Miss Blossom Callahann.
Nathan O'Keefe, part of the cast for the second Adelaide run
of Stephen House's multi-award winning play 'Miss Blossom Callahann',
earnestly maintains the show is concerned with a genuinely existing
underclass.
"It explores the darker side of society," he says ardently, "the brushed-under-the-carpet side. It's definitely out there; these are real characters, but they're the kind of people that society would like to ignore. They're the type that Melbourne will want to ignore and push away for the Commonwealth Games."
Indeed, as he notes, "Last season we had the Housing Trust people come and see it, and they, astonished, were saying things like 'we've met these people, these people are out there, it wasn't overdone or anything'."
Thus, he asserts, "the fact is it is happening, and instead of ignoring it we need to understand it and try and help."
This is where internationally acclaimed writer/director Stephen House's much-admired 2005 play 'Miss Blossom Callahann' finds its social utility. It concerns the post-success, later-life slump of the aging Miss Blossom Callahann (Jacqy Phillips), who alleges she has, as Nathan says, a "history as an elegant young lady".
"She's lost in a dream. We're not sure if it's of a real past or if it's fantasy. She's past her prime, living in a very dodgy, small apartment where she has many male visitors - who knows what they get up to. But she's clinging on to this hope, this dream of hers, and we're not sure whether her history is genuine or she's just a deranged old woman who's lost her mind. Deep down she's an innocent young soul in a tortured body."
And, despite the fact she is frequently "taken advantage of" and "abused", Nathan insists that "she's got an optimism about her which is really refreshing and infectious."
The objects of such sanguine contagion are the surrounding characters Junk (a junkie), played by Nathan himself, Max the Cat, played by Rory Walker, and Geraldine, the newly cast Bronwen James.
"Blossom is falling in love with [Max], but there's something about him - I mean, with a name like Max the Cat... he's a sly one, and a bit of a dodgy sort, as is Junk. The characters around Blossom take advantage of her, but also they get this infectious magic of hers. Each of the characters, when with Blossom, have a certain brightness creep into them, only they can't sustain it."
Nathan is enthusiastic about reprising his role as the drug addicted Junk, observing "I really enjoy playing dark characters, characters that are really flawed and are unhealthy, whether it's physically or emotionally or mentally. It's so much fun being able to really experience what it's like to be this person, finding the joyful moments and also the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel tragic moments, the shocking moments that none of us could really imagine. It also grounded me in a little way, as I think it did with all of us."
Wil McGinley
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'Miss Blossom Callahann' performs at Jive (Hindley Street) from Wed 8 March, proudly supported by dB Magazine
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