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The Duck ShooterFor Adelaide actor Rory Walker his role in Brink Theatre's 'The Duck Shooter' is his first big role for the year. It's uncommon, and I only mention it because Walker has been a regular face onstage for the last few years, appearing in numerous productions for State Theatre and Brink Productions, among many. One reason is that he's a new dad, with a seven month old daughter, but now he's ready to get busy again. Likewise, the time is now for Brink, who mounted a production of Pinter's 'The Caretaker' during the Fringe, but have been saving their energy otherwise for Marty Denniss' 'The Duck Shooter'. "It's a big one," agrees Walker, "in the way that they've managed to grab the writer and workshop the piece, which has been really fantastic, for Marty Denniss and for us. It's been a good thing for the company to do." Along with Denniss and Walker, Brink members David Mealor and William Allert and Cameron Goodall have been revisiting - looking afresh at the script and working on what is being billed as a World Pemiere. But is it? Says Walker: "It's great - the way we all talk about how it should be. It's giving it that time to develop and grow as a piece. To be able to own it in a way; each of us has a sense of responsibility." There's a substantial investment in time and effort here, though of course the major investment is that of Denniss, who wrote the play, then performed alongside Hugh Jackman in the movie adaptation ('Erskinville Kings') and is now able to revisit the script with Brink. "I feel as if it's a new work. There's a lot more in it in the way the characters move things along," Walker says of 'The Duck Shooter'. Some of the characters - Trunny and Copper - were sidelined in the movie, here they have a strong influence. Anyone who's seen the movie 'Erskineville Kings' will probably base their understanding on that, which Walker suggests is "not really a good idea". "There's a lot more freedom in a theatre piece, I reckon, as this sort of example shows." Walker himself plays Wace, who is angry and resentful at the return of his younger brother Barky. Barky (played by Cameron Goodall) has only been away for four years, living in Queensland, but returns to the family home upon the death of his father. His brother Wace, having stayed put, has clear ideas of his own on life, and as the four begin sorting out the house in preparation for sale, tensions emerge. "It goes at a cracking pace, I can say. At the moment we're really driving it," he says animatedly. It's a very demanding and physical piece - there's lots of boxes to be moved round the stage as the house is readied. Several times Walker stresses how views differ in a relationship, and we discuss them in context of sibling rivalry. He thinks it's a great play because it is so multi-layered, and yet the essential idea of it is so clear, so obvious. "When we first got the script we fell into the danger of getting heated. All the time." With the return of Barky the scabs are pulled off old wounds, so to speak. Another brother, Copper, has been brought into the family through his own family tragedy, and that relationship is exposed through the play as layers are pulled back. "It's been fun exploring all that," he says, possibly meaning it. "The core of the play is so simple, and to give it away is to give away too much," he responds when I can see he's being guarded, almost in mimicry of his character in the play. For this is the driving force of 'The Duck Shooter'; the way Australian men relate to each other and the way they deal with emotional issues through guarded responses and "she'll be right" declarations. "A lot of Australian men circle around a topic rather than get straight into what's being talked about, too," says Walker, giving another teasing glimpse of the script's direction.
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