CHAPTER NINE CASE STUDY: GEOFFREY RUSH. INTRODUCTION Geoffrey Rush is the most successful and well-known Australian graduate of the Lecoq school. This chapter will focus on how Rush's Lecoq training has influenced his work as a director and performer. I will begin the chapter by providing an overview of Rush's career history, followed by a discussion of his experiences at the Lecoq school and their general impact on his work. An analysis of Rush's work in the context of the four key elements of the Lecoq pedagogy follows, with Rush's acting and directing considered specifically in terms of its movement-based approach, devised elements, use of improvisation and application of performance styles. Although this thesis has been primarily concerned with analysing the influence of the Lecoq school on performance practitioners in terms of their work in theatrical rather than cinematic contexts, here I will be analysing Rush's work in film as well as in theatre. My reasons for expanding the focus of the study to include film in this particular instance arise from a desire to conduct a close analysis of Rush's work and, for purposes of analysis, film obviously presents a far more tangible and stable record than an ephemeral stage production. Career History: Geoffrey Rush is widely known for his award winning performance as David Helfgott in the film Shine. Prior to garnering the 1997 Academy Award for Best Actor, however, Rush had long been one of Australia's most acclaimed and distinguished directors and stage performers. His theatre career spans three decades and over seventy theatrical productions. He has consistently worked at Australia's major theatre companies where he has worked with many of Australia's leading directors including Simon Phillips, Michael Gow, Roger Hodgman, George Ogilvie, Gale Edwards, Robyn Archer, John Gaden, Jim Sharman, Louis Nowra, Richard Cotterill and Neil Armfield. Born in Toowoomba, Rush's first acting forays were with the College Players, a semi- professional dramatic company formed originally as an amateur group by students at the University of Queensland. The company performed to school audiences as well as the general public, touring a repertoire of Shakespeare and popular musical theatre along the Queensland coast. Rush began performing professionally in 1971 when he joined the Queensland Theatre Company. In the years prior to his Lecoq studies, Rush performed in seventeen QTC productions in what he calls 'a fairly diverse if conventional repertoire' (Rush 1998:531, interview). 244 In 1975 Rush travelled to the UK and Europe where he attended a directors course at the British Theatre Association in London and began his studies at the Lecoq school in Paris. He returned to Australia in 1978, joining the QTC once again for his first Australian post- Lecoq performance as the Fool in King Lear. After performing with the QTC for five years, Rush moved to Sydney in 1979 where he played Vladimir to Mel Gibson s Estragon in Waiting for Godot and Dave in On Our Selection at the Jane Street Theatre, a role he later revived for a film version directed by George Whaley. In 1980, Rush began his long association with director Neil Armfield, performing in Teeth and Smiles at the Nimrod. The following year, Rush performed under the direction of fellow Lecoq graduate George Ogilvie in the Sydney Theatre Companys production of You Cant Take It With You. From 1981 Rush spent much of his time in Adelaide performing with the Lighthouse Company, (later the STCSA). He performed roles in twenty productions for Lighthouse between 1981 and 1987, including Oberon/Theseus in A Midsummer Nights Dream (1982); Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro (1983); Allen Fitzgerald in The Blind Giant is Dancing (1983); Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night (1983/1984); and Autolycus in The Winters Tale (1987). Since 1986, Rush has spread his theatre performances more evenly among the major theatre companies, although he has increasingly worked at Belvoir Street under Neil Armfields direction. His first Belvoir Street role was as Mouldy 2 in Robyn Archers production of On Parliament Hill in 1987. Rush made his first appearance on the MTC stage in 1988, taking the title role in Tristram Shandy. From 1988, Rush began performing many of the roles for which he has become renowned. In 1988 he premiered what was to be a much revived role as Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest for the MTC. In 1989, Rush played what is to date his most celebrated stage role as Poproshin in Gogols The Diary of a Madman. Directed by Neil Armfield and premiered at Belvoir Street, the productions popularity and acclaim quickly took it to the MTC in 1990. In 1992 it played at the Adelaide Festival, before a triumphant return season at Belvoir Street. In October, Belvoir Street became the first Australian theatre company to tour to Russia, with The Diary of a Madman playing to critical acclaim in Moscow and St Petersburg. Rush collected three industry awards for his performance: the Variety Club of Australia Award for Stage Actor of the Year (1989); the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Award for Most Outstanding Performance (1989); and the Victorian Green Room Award for Best Actor (1990). 