Former child star David Page speaks with Richard Watts about families, theatre and gay tradesmen.
By the age of 13, ‘little Davey Page’ had already recorded two top 10 chart hits and appeared on Countdown. It seemed as if the young Aboriginal boy from Brisbane was destined to be Australia’s answer to the Jackson Five, until his voice broke, ending his showbiz career. Perhaps surprisingly, Page is not at all bitter today about his brief 70’s career as a child star.
"I didn’t find the transition difficult, because I pushed all that stuff out my memory," he laughs. "I forgot about it. Okay, I found it difficult trying to work out what I wanted to do next, but the child star thing made me realise that I love music, and I had to do it. I had to perform."
Today Page is a well-respected composer for theatre and television and as an actor has appeared in productions including Reg Livermore’s Big Sister and the film Oscar and Lucinda, directed by Gillian Armstrong. He is currently starring in the autobiographical one-man show Page 8 at the Malthouse Theatre, which he co-wrote with playwright Louis Nowra.
Page jokes that as he and his co-writer were developing the script for Page 8, he worried that Nowra was spying on him.
"Louis was clever enough to trigger me into talking about different subjects and different times of my life, but after a couple of months, you know, I said to him, I’m not just talking about myself here. This show is about my family, and I don’t want to hang out too much dirty laundry. Then I made sure that there was a confidentiality clause in the contract."
The show explores David’s colourful, sometimes turbulent life from child star to the present day. Family videos that helped trigger his childhood memories during the four months it took to write the script are inter-woven with monologues, songs, and even a floorshow, as well as some truly terrible 70’s fashions. David’s younger brother Stephen, the Artistic Director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival, directs the production.
"He’s a bossy little bitch," Page says of Stephen, grinning. "We have these little fights and he’s like, ‘Well you direct it’, but at the end of the day, we know what we both have to do. He’s blood, what can you say? He allows me freedom, he trusts my creative energy, and likewise with him. If we do have fights the grudge will probably last for 10 minutes, because we’ve had all that life practise of making up."
Throughout Page 8, Page presents not only his own stories, but also those of his extended family. While there is considerable humour on display, there is also tragedy, including his Auntie Tess and Uncle George’s slow descent into dementia. David describes the show as an emotional roller-coaster ride. "People like to be touched by all of those emotions," he says, "and I think that as a performer you have a license to take them there."
He also takes his audience through his life as a gay man, which included a stint working as a concreter during his late teens. "I was brought up in that suburban, straight, working class life, and you’d go to the pub and have a drink with the boys, and the drunker they got the more honest they were getting. They would never talk to the guy that they’d been friends with from school like this, but they were telling me all their inner secrets, these married men with kids. You almost feel sorry for them, but then they get drunk and they want to fuck you," Page laughs conspiratorially. "It’s really tongue in cheek, that part of the show. I was a bit of a slut when I was 18."
Page 8 at the Malthouse Theatre, Southbank until 14 August. Bookings on 9685 5111.
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