Matt Crook – Not a Junkie in a Dress

One cannot help but ask, does he dread the day when the two come together? “Yeah, a heroin addict in a dress. I’m sure it’ll happen!” laughs Crook. The 27-year-old Adelaide-based actor plays Moses in the State Theatre Company of South Australia’s production Babyteeth, which opens tonight, Friday, August 16 and runs until Saturday, September 7. “I just think it’s very real,” says Crook of the play. “It doesn’t exaggerate anything it’s a snapshot of what we go through in our everyday lives, it just happens to be this particular family who are dealing with the grief of losing their daughter. “Rita Kalnejais, the playwright, she picks up on all the little eccentricities in life, it’s almost Woody Allen-ish – a lot of moments in the play come from everyday events, preparing breakfast in the morning, a daughter bringing home a strange guy, all that kind of stuff. I just hope that people see that and recognise those quirky little moments in life.” Babyteeth follows Milla, a 14-year-old whose living out her days with her family after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. It is about the small things in a much bigger picture. Danielle Catanzariti who acted the title role in the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger and who has worked with Windmill Theatre on Pinocchio and Girl Who Cried Wolf plays her. The play’s title is a reference to Milla’s one remaining baby tooth, which she still has despite being in her teens. “She’s got this little baby tooth that’s a mark of innocence and she is still a young girl and she is potentially going to die before her parents and that’s a horrible thing. But I think it is to do with innocence and the coming of age too,” Crook explains. Crook plays Moses, a 25-year-old who is living on the streets. “He’s a junkie and he’s a drug dealer, but he’s not your typical drug dealer – he’s quite innocent, quite child-like, he’s a very caring, very gentle soul and he’s just had a hard life. There have been certain circumstances that have lead up to him being where he is now but it hasn’t hardened him too much. I think he’s quite a fragile character rather than a hard character. And he often hangs out at the local train station and that’s where he meets the 14-year-old Milla for the first time and they form this unlikely companionship.” For his role Crook made a few changes to his physical appearance. He arrives at our interview fresh from a touch-up hair cut, a style he describes as “cat-weasely”, a bit like a bad mohawk with pieces sprouting out here and there. “When we first did it, it was hilarious,” Matt says of the cut, “almost everybody in the cast had a go. So everyone was having a snip and we were trying to make it as bad a possible and we still might trim it [to make it] a bit worse.” Catanzariti had a dramatic haircut, as well, getting into character by shaving off her cascade of black curls. “Moses’ mother is a dog groomer, she used to breed Bichons, when he left her house he took with him her Bichion clippers. He does his own hair at the train station toilets and Macca’s toilets and he never quite gets it right – there’s always little bits hanging off. And when he meets Milla he offers to cut her hair for her, so… There’s so much I can’t say because I don’t want to ruin it!” Along with the hair, Crooks character smokes and has home cut hand tattoos (GOOD and BYE! are drawn with black ink on his fingers but that have been put on the wrong hands so read BYE! GOOD) which have gotten him lingering glances from the police as he hangs out at the train station. “Since working on this, I don’t know if it’s just being in character for a while, I swear I’ve become inarticulate,” he laughs. This is Crook’s third time working with the State Theatre Company after Simon Stephens’ Pornography and Sarah Kane’s Blasted, both 2012 productions. He is also involved in the much-anticipated local film One Eyed Girl, due for release later this year. “I’d like to do a little more film because I think I’m still learning a lot on each project I do, it’s a massive learning curve and I’d like to continue to grow and learn about film. But I don’t enjoy one over the other.” Crook tells of his excitement of performing Babyteeth in the intimacy of the Space Theatre at the Festival Centre. “Because of the size of the set it means it’s going to be very intimate. The whole script has a very cinematic feel to it. There’s a lot of quick cuts between scenes and you can imagine a lot of it being shot in close up, it’s very intimate in the moments between characters and so you have to be intimate with the audience to share that.” Though it is a play about the extraordinary in the everyday, it is one that we can all find something to connect with. “I think it’s very, very accessible because of how human it is and how so much of the play is what happens in everyday life, a little bit of magic in there too.” Babyteeth Space Theatre, Festival Centre Friday, August 16 until Saturday, September 7 statetheatrecompany.com.au/home/whatson/shows/babyteeth/