CHEKHOV’S CHILDREN

“What goes on at drama school is pretty funny,” says Sam Atwell, the writer behind Chekhov’s Children, a new play in which Atwell shoves a bunch of students into a world of method acting gone wrong. Appropriately, their struggle is cast against the backdrop of difficult Russian dramatist Chekhov, known for his theatre of moods and submersive texts.

“Chekhov is really the master of delving into the hearts and minds of his characters and for artists and audiences alike it’s a thrill to encounter characters so real.  His plays are plotted in such a way that not only are we privy to a character’s inner turmoil but also how they hide their true selves in social situations.”

It’s no surprise that Atwell readily admits if he hadn’t picked up the pen to write, he’d have leant towards psychology. The kids he creates become trapped in a behavioural loophole opened by one too many extreme acting exercises. Trying to mine your past for theatrical gold, says Atwell, “can make the present a strange place to live because you’re mining your own memories to exploit them as emotional triggers to expand your acting range.  When your first introduced to this kind of “method’ of acting it can be like opening a floodgate and memories pop into your brain at the strangest times … The present becomes about constantly logging moments you may use in the future and the future becomes a distant dream that one day you might get to…if you could just get away from the past…but you’re being told to use your past!”

On the surface, it’s a far cry from Atwell’s last production based on the Bali Nine case, Bondi Dreaming. But Atwell disagrees, “Like the characters in Bondi Dreaming these characters are stuck – although in this play they are choosing to be and want to be there … I think the actors’ journey is an incredible and courageous one and I hope you enjoy this watching this group of thespians trying to get their head around Chekhov: one of theatre’s great genius.’”

May 21-31, The Old Fitzroy Theatre, cnr Dowling & Cathedral Sts, Woolloomooloo, $16-28 (beer, laksa, show), 8019 0282, rocksurfers.org