Playwright relies on others’ input

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 22

Playwright relies on others’ input

A demarcation dispute started actor James Beaumont on his writing career.

He admits that his script for “Wild Cabbage,” which opens at the Court Theatre on February 18, is "skeletal.”

He sees himself as the conceiver of ideas rather than a writer. For that reason he has actually refused to flesh out some of the scenes in the two part play. Instead he insists that the cast performing the play contribute their ideas to build from his own.

“Wild Cabbage,” a success when it played at the Depot Theatre in Wellington last year, is all about isolation, he says. The play is in two parts, both of which deal with the theme of the alienation. The first part is set

in an isolated rural area, similar to that in which James Beaumont grew up in Australia, and the second in a city. “I look at being alone in an isolated place and being alone in a crowd,” the young writer says. The play is a mix of styles using allegory and experimental devices. One scene, called The Travelogue, has no dialogue written for it. It is up to the cast to work on it, Mr Beaumont says. In the Wellington performance that scene lasted 25 minutes and the audiences found it enjoyable.

Mr Beaumont is hoping the Christchurch audiences will enjoy the Kiwi idiom of the play. As an actor in Wellington he decided to write “Wild Cabbage” when he

became frustrated with the traditional boundaries within theatre. “We would rehearse a play for four weeks, then perform it. There was a director and actors. Each was separate. I wanted to get away from those restrictions because acting, writing, directing are all intrinsically linked. They are all a part of each other.”

With this philosophy he decided to write a script which required an input of ideas from all involved.

He wrote specifically with the Depot Collective in mind and the script was distinctly Wellington in the second part. “I hadn’t thought of moving it to Christchurch. But when the Court wanted to do it, the script was adjustable to Christchurch. I hope the audi-

ences here enjoy it.” The storyline follows a child bom in the 19405, who moves to the city. James Beaumont began his training in theatre in Sydney. He moved to the city from the outback and lived there for six years. The pace of city life he found did not allow him enough time for himself so he moved to New Zealand.

He spent some time with Theatre Corporate in Auckland, two years with Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre, a year at Centrepoint in Palmerston North and has been in Wellington for the last three years. He works freelance and is a member of the Depot Collective which runs the Depot Theatre.

What attracted the actor and writer to theatre? “I think that the people

who are attracted ,to the theatre have a fascination with themselves. There is a lot of ego involved. I think I have got to the point where I can admit that and no longer have to go on feeding it.”

Mr Beaumont has another play in mind and plans to begin writing later this year. He expects to stay in Wellington for another year. “The Depot is great because it presents only New Zealand plays. It puts some pressure on New Zealanders to actually write for the theatre. The standard can be variable depending on the experience of those writing. But it’s simply being there is a great incentive to New Zealand writers.”

Mr Beaumont expects his second full length play will be in a similar style to “Wild Cabbage.”