BSSC Alumnus and actor Scott Middleton will take to the stage in one of the world’s biggest performing arts festivals.
Middleton will perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, marking his return to the UK since studying his masters of acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts for two years and beginning his career there.
“We have the Adelaide Fringe as our equivalent but Edinburgh is one a world scale,” Middleton said.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. Rehearsals are just kicking off and as that picks up it will get more real and surreal.”
Middleton will perform in Bitch Antigone, a send up of the Greek play Antigone. It follows three performers at a Greek theatre festival who are putting on the play.
“The central character is a bit jaded and over it, his offsider has paid the judges to win an award and my character is a young actor trying to usurp the lead role,” Middleton said.
“The comedy is infused through their relationship before the show and as they stage it. It’s a good short, sharp hour of theatre.”
Before he heads to Edinburgh, Middleton has returned to Bendigo to perform in his hometown.
Middleton is a cast member of The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical-comedy being produced with the help of an Ulumbarra Foundation grant and auspiced by Bendigo Theatre Company.
The cast is made up of old and new members of Bendigo theatre community and will be on at the BTC Arts Shed in July.
“Director Maree Kennedy taught me at BTC’s Horizons drama school when I was 12,” he said. “(Cast members) Sheryn Long and Jo Gaskell were in South Pacific with me and Michael Oerlemans has directed me before. It’s nice to remember where I started.
“After I got back (from the UK) in January, I got involved with the Drowsy Chaperone because it was an opportunity to perform in Bendigo again with some people who inspired me when I was growing up (and) meet the new people that now make up the theatre community.”
The Drowsy Chaperone follows a musical theatre fan telling the audience about his favourite musical. As he speaks, the musical comes to life in his apartment.
“I love The Drowsy Chaperone because it is a musical that makes fun of musicals while celebrating them,” Middleton said.
“But underneath that there is a touch of mental health (awareness) as well. It has a bit of a dark side that a lot of musicals don’t have.
“So you get the joy of a musical narrated by a man who has his own story. There’s a bit more substance than some standard musicals but also has the fun and hilarity of a 1920s-style musical.”
Following The Drowsy Chaperone, Middleton will have previews of Bitch Antigone in Melbourne before heading to Edinburgh.
The Drowsy Chaperone is on at the BTC Arts Shed in Allingham Street on July 5, 6, 7, 12 and 13. For tickets visit www.gotix.com.au
Bitch Antigone is on July 11 to 13 and 18 to 20 at the Butterfly Club in Melbourne. Visit www.thebutterflyclub.com for more.
By Chris Pedler, Bendigo Advertiser
