Mr Quast
Interview by Lynda Trapnell, Musical Stages Issue 26
December 2000/2001
In conversation with Philip Quast as The Secret Garden opens
WE’VE wanted to talk to Philip for a long time, but in the past, he has been reluctant to give interviews. When the publicist from the Royal Shakespeare Company called to ask if we would like to run a feature on The Secret Garden, we said we would rather run a feature on Philip Quast if he would agree to an interview. She called back an hour later to say yes, meet him at Sadlers Wells where they were rehearsing and he would be happy to chat.
Most people know Philip from his stints as Javert in Les Misérables both in London and in Sydney in his home country of Australia. He has an Olivier-award for best male performance George in Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park With George and another for his excellent portrayal of the manipulative Uncle Grahame in The Fix. He has two Sydney Critics Awards and two Mo Awards, for Les Misérables and Into the Woods (in which he played Wolf and 1st Prince).
Talented
His CV is extensive with plays alternating with musicals alternating with television, film and recordings. bid you catch him in Inspector Morse or The Governor? And do you ever go to Shakespearean plays at the RSC - if so, you would have seen him in several leading roles. So, a versatile and talented actor with a wide range plus the extra gift of that magnificent singing voice which enhanced the 10th Anniversary Les Misérables CD and video as well as the concert itself.
All 6'2½ of Philip duly arrived at the reception desk at Sadlers Wells, newly bearded and moustached for his role as Archie Craven. When I had told the receptionist whom I was meeting, she said “Lucky you!” and I have to agree. He has blue eyes, floppy brown hair and a very soft, warm voice with only a hint of Australian accent. His manner is courteous and gentle and when he had led me through to a deserted rehearsal room for peace and quiet, I had to ask him why he was so reluctant to give interviews.
‘Before I open a show, it makes me too nervous because I do feel like talking about something before I have quite complete the process. We’re in that delicate stage at the moment, like being on the launch pad thc sort of analogy and it migh tempt fate. However, there other things we can talk about.'
He divides his time between home in Australia and work in UK. This time, he was performing in The White Devil which he finished on the Wednesday hopped on a plane on Thursday afternoon, arrived on Friday began rehearsals on Monday.
‘It’s hard because the amount of organisation involved when you have children arranging schools making decisions on tenants houses we have a house there and one here. What I tend to do is to save money from the well paid jobs to give me the freedom to choose the next one which is interesting and might not be paid at all. Well, you tend to spend that money shifting the family backwards and forwards. Bul least now we have two lots of pots and pans, two lots of sheets and so on.’
At present, Philip can’t move back into his London home since he will be in Stratford for while. He finds it hard.
‘It’s killing me. I did it a years ago and said I wouldn't again. But here I am! It gets harder as you get older. Time is of the essence and your children are growing up. At some stage I think very shortly I will have to make the decision to stay in one place and I suspect it will probably have to be Australia fo networking reasons, for family and grandparents and cousins. Also, State education is still reasonably good there and I believe in it. Once you opt private education, work choices are made for different reasons. It’s a juggling act. I have a partner whom I have been for a long time and we’re a good team. A lot of actors don’t have that.’
We turned to Philip’s background in Australia. Was he a child performer?
‘No, I grew up on a farm. But the feeling I got driving around on a tractor for hours or being on top of a hill is the same feeling I get when I act. It’s hard to explain but it is a feeling of intense wonder. Also, being from the land, we had a very close family, together all the time, no neighbours, a tiny, close community and a long journey on the bus to school. I crave ensemble groups in the same way to get the same feeling I had as a young person growing up. So I tend to love rehearsals more than I like performing because it provides the same team effort.’ (Perhaps this background explains the aura of stillness, quiet confidence and contentment that seems to be part of Philip’s presence. He is undoubtedly one of the most calm people I have ever met, let alone interviewed.)
Suggestions
‘When you are on the land’ he continues, ‘if things turn bad or you have to work or the harvest time comes, you all pitch in and you do it. You all help, you all make suggestions and no one argues ecause you have a common goal, to try and get there. And it does feel the same.’
Philip played in school shows - Gilbert and Sullivan for example but then went on to a university which was the first one to start a drama course.A director from England, Colin George, arrived to join the staff.
'I went to meet him and I was fascinated and signed up. There were thirteen of us for that first year and it made university bearable in that I felt like part the team again. We were playing games together, doing things together. After a year, he left and set up a company. I left joined what was then Australia’s only full time professional vocational training school. There are a lot more now.’
Philip then joined Colin George’s Company. Judy Davis, Mel Gibson Colin Friel had all preceded and he worked there with Geoffrey Rush. It has remained one of the only full-time companies in Australia. Once again, he was part of a team.
Recently, he took time off and spent it doing odd jobs and making furniture.
'I was just so tired so it was bliss. It coincided with turning 40 and I just didn’t want to do any more.'
He enjoys riding and fishing, which he finds especially calming in its mystique. Not, he says hastily, killing the fish, but the almost Zen process of catching them, understanding moons and tides.
You will be interested to know that Philip nearly didn’t join the cast of Les Misérables. He had planned to go out on a trip working on a fishing boat when he was called for auditions.
‘Trevor Nunn had taken Gale Edwards over to New York to see that production. Then they held the auditons in Australia. I auditioned, but found the songs too high and I was so embarrassed that I walked off saying if they wanted me to sing that high, they should have asked me to sing scales. Cameron was there, watching as I turned from a fairly nice person into this angry, temperamental one and apparently thought it was hilarious!’
They called him back and the rest is history.
‘We did it for a year, it was a terrific cast and although I left at the end of the year, they then offered me the role for six months in London and I came here for that.’
So a fishing trip or a leading role? It doesn’t seem to matter either way to Philip but it did to us.Of course, we can appreciate that he may have to return to Australia while his children finish schooling, but we do hope it won’t be the last we see of him.
Make the most of The Secret Garden. It comes in to London in the New Year but it will probably be a temporary UK swansong for this immensely talented and likeable actor.
© Musical Stages. No portion of this article may be copied without
permission of the author.We would like to thank Lynda Trapnell for allowing us
to up load her article on to the site. If you want to know more about Musical
Stages magazine visit the website. www.musicalstages.co.uk
[UPDATES]
[BIOGRAPHY]
[ARTICLES
& INTERVIEWS ] [ STAGE
]
[ FILM & TV ][AUDIO/VIDEO ] [ LINKS] [SCRAPBOOK] [ HOME ]
© Kate McCullugh and Angela Pollard 2001. No portion of this page may be
copied without permission of the author.