When Dad Married Fury

Cheree Cassidy and Nick Tate in When Dad Married Fury.

By Elissa Blake

If there’s an actor in Sydney who needs a change of pace right now, it is Cheree Cassidy. Best known for playing Constable Debbie Webb in Underbelly: The Golden Mile, she’s currently rehearsing a new David Williamson comedy at the Ensemble Theatre overlooking a flotilla of small boats at Kirribilli. You couldn’t get a nicer view from the office.

It’s a world away from her last stage gig, playing the stubborn yet terrorised girlfriend of murderer Brett Sprague in Griffin Theatre’s harrowing production of The Boys. Toni Collette played Michelle in the 1998 film. But Cassidy played her for nearly three months on stage, living the fear every night.

“I was having trouble finding the joy in it after a while, “ says Cassidy. “You have to be so diligent when it comes to shaking all that aggression and violence off. I had to make sure I did my hair every day and I consciously wore bright colours, but there would be just some days when I thought, ‘god, why am I doing this play? Why does this woman I play stay with this awful man?’”

Cheree Cassidy in The Boys, with Josh McConville, at Griffin, January 2012.

Cheree Cassidy in The Boys at Griffin, January 2012.

Her new role couldn’t be further removed from the violent underbelly of the western suburbs. She plays Fury in When Dad Married Fury, a classic Williamson set-up which sees the sons and daughters-in-law of the wealthy stockbroker Alan (played by Nick Tate) invited to Dad’s 70^th birthday party, where they will be introduced to his new wife Fury, a beautiful woman less than half his age.

“I’ve been playing women fighting for survival but in Fury I get to play a confident, outgoing businesswoman,” says Cassidy. “She’s very conservative, very right wing - unlike me – but I’m loving the change.”

Fury is American, has lived in New York and has her own money, says Cassidy. “She’s very strong, very outspoken about her religious views – she’s a Tea Party supporter. I’ve had to research all that stuff and try to get a handle on why she believes it.”

And she’s funny, says Cassidy. “I’ve actually got some funny lines. I haven’t done comedy since drama school and I’m so looking forward to enjoying the audience response, instead of haunting them or worrying them in some way.”

Williamson’s relationship with the Ensemble continues to grow, with Fury the latest in a line of plays that have premiered at the theatre.

“If you read his plays over the last 40-odd years you get a history of Australia in the most entertaining way,” says the Ensemble’s co-artistic director Sandra Bates. “He’s right on top of what’s going on. This play is about people who have lost everything in the global financial crisis. You see the effect of that at a very personal level. When you read the facts in the newspaper, it doesn’t mean much. But this really brings it home.”

Cassidy has quickly become an admirer of Williamson, the man and the playwright. “He’s such a gentleman and so polite,” says Cassidy. “It’s a very new play for him and there have been a lot of rewrites since our first read-through. He’s very gracious to the actors and very open to taking their suggestions – which a rare and lovely thing.”

When Dad Married Fury is playing at the Ensemble Theatre from May 9, 2012. 

This story was first published in Sydney's The Sun-Herald on May 6, 2012.