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Angela Betzien’s intricately layered psychological thriller, The Dark Room, will run at Theatre503, in the UK premiere of this award-winning play.
The Dark Room takes a sober look at one of the devastating issues of contemporary Australian discourse – the abuse of defenceless children. The show serves as a timely reminder that no matter how far apart we are in distance and time, we are all responsible for each other’s lives.
We spoke to Katy Brittain, who plays Anni, about the play.
You’re starring in The Dark Room at Theatre503, what can you tell us about it?
The Dark Room is the most extraordinarily play about the Northern Territory in Australia, telling three stories of despair simultaneously but all containing the failures of the social system in that vast area and the appalling mistreatment of Australian youth trapped in desperate poverty. It’s also about love, redemption and how we as human beings cope under really miserable circumstances. It makes this play sound very bleak, but actually there’s a lot of humour and moments of real hope in the piece. What makes it so compelling are the characters, all so richly drawn and the comparisons in our country, it’s a very important vital work.
How familiar were you with the play before you got the part?
Although it is apparently quite well known and highly praised in Australia I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of The Dark Room before!
It’s a difficult subject, how do you prepare yourself mentally for a performance like that?
Preparing yourself for any play with such a harrowing subject is hard, you have to dig deep into your own experiences, tap into those feelings, particularly in my case, the hopelessness battling with the hope that eventually your actions will make a difference, but the most important thing for me is honouring the words and the people whose lives these words represent. Understanding the resilience at the core of the human condition.
How have you and your fellow cast-mates been getting to know each other?
It’s been so wonderful getting to know my fellow actors, especially Annabel (Smith) who plays Grace, the girl I’m in charge of on that fateful night in the motel room. She is an exceptional actor, and it’s honestly a privilege to work with someone so incredibly talented and still so young, despite the nature of the play we all seem to find time to have a giggle!
What part of the rehearsal process so far, stands out for you the most, and why?
We did our first run through yesterday and the thing that stuck out for me was the pace of the play, it went so quickly and intensely. I also realised again what a superbly clever piece of writing this is, it carries the audience through so so many surprises and I finally got why it’s been described as a psychological thriller, because it holds you in such suspense, heart stopping stuff!
You’ve recently been in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof at The Apollo, where’s tougher to perform, a big West End Stage or an intimate fringe venue?
The West End stage is far easier in many ways, although you have to project every intention further, right up to the gods, the feeling of the fourth wall is much easier to achieve. With a small space you’re focus has to be so much stronger as you can hear every cough and twitch, every rustle of a sweet packet and it could so easily take your eye off the ball. I also think a more intimate space is so powerful and more magical in a way. A small collection of people simply being told a story and taken on a journey by another small collection of people. The audience can live in the experience so much more.
The Dark Room is at Theatre503 8th November – 2nd December 2017
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