12/6/07 The Unedited Version of "Sinclair and Scripts"

Unlocking the power of a playtext is something actor/director Iain Sinclair seems to do effortlessly. Yet after performing some inspirational excerpts from the likes of Steven Berkoff, David Rabe and a William Shakespeare to a group of wide-eyed Radford College students at a workshop earlier this year, it was clear the former Canberran had put in some hard yards between the rehearsal room and the stage. “How does he make it feel so real and so heartfelt?” a student commented in awe.

“Working alongside great directors is the old fashioned and best way to sharpen your own craft,” replied Sinclair, who has assisted the likes of Gale Edwards and Jean-Pierre Mignon with the Sydney Theatre Company. STC has certainly provided him with a valuable opportunity to watch international directors at work with seasoned Australian performers such as Barry Otto, Angela Punch McGregor and John Stanton, to name a few. “Its fantastic to be exposed to practitioners working at the top of the game, “ says Sinclair. “Of course everyone has different kinds of artistic process but there is a connection point with a passion about being as true to a playtext as possible.”

As is evident, Sinclair’s quest for theatrical truth reaches beyond the floorboards and rehearsal rooms, extending further back to the drawing-board where playwrights first put finger to word processor. He has often championed the work of new Australian playwrights such as Mary Rachel Brown, a writer definitely at the top of her game. His Canberra-based professional theatre company, Elbow Theatre, staged Brown’s A Streetcar Named Datsun 120Y both locally and then downstairs at the old Belvoir Theatre. Brown’s National Security and the Art of Taxidermy followed suit and last year the playwright won the Griffin Award for her black comedy Australian Gothic. “Mary’s writing craft has been on a continual upward trend. I’ve always had the greatest faith in her work. She’s a classy observer of our society and of personal eccentricities.” This is more than evident in Brown’s moving mother-son exploration 1 in a 100 presently showing at The Street Theatre.

Sinclair spent some time earlier this month in Queensland where he developed a play entitled The God of Spicy Things by Sue Hayes for JUTE Theatre. “If you can imagine a Bollywood version of Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with puppets… that’s pretty close to The God of Spicy Things,” says an animated Sinclair who hopes this work find its way into next year’s Multicultural festival program. “Sue and I are both indophiles. It’s going to be a blast all about Dil Chahata Hai (What the heart desires).”

Next month he will direct the long-awaited premiere of Geraldton’s Kate Mulvany’s The Seed, winner of the 2004 Philip Parsons Young Playwright, again at Belvoir. “Mulvaney is one of my favourite new writers due to her ear for straight-shooting, compelling dialogue,” explains Sinclair. He will then stage Mulvany’s Embalmer! The Musical setting the playwright’s experiences of working in a mortuary to music. The piece is co-written by fellow adventurous ex-Canberran and performer Pip Branson for the Tamarama Rock Surfers at the Old Fitzroy and it promises to be a unique foray of a theatrical medium into which Sinclair rarely ventures.

If any of these efforts are as lasting as the evocative theatrical images from last year’s adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, which featured former locals Paul Ashton, Robin Goldsworthy and Henry Nixon (currently seen in the Australian feature film, Noise) then it can only be a matter of time before his days of assisting directors at STC are over and he assumes a directional driving seat with the premier theatre company.

From such a vantage point, his support of quality theatrical writing and acting would be unwavering. Sinclair is quick to point out that support of playwrights needs to exist beyond the applause of a first play’s success and passing theatrical fads. “New Australian writing is often feted by funding bodies and producers, but more often than not the emphasis is on finding the new ‘hot thing’ rather than assisting and nurturing life long writing careers. I feel very strongly about the need to help our best and brightest write seven plays not just one… that’s why I’ve been working with Kate Mulvany and Mary Rachel Brown for a long time.”

On the future, Sinclair imagines that he will “…always be gearing up some new scheme to put on some good old hard hitting straight up drama. It’s still the best way to see the difference between how we are and how we think we are.” It is clear that in order to extricate truth and make lasting connections in the professional theatrical world, that one must live the Bard’s maxim and remain true to oneself. On that score and many others, Sinclair appears to be following what his theatrical heart desires to impressive effect.

George Huitker