Newcomer tackling role of tramp
Alan Chesswas, a newcomer to Repertory Theatre, is currently rehearsing the role of the tramp in The Dignity of Risk. He relocated to Whanganui from Gisborne about four years ago.
“I was in the Unity Theatre in Gisborne, where I had a couple of small parts in Black Adder and The Lieutenant of Inishman.
“I was a drug dealer in that, so I was persecuted and hung up on the stage covered in tomato sauce,” Alan told me.
So why did he come back to theatre? “I was bored and I wanted to meet people. It’s a social thing, really,” he said.
Alan plays the part of the tramp who meets the three young people in the park.
“You don’t know where he’s come from. He says, ‘I have my reasons’ and he doesn’t elaborate on that. I think the tramp’s a bit lonely. Perhaps he just wants to hang with the kids. When I lived in Sydney, where I was working in the construction industry, there were a lot of tramps living
rough in Hyde Park. I think a lot of them are just very different people, and we just don’t understand them.”
Alan’s wife Anne said that once she was waiting for a bus after treatment for a shoulder injury. A homeless man entered the bus shelter and politely asked if she minded if he sat beside her.”
“He was a bit smelly but I said I didn’t mind. Then he told me that he could see that I was in pain and that he could help me. Did I mind if he put his hand on my shoulder? Well, he just rested his hand on my shoulder for a few minutes, the pain went and I was completely cured. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Some of these tramps are special people.”
I asked Alan if he was enjoying the rehearsals. “Yes, but once the show opens I get awful stage fright. I don’t know why I do it. It’s terrifying!”
I’ve watched Alan rehearsing. He seems very relaxed and natural on stage. See for yourself, onstage at Repertory Theatre October 3 to 12.