Actor keen to get back on stage after tempestuous time

Even with a broken pelvis and playing not one but two roles in Platform Thirteen's production of The Tempest, dairy farmer Sam Hartles wanted the show to go on.

Hartles was injured in a tractor accident only two weeks before Platform Thirteen's pre-Christmas show was to open in Whangarei. He was sure that even on crutches he'd be able to play both the hero Ferdinand and villain Stephano in the new company's production of Shakespeare's action-packed melodrama.

But the roles were very physically demanding. Determined The Tempest should have the best showing after almost a year of planning and rehearsals, and unwilling to either go ahead without the talented Hartles or put him through the rigours of performing while injured, Platform Thirteen made the hard decision to postpone the play for a month.

The theatre company which rose from the ashes of the late Bogwood Productions will now unleash The Tempest's three-show season this week at the Old Library, Whangarei.

The creative team includes Maungaturoto-born Fred Renata, composer of the original music for The Tempest's several songs, musical arranger Lachie McLean, from Waipu, and director Lilicherie McGregor, who has travelled north from Auckland almost weekly to work with the company.

The Tempest is set on a remote island where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to court. Using illusion, manipulation and trickery - which, back in the 1600s, had some suggesting Shakespeare was into occultism - Prospero creates a storm of communication and confusion as powerful as the inclement weather.

Miranda becomes betrothed to the handsome prince - but not before the reclusive and anti-social Caliban, for whom the island was once a solitary home, conjures up a tempest of his own in his desire for the young woman.

The production will be in the style known as "poor theatre where we rely on simple actor-actioned technologies, for example, percussion instruments, a capella singing, basic props, and minimal lighting and set," said Sheri O'Neill, who plays Ariel.

Simple the style may be but a Shakespeare production does not come without inherent complexities, drama and atmosphere, and those have captured Hartles. He's had acting experience in the past with the esteemed Otamatea Repertory Theatre but is relishing his first major Shakespeare experience.

"I've always loved language, always read a lot. I enjoy the depth and many layers of Shakespeare's writing."

Hartles says he's a "milk harvester" for whom acting helps adds balance to life. He worked for several years as a chef - in several countries - and met his French wife, Vanessa, from Lyon, while overseas.

The couple have two sons, aged 5 and 2, and live on their farm at Paparoa. That's where Hartles rolled his Massey Ferguson down a bank in December, the tractor's rear end ending up resting on his rear end.

"While I've been injured Vanessa has been running the farm while she's also been looking after the boys. It's a massive undertaking.

"Not bad for a girl from the middle of a huge city in France."

He's thrilled - and very grateful - that Platform Thirteen postponed its season to give his pelvis, broken in two places, time to mend. He can now safely stomp around on stage in his drunken sailor fighting scenes as well as his other role as the starstruck lover.

The crew are all very eager to go, he says.

"We're all really motivated and pleased to be at this point, but first and foremost it's been a pleasure to turn up every rehearsal.

"I think I'll be involved with theatre for many, many years to come."

Platform Thirteen's Whangarei season of The Tempest opens at Te Studio, Old Library, this Friday, 8pm; Saturday 21, 8pm; Sunday 22, 2.30pm.