FIRST PERSON

JUSTUS NEUMANN

STAR OF THE ONE-MAN SHOW JUSTUS NEUMANN DIVES HEADFIRST INTO ROALD DAHL

I was happiest when ... I was on the Bruny Island ferry 30 years ago for the first time after emigrating from Austria to Tasmania. You wouldn’t know it but ... I’m actually quite shy. The last time I cried was ... when we spread my mother’s ashes at Penguin Island off Adventure Bay here on Bruny. And I cry very easily at films. The last book I read was ... George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. My favourite films are ... King Kong (1933), Metropolis (1927) by Fritz Lang and The Piano (1993). I really want to ... drive the Birdsville Track in South Australia and the Northern Territory with a proper 4WD. My guilty pleasure is ... coffee. It raises my blood pressure and does everything wrong to me, but I can’t live without it. Life has taught me ... to let it all go. I’m about to ... pick berries and cherries. My first job was ... as a builder’s labourer in Adelaide in 1969, cleaning tiles. I fell asleep all the time because I was already going out to the theatre too much. They sacked me pretty soon. My most memorable work-related moment was … winning six Errols for my show Alzheimer Symphony in 2015. What I enjoy most about my work is … getting away from normal life. Through my work, I step into a world far away from reality, into worlds of fantasy.

Justus Neumann Dives Headfirst into Roald Dahl,

Adventure Bay Hall, Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, Thursday, December 28 to February 2. 7.30–9.10pm, including a 20-minute interval. Tickets may be available at the door (cash sales only). Online sales end on Thursday. Tickets $14.50 child, $32.50 adult, $85 family (2 adults + 3 children). Search for “Justus Neumann” at eventbrite.com.au to book