By LUKE VOOGT
Australian comedy royalty will perform in Geelong next week when one half of iconic duo Lano and Woodley appears in Extinction.
Colin Lane will play Harry Jewell, a mining executive driving to the Otways to live with his parents after splitting with his wife.
On a wild, rainy night, he hits a tiger quoll and takes it to a vet, meeting environmentalist Piper Ross, played by Ngaire Dawn Fair.
“He thinks it might alleviate some of his life’s crises by donating some company funds,” Lane told The Indy during a break in rehearsal.
“It raises some interesting questions: do you take money if it’s offered to save endangered animals even if it’s from one of the world’s biggest polluters?”
Despite Extinction being an “intelligent drama”, Lane said his comedy experience came in handy, especially imagining a mining executive dealing with three passionate environmentalists.
“There’s comedy with a little bit of the fish out of the water scenario,” he said.
It’s a similar situation for Lane, who’s new to dramatic theatre.
“I’ve done mucking around on stages around the world but to tell you the truth, my dramatic experience isn’t that vast,” he said.
“I wanted to try a few different things. The older you get the more you want to mix things up.
“You should do the things that perhaps scare you a bit.”
Since parting with Woodley, Lane has performed in Australian comedy Don’s Party for Melbourne Theatre Company and made various television, stage and festival appearances.
He quoted Judi Dench when explaining why he took on his most recent role.
“She doesn’t even read scripts, she just finds out the people involved in the project,” he said.
When Lane heard that Hannie Rayson, (Hotel Sorrento, Life After George) wrote the play and acclaimed film director and producer Nadia Tass would direct it, he thought, “Well, that’s a good start”.
“I heard who the cast was and that got me very interested.”
Lane joins seasoned performers Natasha Herbert in Extinction, along with Red Stitch ensemble members Brett Cousins and Fair.
Set in the Otways, the play draws attention to the plight of the endangered tiger quoll – the largest marsupial predator on the Australian mainland.
Rayson said the play was “an examination of what it means for the soul to bear witness to the extinction of a species”.
“In writing Extinction, I wanted to run a mile from the agro and politically congested, ideologically jammed debates. I wanted to write about real people of good will, facing real decisions and real choices.”
The play is a co-production between Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC) and Red Stitch in partnership with Greening Australia, Australian Conservation Foundation and the Conservation Ecology Centre Cape Otway.
Extinction plays GPAC from 13 to 16 July.
