Alasdair Hay, right, on stage for the first time since the assault. Photo / Supplied
Alasdair Hay, right, on stage for the first time since the assault. Photo / Supplied
It's been more than eight months since Alasdair Hay was punched outside the school he teaches at. He's suffered headaches and memory loss since then but this week he took to the stage to resume his passion for acting. Jill Nicholas reports.
Playing comedy is a far tougher ask thanstraight drama, or so the long-held theatre maxim holds.
Comedy's all about timing and quick thinking – both were the natural-born talents teacher Alasdair Hay lost when he was "given the bash" while on traffic control duty outside Rotorua Intermediate shortly after the start of the 2019 school year.
Nine months on he's shaken off the crutches he was on for weeks and conquered the blinding headaches and memory loss that plagued him, to return to the classroom and the Shambles Theatre stage.
It's a place where he's been a permanent fixture for ages, frequently playing lead roles.
It's in this capacity he made his welcome reappearance on Thursday night as the side-splittingly funny London bigamist cabbie John Smith in the classic farce, Caught in the Net.
Hay's returned to the role he first played in Net's predecessor Run For Your Wife in 2013.
It is his first show since the Rotorua Musical Theatre's Rock of Ages in October 2018.
Hay's equally at home and adept in both theatres.
Fresh off the Caught in the Net stage on opening night Hay said the injuries he suffered had made it especially hard to learn the raft of fast-paced lines he'd had to deliver.
"I was really doubtful I could do it until tonight. it's been a huge challenge I've really been worrying about it. I've had to accept I have had a pretty traumatic brain injury that's slowed my thinking processes down."
So how, pure guts apart, has he achieved the come-back others considered likely to be impossible?
"I guess it helps that I'm running on pure adrenaline, it's good to know I have managed to play with the gusto expected of me.
"Playing this character previously has also been an advantage although I'm the only original cast member remaining.
"It feels really good to be back and know I've overcome what happened [to his head].
