‘All the world’s a stage’: Treading the Boards

By April Bradford

Jan 20, 2025
Replies 2

Want more articles like this? Becoming an SDC Rewards Member is the best way to show your support.

Note from the Editor:
This article was kindly written for the SDC by member @Doctor Alan.

‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.’ It was a Shakespearean character, Jacques, in the play As You Like It, in which these words were first uttered. With this in mind, I suppose I always had the urge to ‘tread the boards’ and become an actor.

My Uncle Donald (Sherman), who was incidentally my Godfather (The Don!) and who I really admired, had been in the Navy for most of his adult life and met up with Stuart Wagstaff there. They became friends, both with a love of taking part in repertory plays. I was fortunate enough to arrange for the two men to chat with one another (England to Australia) many years later. They were both quite similar in appearance, by the way.

I think I was always a bit shy when I was younger, and I ‘missed out’ on playing a part in Aladdin when I was a student at Bradfield Park Primary School in 1956. Fast forward to 1989, and my wife, Terry, and I went down to Werrington near Penrith in NSW to see a play there put on by the Henry Lawson Theatre Group. I’ve forgotten the title, but at the end of the performance, they asked anybody who wanted to act in their next production: Re-electing Roger, to see them that day. Terry nudged me and reminded me, ‘You always wanted to be an actor – now’s your chance!’ Well, I got the part of ‘Toady’ in the play, and my character was the first to be seen. It was a lot of fun, and on the ‘election night’, my character got very drunk and staggered about a fair bit. I don’t drink (alcohol, at any rate), but I’d seen a few drunks, and I was apparently quite realistic!

On the last performance of the play, Gough and Margaret Whitlam had been invited, and Gough said to me: ‘You’re the most realistic drunk I’ve ever seen!’ Margaret said as quietly to me: ‘Well, the play must have been good – he actually didn’t fall asleep!’

The Re-Electing Roger cast. Image Credit: SDC/member @Doctor Alan.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque in diam id erat facilisis consectetur vitae vel urna.

Ut lacus libero, suscipit auctor ipsum sit amet, viverra pretium nisl. Nullam facilisis nec odio nec dapibus. Integer maximus risus et velit porttitor ullamcorper