Matthew Lopez’s blockbuster play, The Inheritance, premieres in Sydney at the Seymour Centre from 7 – 30 November following hit seasons on the West End and Broadway which took home four Tony and four Olivier Awards including Best Play. This two-part, seven-hour epic reimagines E.M. Forster’s Howards End as a contemporary portrait of New York’s gay community.
For actor Tom Rodgers, the play has been a learning experience about the impact AIDS had on the community. “There are a bunch of themes explored in this piece but, at its core, The Inheritance is about community, everyone’s right to experience love and how history shapes future generations, ” he says. “It focuses on a group of gay men longing for connection and seeking answers about their pasts. Matthew Lopez asks BIG questions and takes each character on a huge journey toward some form of revelation or healing. It is also intensely political – with in depth discussions about the 2016 US election… which is obviously very relevant as I write this… ”
A work Rodgers felt compelled to be involved with for the basic but important reason of really loving the script. He had read it prior to the Seymour 2024 season announcement and immediately wanted to be a part of the cast in any capacity – he also believes that any actor would jump at the chance to do a seven-hour play… ‘it’s my grand slam, Serena.”
Rodgers says he adores the characters Lopez has created, inspired by Forster’s Howards End, and it felt like an exciting opportunity to ask questions about what it means to be a gay man today. “How much should we reflect on the past, how much should we forge our own futures independent of the past, how do we honour those before us? There are so many complicated questions asked in this play, and I felt compelled to be in the room discussing them.”
Rodgers plays Adam and Leo, two very different young men from very different backgrounds, who happen to physically resemble each other. These characters, explains Rodgers, have a major impact on the central couple, Eric Glass and Toby Darling, changing both their relationship and them as individuals. Adam, adopted into a wealthy New York family, is an aspiring actor who grows in confidence as you see him actively pursue his dream. Leo, a vulnerable sex worker with a very difficult childhood, is a young romantic falling in love for the first time and finding his way in a world that has not been kind to him. “As in Howards End, privilege is a major through-line which Lopez reflects in these characters, commenting on access, trauma and safety as well,” says Rodgers.
Rodgers praises both of his characters for their tenacity and core respectively. ” For Adam, I admire his unwillingness to let up on his goal. Although when we first meet him, he has an almost puppy dog energy, underneath the surface is a bubbling passion and intense drive that I can relate to. For Leo, I adore his heart. Despite his past and the difficulties of where we meet him, his openness to love is so palpable. He has a huge journey over the course of the play, and I think his ending is perfect.”
Only a few weeks away from opening, Rodgers says the team have all been working incredibly hard in the rehearsal room, and at home, to bring this to life. The biggest challenge has been time. “In saying that, we could sit around unpacking this text for 18 months, so it is probably good we had a time crunch, he says. “The highlight of the process for me has been watching our older actors, our legends, Simon Burke, John Adam and Vanessa Downing, work. It has been such a privilege. I have learnt so much watching them, and I also just think their performances are so beautiful, nuanced and moving. My scenes with Simon are my favourite in the play. I guess that leads to the other challenge… not crying. There is an amazing note from Matthew Lopez written in the script that basically says, ‘do not cry, and if you do, you better have a great escape route’. I’ve realised he is not wrong.”
A two-part, seven-hour epic is no easy tasks for any theatre company and logistically, says Rodgers, undertaking this play as independent theatre is simply a HUGE task. “We are all incredibly thankful that the assembled team is so professional and passionate,” he says. ” You can’t half-bake seven hours of theatre and this team has ensured we wouldn’t.”
This is the biggest undertaking Rodgers (a NIDA graduate) has had as an actor – both the size of the piece and the complicated nature of his roles. “There is one scene in particular, which I won’t spoil, that is quite a mind*BLEEP* to perform,” he says. “You’ll know when you see it. It is so exciting to be challenged in this way and to be completely pushed out of my comfort zone. I cannot wait for our first audiences and particularly our first two show day sharing both parts.”
As an actor, Rodgers thinks if the writing is great any character is exciting, but there is something about a character who needs to unpack their past to move forward that is most intriguing to him. “Each character in this play has that moment for themselves and we see the result of their discoveries,” he says.
Rodgers is eager to tell stories about love and loss. “They are such simple concepts, but we will never go a day without feeling either of them. The Inheritance has both, in spades.”
A story of survival, legacy and love, The Inheritance investigates a circle of friends attempting to forge a future for themselves amid a turbulent and changing America. Seeing both parts on the one day is an incredible theatrical experience – same day tickets will sell fast so book early!
Says Rodgers, “When is the next time you will have the opportunity to see a 7 HOUR epic, recent Tony-winning play, staged in Sydney with all local actors and creatives? If you can binge all 300 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy… you can do this.”
https://www.seymourcentre.com/event/the-inheritance/
