Di Smith talks WILD THING
Published on 22 March 2023
It still seems rare to see women over ‘a certain age’ front and centre in works of entertainment. So often, they’re relegated to a supporting role such as mother, grandmother or aunt in someone’s else’s story. WILD THING, from award-winning Australian writer Suzanne Hawley, brings the intertwined tales of four women in their sixties to the fore, in a provocative story for our times that is as funny as it is poignant.
The cast is comprised of a veritable who’s who of Australian film and TV. Di Smith (A Country Practice, The Great Outdoors), Katrina Foster (Sea Change, All Saints), Di Adams (Secret City, The Other Guy), and Helen O’Connor (Home & Away, Breakers) are joined by Lewis Fitz-Gerald (Breaker Morant, Janet King) and Tony Poli (Underbelly, Stingers).
Di Smith, who also serves as producer of WILD THINGS, believes it’s time the stories on the stage better represented the audiences who attend.
There’s a bit of history between yourself, the other stars of Wild Thing, and the play itself. Can you tell us a bit about that?
I first met Suzanne (Hawley, writer of WILD THING) when I was barely twenty, sharing a flat fresh out of drama school, where she was acting at The Ensemble and writing her first plays. She was - as she is now - brilliant, bold and completely unique.
It’s extraordinary that this production reunites not only her but also three of my NIDA year and two other old friends, all stalwarts of the Australian stage. The themes of the play are ever present on the rehearsal room floor. The ease and genuine joy of working together again make this play fly high. It is hilarious and controversial, and will inflame an important debate, I’m sure.
Lewis Fitz-Gerald and Di Smith at rehearsals for WILD THING.
For me, the journey began around Lewis Fitz-Gerald’s kitchen table early in 2017, with Penny Cook and Katrina Foster, NIDA classmates and old friends. We wanted to work together again. And I remember reading 'Wild Thing' only a month or two earlier. We are now without our marvellous Penny (sadly, Penny Cook passed away in 2018), but we have the play. And four real female friends to tell it.
There was a whisper of a chance, as we emerged from the inferno, heartbreak and lockdown which was 2020, that we could get WILD THING on to the stage. We took it. January saw us rehearsing at NIDA, one of the most rewarding rehearsal periods of my career. Not only because it was thrilling to produce and new play, but because the cast and creatives I had in front of me made that magic mix of a perfect company. It was a great room to be in. We laughed SO much, and argued SO hard - the way actors, writers and directors do - for the moments we loved and the characters integrity.
What makes WILD THING unique?
Our friends and our stories are so important and we all have them and all want to hear them but whose stories do we usually hear? Coming of age stories, star crossed lovers’ stories, men who’ve done amazing things stories.
But when you think about it, who goes to the theatre? Go to any show, film festival or writer’s festival and who makes up most of the audience? Older women, right? Whether they’re dressed in linen or capri pants, or trackie dacks, they’ll be there. It’s a safe bet they’ve all been round the block a few times. Their lives have been filled with births and deaths, marriage and divorce and friendships and decisions with big consequences - I’ve actually just described the play, by the way!
(From left) Di Adams, Helen O'Connor, Katrina Foster, and Di Smith during rehearsals for WILD THING.
So why are their stories so rarely told? Why don’t these women who’ve had these big loves go to the theatre see themselves reflected on stage? Lots of reasons. Maybe because they’re not sexy, maybe because it’s a youth obsessed culture… Whatever the case may be, Wild Thing certainly breaks this mould.
What themes are at the crux of WILD THING?
It’s about lifelong female friendship. It’s quite a provocative play, I think. It’s a play with four terrific roles for women over 60, so obviously it has talk of sex, drugs and foul language! The four of us smoking pot, talking about sex and bad pole dancing - who wouldn’t want to see that!
You first meet these women – the “Musketeer’s” they call themselves - when they’re 13 years old at school, and then follow them as they find their freedom in Swinging London. After that they carve out very different lives for themselves and don't see each other as often, but always make the time to meet up once a year for the "Musketeer’s dinner". But now the group is in their sixties, and my character Jackie finds herself in a bit of a crisis, so the "Musketeers" take Jackie back to her country home for a weekend to relax and let their hair down. And that’s where things really take a turn.
But in terms of the play and its themes, it’s those female friendships that are most important, because the play ultimately is about that friendship and about how far you would go for one of your oldest friends. I think if it does anything it changes peoples view of what older women are like.
The cast of WILD THING during rehearsals.
For me the play really stimulates a conversation. I mean the plot at the heart of it is quite a provocative issue - I don’t want to give anything away but while yes there’s tragedy, there’s lots of comedy as well.
It’s a show we know works. The plot may be serious but the audience get so much more than that. It’s really about the strength of lifelong friendships. We all have them, and Wild Thing really celebrates that.
WILD THING comes to Performance Arts Culture Cessnock (PACC) for one night only on Wednesday 10 April at 8pm. Tickets are on sale at the PACC Box Office, by phone on 02 4993 4266 or online at mypacc.com.au.
BOOK TICKETS