that is darker and more subtle is really cool.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your character, Joy?

HOC: Joy is such an enigma. That’s a word that’s been used in plenty of reviews about her. It took me a really long time to figure her out and I still don’t think I have completely. But I’ve got to a point where every night I can still be figuring her out on stage. And also the audience reaction to her is really interesting, to gauge where you place her. I think the thing with her is that she’s really guarded, she reveals herself really slowly throughout the play. I think at first you would see her very one dimensionally, and people have said to me, “Oh she’s a bitch”, but what I really like is that through the course of the play those walls come down a little bit and we see more of her vulnerability and her desires. She’s a slow burner I think. I always think of that expression, ‘still waters run deep’; she’s got this very cold, icy exterior, and once you start peeling away the layers you start to understand her more and you understand where she’s coming from. And that’s really nice to play. I think it’s beautifully ironic that she’s called Joy because there’s not much joy in her life. You don’t really get to know a lot about her back story, she’s really reflected in her two relationships in the play, through her relationship with Ned and her relationship with Dale. I think another interesting thing is that the three of us are never on stage together in a scene; it’s only ever two people in dialogue. So there’s always this feeling that there’s one person’s perspective left out of any scene, that there’s another person always in the background of what’s going on with these characters. And I quite like that as well.

Heather O'Carroll in Parlour Song. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

DOTW: Do you relate to her in any way or is it a complete departure?

HOC: No, it’s not a complete departure – it’s funny because I said to Chris Brougham one day, “Oh God, you’re not a 100 miles away from Dale are you?” And he said, “Yeah, I don’t think you’re 100 miles away from Joy either!” I think it’s really well cast in that way. I don’t know if you ever play characters who are that far away from you, I don’t know if I’ve ever had that really, cause you’re always bringing something of yourself to it. I definitely think there are aspects of Joy that I can relate to. But like I said, it was so hard to get to know her, but exciting and terrifying too. There was just moments that were like, “I can’t even play this character!” But maybe that is because she’s so like me.  Maybe there are those aspects of myself that I don’t want to admit to or confront. And maybe that’s where the apprehension came from. But it’s been amazing!

DOTW: Are there any particular challenges with this play?

HOC: The challenege we had with this play is that Jez Butterworth, I don’t know if it was intentionally or inadvertently, placed a very complex timeline within the play and it’s only really revealed when characters say things like “six weeks ago …” or “six months ago …” or “a week ago …”, things like that. In the first week of rehearsal we were talking about this timeline and trying to work it out, so I sat down with a piece of paper and attempted to plot the play in terms of its timeline. It got really messy and I got blamed for my timeline quite a bit, and I was like, “It’s not my timeline, it’s Jez Butterworth’s timeline. Leave me alone!” But when you see the play, you’re never going to pick up on that – you’ll see a flashback and you’ll realize it’s a flashback. In terms of the way it sits in the play, people will see the timeline chronologically. But in terms of us trying to figure out where that person is in their journey and in the journey of the story, it was quite hard. But also exciting, because then you get to bring things to scenes that are sort of enigmatic, you create this tension onstage because you’re aware of where you are in the story, which the audience will pick up on and it will feed into their own version of the story and the timeline as they see it. A lot of people have said that the play is intriguing and engrossing, and I think that is because the audience is piecing together the story. A lot of the story is not told overtly, so there is that thing where you sit there and try to piece it together. And I love those moments where a character will say something that the other character doesn’t know but the audience picks up on. Some nights they’re really vocal; there a couple of moments that I have where I say something and the audience will go, “Oooooh!” That is really exciting when you can hear the audience playing along, when you can figure out whose side they’re on, or just when that penny drops, that is really cool when that happens. I had a guy on the street come up to me the other day, he just accosted me on the street and he said, “Oh my God, are you in that play at Circa? It’s so amazing, we loved it so much, we came on the preview night.” You know, that’s really cool that it’s a play that people are so connected to that they want to come up and talk to you about it. Parlour Song is not tied up in a little bow at the end, and I like that because the audience just doesn’t walk out the door and forget the play, they go away and they talk about it. On preview night, we were at the bar having a drink after the show and we had five people who had come together come up to us and they said, “Right, we’ve been discussing the play for half an hour, and now we need some questions answered.” We thought it was great and told them to fire away, but told them we couldn’t guarantee we would know the answers. I think that’s really cool that we can then have a dialogue between the audience and crew so we can all ask questions of each other about it. And we might all have a different opinion about how the play is structured but that’s cool, it makes it unique to every audience member. Any play that you come out of and you’re still talking about is good in my book, the worst thing to have coming out of a play is indifference. I love that this play is something that provokes such reactions and dialogues and discussions.

