When Matthew Connell steps out onto the stage this week, he will be speaking with a wisdom that belies his years.
As one of the stars of Melbourne Festival performance Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday, the 22-year-old Footscray actor will be voicing the thoughts of 80-year-old residents of nursing homes.
The play is the latest work from Malthouse Theatre’s 2013 director-in-residence Roslyn Oades and has been constructed using her ‘headphone verbatim’ documentary theatre technique.
Actors have been rehearsing while wearing headphones streaming real conversations recorded by Oades involving people approaching the ages of 18 and 80.
She recorded the interviews in various nursing homes and at Schoolies Week celebrations on the Gold Coast.
“There will be three senior actors and three younger actors, but the younger actors will be playing the 80-year-olds and the older actors will be the 18-year-olds,” Connell said.
“It means really slowing down for me, entering the world of older people and trying to see the world through their eyes.”
The Victorian College of the Arts graduate has enjoyed recent television roles on
Neighbours and Melbourne Black and appeared in Michael Kantor’s film The Boy Castaways.
He said the production had been a challenging but exciting project that allowed a great deal of creative input from the actors.
Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday opens at the Malthouse Theatre this Thursday and runs until October 26.
Tickets cost $40-60. For bookings, phone 9685 5111 or visit www.malthousetheatre.com.au
