Robert Bell has enjoyed a whirlwind stage tour from playing a disabled child murderer in an outrageously controversial play during his University of Adelaide days to last year winning a coveted Adelaide Theatre Guide Best Male Performance Award for his remarkable portrayal as a disabled person, The Elephant Man.
You may recall his brilliance last year in the role of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, which won him Best Male Actor at the annual Adelaide Theatre Guide ‘Curtain Call’ Awards.
Bravo! bravo! we shout, while his fellow thespians continue to marvel at his acting and wonderful voice, but it plays absolutely no part right in his current day-to-day performance as a local used car salesman to pay the bills and occasionally take his girlfriend, Ashley, out for a quiet beer with his friends after a rehearsal with their theatre group, the South Coast Choral & Arts Society.
Stage performances are a tough gig, and at 23 he’s taking a huge step by directing the musical Pippin at the Victor Harbor Town Hall – nine performances from October 8-22. The SCCAS is a brilliant regional theatre company that has produced 118 stage performances since 1956 earning a loyal following, and to do a musical with – for the first time – predominantly a very young cast is seen by close observers as daring.
Robert shies from controversy and off-stage he presents his real self as being jovial, humble and well-mannered, but mention the stage and he becomes inspired by its romance and dares to dream of pushing himself to the ultimate theatrical challenge.
Heck, it’s his first-ever role as the director and he’s asked his mum (Kim) to be in the show; that really is pushing the limit. Robert laughs at the observation, and suggests she is probably not coping with him telling her what to do, and now again losing his patience with her.
Parents would call this as pay-back, but it is a treasured scenario started last year when, in her first-ever play, Kim was Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar meaning Robert knelt on stage before her as she played the part of sentencing him to death. Robert recalls crying on stage upon being consumed by the overall emotion.
“Mum was a cabaret performer, and she always used to perform for us kids,” Robert said. “She has never been shy to go up to a band and say, give me the mike, do you know this song? She is a real performer. Her biggest influence on me in regards to the theatre is her singing, and I have such a love for music.
“Mum is going to rock it in Pippin in her beautiful role as a grandma named Berthe.
“I have always liked drama, and this show is certainly far from it. Pippin is ridiculous fun, I guess. I have always wanted to direct a show since high school (Faith, in Tanunda)… it’s where the theatre passion comes from.
“I tried to look for a suitable play, and then I discovered this musical and I fell in love with it instantly. This is it, I said, I have to do this one.
“I never thought directing could be such a hard challenge. It’s about wearing a lot of hats, not just creating a show. I have a hand in lighting, set design and costumes. The only thing I haven’t really put my nose into is the music and the choreography because we’re lucky to have two very talented ladies for them – Jacqui Maynard and Rebecca Kemp.
“I am nervous, definitely, and also excited and exhausted. I think the show will look spectacular and the cast will really bring it along. The company (SCCAS) is so supportive… they put their heart and soul into everything.
“What gives me nerves more than the creative side is all the back stage happening, stuff that I have no hands on that I can’t see when I am sitting in an audience because that’s not my domain. The stage has always been my comfort zone.”
A hint of melodrama, some may suggest, and Robert has heard the suggested subtle differences between the potential brutality in a sporting arena compared with the stage. He laughs again, and reveals that at school he tried most sports and has more participation trophies and best-trier awards in a cupboard than than any football hero.
“Seriously, there really are similarities because sport and the theatre brings out the character in young people,” Robert said. “I have probably noticed it more being a director of this show.
“This is why acting is beautiful… it’s those who are nervous amongst others that generally have something special about them on stage because they step out of their shoes and become somebody else. It gives them that extra confidence.
“There is courage here too. If you are playing football at Adelaide Oval or the MCG you are as nervous as anything; same goes up here. Step on stage in front of a crowd and that’s a challenge too.
“Acting has been my hobby, my passion. To me it is fun, but I also look at it realistically when there is a 95 per cent unemployment rate for actors.
“I have never treated acting as a career up until recently when I signed with an agent which hopefully may lead to something in the future.
“Until recently I have never actually studied acting. Everything that I have learnt so far has been from shows, from directors, but now I am doing a course which is for film work. It’s going back to the very basics, and that’s good. You forget them and you start to over-complicate things, and it’s the simple stuff that makes it special.
“Theatre is about expressing yourself; that’s all you have to do. The cast develop friendships whereas, before they knew theatre, they would have never talked to anyone; ever. You learn life lessons through theatre; the disciplines. It’s about the director, the cast and crew building something together and it is special.
“I do the theatre not to win awards; I do it for the social aspect. I don’t do it for the applause either, even though it is great and gives you a feeling of satisfaction. The biggest thing is the social aspect. You find yourself in the same boat as others who may not have fit in at high school but they went down a path and met another bunch of weirdos who all just like to act.
“Footballers have a lot of courage, and sometimes it also takes courage to be what you really want to be, and for me since school it has always been an actor.”
Right now Robert Bell is kicking a lot of goals of his own. Remember the name.
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