245 Rush returned to Adelaide in 1990 to play the roles of Marat in the Marat/Sade and Antipholus of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors, both under the aegis of the STCSA. In 1991 Neil Armfield embarked on another Gogol with Rush playing Khlestakhov in The Government Inspector at the Sydney Theatre Company. In 1992, Rushs portrayal of Astrov in Armfields Uncle Vanya for the STC earned him a nomination from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for Best Actor. In 1993 Rush received the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for an individual contribution. He performed as Cocledemoy in The Dutch Courtesan at the MTC and as John in Oleanna at the STC, for which he was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Rosemount Award. In 1994 he played Horatio in the Belvoir Street production of Hamlet, and was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. The production was also nominated for the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Shakespeare Globe Centre Award. In 1996 Rush performed as Subtle in Armfields acclaimed production of The Alchemist at Belvoir Street. In 1998 he again played the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, this time for the Queensland Theatre Company. In addition to Rushs prolific acting career, he has also distinguished himself as a director. He made his first foray into directing in 1978 with his production of Clowneroonies for the QTC, which he also wrote/devised and in which he performed as Roy the Wonderboy. The production was subsequently mounted at the Nimrod in 1980. Between 1984 and 1986 Rush was artistic director of the theatre-in-education troupe Magpie Theatre Company. Here he directed what Murray Bramwell describes as many lively productions (Bramwell, in Parsons 1995:337). These included David Holmans Small Poppies, researched and written while Holman was playwright-in-residence. In 1986 Rush left Magpie but continued to direct independently. Productions included Pearls Before Swine, The 1985 Scandals and Pell Mell, all at Belvoir Street. In 1987, Rush directed The Merry Wives of Windsor for the Royal Queensland Theatre Company before embarking on what was to become his most acclaimed and popular directorial enterprise, The Popular Mechanicals or Pop Mex, as it has become affectionately known in the Australian vernacular. Rush collaborated with Keith Robinson and Tony Taylor in writing the play, which is based around the rustic clown characters from A Midsummer Nights Dream. The production began its meteoric rise to fame with a premiere at the Belvoir Street in 1987 but proved so endearing to audiences and critics alike that it was re-mounted at the MTC and the STC in 1988 before returning to Belvoir in 1992, accompanied by its sequel Popular Mechanicals II (or Top Mex II). The Popular Mechanicals has played in every major city in Australia (Sheldon, in Parsons 1995:580). 246 Although Rush has been locally acclaimed and renowned as a stage performer and director for many years, it is only since his multi-award winning performance in Shine in 1995 that he has attracted wide-spread national and international attention. For his performance as the troubled but brilliant pianist, Rush garnered thirteen awards and an award nomination from critics associations in Australia, America and Britain. These included the 1997 Academy Award for Best Actor, the 1996 Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor, the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, and the BAFTA award for Best Actor. Since Shine, Rush has performed in Peter Duncans Children of the Revolution with Judy Davis (1995); A Little Bit of Soul (1997); as the narrator in Gillian Armstrongs Oscar and Lucinda; as Inspector Javert in Billy Augusts Les Miserables (1997); as Walsingham in Shekkar Kapurs highly acclaimed Elizabeth; as Henslowe in John Maddens 1998 film Shakespeare in Love; and most recently in Mystery Men (1999); House on Haunted Hill (1999); and Quills (2000). Lecoq Training: Geoffrey Rush trained for two years at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq between 1975 and 1977. He became interested in the Lecoq school after taking part in a workshop given by Lecoq graduate Marc Furneaux in the early 1970s. Rush subsequently wrote to George Ogilvie for information about the school. In a radio interview on Arts Today, Ogilvie recalled receiving Rushs letter: I remember I got a letter from Geoffrey all that time ago asking me whether he thought Lecoq would be a good thing for him to do and of course Id been saying that for so long now it doesnt matter.