All the way from Oz for panto in Portsmouth
Alex Scott Fairley – who will be our villainous Abanazar in Aladdin at Portsmouth’s New Theatre Royal this Christmas – certainly won't be popping home for Christmas Day.
Transcript
00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Lovely
00:06 this morning to be speaking to Alex Scott Fairlie. Now Alex, you are coming to Portsmouth
00:10 New Theatre Royal to star as Abanaza, the villain in Aladdin. Now you're certainly not
00:17 going to be popping back home on Christmas Day, you're coming an awfully long way, aren't
00:21 you, to take part in Portsmouth Panto. I'm speaking to you now, you are in Tasmania.
00:27 I am, yes. I live in St Mary's in Tasmania, which is sort of in the north of Tasmania,
00:35 which just in case anyone's confused as to where Tasmania is, which I have found quite
00:38 a few people are, we're just off the bottom of Australia, so we're about as far south
00:43 as you can go without hitting Antarctica.
00:44 Right, so you couldn't possibly have a longer commute, well not a commute, you're coming
00:48 back. How come you're in Portsmouth Panto this year?
00:53 So I have family in the UK, in Hampshire, and obviously I've worked for a couple of
00:59 years for Chris Jordan, who is the producer of the Panto at Portsmouth, and it's always
01:06 been one of my favourite things to do as an actor. I think Pantomime is just brilliant,
01:11 it's some of the most fun that you can have as an actor. So this ties in quite well in
01:16 that I can go back and see my family, who are not far from Winchester, but also have
01:21 all the fun of Panto, because it's not a massive thing in Australia when it's 28 degrees outside.
01:27 The last thing people want to do is sit in the theatre.
01:31 So you're believing the fabulous weather behind you to come to Portsmouth rain?
01:36 I will, although I will be back here in January, which is kind of our high summer. And also
01:42 Portsmouth has fewer snakes and venomous spiders than we do in Tasmania.
01:45 That's a good trade-off, isn't it? But you moved to Australia with your partner in the
01:50 spring this year, and Australia is home now, is it? You are settling?
01:55 Yes, it is. Yeah, I still have family in the UK and the US. So I'll probably be visiting
02:01 both those places as and when I can. But we decided kind of post-COVID, post the world
02:08 going a bit mad, Australia was something we'd talked about before, because my partner's
02:14 in Australia. And it felt like a good time to make a new start. We're both sort of mid-40s,
02:23 going towards 50. And it seemed like a good time in our lives.
02:26 But is acting a transportable skill? Is it something you can pick up there? Does it make
02:31 you more interesting to be the Brit in Australia?
02:37 I hope so. I mean, for years, they sent us people from neighbours. So this is kind of
02:43 me. The big centres of kind of acting are more towards Melbourne and Sydney, although
02:50 there is a very vibrant community in Tasmania. And obviously, because we've only been here
02:54 for a few months, I haven't really had a chance to explore that. There's also a lot of American
02:59 companies that are starting to form, kind of in Queensland for things like the Marvel
03:04 franchise. So hopefully, there are going to be some opportunities here.
03:09 But before that, the last hurrah, Panto and Paul Smith as the villain. Fantastic. We're
03:16 really lovely to speak to you. It's mind boggling that this is possible to speak to you in Tasmania.
03:21 How is that possible? But brilliant to speak to you and look forward to seeing you on the
03:27 stage in Paul Smith. Thank you.
03:28 You too. I'm really looking forward to it.
03:30 Thanks a lot.
03:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]