While Harry Gilchrist may have been the first in his family to pursue an acting career, the eldest son of Australian cricketing legend Adam Gilchrist still believes he got some of his flair for performance from his old man.
“I often say that Dad was a bit of a show pony when he batted, so I guess that’s where I get a little bit of it from,” laughs 24-year-old Gilchrist as he speaks fondly of his parents.
“They could not love it more and come to every show. They’re so supportive, and so invested, and curious, because it is such a foreign space for them.”
The support has been paramount to both the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts 2023 graduate, and his 19-year-old brother Archie, who has started turning the family into the next Hemsworth succession by studying acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.
Having been heavily into cricket and Aussie Rules during his formative years at Subiaco Primary School and Scotch College, the older Gilchrist sibling says any expectation or pressure of following in his father’s sporting career footsteps was only ever self-applied.
“I had the love and passion for following that and thought it would be incredible because I saw what Dad did, but I just didn’t quite get the skills,” he shares.
“It was fine, and I sort of relinquished that dream when I was maybe 14 or 15, playing it just for enjoyment rather than the expectation that I had been putting on myself.”
Fate in the form of two mates stepped in during Year 10 while Gilchrist was sidelined from sport for a year due to stress fractures in his back.
They surprised Gilchrist by signing him up to successfully audition for his first school play, which prevented their friend from sulking on the Scotch College sidelines of extracurricular activities.
It led to WAAPA and a move to Melbourne following graduation, with an industry goal to return home at some point in his career and perform in a Black Swan State Theatre Company production in front of his family and friends.
“I grew up watching those productions and performances of all the homegrown actors and creatives from Perth,” Gilchrist says.
“They truly inspired me, probably when I didn’t even know that I was wanting to go down that path. To say that I’ve kicked that goal within two to three years of graduating definitely caught me off guard, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity.”
Not only is Gilchrist making his WA professional play debut in the cast of Black Swan’s upcoming season of The Almighty Sometimes by contemporary Australian playwright Kendall Feaver, but he is doing so in his old stamping ground of Subiaco, having moved back into the nearby family home for the stint.
“I quite literally grew up in those gardens because if I wasn’t at home, I was in those gardens,” he recounts.
“I survived the 2010 Perth hailstorm under the bridge that leads up to the arts centre and used to hang around the mulberry tree over the other side. It was a key part of my growing up, especially being next door to Subiaco Primary, and we celebrated lots of birthdays there.”
The Almighty Sometimes explores mental illness, motherhood and the search for identity as it follows 18-year-old Anna, who has spent much of her life medicated for severe mental illness.
Anna’s mother Renee is determined to protect her daughter when the young adult starts to question her true self and decides to stop taking her medication.
“It observes a mother-daughter relationship, which is in a fragile spot, and is put through some pretty extraordinary circumstances when it comes to mental ill-health and navigating that journey,” Gilchrist says, who plays Anna’s new boyfriend Oliver.
“It’s such a beautifully tragic play, which covers so many themes and little twists and turns in emotion. There are questions of identity, where your allegiance lies, and one thing that’s been coming up in rehearsal a lot is the notion of survival, especially when dealing with something as delicate as mental health.
“The trust in the rehearsal room has been incredible from the first day and I’m learning so much, especially from Emily (McLean) as a director . . . Black Swan productions are always so slick and powerful and have so much depth to them. It’s nice being on the behind-the-scenes side of it.”
The Almighty Sometimes is at Subiaco Arts Centre until July 5. Tickets at blackswantheatre.com.au.
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