Queensland Theatre's Our Town is THEIR Town

In final rehearsals: Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Queensland Theatre (QT) at the Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane, 30 January to 20 February 2021

Jimi Bani and Andrew Buchanan tell Stage Whispers why Our Town is THEIR town. 

In the lead-up to opening night for QT’s first show of 2021 – Thornton Wilder’s Our Town – Stage Whispers’ Beth Keehn sat in on rehearsals and met some of the Our Town creative community.

Two of Queensland’s most hard-working performers on stage and screen, Jimi Bani and Andrew Buchanan were due to perform together in Othello in mid-2020. While that production had to be postponed, audiences can look forward to seeing these two seasoned performers share the stage in scene-setting roles in Our Town. As a play with no sets or props, it is up to the characters to set the scene and spark the audience’s imagination. Jimi, in the pivotal role of the Stage Manager, guides viewers through the story; Andrew plays Professor Willard, a character who is called on to describe the town and its population. The actors share a strong feeling that Our Town will remind everyone of THEIR own towns – and that the play’s themes of living a life to the full will particularly resonate with audiences at this time in our lives.

Andrew Buchanan: I think Our Town will surprise people – it is a play that sneaks up on you. You think you’re watching a narrative about two families – but it’s not.  We start in Our Town – but it’s really YOUR town, my town – for me that’s my home town of Ipswich, for Jimi, that's the Torres Strait islands. The play is very clever. It starts in an empty theatre – and someone wants to tell a story – the play is about telling a story in a theatre. We jump to different points in a person’s life – and then the viewer will realise – ‘hang on – this is about me!’

Jimi Bani: This play will absolutely resonate with people today. You relate to these characters – and then it becomes universal – Thornton Wilder did an amazing job in writing about human beings. The ‘ordinary’ things in the storytelling are memorable – it makes you want to remember these things in your own day-to-day life – you know, what it was like to have flowers in the garden, fresh fruit, family and community. 

Andrew: Thornton Wilder wrote the play between the Depression and the second world war. He could feel the tectonic plates shifting. We can relate because we’ve all experienced change and upheaval in 2020. The play asks: ‘Are we living our lives as fully as we ought to be? Do we value our family and friends – our community?’ I think audiences will appreciate that. As the Stage Manager, Jimi keeps changing the frame and his character manipulates time – and that’s what will surprise audiences too.

Jimi: The amazing thing is that you’ll see time shift in the play – and you realise that, in life, time actually does go fast! You start to appreciate time more. After reading the play and doing rehearsals, I’ve started to take more notice of things that I normally don’t! I’m like ‘you know what – I’m actually going to enjoy this Brisbane river while I’m crossing in the morning – and take advantage of this beautiful view – and, even in the City, you start to notice the people around you.

Andrew: People may think they are going to see an old kind of memory play – but it’s not – this play is about life! You realise that what it was to be a human being in 1938 is no different to what it is to be a human being in 2021 – you think it is going to be a sentimental piece – it’s not; it’s just about the way we perceive life.

Jimi: Absolutely! I couldn’t agree more. The play addresses life, and in a way it keeps me calm – OK – cool, we can deal with whatever happens. But it also makes you aware and to not be complacent – rather than calling my family every other night, this show has actually made me talk to my family every single night – and I am enjoying and appreciating hearing their voices.

Andrew: If there’s one thing this play has taught me, it is that life is short! So get out there and live your life!

Biographical notes:

Jimi Bani was a regular in the SBS series RAN (Remote Area Nurse) before he graduated from the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts. He has performed for state theatre companies across the country, as well as roles in London and Korea, including Australian classics The Sapphires and Storm Boy. His memorable TV work includes his award-winning role as Mabo, as well as in Redfern Now, Black Comedy, Blue Water Empire and The Straits.

Andrew Buchanan is an award-winning actor with decades of experience performing for indie and state theatre companies across Australia, as well as on Broadway in New York. On stage, he has brought to life a diverse range of characters, in drama and comedy – from new Australian plays to classic Shakespeare. He will be familiar to viewers of TV’s Rosehaven, Harrow, The Family Law, and he has appeared in several Australian films. Andrew is also a trained drama teacher qualifications from the Queensland University of Technology.

Our Town runs from 30 January to 20 February at the Bille Brown Theatre. Find out more: https://queenslandtheatre.com.au/plays/our-town

Photographer: Dylan Evans