IN-demand actor John Waters doesn’t usually find himself having to kill time, but with severe hailstorms damaging the Melbourne theatre where he is currently performing, he is at something of a loose end until repairs are complete and the show can go
This evening he is planning to meet friends for dinner, but first there is the matter of an interview to promote the play The Swimming Club, a co-production between The Melbourne Theatre Company and Perth’s Black Swan State Theatre Company.
Waters said he had lost four shows to hail damage already, with the following day’s matinee still in jeopardy.
“In Sydney, the tropical hailstorm is a fairly frequent phenomenon, but the Melburnians aren’t used to it,” Waters mused.
“It’s just another example of the freakish weather patterns that just make you laugh at the people who deny climate change, really.”
Freak weather events aside, Waters is enjoying the opportunity to play baby boomer PR consultant (and Cottesloe resident) Dave Flinders in Australian playwright Hannie Rayson’s contemporary comedy drama The Swimming Club.
The play follows a group of baby boomers who spent a summer together in the Greek islands in 1983, reunite in 2009 to reflect on their youth and end up evaluating their lives and the choices they have made since those carefree days as 20-somethings.
Waters said while his character was a few years younger than himself (Waters was 35 in 1983), the script struck a chord with himself and all of the cast.
“We’ve all experienced points in life where you have to think ‘have I gone too far to change?’ or ‘can I still change?’ or ‘when I made a change, was it the right one?’ and all that kind of stuff,” he said.
Waters said he identified with his character as a member of the same generation.
“His business is crisis management and putting positive spin on the face of big companies, so it’s certainly not an area of work that I could ever have gone into, but I understand the guy,” Waters said.
“He likes Led Zeppelin, he’s a free spirit, an intelligent guy and he’s basically got family as his concern and they are what drive him.”
A keen musician himself (his album of original tunes will come out later this year), Waters said the music of a generation could be an important uniting factor.
“It’s certainly true of my generation because the change of music was extreme during the mid to late ’60s,” he said.
“I think every generation has memories of tunes from when they were young that forms part of the fabric of their life.”
The Swimming Club will be at the Playhouse Theatre, Perth, from March 27 to April 18.