Nick Coyle, one part of Eddie Sharp and Kenzie Larson’s unique hybrid theatre piece combining video and live performance, Some Film Museums I Have Known is playing now at The Old Fitz as part of the Imperial Panda Festival. Mainstage was so impressed with the play I apprehended Nick Coyle, who plays the holographic ghost of Auguste and Louis Lumiere, to talk about the show.

Mainstage: Some Film Museums I Have Known has been three years in the making, as well as being performed in Melbourne as part of Next Wave Festival. When were you first approached to be a part of this project?

Nick: January 5th 2011. I was raking out my finch aviary when I got the call.

M: Finch Aviary?

N: Yes.

M: What were your initial responses to the script?

N: My initial response was chuckles. I liked it. And I liked it even more when they explained it to me.

M: Have you ever worked with writer Eddie Sharp or Kenzie Larson before?

N: Never.

M: Lots of people are talking about the this play, especially the production side of it. Who built the amazing set and ‘diorama’s’?

N: Kenzie “Too Sweet” Larson, Will Mansfield, and Eddie Sharp. A triptych of Power. Kali Reid oils the machine, literally and figuratively.

M: Tell us about your character in SFMIHK, he is like some sort of crazed ghost professor hologram, what is his name and was it much of a stretch for you to play such a colourful character?

N: That guy? His name is Auguste Lumiere and he is the inventor of cinema. Using the witchcraft of TV I also play his twin brother, a la Michael Keaton in the film, Multiplicity, which I have not seen. It was not a stretch for me to play him – I just speak louder and waggle my arms more than I would in my daily life. With white makeup on instead of bronzer.

M: Natural Glow?

N: I’m not saying

M: Have you ever been to an amusement park? Like, say, Wet and Wild?

N: I went to Sea World on the gold coast with my family and swam with two furious dolphins, or “the bastards” as their trainer liked to call them. He also allayed my fear of them biting me by telling me they’d worn their teeth away on the sides of the tank. It was one grim swim. But they are such graceful creatures.

M: How does the Film Museum in this SFMIHK compare?

N: Less dolphins, more films.

M: The play is set in Burumpool Waters, a fictitious town very similar to Canberra in many ways, how would you best describe the township and people of Burumpool Waters?

N: You made up the ‘Waters’ part but that’s what theatre does, it lets your mind run free. I would describe it as a great place for a film museum and/or a suicide.

M: You make a pretty kick ass entrance in this SFMIHK, is this the most unusual way you have entered a set before?

N: My entry is what is called a “reveal” so I’m veto-ing this question.

M: Okay, the secrets of theatre! Well, let’s talk about Natalie Randall, she is pretty kick-ass in this play, what is she like to work with?

N: She's class on legs. And what legs! Her future's so bright it burns my eyes, and I'm glad this interview will document the fact that we are BEST FRIENDS.

M: BEST FRIENDS indeed!! You have a new play coming out in April, are you able to tell us anything about it?

N: It's called Me Pregnant! and it's at the Old Fitz. What's it about? That's a secret. Even from me. But I intend to find out soon!

M: Let’s play a super quick game