There’s thrillers in the Mist
IS
the true value of art — and people — in the eye of the beholder? That’s the question Australian acting legends John Wood and Julie Nihill will attempt to answer next week when they bring the thoughtprovoking comedy/drama Bakersfield Mist to stages across Tasmania.
Inspired by true events, Bakersfield Mist follows unemployed bartender Maude (Nihill), who has just bought an old painting for a few bucks from an op shop. She now thinks it could be a Jackson Pollock, and worth millions of dollars. In fact, she’s certain it is.
But when a world-class art expert, Lionel Percy (Wood), flies in from New York and arrives at Maude’s trailerpark home in Bakersfield to authenticate the painting, he really has no idea what he’s about to discover.
Written by award-winning US playwright Stephen Sachs, Bakersfield Mist has been a hit around the world, including a three-month run on London’s West End — starring Kathleen Turner and Ian McDiarmid — in 2014.
Now the Australian production — which reunites Gold Logie winner Wood with his former Blue Heelers costar Nihill — is coming to Tasmania, for shows in Devonport, Hobart and Launceston.
After a performance at the Devonport Entertainment Centre on September 5, the Tasmanian Theatre Company and Straightjacket Productions present Bakersfield Mist at Hobart’s Theatre Royal from 7.30pm next Friday and Saturday (September 8 and 9).
Tickets are $30-$70, go to www.theatreroyal.com.au or phone 62332299 for bookings.
The show then moves to Launceston for one night only, at the Princess Theatre on September 12.