MR BRIGHTSIDE

Perennial fall-guy Frank Woodley has a neat, almost too-perfect excuse for not acting his age: he was born on 29 February in a leap year. “I do feel a little bit special,” he says. “I’m four times as special as you are, Darryn. But, at the same time, you think, mum, couldn’t you have just held on for a couple more hours? Would it have been too much to ask?”
But now the comedian performer – for so long the jelly to Colin Lane’s peanut butter as one half of Lano and Woodley – is in danger of being taken seriously. He’s treading the boards in the leading role of the feel-good comic tragedy Optimism, Tom Wright’s new adaptation of Voltaire’s 18th Century novella. For Woodley, it’s been an interesting learning experience.
 “As it turns out, when the playwright gives you the script apparently you’re meant to say it… That’s one of the things I learned,” says Woodley. “Must be something to do with the fact that they’ve done a lot of work into creating a unified whole that builds to a climax – that kind of nonsense. You can’t just waffle on, which, for the most part, is what I’ve had the licence to do until now. There were a few times in the first few shows I was a little undisciplined in that way. Even though I got laughs it was apparent that it wasn’t working for the show as a whole. So I had to rein that in.”
Woodley, dressed and made up like a sad clown, plays the naïve hero of Optimism, Candide. Under the dubious tutelage of Doctor Pangloss, Candide has learned to always look on the bright side of life – whistle cheerily here if you must – even in the face of the worst that life has to offer, including natural and unnatural disasters, the horror of war, rape, slavery, and disembowelment. But, in the spirit of Voltaire’s original work, we’re meant to laugh – there are jukebox musical dance numbers, sing-alongs and even a few moments of Woodley’s improvised stand-up.
“We make it pretty clear that you’re allowed to laugh. But it’s a lot more subtle, this acting business. Even though it’s a comedy, a lot of it is black comedy and not dependent on big punchy laughs. It’s interesting territory. Much blacker than the comedy that I’ve worked in before. There’s a whole different skill – the skill of communicating to the audience of what you’re expecting of them.”
Woodley is an astute choice for the role of Candide. A slapstick comedian, it would seem, is the perfect person to play a character who can face the world with a smile – despite being continually shmooshed in the face with the proverbial meringue pies of life. “That’s true, and I certainly felt with the kind of style of comedy that I’ve done that I did fit really well into this leading role. But not only is this play about laughing at the bleakness of life, it’s about having that innocence and maintaining positivity. That’s my nature as a person and the nature of the character I’ve been playing for years. A very sensitive, optimistic kind of character who still suffers but whose default setting is to feel hopeful.”
Still, Woodley is reluctant to take his new role as any sort of sign that he’s joined the big leagues. He still sees straight comedy as his natural habitat.
“Last Christmas my wife and I went to Vietnam for a holiday. It was exciting and exhilarating and confronting and difficult at times but really wonderful. That’s how I feel about doing more serious theatre. I don’t actually want to live in Vietnam, and I’m happy for people to live there, but I’d prefer to visit occasionally.”
WHAT: Optimism
WHERE & WHEN: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House until Sunday 14 February