Silly Phil Sold on Shakespeare
Interview by Paul LePetit, 1993 Australia
There's no doubt about it says Philip Quast Shakespeare is addictive.
"I really do understand how when you finish one production of Shakespeare that you would want to go into another he says. "It's great."
Quast one of the country's premier performers is appearing in the Sydney Theatre Company's new production of Coriolanus and if you haven't thought of Quast as a serious actor before it's because this is only his second straight play in Sydney.
You will know him from his performances in Into the Woods. Les Miserables, Police Rescue, Brides of Christ and other mini series even in his earlier career Young Doctors.
If you have children you will certainly know him as "Silly Philip" from Playschool.
If you were in London you would know him as the Olivier award winning star of Sunday in the Park with George or as Javert in Les Miserables there; or even as the star of the ill fated Mike Batt musical The Hunting of the Snark.
He's been back in Australia now after commuting with the family between London and Australia and he looks settled at least until Christmas when he plans a short visit to England.
His last trip to England was to take the lead role in The Hunting of the Snark a musical that promised a lot but sadly met with bad press on its London opening.
After only 10 weeks the show closed one of the few failures Quast has been involved in. He still supports the show but thinks in retrospect it needed more promotion.
But there he was with family, which had grown by one since he arrived in London unemployed. And London as Quast puts it "Is not a great place to be unemployed." So he headed to Manchester where he took on the role of Javert in Les Mis. Once again before returning to Australia to play in the acclaimed STC production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods.
And now Shakespeare.
"Coriolanus is a wonderful play of conflict.' he says. 'All the characters who compromise their ideals bring about their own downfall."
Wincing a little from bruises he and john Howard, he feels, are getting a bit old for vigorous fight scenes in Coriolanus. He describes it as a fascinating play of words with a lot of action as well.
After that he flies to Melbourne for a new ABC series and perhaps a few more Playschool concerts before the years out.
And don't knock Playschool in his hearing. He's been appearing in Playschool for 13 years and believes it fine-tunes him as an actor.
"Most people don't realise it's highly scripted, he says. And it has perhaps the most sensitive audience of any television series. Any changes in format or approach are meet with hundreds of complaints from around the country.
In spite of his success in England Quast enjoys working in Australia. "We are very lucky in terms of diversity." He says. "You can make a living here going from plays to musicals to television and films. In England you tend to be lock in a particular style."
Coriolanus opens at the Opera House drama Theatre this week
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