Custom fit: Noni shines in one-woman show The Lark
She dazzled and moved audiences in Mother and now Noni Hazlehurst is flying solo again in The Lark, playing QPAC in October.
To generations of Australian children, actor Noni Hazlehurst is akin to a goddess. Parents, too, are probably grateful for the many hours of respite her antics on long-running ABC children’s television program Play School provided them from cantankerous, demanding toddlers.
But underneath the facade of a kid’s educator and entertainer beats the heart of a true thespian, “endlessly grateful” for the exposure 23 years on Play School provided but equally committed to testing her abilities as an actor.
From Play School to the film adaptation of Helen Garner’s classic Australian novel Monkey Grip to A Place to Call Home, Hazlehurst has been a fixture in Australian households for more than three decades. Yet during that time she carved a niche for herself as one of the country’s most versatile actors, particularly in the theatre where she starred – to tremendous critical acclaim and sold-out seasons – in the visceral and confronting one-woman show, Mother.
It was that show that last brought her to Brisbane, just before COVID hit. She returns, October 15 to 26, for another one-woman show, The Lark, also playing QPAC.
The Lark sees Hazlehurst reunited with playwright Daniel Keene, for whom she has become something of a muse. He wrote Mother for Hazlehurst and again conceived of The Lark with her in mind, something she says is “equal parts tremendously flattering and also somewhat terrifying”.
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The pair first met through a mutual acquaintance and have since forged a strong friendship and creative partnership.
‘I have to create a believable human being so that these words can come out of her in a believable way’
“The challenge, I find, with Daniel’s words, is that they’re very much like poetry and poetry can be difficult,” says Hazlehurst. “His writing is poetic but the characters he’s writing aren’t poets. For me, the loveliest thing about his work, and also the greatest challenge, is that I have to create a believable human being so that these words can come out of her in a believable way.
“I love the challenge of a one-woman show. It’s not that I don’t enjoy working as part of an ensemble, because I do, but I’m really enjoying the challenge of being the only person onstage at this point in my career.”
The Lark tells the story of 75-year-old Rose Grey, a lifelong resident and then publican of a Fitzroy hotel that is about to be demolished to make way for a development of luxury units. Hazlehurst says she found “many touchstones” in Keene’s dialogue and characterisation.
“What appealed to me about Rose, aside from the fact that we’re around the same age, is that she’s really looking back on her life, reckoning with what has happened and what is to come,” she says. “I love being onstage every night and performing to a new crowd of people. In a way it’s like I get to step onstage and create Rose anew every single night and there’s something thrilling about that.”
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“There’s always something else to discover, something that I’ve been through or that’s happened that day that affects my performance, and I love that aspect of it. I don’t really get nervous before I walk onstage, so much as I’d say I get edgy. I don’t get nervous because all I have to do is to tell the story and tell it well and the role of Rose is particularly interesting because she’s directly addressing the audience the whole time. I just want to let the audience connect with a human being that I’ve created and, hopefully, find something in themselves that resonates.”
Since she first performed Mother in 2015, one-woman shows have taken Australian and international stages by storm. Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie and Inter Alia both reaped critical acclaim and awards while her RBG: Of Many, One has sold out seasons both in Australia and the US.
Similarly, Joanna Murray-Smith’s Julia, about former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, has enjoyed several sell-out seasons nationally. Also, Sydney Theatre’s Company’s adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray has taken Broadway by storm, winning a Tony Award for its lead, Sarah Snook.
‘I love the challenge of being the sole person who has to bring this character to life and then connect to the audience’
But ask Hazlehurst why one-woman shows are so popular and she answers readily and with a knowing, somewhat self-deprecating laugh that implies there’s no great mystery underpinning their appeal or popularity.
“A lot of actors just really love the challenge of doing them and it’s as simple as that. I love the challenge of being the sole person who has to bring this character to life and then connect to the audience. I feel like I have to dig really deep and there’s something very rewarding and very challenging about doing that.
“Whenever I walk onstage, I feel as if I step into Rose and, hopefully, as I reveal her to the audience they’re also along for the journey and they’re also finding something to connect to as I am up there onstage,” Hazlehurst says.
The Lark plays the Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, October 15-26.