NIDA alum Clare Hughes (Acting, 2022) has quickly emerged as one of Australia’s exciting new acting talents. From her standout performance in ABC’s Ladies in Black to her latest role in New Ghosts Theatre Company’s Sitting, Screaming at the Old Fitz Theatre, Clare’s skill and versatility in character portrayal have been remarkable to observe. In this interview, Clare discusses the tools NIDA gave her to excel in such varied roles, her path to success as a performer, and how her craft continues to evolve on both stage and screen.
Congratulations on your show Sitting, Screaming at the Old Fitz Theatre. Can you tell us a bit about the play and your role in the production?
Shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award and longlisted for the Griffin Award, Sitting, Screaming is a raw and confronting new Australian play about family, adolescence and the abuse of power. Written by Madelaine Nunn and directed by Lucy Clements, I am the actor in this one-woman show. We meet many characters along the way, but our protagonist is Sam; a teenager who is coming to terms with her father’s recent cancer diagnosis, dying her hair blue and using humour as a way of deflecting her pain. She is becoming a bit of an outcast at school as she struggles to deal with her life at home. It’s a candid exploration of how vulnerable and young people slip through the cracks and champions the strength, resilience, and courage of young women.
I have learnt so much from this experience. Building the stamina, and energy to deliver a one-woman show has been a feat but extremely rewarding. In terms of an approach, learning the lines was a great place to start! The writing does a lot of the heavy lifting. Breathing, staying open and curious with the audience, and being honest is at the heart of it. Working out how to shift voice and physicality in a distinct and yet efficient way to convey 10+ characters has been an exciting challenge and I’m really proud of where we’ve landed. I hope it’ll do a whole lot of good. Grooming is a very taboo subject, but I think theatre is a really effective way of opening up a platform for people to speak about their experiences and educate young people.
What has your experience been working with fellow alumni Hailley Hunt (Design, 2022), Amy Norton (Technical Theatre and Stage Management, 2023) and Helena Cielak (Acting, 2022)?
It’s been so positive. Coming into the process and having familiar faces around, especially for a show that requires me to be very vulnerable, is such a comfort. I actually worked with Amy (Production Manager) and Hailley (Costume and Set Designer) on my third-year show Picnic at Hanging Rock, so it felt very full circle to be collaborating with them again. Hailley is mind-blowingly good at what she does; she was always so receptive to what I had to say and is such a great problem solver. Helena (Assistant Producer) is housemate, bestie and a fellow actor from my NIDA year so it has been really cool to watch her delve into the world of producing. The whole crew have been so supportive of people stepping into new roles. I think that ethos is really encouraged at NIDA, but it’s good to know that doesn’t stop when you step into the industry. You’re always learning and trying new things. I, for one, had never done a one-woman show before, but you learn on the job! It’s great being surrounded by people who support you and champion that.
You completed your Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting at NIDA, what are some of the skills you attained from this degree that you use in your practice?
SO many things. Where to start? Certainly, the physical and vocal demands of the show have been grounded in my three years of training. This is my professional stage debut, and I was slightly nervous after not having done theatre for a while that my skill set would be rusty. I was so pleasantly surprised that it all came back to me in a pretty natural way. The training you do really sets you up for longevity and is engrained in a way that feels effortless when you return to it. The freedom and playfulness I learnt from clowning and mask work were massively helpful. I used Laban efforts and body energies to keep each character unique and grounded in truth.
Connecting to breath in this show is so important, especially between rapid scene and character changes. The list goes on! The play reaches pretty high stakes emotionally, so my NIDA training did wonders in terms of teaching me to connect to emotion with truth but in a healthy, sustainable way. We’re also taught ways in which to de-role which is very important, otherwise, you can accidentally go home with a tightness in your body and take on the stress of your character. Most importantly, the stamina! Every project I have done comes with long days, often very little sleep, and high pressure. And yet still, I don’t think anything compares to the rigour that NIDA training demands of you. They’re long days, juggling multiple projects at once, trying to feed and clothe yourself, and working a part-time job on the side. Nothing can prepare you for the business better.
What were some of your favourite things about studying at NIDA?
I know everyone says it, but the people you meet and the connections you make are priceless. I’m from Perth and moving over to Sydney was made so much smoother for having the NIDA community. Once you graduate, the reality of an actor is you’re (fingers crossed) working some of the time, but most of the time… you’re auditioning and self-taping from home. It has the potential to be quite isolating. Having a community of actor friends to help with auditions, catch up for coffee, support theatre work etc. It’s priceless and so beautiful to watch the friends you’ve made go and DO the thing. And most importantly, at NIDA you get to do the thing you love every single day and you’re surrounded by other people who also love that thing. A bunch of nerds nerding out. It’s such an electric place. You get to try SO many different things be it sword fighting, parkour, salsa dancing, skipping competitions (yes, you heard me) Afro hip hop, yoga, voiceover, writing classes, dialect work, acrobatics, clowning, mask work, Shakespeare, devising! Every day is so different and I remember the excitement of that being really infectious. There’s nothing quite like it.
