Tom Wright
OW1985
"School played an enormous part in my becoming an actor, not just for the experiences of performing and learning stage carpentry, more for the philosophy of a liberal arts education..."
Perhaps no small part of Tom's theatrical genesis can be traced to his strong association with the Adamson Theatre Company during his time at Wesley College from 1980 to 1985. The kind of student whose sharp intellect, urgent creative instincts and love of language and acting drew him naturally to the theatre, Tom was enthusiastically involved in a large number of productions, both on stage and behind the scenes.
Among those which stand out in his memory are The Sentimental Bloke (1984) and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1985), musicals in which he typically accepted roles but also worked backstage as a set-builder and scenery-painter. Such was Tom's genuine enthusiasm for all pursuits theatrical. Nor will he forget helping to build the Colosseum for Androcles and the Lion (1984), a play whose staging demands necessitated a modestly grand-scale revolving stage and the burning of extravagant quantities of midnight oil. Add to these achievements Tom's broad and equally dedicated involvement in such plays and musicals as The Merchant of Venice (1985), Naked Island (1983), The Front Page (1983), The Iron Harp (1984), September Song (1983) and The Wizard of Oz (1984), and a picture emerges of a young man whose subsequent entry into the world of professional theatre is unsurprising.
As an arts student at Melbourne University, Tom quickly became involved in student theatre, frequently collaborating closely with such budding luminaries as Barry Kosky and Michael Kantor. He has since worked with many of Australia's most highly regarded performing arts companies, including the Melbourne Theatre Company, Anthill, Company B Belvoir, Chunky Move, the Bell Shakespeare Company and Playbox. Tom acknowledges his years as a member of Kosky's Gilgul Theatre ensemble as having shaped his views about theatre. He co-wrote and performed in several Gilgul productions in the early 1990s.
Actor, writer, director – it seems that Tom's engagement with theatre is indeed all-embracing. He has written or co-written numerous plays and adaptations, including The Trial, Ghost Train, The Operated Jew, Excavation, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, This is a True Story, Lorelei, The Golden Ass and Babes in the Wood. His adaptation of The Odyssey is scheduled for the Perth International Festival 2004-05, and his Journal of the Plague Year will be performed at Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre in April-May this year.
Towards the end of 2003 Tom took up a prestigious position in Australian arts administration as Literary Manager of the Sydney Theatre Company and Artistic Associate to its Director, Robyn Nevin.
In an interview for the August 2004 edition of Lion, Tom reflects in very generous terms on his experience of theatre at Wesley College. "School played an enormous part in my becoming an actor," he insists, "not just for the experiences of performing and learning stage carpentry, more for the philosophy of a liberal arts education... For me, it wasn't so much acting as theatre generally that seemed a place where all the arts – literary, visual and performative – met."
He also stresses the importance of having arts mentors all through life, but especially when starting out. "Teachers have a big influence on young lives; they're the major intellectual impression on nascent minds," he asserts.
Tom passionately believes of theatre that " ...like all the great art forms, it is at its best when it enriches lives and lets us all plunge a bit deeper into our imaginations." He sees the arts as a litmus test for a balanced society.
