Australian Premiere of Tom at the Farm

Fixed Foot Productions, in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre, will present the Australian premiere of Tom at the Farm, a psychosexual slice of Canadian gothic, at the Kings Cross Theatre.

In this Q and A, actors Zoran Jevtic and Hannah Raven interview each other about the show.

Zoran: Would you ever move out to the country and live that “simple life”? 

Hannah: Absolutely. I love farms and small towns. I grew up in one! Bendigo. Living in a small town my whole life wouldn’t be ideal, but I wouldn’t mind one day moving further out, where there’s lots of land to run free in. Give me the bush over the beach any day. Did you grow up rural? 

Zoran: I grew up in Serbia, and even though I lived near the city I was always close to places that felt very rural.  In Serbia we have the term ‘selo’, which literally translates to village; it’s a small farm-like area not too far from the city. There were a lot of “selo-s” where I spent most of my childhood so I have definitely experienced a sort of country life.

Hannah: What made you want to do this show?

Zoran: it’s beautifully written and it asks a lot of the actor. I was drawn to its complexity and I was excited about telling a queer story, something that’s very important to me as a queer performer. What about you? What made you want to play Sara?

Hannah: I think it’s very easy, from reading the script for the first time, to pigeonhole Sara as a dumb blond who is easily manipulated. That’s how she’s described by Tom before we meet her. I also think there’s a danger, and a bit of a trend in plays that deal with repressed male homosexuality to portray women in a reductive way, as they are not the focus of the story and can become sacrificial secondary characters. I saw how strong this role could be played, so I really wanted to do it. At the audition, I could see that Danny and I were on the same page with Sara and saw how strong and dangerous this role could be. It’s also what I love about him as a director. He is concerned with the characters realities and what they value and fear. He is a dream director for an actor.

Zoran: Why do you think it was important for Michel Marc Bouchard to incorporate violence in the play?    

Hannah: I think that this play does a really nuanced job of exploring a collective grief felt by the queer community due to the violence they’ve had to face, directly or indirectly, just because of who they are. You? Why the violence?

Zoran: The violence is a painful reminder of the harm we can cause others because of our own unhealed wounds. The play can’t solve violence against queer people in ninety minutes, but it does have a really interesting and nuanced perspective.

Hannah: What other character would you want to play and why? 

Zoran: I would actually love to explore what your character, Sara, has to go through. It would be really interesting to delve into what her experience is as an outsider that’s thrust into this messed up little world. You? Which role?

Hannah: Francis. I find that character to be incredibly complex and riddled with layers of pain. It would be a great challenge for me. Rory does it flawlessly!

Tom at the Farm plays at Kings Cross Theatre from August 26 - September 10. http://www.kingsxtheatre.com/tom