10 August 2023
By Hannah Wilcox
Kirribilli’s own Ensemble Theatre is back with another poignant and beautiful tribute to the experience of being human. Mr Bailey’s Minder, written by acclaimed Australian playwright Debra Oswald, is being brought to life by a talented cast and directed by Damien Ryan.
The Sun spoke to lead actor John Gaden on his complex yet loveable character, his return to the Ensemble and what to expect from this rich and layered storyline.
Worn down by years of alcohol abuse, self-loathing and indulgent misbehaviour, artist Leo Bailey meets his match in his new carer Therese (Claudia Ware) – fresh out of prison and optionless.
“It’s a beautifully written role, it’s all there, so it really wasn’t all that difficult,” Gaden said.
“And I’m quite old, I’m in my 80s, so I know a little bit what it’s like to be old, forgetful, a bit frail – and sometimes not very nice.”
“He’s an old drunk with dementia and a number of other things so really it was just me, basically,” Gaden joked.
It was with a lot of help from the rest of the cast, Gaden said, that brought together the piece.
“It’s a terrific piece, really, really beautifully written and some of it’s very funny, some of it’s quite sad.”
“You get a lot for your money on this one,” he added.
The actor has performed on stage at the Ensemble previously, sharing the stage with John Bell in the theatre’s showing of DIPLOMACY in 2018.
“[The theatre] is great,” he said. “We have a wonderful stage manager and crew – they’re very efficient.”
“You’re very close to the audience. Sometimes too close when they fall asleep in the front row! But luckily that doesn’t happen very often,” he laughed.
This time around, he’s looking forward to telling the story of Leo, describing the show as an ‘emotional rollercoaster of a good kind’.
“Some of it’s very funny, some of it’s very human and some of it’s a little bit sad.”
“The basic thing is: if a man is a great artist, and produces great work, does that give him permission to be a horrible human being?”
“Clearly it doesn’t, but that’s sort of the basis of the play and what the minder does is bring the terrible old drunk back to some sort of humanity. I think that’s a very universal kind of story,” he said.
Gaden believes an actor’s most powerful tool is his imagination, and has put that skill to good use in time for the opening night of Mr Bailey’s Minder.
“A bit of research is useful.”
“So much of it is in the writing and how that affects your imagination as an actor and I’m a great believer in an actor’s imagination as the thing that informs how you do it,” he explained.
“You go to the play and you look very precisely at what you’re saying and what you’re doing, and then you try and find ways to present that.”
“Other people can look at it and say look, drunks aren’t like that and dementia isn’t like that and you can alter it,” he added.
“Basically, it’s all there if you just research the text carefully.”
A connoisseur of all Australian TV, film and theatre, Gaden was most recently spotted playing Anthony Fisk in seven episodes of ABC’s comedy hit Fisk, written and directed by comedian, writer and actress Kitty Flanagan.
“It’s great working with Kitty Flanagan and all that team of people. They’re just so funny, and lovely to work with. It’s a joy for me,” Gaden said.
“Kitty is just the funniest person and she and her sister write the show, and they sort of write precisely to the people they cast.”
“I didn’t [know the Flanagans]. I got a request out of the blue. I thought ‘oh wow, that’s terrific!’ and I said yes,” he explained.
“I was absolutely thrilled and she’s got a great knowledge of who’s in the business and so to be chosen was a bit of a privilege really.”
Gaden also reflected on the changing landscape of Australian media, saying he’s optimistic for what’s to come.
“It’s both good and bad and ugly!” he added.
“In some ways it’s very healthy. There are changes taking place, there’s a lot of new work taking place and being done, broadening the scope of casting and presentation – all of which are good.”
“It’s had its ups and downs – Covid really knocked it back as theatres weren’t open for two years,” he said. “That really did knock things about. But I think at the moment, it’s coming back and there’s a great thirst in the audience for live theatre, you do feel that.”
“They’re often quite critical as they should be, but they do want to come and get the live experience. I think that’s always been there and I don’t think it’s gone away.”
For a chance to see John Gaden and the rest of the cast in action, Mr Bailey’s Minder will continue to show at the Ensemble Theatre until September 2.