Simon K Leary (front) with fellow actor Paora Taurima Actor Simon K Leary has been nominated for a Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for his powerful perfromance in Mates and Lovers. Leary joined dancer/actor Paora Taurima onstage in a reworking of the two-man play, which is based on the award-winning book by Chris Brickell and tells many stories of many gay men throughout New Zealand's history. The show, written, produced and directed by Ronald Trifero Nelson, came to Auckland for the first time last November, where GayNZ.com's Jay Bennie found "Taurima and Leary are a damned good paring, with Taurima's athletic physical grace counterpointing Leary's ability to powerfully raise or lower the emotional pitch at will". Mates and Lovers then returned to its Wellington home in March, ushering in the arts programme at the Wellington AsiaPacific Outgames, before a slot at Dunedin Fringe. In preparing for the role, Leary told GayNZ.com that as a gay man he enjoyed the experience of looking back on where he has come from, "And really trying to embody the people that have existed and to have these stories, these wonderful stories, that I think do need to be told." The winners of the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards will be announced on Sunday 4 December, at the Opera House in Wellington.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 18th November 2011 - 2:49pm