Racheal - Production Date: March – April, 1999 (exact dates unknown)
- Production Company: Brisbane Theatrical Productions, Brisbane
- Playwright: Oscar Wilde
- My Role: Rosalie
Having now performed in three pantomimes and an absurd one-act play, it was time for me to start branching out and discovering other theatre groups. I would still be a part of the API Theatre Company for many years, but there were quite a number of other theatre groups around Brisbane that were also welcoming. The hardest part however was often finding out about the groups and their auditions. There was no social media, and whilst some groups now had websites and email lists, you often had to be a member of the group to find out about auditions. Some would also still advertise in the newspaper. This lack of availability of information eventually let me to looking into creating a dedicated website specifically for auditions and casting notices. Since my first show in late 1996, I had completed a number of short acting courses for stage and screen, training under Judy Hamilton, Grant Thompson, Aash Aaron, Ben Parkinson and Bud Hopes. I was quite keen to get into film work as much as stage, but finding out about any productions – especially short films – was challenging.
I’m not sure where I first heard about the auditions for Lady Winderemere’s Fan, and I don’t remember anything about the auditions, but I was excited to be cast in the role of the Irish maid, Rosalie. Brisbane Theatrical Productions were noted as a pro-am performance group, which meant the cast was made up of a mix of professional performers and volunteer performers. The show was also a profit-share production, which was split between the professional performers. I should note, we were all given the opportunity to be considered a professional performer – but at the time when I was offered, I didn’t think I was ready to take that step so I said I was happy to be a volunteer performer. In hindsight, I probably should have stepped up then, but I was still finding my way at the time so that step didn’t happen until the following year.
The show was performed at Hamilton Town Hall, and had an amazing cast – many of whom are still doing amazing things in the industry today! When we first started rehearsals, I did know two of the others – Julia Michaels (from Murder on the Nile – formerly known as Julia Drake) and Gemma Styles whom I knew briefly from high school days. I also remember it was one of Christopher Sommer‘s first theatre productions. (Chris has since gone on to now running his own drama studio in Brisbane called The Factory and has been working professionally in film & theatre for over 25 years!). There are a few other names I recognise from the program as well that I remember hearing again over the years.
Once again, I don’t remember much about the performances other than being the Irish maid and finally getting a chance to use an accent. I do have some Irish descent from my fathers side of the family, so I do tend to find it comes reasonably naturally to me – to be sure, to be sure!
CAST: Julia Michaels, James Fitzgerald, David Starrs, Elizabeth Young, Christina Holmes-Austin, Penny Brown-O’Dare, Gemma Styles, William Billingsley, Judith Turnbull, Paul Bryant, Tony Frank, Christopher Sommers, Brian Cox, Natalie Bailey, Sheila Boyd, Judith Barbeller, Daniel Turnell.
CREW: Richard Rigg (Director), Peter O’Dare (Production Manager), Bianca Peltola (Stage Manager), Daniel Turnell (Lighting), Jenny Rigg (Costumes), William Billingsley, Christopher Sommers.
