From Sage to stage: Shortland Street's Peter Burman reflects on life in his new stage show. Photo / Michael Craig
He’s a welcome jolt of energy and enthusiasm on a show plagued with death and drama, but now a Shortland Street regular has created a unique on-stage autopsy of his own. Mitchell Hageman talks with Peter Burman about his journey between Sage and stage.
It’s hard to believe Peter Burman’s first on-screen role was on New Zealand’s biggest soap. And, judging by his natural portrayal of nurse Sage, it’s even harder to believe he “felt like he was drowning” for the first six months.
“It was terrifying,” he tells me from the couch in his charming Mt Eden flat.
“I couldn’t keep my head above the water with the workload and the amount of hours that we were shooting - and also just trying to learn how to be on set for the first time.”
The stakes were high for the 26-year-old, who is no stranger to rejection and facing things with resilience head-on.
“I’ve received lots of noes. I auditioned for drama school three times,” he says, adding his attempt to get the role of Sage was “the worst audition of his life”..
“I think I learned quite early that rejection was a big part of this industry, but I was just so delusional that I was like, I have to do this, and I just went for it. And look where I am today. I feel very lucky.”
Getting the role was emotional for the actor and his family. Burman, who grew up in Tauranga, remembers his dad bursting into tears when he told him. “Probably because I was finally earning decent money and had a stable job,” he laughs.
Sage is one of the many LGBTQ+ characters in Shortland Street’s history. Burman, who is gay, says the role was the first time he’d actually received a casting brief where the character was explicitly gay.
“I think Shortland Street has always been very diverse,” he says, of show’s history of portraying the queer community. “I think it’s always held the torch in terms of what they display in terms of diversity on screen, so I feel just very lucky to be among all those kinds of iconic characters.”
Burman is also thankful his character helps provide comic relief. It’s given the self-described “introvert” a chance to explore his extroverted side.
“It’s just so fun and joyful, you know. I’m not coming in and dealing with things like divorce or murder or a drug addiction.”
Now more than a year and a half into the role, he is ready to take on a new challenge back where it all started - the stage.
Burman’s new show Scorned, premiering at Auckland’s Basement theatre, is “kind of an autopsy” of his own late teens and early 20s.
“It was like, post-high school, having relationships for the first time, experiencing explicitly queer environments,” he says.
“I think with whatever I do, it’ll always be explicitly queer because that’s kind of my identity and how I see the world.”
Burman says coming out to his family and friends was “a hard one“.
“I was pretty stubborn about it, and I didn’t want to do it. It wasn’t until I was 21 that I actually came out properly to my family. But I said it, and they were like, Yeah, we know! I’m very lucky to have such a supportive family.”
Scorned is full of tableaus and moments of his life that have made Burman who he is today.
“It’s not traumatic or sad or anything. It’s more light and entertaining.”
But rest assured, the nuances of Sage will be left on the set of Shortland Street, as the cast is on a break from filming. Instead, Burman is looking to push boundaries on stage.
“I thought, who can I become that I haven’t become yet? I’m trying to flex my muscles a little bit in terms of characters and acting.”
Scorned runs at the Basement Theatre in Auckland from September 9-13.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.