DOTW: In a previous issue of drama on the waterfront, Gavin Rutherford described his experiences during a day of the rehearsal process of Parlour Song. What was that process like for you?

HOC: It was great. I think Gavin touched on this, but one of the cool things for me is that we aren’t all in scenes together, there’s always one person from the cast watching the scene. It was really nice sometimes if I wasn’t required to rehearse that scene I could go away and learn my lines or do something else and then when I came back, I would see the work that had gone into that scene that day and I could sit back and sort of be an audience member. It would feed into other parts of the story, but it was nice to just observe other people working rather than all being in the same scenes together all the time. So that was really cool. And we just had so many laughs; we were just laughing all the time, which was great. We all just genuinely love the play. Even Rachel, our stage manager, she would say everyday that it was so exciting to come in and watch rehearsals because she really loved the play. And that’s not always the case if you’re just kind of sitting there in the rehearsal room everyday. We all just had a really good time.

DOTW: How is it to work with this team (including director Susan Wilson, lighting designer Jennifer Lal, set designer John Hodgkins, stage manager Rachel Marlow, AV designer Andrew Simpson) on this work?

HOC: I had only worked with Susan once before, on The Cherry Orchard which was here at Circa. Susan’s great, it’s been five years since I’ve worked with her, and it was really nice to work with her again. She’s really open and ready for a laugh and just had some fantastic insight into these characters and the dynamic of the play. She’s really good with the subtlety of it, finding all the little nuances – one of the reviews [link] said that and I really liked that because that’s exactly what it is. It’s finding those little moments that people are going to recognize, and navigating through those moments, like I said before, where people aren’t speaking to each other but there’s so much going on. I’ve worked with Jen and John a million times, and they’re great. They’ve done such a brilliant job with the set and lighting. There’s a big reveal at the end of the play – which I won’t go into – but every night there’s a vocal response to it, which is really exciting. And Rachel and Andrew I’ve worked with before. I directed a show called A Brief History of Helen of Troy last year, and Rachel was my lighting designer and Andrew was my sound designer. Andrew was nominated for a Chapman Tripp Award for sound design for that show. So it was great to work with them again. They’re all fantastically talented people.

DOTW: What can you tell us about your castmates, Gavin and Chris?

HOC: Gavin and I have known each other for a really long time now; after touring with Le Sud, we’ve been in each other’s pockets for the last two years. It’s so good to work with someone you know really well, especially when you’re playing husband and wife. Ned and Joy are supposed to have been married for 11 years, so you have to have that familiarity and that ease with each other. I knew Chris in the industry, but I’ve never worked with him before. The funny thing about Chris, one of the first scenes I have with him – well, both of the scenes I have with him – are intimate scenes, which is always funny when you don’t know someone very well and you have that kind of scene. Especially at the beginning when you have scripts in your hand and there’s not much you can do at that stage. So it is quite funny getting to know somebody just by groping them. But it’s been really great, he’s fantastic. Gavin’s fantastic as well. They’re just really good actors and perfectly cast.

Heather O'Carroll and Christopher Brougham in Parlour Song. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

DOTW: Finally, what should Circa audiences know about Parlour Song?

