Everything wonderful about a good-ol’-fashioned radio play reimagined live on stage, Noel Carrington’s Last Broadcast – an exciting new work by young writer/director James O’Donoghue – is coming to you live on stage this September. The actors each play several characters in order to bring three radio plays to life, utilising a plethora of weird and wonderful accents, as well as the traditional sound art of ‘Foley’. Foley is the live reproduction of sound effects, made with everyday or recycled objects to enhance a radio show’s quality and immersive experience. I caught up with James for a chat regarding this upcoming project.
So what is Noel Carrington about?
For me it’s about a moment of history that’s been lost. The thing that I’ve always wanted most from this show is to really be able to put a taste of another era, another world on stage. To me there’s something so appealing about a time in history where rather than everyone retreating somewhere to look at their own private LCD screen, they gather in their lounge rooms and look at a box that made noises and didn’t have any pictures in it. I’m probably looking at history through rose-tinted glasses but I guess when it comes down to it, this show is my love letter to radio.
What inspired you to write this show?
This show grew out of an idea of a skit I had, where I’d provide Foley, as a pair of actors would do as many ridiculous accents as they could. This is no way an original idea, but it still would’ve been a laugh. So to do a bit of research I started to listen to The Goon Show and old Hercule Poirot mysteries and I got a little bit addicted. I found a medium that I really enjoyed and I realised I wanted to share it. That’s when I started writing Noel Carrington.
Has the script changed now you’re rehearsing it with a cast?
I couldn’t start to count the changes we’ve made in rehearsal but they’ve all been for the better. At no stage have I felt the script has been ‘finished.’ After auditions I ended up rewriting quite a bit to change the gender of one of the characters. Originally a male character, I ended up swapping the lead to a female just because of the way I saw the part read by some of the auditionees. And the changes aren’t just coming from me, the show’s cast are a group of incredibly talented and creative people and each of them have been able to contribute to the show and make their characters their own. Be it from changing a line to something funnier than I could think of or just helping me fix my grammar.
What’s the rehearsal process of the show like?
Incredibly enjoyable. The show’s a comedy so there’d be a bit of a problem if [the rehearsals] weren’t.
What’s been the most challenging part of the process so far?
It was a bit of a challenge to devise a way to stage the radio plays. We had to strike a balance between the way a radio play would be received, entirely aurally, and the fact we’re putting them on stage, a visual medium. I didn’t want to radio plays to rely on physical action, but instead use it to enhance them. I think we’ve found a good balance, but I won’t know for sure until the show opens.
What makes Noel Carrington different from other shows you’ve worked on?
There’s something amazing about having the idea for something and having people come and help you make it. I’ve worked on a lot of shows all over the place prior to this and I’ve helped other people realize their creative dream, but now with this show I’ve been put in the incredibly fortunate position of having people help me realize mine. I remember a feeling of such excitement seeing people sign up to audition to this show, and having people approach me interested in the concept who’ve ended up working with me on it in one way or another. So for me what makes Noel Carrington different from the other shows that I’ve worked on, is that it’s something I’ve created. It’s the first time I’ve been the lead creative for a show this scale and it’s both an incredibly daunting and liberating experience.
Why is Noel Carrington special?
Every show is special in its own way. But what I’ll say Noel Carrington has that no other show has is a unique combination class, sophistication, razor sharp wit, ridiculous accents, fistfights and coconuts.
Noel Carrington’s Last Broadcast performs for one week only from September 10th – 14th at Monash Uni Student Theatre.
Tickets: $11 MSA / $13 Conc / $17 Full
Bookings at MSA Reception, Campus Centre or at
msa.monash.edu.au/must. For any enquiries, please call: 9905 8173
