Master Manipulator

by Jenny Verrall, The Sunday Herald 29 May 1994


Having played The Minister in the ABC's new 13-part comedy-drama series The Damnation Of Harvey McHugh, Sydney actor Philip Quast has figured out how politicians seem to age as you watch them deal with the multiple demands of high office. He likens the mental manoeuvres used to stay in power to an unending game of three-dimensional chess. "Everything you say must be weighed up in terms of its repercussions," he said. "Everything has another agenda, a sub-plot."

To make things more complicated, Quast is playing to a viewing audience which needs to understand the motives of those sub-plot intrigues while simultaneously making them credible in terms of the scripted drama. It's no wonder the multi-faceted 38-year-old describes his role as one of the hardest he has tackled. "I find myself questioning all the time why anybody would want to be a politician. I can't see how you could remain untouched by corruption."

Remaining untouched is the basic quest of the hero of the show's title, the innocent Harvey McHugh (Aaron Blabey), who joins the public service and finds his destiny entwined with that of the double-dealing Minister, whose ultimate ambition is to become the first President of Australia.

With hair slicked back and a substantial frame that he claimed has been filled out purposely for the part, Quast said much of the play within the play was The Minister's attempts to corrupt "the naive, trusting, innocent Harvey McHugh". Somehow The Minister, whose real name is cryptically difficult to establish, seems to be Minister for just about everything. "He's got a lot of portfolios and his finger in all sorts of different departments. Like all politicians, he can call in a lot of favors, which seems to be the way they do business. "The hard part of the role is finding the reality of the man. Trying to make believable that, as a politician, he could have so many different portfolios."

Quast said the role appealed to him chiefly because it was so different. With a parallel talent as a self-taught baritone, Quast has been one of the fortunate few continuously employed actors in Australia. Last year saw him in Shakespeare's Coriolanus with the Sydney Theatre Company. Before that he was the evil Javert in Les Misérables. He gained critical acclaim for his part as Ian McGregor in Brides Of Christ.

After filming Harvey McHugh, Quast took off for the UK to renew his permanent residence papers which allow him to work in the UK. He also planned to sniff out the possibility of pursuing his new interest in Shakespeare. He feels there are some allusions to Shakespeare in the progress of Harvey McHugh. "Like Hamlet," he said, "McHugh is trying to stay clear of the corruption that is going on all around him."


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