Have a creative itch? Theatre may be ‘The Good Doctor’ you need

Posted on 27 August, 2019

Bernie Ryan chats with a leading lady of Canberra’s theatrical community and reflects on her own performance epiphany.

It’s no secret that I love the performing arts.

I consider it a personal quest, to get as close to its delightfully infectious energy as possible. And to support the equally intoxicating people who inhabit the world of stage and screen.

I was 32 and pregnant with my fourth baby when I realised that if I didn’t start performing, I would go nuts.

Yes, one could mount a reasonable argument that this was not the optimal time to have had this epiphany. But at some point, you’ve just got to recognise what you need and find a way to do it.

Fortunately, I had a terrific husband who was equally invested in me not going nuts. And ultimately, claiming aspects of a creative life remains the best thing we’ve done for my sanity, children and marriage. Because I am a more complete me. And that’s always got to be better for everyone.

Heidi Silberman agrees.

Heidi is 45, a mother of four and a former school teacher. Like me, Heidi had always wanted to perform. So around age 30, she decided to carve out two hours a week to take acting classes.

Fifteen years on, Heidi is now an accomplished Canberra-based performer, writer, director and performing arts educator with a list of credits that would seriously blow out my word limit for this piece.

“To be able to put my life aside and tell someone else’s story–a universal story–and be part of getting people thinking about those stories, is a really powerful thing,” she explains.

And at the end of the day, according to Heidi, “I just can’t not be creative anymore. I just have to do it.”

Heidi Silberman.

Heidi believes that so many women suppress their creativity whilst channelling it into others, particularly their children. She encourages women to do as she did and just start doing something,

“Make a small step. Do something for yourself every day.”

Heidi is currently preparing for multiple roles in the Honest Puck and Limbo Theatre co-production of the Neil Simon and Anton Chekhov play, The Good Doctor.

Heidi will join a cast of eight who have been rehearsing up to three times a week for the past five weeks, directed by Honest Puck’s, James Scott.

The cast also includes locals Imogene Irvine and Anneka van der Velde, two of the founders of the Limbo Theatre company which, incidentally, was partially created by the desire to provide more opportunities for local women.

I can’t wait to cheer Heidi, Imogene and Anneka on as they do their thing on our collective behalf. And not just because they assure us of a hilarious night out full of dry wit and relatable stories and characters.

If we want to continue to indulge our creative penchants, we need to support, thank and champion those who provide them for us. Especially those women who are showing us, that pursuing what we love is possible at any age, and that the benefits are real.

And let’s face it, our support will also help keep open the spaces that we and others will need, when it’s our time to play.

As Imogene says, “The thing that theatre brings, is a sense of play that tends to fade in adulthood. It’s my escape from homework, retail customers and electric bills “.

Now there’s a worthy endeavour if ever I heard one.

the essentials 

What: The Good Doctor
When: 28 – 31 August at 7.30 pm
Where: Perform Australia Theatre, 11 Whyalla Street, Fyshwick
Tickets: stagecenta.com