Lano & Woodley – Moby Dick

Arts & Entertainment Stage Theatre & Performance

Marcus Haar
June 30, 2022

Image: Colin Lane & Frank Woodley in Moby Dick.

When discussions for which book merits the title of the “Great American Novel”, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick endlessly circulates within the conversation. It’s exploration of faith, class, good and evil, adventure and revenge, have long been represented in every artistic medium imaginable, continually influencing culture more than anyone could care to consider.

“That’s comedy gold I reckon.”

Is exactly what Frank Woodley of theatre comedy duo Lano & Woodley thought when his onstage collaborator, Colin Lane first approached him with the idea.

During an interview with City Hub, Lane explained how Moby Dick came to be the framework for their new show.

“During lockdown in Melbourne which was extremely long, I decided to read Moby Dick because I’d never read it.

“I said to Frank, ‘well, we did the Wright Brothers for our comeback show, why don’t we do Moby Dick?’ And he said, ‘Sure, sounds good!'”

Lano & Woodley — Colin Lane & Frank Woodley in Moby Dick.

They explained that Moby Dick shared many narrative elements to their own theatre comedy shows which presents Lane as the one who has written the material, embodying the driving force of the show and Woodley constantly disrupting his attempts to continue.

“As soon as he brought up Moby Dick, I saw just an image of Colin as Captain Ahab, the earnest, bleak, dark captain whose got this vendetta against the whale and just all the dark imagery, storm clouds around him,” Woodley said.

“Much as people know that Captain Ahab is doomed, most people when they come and see our show know our show and that I am doomed, so it’s par for the course,” Lane elaborated.

In closing our interview we discussed whether the period piece element present in their two most recent theatre shows will continue, Fly, based off the Wright Brothers, and now Moby Dick.

“Yeah, maybe, I think it could be a theme going forward. Do we go back further? Before the mid-nineteenth century? I’ve got no idea. It’s just such a rich foundation to write a story around, so yeah, maybe we’ll do War and Peace next time,” Lane said half-jokingly.

“But there is something very pleasurable when it’s a bit more rarefied, Moby Dick, or the Wright Brothers, there’s something about that sort of period piece that lends it to having great comic value in terms of the theatrical side of things, but no plans as of yet at this stage,” Woodley continued.