Director Jarrad West moved from Perth to the ACT in 2006 and formed Everyman Theatre, which is now in its 16th year and has become the premier queer theatre company in Canberra. Everyman has been part of ACT Hub for nearly three years and has produced Laramie Project, The Normal Heart, Company, History Boys, Beautiful Thing, Holding the Man and Queers.
Up next, Everyman/ACT Hub are set to present The Inheritance, which was described by one reviewer as “perhaps the most important American play of this century” and has only been performed one other time in Australia, in Melbourne last February.
“It’s a continuation of that thread of queer epic storytelling and ensuring our people and stories are never forgotten,” says Jarrad. “We have to fight for visibility (census questions anyone?) and weirdly, whenever we do turn around and tell our stories, everyone realises just how universal our struggles and successes are. The Inheritance is raw, it’s human, it’s funny, and it’s so exciting that we get to have it here in Canberra for the first time.”
So what’s it about? “The title itself is a giveaway,” he says. “What do we give to the generation after us? What do we leave behind for them? And what do we owe to those who came before? I think as a gay man who grew up in the shadow of the AIDS epidemic, I always feel a debt for those who came before and fought for visibility and acceptance – allowing me to forge a career in theatre telling queer stories. Then I look at the young people coming up now and seeing the cultural visibility and acceptance grow with each passing year (with some caveats of course), and think, OK, maybe what I do does mean something to those who come after me. If some kid gets dragged to the theatre by their parents and then recognises themselves up there on the stage and doesn’t feel so alone, then I’ve done my job.”
The Inheritance is showing from October 12 to November 2 at ACT Hub’s Causeway Hall in Kingston. Find tickets at https://www.acthub.com.au/production/the-inheritance/
