Rising actor snares her biggest role
TOWNSVILLE up-andcoming actor Keely Pronk can’t remember a time when she was not treading the boards.
Now the 25-year-old has landed her biggest role to date playing Eleanor Cobham, the Duchess of Gloucester, in Theatreinq’s latest production The White Rose and the Red.
The play is the second part of a War of the Roses trilogy following on from last year’s The Blood of Kings based on the history plays of Shakespeare adapted to the stage by the company’s artistic director, Teri Brabon.
In adapting this trilogy she felt it was important to have a female character in every scene as they played an important part in the history of the War of the Roses and many were not included in the original plays by Shakespeare.
Ms Brabon said she was also blessed with having an abundance of great female performers at Theatreinq.
“I am a bit of a history buff in terms of this period so I have read a lot about the strong women who were around at that time,” she said.
“I just feel that to tell the story of the War of the Roses now and leave those women out is pointless, because it is obvious now that they played such a strong role.
“And being a woman myself I just find those women in history fascinating as to how they managed in such a male dominated society to wield a bit of power.
“In adapting this trilogy it is so rewarding to have all the girls (at Theatreinq) in a role and put these women back into history where they belong.”
Rehearsals have just started and Ms Pronk said she was excited by her role and with the opportunity to perform Shakespeare.
“Eleanor is an interesting role, she has a bit of an edge to her and I like her,” Ms Pronk said.
“Her character is an aunty to Henry XI and the wife of Duke Humphrey who was the protector of the realm when Henry was young.”
A Pimlico High graduate, Ms Pronk studied drama at school before joining Theatreinq’s training program, the Bridge Project, to hone her acting skills.
After taking a break from the stage to start a family she found she could not stay away too long and returned to Theatreinq to continue her acting career.
With The White Rose and the Red premiering at Strand Park on July 1 she said her family could not wait to see her on the stage.
“My mum is definitely my biggest fan but my husband is a close second.
“He says every time I get on stage and he is in the audience he starts to cry because he is so proud of me.”
Daughters Summer, 7, and Evelyn, 5, will also be in the audience and are already following in her footsteps.
“They like to come and see the shows and Summer has already started acting classes which she really enjoys and Evie wants to do it when she is old enough.”
The show runs from July 1 to July 11 and bookings are available at https://www.theatreinq.com/
The final instalment in the trilogy entitled Blood Will Have Blood will be Theatreinq’s Shakespeare Under the Stars performance at Queens Gardens in mid-september this year.