Move Over Mums, It's The Dads' Turn

Newcastle Herald

Thursday March 2, 2006

GR

AS a father of twins a boy and a girl Geoff Paine probably knows better than most dads what it is like trying to bring up kids.

Six years ago, Paine decided to put some of his experiences into a stage show after seeing Mum's the Word, a play about women's experiences with child-rearing.

Mum's the Word, which began life in Canada in the mid-1990s, has been a big hit throughout the world.

There are signs that the show devised by Paine, a Melbourne actor-director, and some of his young dad actor mates could emulate Mum's success.

It's a Dad Thing! premiered at the 2000 Melbourne Comedy Festival, did a tour of Victoria and Western Australia in 2004 and is now on the road again, taking in Launceston, suburban Melbourne, Parramatta, regional NSW and country Queensland, WA and South Australia.

It plays at the Civic Theatre in Newcastle from March 9 to 11.

There has been interest in the show from New Zealand and further afield, making it clear that the fathers' experiences revealed on stage are universal.

Indeed, the show can be adapted to take in the experiences of different actors.

Geoff Paine, who appeared in the previous productions, is directing this one and he invited the four out of five actors who are dads to put in their own stories.

It's a Dad Thing! is built around a working bee at a school where five fathers are putting in a young children's playground for a fete.

The dads are a diverse lot builder Geoff (Tony Farrell), businessman Michael (Tim McGarry), separated dad Matt (Alex Sideratos), single dad Ross (Russell Smith) and hippy dad Steve (Patrick Trumper).

As they build the playground (and the actors actually put it up on stage over the course of two hours), the dads talk about the role their children have had in their lives.

They even sing on occasions, in that jaunty male-group manner.

The vignettes include pre-natal classes, the births, trying to cross a squeaky floor without waking the bub, changing nappies and losing a child in Toys'R'Us.

Paine said he and his co-writers had decided on a working-bee setting because men tended to reveal things about themselves when they were in an all-male group activity.

"Being a dad is a life-changing experience," Paine said.

"You never know what your kids are going to do. My twins are now 13 and very different in their interests.

"The first thing my son Alex did when he got a Lego set was put together a replica of an M16 machine gun, while my daughter Sophie is more outward-bound and likes getting out of the house."

"Being a dad is a life-changing experience. You never know what your kids are going to do." It's a Dad Thing! plays at the Civic nightly from March 9 to 11 at 8pm, with a 2pm matinee on March 11. The show can be seen as part of the Civic's Inspirations subscription series, with ticket prices ranging from $25 to $40. Book at the Civic, 4929 1977, or other Ticketek outlets.

© 2006 Newcastle Herald

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