In March 2002 out of the blue I was approach by the Wellington City Art Gallery to do a twenty-minute monologue based on Ned Kelly and his attitude to the Paintings of Sydney Nolan. I was given just over a week to learn, rehearse and begin performing the monologue. My first thoughts were yes why the hell not and then how much. I had just graduated from drama school (Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School) and was happy (still are) to do anything. I had only heard of Ned Kelly through the Yahoo Serious movie that I never actually watched but had seen previews of. The task in itself was daunting but the character was even bigger. The more I learnt about Ned Kelly the more I wanted to know.

Given the time constraints unfortunately meant that the time I had for research was very limited. So the performance I gave to Sponsors of the City Art Gallery was more text based than knowledge or background based. This performance was well received. Basically what I did was walk around the paintings of Sydney Nolan playing Ned Kelly commenting on his version of events. As an acting exercise this was extraordinary – I had my audience no more than a foot a way from me and was performing to up to 100 people at one time. There was no where to hide. I performed the show only 6 or so times. Afterwards I still felt this desire to know more about Ned Kelly and I read Peter Careys book, this only instilled a deeper desire and the beginning of an understanding of the character that I had played. Thankfully at one of the only Friends of the Gallery performances of the show Ralph McAllister was present. He is a well-known director of theatre in New Zealand, teachers college professor and a close friend. He felt that my work on Ned Kelly was the best work he had seen me do.

This led to my playing Ned Kelly in role in sessions with teachers from around New Zealand who were been given a session on Role work to take back to other teachers in around New Zealand. The role work was a natural continuation of my work at the Gallery. Ralph now suggested that the natural next step was to turn my work into a piece of theatre. This is where my research for the show I have developed today began. I poured through everything I get my hands on regarding Ned Kelly. And there was a lot of information to look through. I found Ian Jones Bio the most helpful and have underlined almost half the book. The script started off been like a story rather than a play with lost of he said/she said. Since than it there has been about eight or so drafts and I imagine there will be more before opening night.

What do I think of Ned Kelly now? As in actor I am still coming to terms with his motivation. Not only when he is living though the events of his past but his attitude and agenda with the audience itself. His life was something that I cannot truly begin to comprehend. The harshness of it – the sheer brutality - not the things he did but his life itself. The malevolence of the police. The malevolence of his native land. I am sure that there were many many Australian Selectors that suffered equally at the hands of the police and greed of the Squatters yet none of them stood up the way Ned did. Why? You can argue he was a natural born leader but it takes more than that. It takes something almost superhuman. Yet he was not superhuman, as at the end of Peter Careys book – he was a man of flesh and bone. In my show I focus a lot on his relationship with his mother. I find her character fascinating. Her love for her family and at the same time her love of men. Her temper and her generosity. I also find Joe fascinating and the fact he was an opium addict and still managed to keep up with Ned astounds me.

Why Sydney Nolan? Well his paintings are so simple yet so profound. In my show Ned abuses Sydney for making him look like a cartoon and for taking liberty with the facts. He hates Sydney because Sydney used his story and turned it into a landscape. Yet he loves that Sydney has helped in his story been told. Which is the central theme of ‘Kelly’ – Ned asked after he was captured to have the opportunity to tell his story – he never was given it – this is why I brought him back – to tell have the opportunity.

How can a New Zealander have the audacity to do a show on an Australian Legend? I feel the fact that I am not Australian helps in the clarity of portraying a person who actually lived. If I had been brought up with prior knowledge of who he was it would change and influence my portrayal. What I want with my performance is capture the essence of the man. To try and show not only the events which shaped his life but Ned Kelly himself. I don’t know if I will succeed but this is that task that I have set myself. I’m not Heath Ledger. The Heath Ledger film properly won’t be released in New Zealand for a while and for the sake of my performance it’s for the best. I just hope he portrays Ned more than just black and white – because he was anything but.

Finally as I write this I have yet to begin rehearsals for ‘Kelly’ and anybody who has worked in theatre will know that rehearsals change everything. So who knows how my thoughts will change on Ned in the next month. What I know is the more I work on him the more I respect, his relationships, his complexity – his intelligence and most of all his sense of humour.

Further Reading:
City Gallery Gives Corporate Favours