Rowan Witt on Comedy, Chaos and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

On the sun-soaked French Riviera, appearances are everything — and in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, nobody plays the game better than a pair of charming conmen making their living through seduction, deception and perfectly tailored lies. Based on the beloved 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, the Tony-nominated musical comedy trades in glamour, chaos and razor-sharp wit, following two rival swindlers as they battle for control of their luxurious playground — and for the affections of a seemingly naïve heiress who may not be quite as innocent as she appears. With a jazzy, irreverent score by David Yazbek and a book packed with biting humour and theatrical sleight of hand, the show has become a cult favourite for its blend of old-school musical comedy, outrageous farce and sophisticated satire.

At the centre of the chaos is Rowan Witt as Freddy Benson — the wildly unpredictable, endlessly ambitious small-time hustler whose clash with the sophisticated Lawrence Jamieson drives the musical’s escalating battle of ego, manipulation and comic one-upmanship.

One of Australia’s most acclaimed musical theatre performers, Rowan’s career spans stage, screen and voice work across some of the industry’s biggest productions and most celebrated new works. He is widely recognised for his performances in the original Australian productions of Hamilton and The Book of Mormon, earning Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award recognition for his standout turn as Elder McKinley. His extensive theatre credits also include She Loves Me, Dogfight, Gloria, Les Misérables and multiple Stephen Sondheim productions including Assassins, Follies, and Into the Woods. On screen, his credits include Totally Completely Fine, Spreadsheet, Wellmania, Home and Away and The Matrix, alongside an expansive voice career spanning international advertising campaigns, animation, audiobooks and major film soundtracks.

Lawrence and Freddy are both con artists, but they operate very differently. What’s the key to making your character’s particular brand of deception believable — and funny?

Rowan: It’s all about the different ways the characters get what they want. Freddy plays the short con and is instinctive, often playing to people’s sympathy, while Lawrence runs the long con, working from the top down, often from a place of seduction. Together, they’re formidable because they sandwich the mark between two approaches that structurally positions them perfectly to separate someone from their money. Beneath the con artistry, they’re both living pretty isolated existences, and yet they both believe their cons have a kind of nobility to them – that they are almost providing a service – the mark walks away feeling like they were the lead in their own story, needed, important, and briefly part of something exciting and slightly dangerous. The believability and the comedy come from the same place. The characters are fully committed to the bit and absolutely believe what they’re doing is, on balance, reasonable. And then there’s Ruprecht… who is his own kind of nobility.

This show demands huge vocal range, physical comedy, and rapid-fire dialogue. What’s been the most challenging aspect to nail?

Rowan: So far, a substantial part of the rehearsal has been spent developing sufficient immunity to survive Blake in front of a paying audience. The proximity at the Hayes is also a big one. We’re playing a lot with scale, the hugeness of the show against the intimacy of the venue which is a really exciting thing to work with. And the way the Hayes is laid out, the audience in the front row is sometimes closer to the actor than the actor is to his own scene partner. You can’t get away with anything in that space, which is especially taxing when it comes to the physical stuff (we’re doing a lot of foam rolling). The score covers the gamut – crooner jazz, hip-hop, yodelling, patter songs, power ballads – and the script swings from literal slapstick to beautiful moments of introspection. The challenge is carefully establishing a specific tone with the audience early to keep them on board, no matter what we chuck at them. But honestly, Blake is probably the main impediment.

Have you drawn on any real-life inspirations — actors, public figures, people you’ve observed — to build this character?

Rowan: Ultimately character has to come from the script first, and what we’re trying to say with the piece, and then it’s informed by little things I catch in my friends, or moments from TV and film I’ll save to my phone so they stick with me. And while you’re prepping for a role, you tend to see your character everywhere around you, which is quite handy. The number of clandestine videos in my phone of strangers walking their dogs, because I want to use their gait, is possibly illegal.
It also helps that we are not doing a tribute show. It’s a standalone piece. The characters have been re-structured for the stage to fit this world, but we’re peppering little easter eggs in there with a few subtle nods of devotion and acknowledgement.

The two cons have to have chemistry even while they’re trying to outwit each other. How have you worked to build that dynamic?

Rowan: It helps that Blake and I are pals in real life. When I was first approached about this show, he was the only person I wanted to do it with, and that was a huge part of signing on. So there’s a shorthand already built in when it comes to the kind of comedy we both love, the shared references, the rhythm we have with each other. Blake and I are also both very structured in how we approach comedy (hopefully in a way that doesn’t show our working), so we speak the same language and share a similar sensibility and vocabulary. That stuff really matters.
It’s funny that Lawrence and Freddy spend the whole show competing, because the discipline offstage is the complete opposite. I’ve seen too many shows where the actors are competing to be the funniest. You can smell it a mile off, and it’s hell to sit through. It’s much more joyful to play, and hopefully to watch, as two friends who genuinely find each other hilarious, and get to play together, actively making sure the other one gets the laugh. The audience can take any amount of farce, but only if they believe the affection is real. Blake’s also exceptionally naughty and knows exactly how to push my buttons on stage, which, I firmly believe, along with trust, is the most professional and beautiful thing a scene partner can bring. People come to theatre for the real human stuff, and that’s what keeps characters and a show grounded, truthful and alive.

What’s your theory on what makes something actually funny on stage, as opposed to just clever on the page?

Rowan: Humour is sort of both incredibly technical and incredibly ephemeral at the same time, isn’t it? The comedy obviously always starts from the script. It is possible to make something unfunny, funny, but with this book, it’s all on the page, and the actor’s job is just to play it as truthfully as possible within the confines of the world. That doesn’t mean it has to be hyper-underplayed. Characters can live in a world where big things happen, where bold swings are made – it’s just committing to that truth. And yes, comedy is more technical, especially when it comes to pace and melody and volume and expectation and misdirection and specificity and all that –  but the characters don’t know they’re in a comedy. They’re just trying their best, and the job is to take the pursuit of the goal absolutely seriously, and it’s only (hopefully) funny and exciting because the characters are fully invested in winning. Australian audiences especially won’t forgive being sold a gag, they’d rather discover the humour themselves. We also gravitate toward underdog stories, but we hate comedy that punches down, so there’s sometimes a real tension playing characters whose morals are questionable, which is kind of the whole point of the show (thus the title).You just play these two scoundrels wholeheartedly, let the audience see the ludicrous ways they try to get what they want, and trust them to decide for themselves what they can and can’t agree with.

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is playing at Hayes Theatre until June 21st, before playing a limited season at Riverside Parramatta from June 25th.

For tickets and more information for the Hayes season, visit the Hayes Theatre website.

For tickets and more information for the Riverside Parramatta season, visit the Riverside Parramatta website.

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Header photo by John McCrae