Happiness from acting

Press, 27 January 1988, Page 19

Happiness from acting

Stephen Lovatt’s initial intention was to be “a remarkably good secondary English teacher or a remarkably good university lecturer.” Now his aim is to be a remarkably good actor. The newcomer to the Court Theatre gave away academia for the living language of the stage. “I liked the vitality of the theatre. It was alive.” Lovatt first got involved in theatre at school and in amateur theatre through his mother. She was stage manager for a production

that was short one actor and young Stephen filled in. “People liked me and I liked performing so I did more work in amateur theatre. It was one of the few things I did that gave me great happiness so I thought about becoming a professional actor.” He spent two years at the National Drama School graduating a little more than a year ago. The time at the school gave him craft, he says. The prospect of finding work, or not finding work,

on leaving the school decided him to "run away to Australia. I thought how dreadful it wnulrl be if I couldn’t find anything so I thought I’d run away —- for the rest of my life.”

The offer of a character role in a play at Wellington’s Circa Theatre at the beginning of 1987 interrupted those plans.

“I thought I’ll come back for that and then be unemployed.” 1987 proved kinder than that and the young actor had a busy year at Downstage Theatre with lead roles in “Romeo and Juliet” and “Sweet Bird of Youth.” “It was a wonderful year and I was getting the roles. At one point I was working 13 hours a day.”

He came to Christchurch on the offer of work here and has his first role at the Court in the Michael Gow play, opening on February 5 in Court One.

“Away” follows the fortunes of three families from end of term through summer holidays to the start of school.

Stephen Lovatt is also set for a role in “When I Was a Girl I Used To Scream and Shout” at the Court. He would like to stay in Christchurch if the work is available.