An Oak Tree: "It’s fucking brilliantly written!"

Tim Spite takes a moment from the daunting task of being the only actor in An Oak Tree who actually knows the script to tell drama on the waterfront about the challenges, the highlights and the mishaps of this intriguing and original play.

DOTW: What is the basic premise of An Oak Tree?

TS: A father loses his daughter when she’s hit by a car, possibly her fault. He can’t accept her death; he returns to the scene by the road and in his mind turns a nearby oak tree into his daughter. He later visits a hypnotist for help. Turns out the hypnotist was already involved.

The actor who plays the father has never seen the script before; a new actor every night.

Michele Amas before taking a turn as the guest actor in An Oak Tree.

DOTW: What was the rehearsal process like? How could you rehearse without another actor who knows the script?

TS: Lonely. I had so many lines to learn and so many more lines and directions to learn for the guest actor. My stage manager played the other part for several weeks. By the end of rehearsals she knew the part better than I did. We had to brace ourselves for the first performance with someone entirely new, and, sure as eggs, unprecedented things started happening which were very challenging.

DOTW: The concept seems like it would be quite challenging for an actor; what has been the biggest challenge of performing this play?

TS: Having to think of the other actor and show a duty of care. I usually couldn’t care less about what the other actors are going through as long as they give me my cue lines. Showing a duty of care to another actor as well as yourself needs a much more intense concentration than usual.

DOTW: How have the guest actors responded to An Oak Tree? Have there been any stand-out moments?

TS: Some have been very emotionally affected by the content. Some have found it a real crack-up. Stand out moments were Gavin Rutherford’s Liberace impersonation and Geraldine Brophy’s almost autistic ability to make perfect sense of, and give full emotional weight to a cold read.

Geraldine Brophy before her turn in An Oak Tree.

DOTW: Have any mishaps occurred during the season so far?

TS: Yes, but only because someone who was using the theatre during the day, walked off with one of the small scripts that I give to the guest actor. We couldn’t find it anywhere. Do you think there was a back up script somewhere? No! In the mad scramble to assemble a new script just before the show, I accidently omitted one page of that script. It made for some pretty hair-raising improvisation. Suddenly it wasn’t just the guest actor that was in a play that they didn’t know the lines to! Did anyone notice? I don’t think so. I think they thought it was all part of the conceit of the play. Weird!

DOTW: Finally, what should the audience know about An Oak Tree?

TS: There’s no audience participation. It’s only an hour long. It’s not as dark or weird as it sounds. It’s fucking brilliantly written! You’ll be mesmerized.

Gavin Rutherford before taking the role of the guest actor in An Oak Tree.

An Oak Tree runs in Circa Two until 30 July. The guest actors for the week are posted every Monday on www.circa.co.nz/site/Shows/An-Oak-Tree. To book, call the Circa Box Office at 801-7992 or go online at www.circa.co.nz.