HOC: Having such an interest in British theatre, I had heard about Jez Butterworth because he wrote this amazing play called Jerusalem, which was just on in London recently and won all these awards. And Parlour Song is right up with Jerusalem in terms of its themes and writing. And I think it’s just really great that Circa allows us to see the best of what’s happening overseas. In 2006 I set up my production company, GladEye Productions – I’ve now produced two plays under that company, A Brief History of Helen of Troy, which was produced with Playground Collective, and a play called Guardians, which I saw overseas, and which I produced and acted in. And I set up that company in order to do contemporary, cutting edge theatre from the international stage, specifically to do international work. I’ve never said I wasn’t going to do New Zealand work, but this company was created because I think we should see the best of what’s happening overseas as well as the best of what’s happening here. Because we can’t shut ourselves off to influences from overseas. And the plays that I choose aren’t specifically from a place, they speak to me through character or language or theme. And that’s more important to me as a human being to connect on those levels rather than only identifying in a national way. I also want to challenge myself as an actor to play characters that are different to me, and not only in terms of character, but also in terms of nationality and of class, all these different things that go to make us as human beings. One of the big challenges in this play for me and I think the other actors is the accent; I love accents. I shouldn’t have to limit myself to only playing a New Zealand accent all the time because accents are another part of an actor’s craft. So I think that’s a big thing; you’re seeing this fantastic play which is not touring here or coming here by any international company, but you’re seeing three top actors here in this country taking it on and presenting it along with all the other elements lighting, direction, everything – to create this great production. And people are really excited by it. I guess, at the end of the day, what audiences will get from it is a really intriguing, great story with fantastic characters, some very funny moments and also some moments that they will really feel for. There is some beautiful, sad, poignant stuff going on in there. And you shouldn’t be afraid of that; it doesn’t have to just be comedy, you should have an emotional experience as well. This play doesn’t sugarcoat it – there are some really funny moments but it’s a very real situation with some very real emotions going on in it and that can be cathartic. 

Parlour Song is on at Circa until 21 August. To book tickets, please call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or visit www.circa.co.nz. 

Parlour Song is choice.

By Gavin Rutherford

It's a glorious way to make a buck, this acting thing. Walking towards Circa on a sunny, if cold, winters morning along the waterfront thinking how privileged and lucky I am to be able to work in this environment. Circa is one of the most luxuriously positioned theatres in the country. I help myself to a very glamourous instant coffee out of the co-op box in the kitchen after pushing myself through the rowdy loud Great Gatsby cast who have been working hard singing and dancing since nine (we start rehearsing at ten 'cause we work gentleman's hours), and stand out on the deck with my cast mates watching early morning kayakers. After morning talks (translated as gossip and a catch up) we go over some notes in the rehearsal room while we wait for the kids show audience downstairs to arrive for the Improvisors kids show Gnome on the Roam. We have to delay the start of the rehearsal run because apparently the kids have been frightened by our banging and crashing overhead. Take a deep breath and into Parlour Song. "It started small" says Dale played by Chris Brougham. Ned (me) is tense but excited, then nervous and desperate, then confused and scared, then exhausted and breakable. I indulge in being the audience, watching Heather O'Carroll and Chris doing the scenes when I am not on, and am frequently reproached by Chris for laughing too loudly at their comedy. It's that delicate time when we are all still finding it knife edge funny. The hour and a half flies by while we are acting but I feel it at the end of the run. Rubbing my neck after the mental and physical exertion the fantastic script demands. After some discussion about costumes or set elements it is lunch (sometimes I am lucky enough to meet up with Gina and our two girls) and then back for notes on the run and working a few scenes that need detailing. The ending is a tricky one because the style of the play changes and we are all looking forward to getting downstairs into the theatre to see what the lights, sound and audio visual elements will add. At the end of today I am buzzing. I am overexcited about this play and maybe a little overtired so I start to talk about how much fun I am having and how much I am enjoying working with everyone. Jen Lal (our lighting designer) makes it clear to me that I am talking too much and that 'love ins' should be saved for after a few beers on opening night. So if you are there on opening night and I have had a few beers, watch out 'cause, if all goes well, I might be boring.

Parlour Song is choice. I'm loving it. Sue Wilson (the director) has created a rehearsal space that is open and collaborative and supportive. It means we can create and discuss openly and thoroughly and try things on the floor. And it shows. I hope you enjoy the end result of a great creative team and marvellous theatrical environment. I'm a lucky man, doing this acting thing. I try and make sure I never take it for granted. It is a privilege.

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Parlour Song opens in Circa Two on 24 July and runs until 21 August. To book your tickets, call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or visit www.circa.co.nz.