Les Robinson & Belle of the Cross

Sydney has had its fair share of quirky characters in history, and two of them will be celebrated in Sitco’s final production at Old Fitzroy Theatre.

The Les Robinson Story and Belle of the Cross explore the triumphs and failures of the lives of Les Robinson and Belle, two iconic storytellers. “It was a nice vision to put these two plays together, they both have a strong sense of place,” says Martin Portus who plays the character of Les Robinson.

The Les Robinson Story, written by Kieran Carroll, explores the life of writer Les Robinson, an eccentric figure on Sydney’s bohemian scene between the 1920s and the 1960s.  “He wrote weird, Monty Python/Kafka-like stories about coastal Sydney,” he explains. “He was quite surreal, the early voice of modernist writing, he was before his time.”

The production uses film, monologue, music and song to bring to life the quirky Robinson and his extraordinary story. “He was devoted to Sydney; he loved fishing for his dinner around his shack in Seaforth and writing the odd crazy story,” Martin says.

Similarly, the production of Belle of the Cross, written by Angelika Fremd, follows the life of Belle, a woman who lived on the street of Kings Cross. Gertraud Ingeborg, who plays Belle, says the production is a poetic and uplifting exploration of homelessness. “It’s just showing some of the routines the way they live and what they go through,” Ingeborg says.

“Belle is a character full of life, you see what she goes through and how she copes with things.” Based on Fremd’s personal experiences with the homeless of Kings Cross, the minimal piece aims to show the facts of what it is like to live as a homeless person through the true story of Belle.  “You embrace her for what she is and what she does,” Ingeborg continues. “She doesn’t complain, she doesn’t say ‘poor me’, which makes it much more enjoyable to watch.” (SOC)

Nov 18-29, Old Fitzroy Theatre, 129 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo, , $21-39, sitco.net.au

Written by Shauna O’Carroll