THERE is nothing better for comedy actor Roz Hammond than getting a laugh from the audience, and her latest role as Madame Arcati in Black Swan State Theatre Company production Blithe Spirit is certain to see her rewarded.
“I love the play and the role is one of those absolute bucket list roles for a comedy actor,” Hammond said.
“It’s such a great character so I leapt at the chance – she’s a ripper.”
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READ NOWHammond will star alongside other theatre favourites including Michael Loney, Jo Morris, Adriane Daff and Adam Booth.
Known for her work on television shows such as Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell and The Librarians, the Perth-raised WAAPA graduate was in a Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Company co-production of the 1941 Noel Coward classic 10 years ago, in the role of Ruth.
“I feel like I know the play pretty well, but because you approach it from your character’s point of view, it is like looking at a whole new play,” she said.
“Madame Arcati is a medium and psychic who is invited to perform a séance.
“The people who invite her think she’s not going to be very good and one of them, Charles, is a writer and just trying to research for his next novel.
“Then she does this séance and actually conjures up his dead ex-wife who appears in ghost form and starts creating all kinds of mischief.”
The bicycle-riding clairvoyant, who constantly refers to her preferred mode of transportation, has some witty and wonderful lines.
However, Hammond said although the play was full of frivolity, it also delved in to looking at life with perspective.
“Sometimes we can put on rose-coloured glasses when thinking about the past, including relationships,” she said.
“You can look back and think it’s better than where you are now.
“Things with Charles’s new wife (Ruth) are a little brittle so he remembers his dead wife (Elvira) as something else, but when she comes back (he realises) their relationship wasn’t that great either.”
While in Perth for the BSSTC season, the Melbourne-based actor said she looked forward to spending time with family, checking out several yoga classes around town and seeing shows at The Blue Room Theatre.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Blithe Spirit
Where: Heath Ledger Theatre
When: July 18 to August 9
Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au