Describe your character
in three words.
Matthew Pidgeon: Stuck,
dreamer, mess.
Cora Bissett: Steely, sassy,
vulnerable.
What seduces
you?
MP: One and a half pints of
lager.
CB: Great banter, wisdom, big
hands, big heart, kindness.
What is your favourite
musical theatre show?
MP: I saw the movie of
Oliver!when I was a little kid and I loved Oliver Reed as
Bill Sykes. He was great. What a baddie! Ron Moody as Fagin too and
little Jack Wild as Dodger - all perfect.
CB: It's maybe not the
coolest, but I think it has to be Grease. Why?? The songs,
the quiffs, the pink satin jackets, Rizzo, sharp gag lines, little
bit of danger (when you're 10!)
What is your best pick up
line?
MP: I'm not sure about pick
up lines. Drink was often involved and my memory is a bit hazy. I
think I did a lot of listening/nodding. I once met a famous pop
singer and all I could think of to say was "My name's Matthew. I'm
from Scotland."
CB: I'm not sure I have ever
picked anything up with a line... I am more likely to stumble into
a love affair, in a clumsy, deeply unenigmatic type manner... I did
once use a line: "Both you and I know there is no salt in this
room". You need to know the context (it involved a t-shirt and a
big red wine stain...)
What is your favourite scene
in the play?
MP: I like the sex scene
because it breaks the ice with the audience. We all know where we
are. And I like any scene when Bob and Helena talk to each other in
the moment with no narration.
CB: The one where Bob and
Helena sit on a bench and discuss all the ways in which 'they
agree'. You can hear so many laughs and guffaws of familiarity,
it's really warm and heartening.
Do you prefer performing
comedy or drama?
MP: I think I prefer comedy.
You get laughs - or not. There's a direct relationship with the
audience and you know all about it.
CB: Until now I've preferred
drama because I enjoy exploring the complexities of emotional
responses in a character and the psychology underpinning the
contradictory ways in which people behave. But having toured
Midsummer, and seen the joy it seems to bring to people across the
globe, I gotta say I like making folk laugh a lot... maybe more
than anything.
Do you have a pre-show
routine before each performance?
MP: I lie on my back and say
mahmaymemaymahmaw. After that, I'm a complete bundle of weird tics
(touching wood, all kinds of crap).
CB: I'll engage in some idle
banter with Matt and Sarah (our Stage Manager), pottering in my
dressing room, a bit of yoga, a voice warm up in the shower. I'll
maybe belt out a few choruses of a Janis Joplin...
How do you feel at the
beginning of a performance?
MP: Very nervous and it can
feel a bit daunting until you get into it.
CB: Like I'm at the top of
the very highest peak of a rollercoaster, teetering, because as
soon as we let rip, there is not one stop for breath in nearly two
hours solid on stage. It's a huge ride: knackering, exhilarating,
emotional, demanding, twisting and turning endlessly.
How do you feel when it is
over?
MP: A bit knackered and a bit
elated. In need of a drink.
CB: Like a soggy,
mascara-splattered, wiped-out mess of a woman. I think I look a bit
like a Jackson Pollock by the end, but thrillingly and intensely
alive.
What would you say to your
character if you met them in real life?
MP: How do you stay so
young?
CB: "Dump the married geek!
It's a highway to nowhere!" and "Go with your gut, even if it seems
to go against everyone else's expectancies" and "Change is
possible… always".
This is an extract from the program for Midsummer, which
is $10 and available from the program seller in the Sydney Opera
House foyer.
Midsummer [a play with
songs], Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 6 February -
10 March, 2012.
Photo by Lisa Tomasetti
Q&A: Cora Bissett and Matthew Pidgeon
Date posted: 7 Feb 2012Author: STC