Finding a life beyond booze
Actor, screenwriter, published author and director — is there any aspect of the creative arts Brendan Cowell won’t set his mind to?
“I’d do anything to sing and dance, but I’m just missing that crucial element that is talent,” he laughed down the line to the Star Observer in a break between rehearsals for his Red Stitch debut, Ruben Guthrie.
Cowell doesn’t appear in the self-penned show, instead staying behind the scenes as director. He admitted that he rarely directed his own work, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be at the helm of a Red Stitch show.
“I think it’s amazing that they’ve lasted 10 years running this collective and making great shows,” he explained.
“I started my career at the same time and with a similar ethos, getting plays up at the Old Fitz with my mates, so I thought it made sense to go back into a small space and work with Red Stitch for the first time.”
The play’s title character is a high-flying creative director at an advertising agency who has it all: a Czech supermodel girlfriend, a bay view apartment, a sports car and a drinking problem.
Guthrie hits rock bottom when he drunkenly jumps off a balcony into a pool and breaks his arm. Spooked by his near-death experience, he enters AA and journeys towards sobriety.
“His whole life switches once he’s sober. His parents don’t know how to communicate with him without a drink. His friends would all get smashed with him, but they can’t now.
“It’s loosely based on a year when I gave up drinking — a lot of my friends and family were really jolted by the fact I wouldn’t have a drink with them.
“All I was doing was taking this one substance out of my life, and yet it changed all my relationships. A lot of people felt very threatened, and a lot of stuff was projected onto me.”
In Australia, it seems it’s more socially acceptable to be an alcoholic than a teetotaller.
“Especially in my industry, where there are lots of free drinks at opening nights. You can pretty much get smashed every night of the week if you want, and no one minds. Ruben can have a big night every night, and if anything people encourage him and call him a hero.
“It’s not an anti-drinking play, it’s just an exploration of our relationship to it. If you’ve got a great career, loving family, good friends — why trash yourself?”
Red Stitch ensemble member Daniel Frederickson will take on the taxing title role (“It’s Hamlet with a Heineken, really,” Cowell joked), but Cowell admitted he sees a lot of himself in Ruben.
“There are definitely elements of me in Ruben, but I couldn’t make him an actor-writer and call the play ‘Brendan Cowell’ — that’s a little too indulgent, but probably in the ballpark for me.”
info: Ruben Guthrie plays at Red Stitch Actors Theatre until March 5. Visit
www.redstitch.net
