The View
By James Waites
"I can't believe it's happening," 26-year-old writer/actor Brendan Cowell declares over the phone. He's had an offer he can't refuse and is leaving for London the next day. Others who have been watching Cowell's progress aren't the slightest bit surprised.
Cowell's most recently produced play, Rabbit, has been picked up by Frantic Assembly, one of Britain's most exciting young companies and is already booked into more than 20 regional theatres along with a season at London's prestigious Lyric Theatre. Cowell is on his way to rework the play to better suit a British audience.
You might have noticed Cowell in his role as Todd, the absurdly agreeable handyman in SBS' Life Support. This is light, amusing stuff but there is more to Cowell's acting talent. His performance as Adam in the STC's production of Neil LeBute's The Shape of Things was one of the most emotionally devastating we've seen in Sydney in the past couple of years.
Cowell's play Rabbit premiered not long after at the Stables. The season did well and younger people especially were gripped by the play's bravura and up-to-date themes. Reviews, on the other hand, were lukewarm.
Yes, Cowell's writing may well be driven by gut feeling and he could take a closer look at his craft skills. But Rabbit is an amazingly inventive script and it's not surprising that Frantic Assembly, known for its cutting-edge productions, has jumped at it.
Cowell sees the negative tone of some local criticism as part of a general malaise. "That takes up so much fucking energy. I use that energy to write plays and put them on."
A graduate from Bathurst's Charles Sturt University, Cowell is typical of the many "outsiders" who looked to the Sydney co-op theatre scene for their first acting break. The encouraging environment at the Old Fitzroy led him to have a go at writing as well. He has now completed eight plays since 2000, as well as a swag of scripts for film and television.
Cowell sees himself as part of a younger group building on the work of more experienced co-op legends, such as actor/directors Jeremy Cumpston and Jeremy Sims. He considers the Old Fitzroy to be "the most important building in the city. Undeniably the crux, the melting pot. In a lot of ways it serves people's careers. Other people go in to work their craft, to be exposed and give it a try.
"The best thing about the Fitzroy is that it's a night out. You go to this place surrounded by people who are drinking in a festive environment. You go downstairs and see a show. Then everyone comes back up to the festive atmosphere. Not just an antiseptic foyer."
He agrees that not much of current theatre writing is overtly political but Cowell believes that simply making work – a lot of it and passionately – is a statement in itself.
"The way I see the industry is the way I see this country. It lacks passion and it lacks courage. Instead of taking that big jump into the unknown, we take a little bit from here and a little bit from there. It happens in our art and in our politics. We're just a combination of America and England with a little bit of laconic irreverent ockerism thrown in.
"There's so much talent in Australia, yet we cut ourselves down. We're always judging each other. We never appreciate the emotional breath that is art. Art is never right or wrong."
Cowell's future as a writer and actor is already secured. When he looks back in later years from the high tower of his achievements, he will be the first to acknowledge that the Old Fitzroy and Sydney's currently vital fringe theatre scene offered him a start.