David walks on the Festival's wild side
The Advertiser
By BEN McEACHEN
03mar06
TO get into the mind of a tortured artist, lovable
Australian actor David Wenham walked the streets of
"I use walking, actually, to work," said Wenham,
who was seen powering down
"Basically, I am working the whole time I am
walking."
His pavement pounding in
In a world-first production, composer Gustav Mahler's Song
of the Warth symphony will interweave with Wenham delivering
six letters written by artist Vincent Van Gogh. Directed by Adam Cook, Songs
from the Yellow Bedroom will have two shows only at
The accomplished stage, television (SeaChange)
and film actor (The Lord of the Rings) said Songs from the Yellow Room would be
one of his most frightening assignments.
"It's one of the more difficult things I have ever had
to do," said Wenham ahead of his first rehearsal with the 95-piece
orchestra and two opera singers who will perform Mahler.
"I've got nothing, no props and such ... it's just me,
using Vincent's letter, having a conversation with the audience.
Originally conceived by late theatre director Richard Wherrett, Yellow Bedroom allies Van Gogh and Mahler as
contemporaries. Both were unstable artists in the late 1800s, their mental
states affecting their work.
"He was struck by the similarity and the use of colour between Van Gogh and Mahler," Wenham said about
Wherrett. He was also struck by Wenham's similarity
to the Flemish master, a comment the actor had heard before.
"People have said I would be perfect casting if they
ever did another movie about Vincent," he said.
Only becoming available for Yellow Bedroom two weeks ago,
Wenham thought his schedule would prevent his seeing other Festival and Fringe
shows. Having most recently worked on a mini-series about the build-up to the
East Timor vote of independence, and feature film 300 in Canada, Wenham was not
sure which acting medium he would turn to next.
"You can try to control your career, but you just never
know what is going to come up next," he said.