You’re appearing as part ofThe Prideat Eternity Playhouse during the 2016 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. What can you tell us about the play?
The Pride is a beautifully written play by British writer and actor Alexi Kaye Campbell. It is set across two time periods in London – 1958 and the present day – and it follows two parallel love triangles. In 1958 we meet a married couple, Philip and Sylvia, who are trying to come to terms with Philip’s homosexuality after he falls in love with one of Sylvia’s male friends, Oliver. In the present day we follow a gay couple – Philip and Oliver – as they try and repair a relationship that is falling apart because Oliver is struggling with a sex addiction. These two stories intertwine and speak to each other, allowing us to explore how the experience of being gay in the 1950s has informed what it’s like to be gay in the present day.
Why is it important these stories are told in theatre today?
If you mean stories surrounding homosexuality, I think it’s important we are telling these stories in theatre – and through all forms of art – because we still have a lot of fear and repression surrounding homosexuality to let go of as a society and as a world. We’re getting there, slowly but surely. I think theatre can be a tool to educate and question through entertainment, and I think we have a responsibility to tell stories that help the world move forward and away from prejudice. Any kind of prejudice.
Were you surprised to learn how attitudes to love and sexuality have changed in the timeframe this play covers?
I think I’ve always had a sense of that shift in generational attitude from seeing how different it is to speak about love and sex and sexuality with my grandparents, compared to my parents, compared to my friends, and even compared to my younger siblings. I think anyone who has watched an episode of something like Mad Men would have some understanding of how different our world is now, and probably be very thankful that we’ve tried to move away from such obvious repression.
You’re also set to appear in the new Channel 7 series Wanted. You must have high hopes for your year ahead?
I must admit that I’m pretty excited about 2016. I had a great 12 months last year of working on projects that I am really, really proud of and I’m nervous but mostly thrilled to be finally sharing them with an audience. Wanted was such an exciting job to be a part of and I hope people enjoy watching it. My highest hope is that I can keep working with the same sorts of inspiring and challenging people that I have over the past year, and keep telling stories that are important and fun to make.
[the Pride photo by Helen White]
The PriderunsFriday February 5 – Sunday March 6 at Eternity Playhouse.
