OH4396/6: Video with subtitles. Interview with Michael Loney in 2017 by Helena Cohen-Robertson

Summary

Michael mentions his date, place of birth; living in Salter Point; his parents; large extended family (Irish background); childhood memories (talk, laughter, music, many cousins); studies Aquinas College (interest in drama, singing),WAIT (now Curtin); training Bristol Old Vic Theatre School UK (Rotary Foundation Scholarship). Michael describes work in UK (television, radio, stage); work in Perth (Playhouse, His Majesty’s); Coronation Street (17 million viewers), Howard’s Way in UK; changes to theatre in Perth (English centric theatre in 70s, golden age); memories of shows (Death Trap, Cinderella); impact of closure of Effie Crump; roles (e.g. The Goat – most challenging, Sweeney Todd, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare in King’s Park). He discusses living in City of Vincent; limited acting opportunities in Perth, few roles for older people; future of theatre in WA.