by Christopher Hurrell
March-May 2003
Two of the most exciting talents to emerge from the Sydney independent theatre scene in recent years are collaborating to bring Griffin's first production for 2003 to the stage.
Rabbit is the latest play by writer/actor Brendan Cowell and is the winner of the 2003 Griffin Award. Brendan, who has just delivered an acclaimed performance in the central role of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things for the Sydney Theatre Company, burst onto the writing scene just three years ago with his first play, Men, which was an instant hit at the Old Fitzroy. Since then, Brendan's path has been marked by awards and acclamation including a share in the 2001 Patrick White Playwright's Award for his fourth play, Bed, and a commission for the 2002 Sydney Festival with his play, ATM.
Director Kate Gaul's rise to prominence in Sydney has been almost simultaneous with Brendan's -there was the hugely successful production of The Laramie Project, which she directed for Company B, Belvoir in 2001. This was followed by her directorial debut for Griffin on last year's close to sell out season of Alma De Groen's Wicked Sisters. In the last few months, Kate and Brendan have been working together on the final redrafting of Rabbit for its season with Griffin in April.
Brendan writes with a voice that is bold, energetic, quirky, and very, very funny. Griffin first received a draft of Rabbit last year- and the dialogue literally jumped off the page with its charismatic wit and rhythm. It is the uniqueness and youthful energy of Brendan's style that Griffin audiences will probably first notice about Rabbit - but it's his penetratingly perceptive observation of both society and human foible that makes Rabbit truly exciting. Brendan says that his goal in making theatre is "to take people out of their lives, up to another planet, which feels good and comfortable, funny and familiar, then suddenly asks them to have a peek down at their own planet again and feel the link, be that an epiphany or a bleak realisation. I want to entertain, in the way that entertainment is based on a link with the truth."
Kate Gaul describes this synthesis of humour and wisdom in Rabbit as "King Lear meets the Simpsons.' Rabbit is the story of the night when Paul (played by William Zappa) - a radio shock jock and Australian icon - invites his estranged daughter Madeline (newcomer Cecily Hardy) to the family's country house for a family dinner. Both have surprises they are hell bent on unleashing on their unsuspecting relations. Not only does Madeline have her new hip-hop artist boyfriend, Spin (played by Socratis Otto), to introduce but she's ready to reveal she's made a rather unconventional career change. This is nothing compared to the final agony of Paul's secret- and meanwhile, a small rabbit waits anxiously for death. If all this seems unlikely subject matter for a comedy, then think again. In Kate's words, "The characters are savage. The play is extremely funny and very black. It's seemingly epic proportions are beautiful and the balance of all these elements is unique."
Brendan says that the idea for Rabbit began with the character of Paul. "I am fascinated by the men that clutch the microphones at 5:30am to 9am every morning and scream their verbose philosophies down the AM airwaves. And even more so the large percentage of Australians that so obsessively subscribe to their charged and misled mantras. I wanted to take a compound of these men, turn him into one man, and face him up to the most terrifying possible nemesis these creatures could confront: mortality, the new generation, and family."
Griffin is also thrilled to welcome into this collaboration Australia's leading theatre designer, Brian Thompson. "I consider Brian to be one of the masters, and it's a terrific opportunity to apply his experience, skill, and insight to this really special new play," says Kate. "We first worked together on The Laramie Project. Later this year, we will work on a new play by Alana Valentine called (believe it or not) Run Rabbit Run." It seems fitting that Brian should be designing Rabbit. As well as being a Tony Award winning veteran of the mainstream, Brian is an artist who, thirty years ago, was working in another tiny theatre (upstairs at the Royal Court) with Jim Sharman on the work of another young actor/writer by the name of Sam Shepard.
Audiences should expect the unexpected of Rabbit. As Kate points out, the social satire in this play comes from the point of view of someone a full generation younger than most playwrights whose work we see on the main stage in Sydney. Brendan is part of "a new generation of writers who clearly have a different artistic, political, and social agenda," she says. "I can think of a number of younger playwrights (for example, Adam Grossetti, Ben Ellis, and Tommy Murphy) who really are writing with quite a different pen. Over time we are going to hear more....It's up to artistic directors across Australia to make sure these new voices are heard."