S: I thought we might start with talking about Midsummer. I know this was your first time directing for QSE. Is it your first time directing overall?

A: No, not my first time overall. I started directing after I graduated from acting school. My first show was in 2019, I did an Edward Bond one-act play called Have I None for the Anywhere Festival and we staged that in Boggo Road Jail, which was very cool. And then I was planning to do more directing in 2020 and then COVID [happened]… And then next year in 2021, I directed my first Shakespeare. I did As You Like It for Anywhere Festival again, staging that in my parents’ backyard – a bard in the yard, if you will. And then in 2023, I did the LaBoite Assembly Program, I was one of the directors for that, so I created a 10 minute one-person performance, which was really cool, and then last year I did assistant directing for both our mainstage productions for Tartuffe and Julius Caesar, and then somehow the company trusted me to take the reins for a full show this year.

S: Do you have a specific creative approach or directorial approach when you’re directing a show?

A: I think what I have gravitated towards is deep text work, starting off with the words on the page. What are the characters saying? What are they meaning? Their intention, their purpose, their relationships with the other characters… because with a text as deep as Shakespeare, a lot of those questions that the actors have will be there in the text, so it’s just a matter of digging deep and finding them. I also like to see what offers the actors bring to rehearsals, their decisions or interpretations. I’m very visual, I like to see something in the flesh, in real life, to figure out if I like what I see, if I’m connecting to it.

S: When you approach directing then, do you come in with a collaborative mindset? 

A: Yeah, I think collaboration is very important. In most things in life, but also when you’re doing a play… You know, sometimes an actor might need to be a meat puppet if, like, they’re in a scene with lots of choreographed movement or if there’s a scene with lots of characters. There’s less room for an actor to go, ‘I need to do this, this is what I feel’. See, no, there’s five other people here… But I think it’s important for an actor to have ownership of what they’re doing on stage and that they believe in their heart that what they’re doing is, for lack of a better term, right, or feels truthful for them in the moment.

S: What aspects of the company appealed to you when you applied to join QSE’s Apprentice Program?

A: At the time it was just the Shakespeare and the [Apprentice] training that interested me, and then it was once I got in and started to work with everyone, with the other Apprentices, with the Core Ensemble and just saw, like, yeah, how much everyone cared about each other, how much everyone was supporting each other, whether it was doing work on the floor, or if people were having tough times outside of training, that the people are there to listen and to help if need be. Yeah, that’s when I started to value QSE a more than just a means to my own ends. And then being in the Core Ensemble and realising much emphasis QSE places on the community, not just within us, but just like, Brisbane as a community, and [doing] projects that help bring people together.

S: Is there anything about QSE that’s different to other theatre companies or theatre organisations you’ve worked with?

A: Definitely the ensemble nature of the company. Yeah, there’s a reason in the Apprentice training you’re training with the Apprentices, but you’re also training with the Core Ensemble. As a whole, there’s not much separation because you’re still a member of QSE… I’ve done some training where it’s just all about what each individual wants and they’re just thinking about themselves, they’re not really caring about anyone else in the group and saying, ‘I want to be the best thing I can be, I want to have the best role in the show.’ Which is one approach, if you’d like, but I think trying to let go of those intentions and desires and think, ‘What will serve the group? How can I serve the group best? What can I do to help other people be the best that they can be?’ It’s a big thing with QSE and it’s not just in the training, it’s in our performances as well… I like a thing that QSE does a few hours before we go to perform – we do a vocal warm up together as a group, so that we’re all on the same page, so that we have a moment to come together, to check in with each other, where we’re at, so that once we go on stage, we’ve been together and our energy is at the same level…. When you’re thinking as a group, when you’re thinking about working with each other, that also helps you work on stage.

S: Well, thank you so much for talking with me today, Angus.

A: Thank you.

I thoroughly enjoyed my engaging and enlightening chat with Angus about his directorial practice and experience in theatre! I’m looking forward to seeing what his future with QSE looks like and catching up with him in 2026 for QSE’s 25^th anniversary celebrations.