The Worst Kept Secrets
The Worst Kept Secrets is about what happens when the personal and the political collide for high-profile couple George Steeper, ex-Premier of NSW, and his wife Annie. Their 29-year marriage comes to an explosive end, and years worth of scandalous secrets become tabloid fodder.
What makes the play particularly intriguing is the fact that George and Annie are played by real-life husband and wife, Rhett Walton and Sonia Todd. But according to Todd, playing characters who despise each other was an amusing contrast to their real relationship. “I think when you’ve known someone a long time you develop a kind of shorthand,” Todd says.
The play was written by 22-year old Thomas de Angelis. Despite not having experienced divorce firsthand, he did draw inspiration from real-life events. “It was happening to a lot of his friends’ parents,” Todd explains. “After they’d paid off their houses, put their kids through school and then you just turn to the other person and think, ‘Why are we still together? I don’t even know you anymore.’ It had a big enough impact on him to write about it.” (AS)
Nov 18-22, Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, City Rd, Chippendale, $30, seymourcentre.com
Written by Anita Senaratna
