Actors Centre Australia's Co-Founder Returns To The Stage In Felix Nobis' BOY OUT OF THE COUNTRY In Sydney

After a 29-year absence from the stage, Stan Kouros, a co-founder of Actors Centre Australia (ACA), will take the role of Walker in the Company of Rogues production of Boy Out of the Country at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre May 9-25.

A fast and funny observation of regional life, family and the price of progress, Felix Nobis' award-winning play tells the story of troubled country boy, Hunter, who returns home from the city after a mysterious seven-year absence to find the family property swept up in a new development, his mother in aged care, and his brother Gordon in charge.

In this moment of shifting economies, and loyalties, Hunter goes in search of answers. For he and Gordon, sibling rivalry and childhood nostalgia will collide with unexpected consequences.

Written in vernacular verse reminiscent of the poetic tradition of Banjo Patterson, Boy Out of the Country is a bush ballad for contemporary Australia, where country towns come to terms with rapid social Change, backyards are less important than extra bedrooms, and the places that were once so familiar can change before our eyes.

For Kouros, the role of Walker - a country cop trying to hold together a community he once knew with common sense, history, and a cold beer - reflects some of his own experience coming back to professional acting. "It's both exciting and a little daunting to return to something you love after being a part of it from another perspective for so long. A bit like Walker, so much of the environment and the process is familiar, and yet so much has changed".

After an early acting career that included work with Belvoir St Theatre, Nimrod Theatre Co and roles on television favourites A Country Practice, Home and Away and Mother and Son, Kouros went on to become one of the founders of Actors Centre Australia. As co-founder, Director and Chief Financial Officer he was responsible for ACA's development plan, seeing it grow from 15 students to a full-time accredited course with an alumni of thousands that includes patron Hugh Jackman.

Directed by Erica Lovell, Boy Out of the Country also features the original cast including Tom Harwood (Things Not to do After a Break Up), Jason Glover (Headlands, Van Diemen's Land), Jeannie Gee (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), and Amelia Robertson-Cuninghame (Anatomy of an Offence, Love Child).

Boy Out of the Country emerged from the Melbourne Theatre Company Affiliate Writers Scheme and was awarded the R. E. Ross Trust Script Development Award. It was selected as the premiere work for the inaugural Pioneer Play Festival 2018.

Tickets: Adults $35, Concession $30, Preview $15

Bookings: www.companyrogues.com

Felix is an actor, poet, playwright and academic. As an actor he worked extensively on screen and stage including time with STC, Belvoir ST and Redstitch. He was a playwright in residence with Q Theatre and a member of Sydney Theatre Company's Fresh Ink and Melbourne Theatre Company's Affiliate Writer's programs. He is currently a lecturer with the Centre for Theatre and Performance at Monash University. His works Beowulf and Once Upon a Bartsool have toured to the UK, Europe and USA, and enjoyed seasons at La Mama Theatre Melbourne. His most recent work Boy Out of the Country was included in the VCE Schools Syllabus in 2016.

To post a comment, you must register and login.