Sally McKenzie is a theatre stalwart. She’s done comedy, cabaret and drama. She’s an actor, a director, a writer and a producer. Right now she’s appearing in School of Arts, Bille Brown’s new play.
ourbrisbane.com caught up with Sally to find out more about the show and her thoughts on theatre in general.
OB: Please tell us about School of Arts.
Sally: Set in 1967 on the weekend of the referendum to give Indigenous Australians the vote, The School of Arts charts the physical and emotional mayhem caused by a group of travelling actors when they attempt to perform Hamlet in the small regional Queensland town of ‘Bilo’.
OB: Do you know how Bille Brown came up with the idea or what inspired him?
Sally: Bille drew inspirations from several sources, including a documentary film, which followed a small troupe of actors who travelled by train to regional Queensland towns performing Shakespeare. Other sources were Bille’s own upbringing - the characters who peopled his life and the activities held in the Biloela School of Arts - as well as his own experiences as an actor.
OB: What attracted you to doing this play? Can you tell us a bit about the character you play?
Sally: First and foremost, The School of Arts is immensely entertaining. I am often seen as an ‘intense’ actor who plays ‘neurotic’ women. Before my training, I loved to make people laugh. Post NIDA came the life of a jobbing actor. My character, Mrs Gwen Frawley, is a stage-manager/producer. She would have loved to perform but, due to her abilities, had to settle for teaching Art of Speech at the local Amateur Dramatic Society. I find her innately entertaining. Bille has drawn some beautifully rich and charming characters, who, like us all, have inadequacies and inconsistencies.
OB: Do you prefer acting for film, stage, TV, other media? Why?
Sally: With screen acting comes a sense of being part of a much larger whole. There’s nothing glamorous about 5am calls, but having your makeup done for you and being surrounded by ‘techies’ – acting in such an environment can be an intense ‘in the moment’ experience. With stage acting, your craft is held up for all to see. I equate stage acting to an elite sport. And the nightly performance ritual akin to walking a tightrope. Screen and stage acting both have their own set of parameters. I prefer neither above the other, however, if you can act on stage, generally you’ll be able to act for camera. The reverse is not necessarily true. The main difference between stage and screen acting is the point of delivery.
OB: You also direct, write and produce shows. What are the benefits of each role and do you have a favourite?
Sally: I enjoy producing. Writing is often a solitary experience. The more I write, the more I believe that it is the investigative documents that you write before you start the process of draft writing, that are important. Directing is the one I enjoy the most. I love creating images – whether they be on stage or screen.
OB: What do you think of the state of theatre in Brisbane (there’s been a fair bit written on the performing arts blog)?
Sally: This is a tough one for me. I’m perhaps too close to offer a subjective opinion. Having lived here for two decades now, I haven’t seen much theatre elsewhere during that time to compare Brisbane theatre to. I think generally – and this has nothing to do with The School of Arts but a reflection that comes from being a maker, participant and viewer of new work – that new works do not have a long enough gestation/development period.
OB: What do you like best about working in theatre?
Sally: The opportunity to practice my craft and work with other actors. The contract I make with the audience.
OB: Do you, like most actors, directors and writers, face periods of unemployment? If yes, how do you cope with them?
Sally: I have come to believe that nobody owes you anything in this business. Australia is a nation that celebrates sports. Not the arts. If you live here and want to work in the arts, at some stage, unless you are a marketable TV screen performer, you will need to make you own work and/or channel your abilities into associated disciplines. In 2006, 50% of all employed Australian actors were aged 35 years and under. So the longer you stay in the business – the fewer the available work opportunities. I act, write, direct, produce and run a small company.
OB: What are the challenges of working on new scripts?
Sally: I recently had the opportunity to convert my NIDA Diploma in Acting to a Bachelor of Dramatic Art in Acting. To do so, I wrote a research paper that looked at applying screenwriting structural principles to playwriting. While I acknowledge image drives story in film while in theatre we generally rely on the spoken word, I believe playwrights can learn much about structure. This is not to suggest that theatre become proscriptive in form like film. Theatre must celebrate diversity of form. More, that the corsetry that holds up the theatre work, whatever its form, be founded on an investigated structural underpinning appropriate to the work.
OB: What should audiences look forward to when they come and see School of Arts?
Sally: Brilliant humour contrasted by intense drama, a rich cavalcade of Chekovian characters, inspired staging and design and an evening crammed full with so many entertaining moments that the audience will need to a make a beeline for the Dexal after the show!
School of Arts played the QPAC Playhouse 13 July – 1 August 2009.
