Dead Men Talking brings Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson to life through verse, yarns and song. And after a sell-out performance on the opening night of Springwood’s Hub last year, the show is back for an Upper Mountains audience.
Sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Blackheath and Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise, the show, the brainchild of celebrated actor Max Cullen (who plays Lawson) and scripted with author/musician Warren Fahey (who plays Paterson), has struck a chord with audiences.
The one-act show finds the two legendary literary figures having a casual drink and chat about their legacies at the gates of heaven. They discuss each others lives while also reciting poems, singing songs and laughing about changing times in the bush.
”The opening of the Blue Mountains Theatre was so exciting and we managed to fill it,” Mr Fahey said. “It obviously strikes home with a lot of older people who remember a different Australia. We started getting invitations from everywhere. Now we’re all over the place like blowflies.”
Bill Pixton from Upper Blue Mountains Rotary Sunrise said all proceeds, after production costs, will go to community projects.
Mr Fahey said Lawson and Paterson emerged “when we needed masterful storytellers who would talk to us in our own language and at our own level”, giving Australians a unique voice that still rings true blue today.
“These two characters played a pivotal role in Australians understanding themselves when Australia was changing, around Federation. We get into their skins, they had warts, both of them in some ways, and we portray them as it is.”
Dead Men Talking is at the Phillips Theatre, Blackheath, on February 19 and 20 at 7pm. Tickets are $35 and refreshments are available afterwards for a gold coin donation. The cast will also stay around for a chat.
Bookings: http://www.deadmentalking-blackheath.floktu.com and at Gleebooks in Blackheath.
