Enter the clown: artistic duo reprise a classic act
By Bryce Hallett | smh.com.au | 19 September
Rush plays the clown.
The Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush will return to the Sydney stage next year to rekindle the magic of his signature clowning act, Diary of a Madman.
The revival of the acclaimed 1989 production will be Neil Armfield's last as Company B Belvoir's long-standing artistic director.
Rush and Armfield have joined forces several times to adapt classics, perhaps none as successful as Ionesco's sobering comedy Exit the King, which earned Rush a Tony Award on Broadway for his portrayal of the dying King Berenger.
Rush took centre stage yesterday at his modest theatrical home of Belvoir St Theatre, in Surry Hills, where many of the actors, directors, writers and designers involved in Armfield's swansong 2010 season gathered to celebrate the singular force who has led Company B for 15 years.
"Since the building [the former Nimrod Theatre] was rescued from the demolition ball, Neil has brought ownership and investment to the space," said Rush.
"He has engendered a family feel and the goal of a common aesthetic, which has accelerated and become recognisable and highly original over the years ... People think that theatre companies have a life of about 15 years but Belvoir has been a self-saucing pudding."
The season includes David Hare's latest play about the global financial crisis, The Power of Yes, Scott Rankin's biographical play about the indigenous watercolourist Albert Namatjira and director Benedict Andrews' visceral take on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.
Armfield decided the time had come to relinquish artistic control of Belvoir.
He plans to pursue freelance opportunities in theatre, opera and film, at home and overseas. His successor will be announced within six weeks.
The decision to revive Diary of a Madman wasn't taken lightly.
Many years had passed and Rush's film career had taken off – he next stars in the film of the indigenous musical Bran Nue Day and on stage in the musical The Drowsy Chaperone in Melbourne next year – but the actor was keen to honour his working relationship with Armfield at Belvoir.
They have united many times in almost 30 years, including for Small Poppies, The Marriage of Figaro and the film Candy. "Geoffrey has been the most extraordinary friend and artistic collaborator," said Armfield, who relishes the actor's range, eloquence and mystery.
All were manifested by Rush in his haunting portrayal of Prokoshin in Gogol's comic masterpiece Diary of a Madman, which toured to Russia and won a swag of awards to make it the stuff of theatre legend.
First published by Smh.com.au on September 19 2009
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