Milk of human kindness

Milk is a new Australian play that has its world premiere at the Old Fitzroy in April this year. The Blurb's Stephen Vagg spoke to its producer and director Clarence White about play.

"It's about two young guys, both seventeen years old," said White. "When the play opens they've both been remanded in custody at a juvenile detention centre."

"The two guys are different. One of them [Steven, played by Tanc Sade] has an abusive background, has lived on the streets, dealt drugs and is up on a rape and murder charge - a hard core kind of criminal life. The other guy [Nick, played by Like Rex] has committed a minor offense and is dealing with a lot of emotional issues."

"The central character is the centre psychologist [Jane, played by Natasha Farrow] and the play follows her as he tries to unlock the two guys. It also deals with her relationships with other people in the centre."

Milk is the first play from Rowan Ellis, whom White knew from the Ensemble Theatre where they had both studied acting. A reading of Milk was originally done at Paranassus Den, a forum where new plays are read every week at the Friend in Hand Hotel in Glebe. After the reading, White approached Ellis with a view to putting on the work.

"It's a rare play," said White. "It's a type of play rarely done in Australian fringe theatre - or Australian theatre for that matter - by virtue of its very powerful emotional content. It's not easy; it has complex multi-layered characters whose actions invariably contrast to the way they're feeling."

"But it's the type of theatre I want to see more of. Australian theatre is often very afraid of powerful emotional stuff. It can be very safe. The chance of bombing out on something like Milk is a lot higher than on a nice comedy."

In addition to Sade, Rex and Farrow, the cast includes Belinda Wollaston, Kim Hillas, Ripley Hood and Gerry Sont. The best known to the public would be Sont whose resume includes stints on Home and Away and Chances ("He never told me that," said White. "Gerry's a fantastic guy, wonderful to work with. The cast are all really good.")

Stephen Vagg