5 Pounds of Pure Gold

Jason Cavanagh is a fine young actor, one of Melbourne’s best, but he’s also a creative realist. He knows only too well that in a city like Melbourne, where there is so much theatre – Main Stage, independent, and high quality community – you have to be entrepreneurial to survive. So he created his own theatre company; 5 pound theatre. The company, and its innovative productions, have gained great critical acclaim, but critics don’t ensure commercial success, or bums on seats. So Jason took a lease on a venue which provided him with his own, albeit tiny, theatre, complete with a little bar, where Jason often acts as barman. When 5 pound isn’t in production, other top end indee companies, such as Mockingbird, can hire the venue in Richmond, which is called The Owl and The Pussycat.

Constantly searching for new ways to stimulate Melbourne theatre goers, last year Jason decided to try a season of repertory theatre. For the uninitiated, Repertory theatre is a season of back-to-back plays, running for one week each, totally diverse in nature and yet performed by the same casts. In Britain, weekly Rep was the training ground for all actors – both great and mediocre (including myself…in the latter category) from the 1930s to the 1980s. Alas, though a few rep theatres struggle on, the tradition of the training ground, and dramatic entertainment for the public on a weekly basis, has mostly died out. The adrenalin rush coupled with the discipline of performing one play, rehearsing another and learning a third at any given time, makes it the most exciting kind of theatre for company and audience alike.

“I really was running out of steam last year,” Jason tells me, “thinking of chucking it in altogether. I thought I had nothing left to contribute, and without that, there wasn’t much point in continuing.” Then Jason decided to try a repertory season. “The adrenaline rush was amazing. I felt totally reinvigorated. Without that I would never have been able to do “Drive” earlier this year.” Jason is referring to his astonishing performance in Mockingbird’s How I learned to Drive that I was privileged to review. It made sense then to repeat the repertory experience again this year – and the programme is just astonishing.

For 5 weeks The Owl and the Pussycat in Richmond will be transformed into Australia’s only working repertory theatre; 5 different directors, 5 designers and a group of 5 actors will rehearse, produce and present 5 very different shows over the course of 5 weeks.

The lineup, chosen to reflect a typical repertory season, is as follows:

Week 1. November 13-16^th. Noises Off by Michael Frayne, directed by Jason Cavanagh.

Week 2. November 20-23^rd. Because of Reasons by Robert Reid, directed by Petra Kalive.

Week 3. November 26-31^st. Gilbert and Sullivan Cabaret Review, directed by Fiona Scott-Norman.

Week 4. December 3-7^th. The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by Daniel Lammin.

Week 5. December 11-14^th. Sex Diary of an Infidel by Michael Gurr, directed by Marcel Dorney

The five slightly crazy actors taking on this mammoth charge this year are Tim Wotherspoon, Freya Pragt, Brendan Hawke, Lelda Kapsis and Keith Brockett.

Jason enthuses “We have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support this project has received.  We had a theory that this type of theatre still has a place in our local community and artistic scene.  And that theory has been ratified!  This year we are bringing it back with 5 truly ambitious productions, directed by some of the icons of Melbourne’s independent theatre scene.”

Week 1 will see the company’s artistic director Jason Cavanagh take all 3 acts of one of the funniest plays to ever hit the main stage - Noises Off… and fit it into a 45 seat box theatre. Week 2 Petra Kalive tackles a new play written just for the company by the infamous Robert Reid.  In Week 3 Fiona Scott-Norman along with Musical Director Karin Muizneiks and the 5 actors will take on the entire Gilbert and Sullivan Cannon and condense it into one quirky little cabaret show. In week 4 Laurence Strangio will be taking on the stormy depths of Shakespeare’s Swan Song; The Tempest and finally Marcel Dorney will bring it all crashing back home with the controversial 80’s Australian hit, Sex Diary of an Infidel.

Five fantastic plays….and you get an extra discount if you buy tickets to all 5. The shows will run from Wednesdays each week but there’s even a Tuesday night preview. I asked Jason why he thought people should commit to the whole season.

“I think people should come because rep theatre is all about a deeper connection to the community, it fosters a deeper relationship between performer and audience which often gets lost for people that aren't 'in the industry'. There are a lot of exciting things going on in independent theatre in Melbourne and this is an opportunity for people to get to know some of the people involved. There are some really talented and hard working theatre makers attached to this project and I feel if people commit to coming along for the journey it becomes not only a rewarding experience, not only an enjoyable few nights out but it also offers a glimpse of what these people can do.

By challenging the theatre makers in this way it is our belief that very quickly pretence and preciousness is lost, barriers put up and broken down, endurance and concentration levels challenged.  But above all it gives all those involved, actors and audience alike, an everlasting appreciation for the term… the show must go on!”

He’s absolutely right, as all true theatre-lovers know, and the season kicks off at the Owl and The Pussycat in Richmond TONIGHT…Nov 13^th, with arguably the funniest play ever written, Michael Frayne’s Noises Off. How he plans to execute this tricky play in a tiny space has me salivating with expectation.

Pick your night and book for all five plays to get a concession on the already meagre ticket price of $25, which is cheaper than most amateur productions. This is a fantastic season and I plan to be there every Wednesday. I wouldn’t miss it for quids, and you shouldn’t either.

The Owl and the Pussycat – 34 Swan Street, Richmond (opposite Richmond Station).

Article by Coral Drouyn