What are some of your career highlights since graduating?
Landing Ladies in Black was a pretty wild first gig. I honestly had the greatest time being the biggest sponge while filming in Adelaide for 3 months. Working with Gracie Otto our wonderful director and the entire cast and crew was so special. I remember one day after shooting I was helping Miranda Otto (Acting, 1990) with an audition tape and thinking, ‘what is my life?!’ And not to sound cheesy, but doing this one-woman show Sitting, Screaming is something I’m really proud of. I almost constantly was convinced I couldn’t do it. When I was in my first year at NIDA I went with my friend Grace to see Eryn-Jean Norvill in The Picture of Dorian Gray. After the standing ovation, we sat in the theatre until it was near empty, jaws on the floor, completely dumbfounded. I had genuinely never seen anything like it and felt so unbelievably moved and inspired. I remember thinking that was just the pinnacle of what any performer could do or give ever! I promised myself I would work so hard so that maybe one day I might come even close to matching the level of generosity she gave in that show.
Now, I’m not calling myself Eryn-Jean Norvill by any stretch of the imagination, but to this day I have the ticket to that play stuck on my wall and it caught my eye the other day. It moved me close to tears because I realised how far I’ve come. I really didn’t think I had the courage in me to do this show, but I found it, and for that, Sitting, Screaming has got to be a highlight.
Your recent performance in ABC’s Ladies in Black and upcoming role in Ten Pound Poms have garnered a lot of attention. What do you think has been key to your success?
Admittedly, in the film and TV world I do think luck and timing have a big part to play in landing roles, but you can only control the controllables. Try and increase your luck by working hard, obsess over the work, be open, positive, and playful. Be a supporter. Celebrate people’s wins. Sincerely. Genuinely. I live by a quote (that I can’t recall word for word) but it’s along the lines of…. How you celebrate others’ success is a great indication of how ready you are for your own! It’s so easy to become bitter and resentful in this industry. To compare timelines, and trajectories and careers. But celebrate those around you with a full heart. It’s so important.
Go see theatre! Go to the cinema! Read books! Consume it because you love it. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. I got the audition for the second season of Ten Pound Poms while filming Ladies in Black in Adelaide and in a very short turnaround needed to prep a song and scene in an Irish accent. I swiftly contacted Jennifer White (Voice, 1998), a brilliant dialect coach who taught us while I was at NIDA. Networking everybody! Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Be open about how you’re feeling and stay honest with yourself. Also having friends and interests outside of the acting world is SO great.
Having worked in both screen and stage, what do you think are some key differences, and how are you navigating these different demands?
My experience of screen is that you get little to no rehearsals. You kind of go in blindly but there’s a fabulous electricity that can be created as a result of that. Sometimes you get home from a day of shooting and think oh damn I should’ve tried that. But, alas, no do-overs. I think a lot of people would be surprised by how much waiting around there is on a film set. Hurry up and wait as they say! But when you’re on, you’re on, and often working extremely fast. Knowing how to stay present and maintain your energy over these long days is a skill I’ve had to learn from experience. Also, you shoot out of order most of the time. Sometimes you leave a building and don’t film the next moment for a few months, so keeping track of this is so important. I remember a day on Ladies in Black all I had to do for the whole day of shooting was come out of a door in tears and that was it.
While in a play you have the whole story arch to build momentum to emotionally get there, in film you need to find a way to manufacture that for yourself. There is plenty of talking to masking tape as your eye-line etc. You have to use your imagination! But you do get multiple takes, so that’s a win.
On the other hand, theatre involves extensive rehearsals where you can really deeply delve into the character and explore every possible choice. However, once you’re in show-mode, you’re live! No re-takes! The live audience adds an entirely fresh energy, and the play becomes a whole new beast. But the challenge for theatre is then finding ways to keep it alive, fresh, and interesting for the audience and for yourself throughout the run so that it feels as if you’re saying these lines for the very first time.
What advice would you give to aspiring actors considering the BFA in Acting at NIDA?
Really ground yourself in a ‘why’. Why do you want to do this? It’s easy to get nervous and start thinking about what the audition panel want. Who cares what they want? They might not know until they see you! Find a sincere ‘why’. Whatever monologue you’re doing, why that one? Because it moves you? Because you adore the character? Do you relate, sympathise, or do you just think it’s hilarious? Every night performing this show, I squat behind the curtain thinking, what if I forget the whole thing? It’s just me… nowhere to hide? But whenever I’m nervously second-guessing myself I breathe, and take a step back. It’s actually not about me. Remove yourself from the picture. It’s about the character of Sam whom I’ve come to adore like a friend. It’s her story. One that I think is very important. I want to help educate people. Make them feel less alone. That is my ‘why’. With a strong ‘why’, nerves will go, and creativity will fly.
*Header Image: Clare Hughes on the set of ABC’s Ladies in Black. Photo by Ben King.
