In Conversation with Peter Cook | Breaking the Castle
- TW
- Jul 8
- 4 min read
In today's Backstage Blog entry, we talk to Peter Cook, writer and performer of Breaking the Castle, about the work, its history, and what audiences can expect when they come to see it's return Australian season this July 15-19 at Theatre Works.
Breaking the Castle follows the story of David, a struggling actor whose life is a chaotic blend of substance abuse, Shakespearean soliloquies, failed auditions, and debilitating mental health. David takes himself to the brink, until an unlikely lifeline offers hope in the mountains of South-East Asia. This is not your average tale of addiction. It's a razor-sharp, darkly comic ride through one man’s chaos, full of warmth, laughter, and surprising hope. Think Trainspotting meets Fleabag - raw, real, and unexpectedly hilarious, with a huge heart that will have you leaving the theatre feeling inspired and uplifted.
Q: Tell me about where the idea for Breaking the Castle came from. What led you to tackle substance abuse from a darkly comic lens?
A: I think for a work like this you have to come at it from a comic lens. The material is very dark in places and to not have those moments of levity would not make for a great night in the theatre. And a lot of the comedy comes from real life situations I found myself in or an ability to look back on things and find the humour in them if I didn't find them funny at the time.
I think the thing that draws audiences into the work is the humour and without it I'm not sure that we would keep them for the whole 85 minutes. In terms of the idea for the story as a whole I had come back from rehab and was in the same situation I'd always been in as an actor. Waiting for the phone to ring. Blaming my agent for not getting work. All of those things that you do when you're in between gigs. Someone I was close to at the time encouraged me to write my story and said it was very interesting, I didn't think it was particularly interesting however I started to write it and as I wrote it I found that I might have something to say. Really the show is my story but I'm trying to use my story as a tool to shine a light on lots of people who don't have a voice in this country. There is still a huge amount of stigma around addiction and mental health, and addiction is really misunderstood. People are so quick to point fingers and my experiences in an expensive rehab and using on the streets of Kings Cross showed me that the trauma for people no matter where they come from or what their background was, was the same. It took a while for me to kind of work out that this was the story I wanted to tell and this was the thing that meant the most to me but through the writing process I was able to figure out that that is really at the heart of the story.
Q: This work has had quite a life before this. Tell us about where the work has travelled before? How has it changed?
A: The show had its world premiere at The Street Theatre in Canberra in 2020, we closed on the night the country went into lockdown. We then toured to The Hothouse Theatre in Albury Wodonga in 2021, Riverside Theatres Parramatta in 2022, QPAC in Brisbane in 2023 followed by the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023 and then The Pleasance Theatre London in 2023 and then the Old Red Lion in London in 2023.
The show has changed in lots of small ways, the script is fluid. There have been cuts and rewrites and it seems every season we find something to cut or add, especially if its funny.
I have had three directors on the show, so they all bring a different quality to the work. It’s been tested so much against so may different audiences from around the world that I am really happy with where it is sitting now.
Q: What should audiences expect when they come to see Breaking the Castle?
A: A really good night of theatre. First and foremost, that is what this is, a really good piece of theatre and its stood the challenges in Edinburgh and London. They can expect to laugh, to cry, to rage, to be challenged and to be uplifted. They should expect to leave the theatre changed.
Q: What will surprise people about this work?
A: Maybe how funny it is in places despite the subject matter… How its been put together and the different styles of storytelling we use, the sense of naturalism amongst the meta theatrical. Maybe also how much they see themselves in the central character, and how much they can relate to various parts of the story.
Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your rehearsal process?
A: Being so deliriously tired at times and talking absolute garbage making each other all laugh out loud!
Breaking the Castle plays at Theatre Works from July 15-19.
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