By Nick Pilgrim
Spoken Word is one the more challenging categories from this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Set on a bare stage, artists have only the written text and a few simple props to guide them. Left to sprinkle their routines with a mixture of gentle charm and pathos, think stand-up dialed down deep and you’ll get the idea.
With little to separate audiences from the performer, this very simplicity allows viewers to experience the actor working their craft up close and personal. Several examples of this special artform I have had the privilege to review include:
- A Different Way Home
- Confessions Of A Mormon Boy
- Every Brilliant Thing
- Everyman And His Dog
- Hold The Pickle
- The Libra(ian)
Working in the industry since he was a fresh-faced teen, Rob Carlton is a highly regarded veteran of the Australian entertainment scene. The character actor has a long and formidable resume, having featured across multiple mediums in film (Strange Bedfellows), stage (Mother and Son) and television (Boy Swallows Universe and Magazine Wars).
The quintessential Aussie larrikin, Carlton radiates similar star quality to the iconic likes of Eric Bana, Steve Bisley, Russell Crowe, Chris Heywood, Paul Hogan and Bill Hunter. Just to name a few.
Born out of a popular writing lab called bravewords.com.au he and his wife Adrienne Ferreira host and operate on Sydney’s Central Coast, Willing Participant is one of the highlights from the 2025 program calendar. Furthermore, this quartet of short plays is based on handpicked personal and professional episodes drawn from Carlton’s actual life.
Demonstrating his range and expertise as a storyteller, each anecdote showcases the seasoned actor’s impressive catalogue of vocal dexterity and physical presence.
Spanning a seventy-minute timeframe, topics include:
- How extended family get togethers can somehow turn awry.
- The chaotic consequences of embellishing your resume.
- Being given permission to grieve for a loved one.
- When a major singing audition triggers a traumatic childhood memory.
Perhaps my biggest takeaway from Willing Participant is Carlton’s gift for wringing unexpected comedy out of life’s more serious moments.
Like Alan Bennett’s brilliant Talking Heads series, perhaps my favourite story from Carlton about bluffing his way through an important gig where he had absolutely no training, reminded me of Her Big Chance. That made for television short play has been filmed twice (starring Julie Walters in 1987 and later, Jodie Comer in 2020).
Detailing the many trials and tribulations of working on a film set from the inside out, how Carlton managed to survive (and thrive from) this episode must be seen for yourself. His cheeky and unbridled joy from walking the tightrope better for the journey turns the term, Imposter Syndrome, completely on its head.
A rare treat, Willing Participant plays at The Malthouse Theatre complex, Southbank for the full duration of this year’s festival until Sunday April 20.
