RAV - Regional Arts Victoria - The peak body for regional arts activity in Victoria

Angus Cerini and Susie Dee in Wretch - on tour NOW!

On a freezing night in May, actor Angus Cerini sat in a dank cell at the Old Melbourne Gaol. Over the course of the evening, a steady stream of corporate high-flyers was ushered in to see him. They emerged five minutes later, grim-faced and unnerved.

 

Cerini wasn’t incarcerated for anything he’d done wrong. Rather, he was participating in Whitelion’s ‘Bail Out’, an annual event supporting youth at risk.

 

Appearing as a character from his play Wretch, in which he performs alongside Melbourne theatre stalwart Susie Dee, Cerini had been invited by Whitelion to add a smack of realism to the affair. Now he will take his creation to regional Victoria in August as part of a Regional Arts Victoria tour.

 

Wretch, which won the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award in 2007, centres upon a jail visit between mother and son. It is the result of an intense period of research in which Cerini worked in a juvenile justice facility as part of the Risky Business arts project.

 

“The experience I had in there was astonishing,” he says. “It gave me a window into the lives of people that I had only ever seen reported in the newspapers.”

 

When it premiered at La Mama in 2008, Wretch shocked audiences with its unflinching portrayal of the relationship between mother and son.

 

Dee transforms herself in a chilling performance as the mother, a ghoulish character whose relationship with her son shatters every ethical code. It is a role that demands resilience, she says.

 

“As an actor one must find the heart, one must allow oneself to fold into the depth of despair. These roles are extreme,” she says. “You have to be tough.”

 

Offstage, Cerini and Dee two jostle and bicker with as much tenacity as their characters, but their creative chemistry is evident.

 

Dee says their relationship is based on mutual respect as artists and humans. “The characters are often so cruel and foul to each other. We can do this because ultimately Angus and I trust each other.”

 

Cerini says he hopes the play will prompt regional audiences, in particular young men, to question their understanding of social justice and the influence of their family and peers.

 

“Without these sorts of things being examined I don’t think we have any chance of dealing with them, least of all within ourselves,” he says. “I also hope they understand that this play has some really, really wrong jokes in it and they are allowed to laugh.”

 

RAV has two double passes of Wretch to give away!

To enter, be the first to email enquiry@rav.net.au with the subject header 'Wretch Giveaway'. Include your address in the body of the email and we'll make sure you get tickets to the performance closest to you (only the winners will be contacted).

 

For more information, please see http://www.rav.net.au/whats-on/tour/33