WHAT drives a person to vanish from one life to start another? And can you ever truly change your identity?

They are questions explored by The Actors’ Hub’s latest offering, How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, at the Subiaco Arts Centre.

Written by Finn Kennedy and directed by Amanda Crewes, it’s a fun romp through identity crisis as Charlie finds life so overwhelming he completely changes who he is and starts a new life.

The play is based on the 1985 book of the same name, which delivered a how-to guide on starting a new identity.

Finn Kennedy is a beautiful storyteller and this play allows the actors to really challenge themselves with character choices,” Crewes said. 

“The myriad of characters that interact with Charlie are so real and larger-than-life that, as an audience, we can see how Charlie feels suffocated.

“My desire is to present this manic world to explore something we’ve all contemplated in our lives – the nagging desire to run away when things get tough – and just what might happen if we do.”

Crewes said she wanted to honour the humour in life to tell Charlie’s story.

“Charlie’s story comes to life on stage like a fun dream that keeps dipping into the world of a nightmare, so we don’t really know where we are,” she said.

“It’s the overly grotesque, cold world created in the play, cleverly balanced with the right amount of exaggeration and humour, that the playwright delivers with skill.”

After graduating from the WA Academy of Performing Arts in 1998, Crewes went on to work professionally with Handzon, Kompany M, Melbourne’s Playbox and Barking Gecko Theatres and the Perth Theatre Company, as well as several professional independent theatre groups in shows such as Italian American Reconciliation, Wolf Lullaby and Conundrum.

With more than 20 years’ experience teaching and directing, she set up The Actors’ Hub in 2012 to provide a serious focus for those wanting to learn more about the acting profession.

“There is nothing more exciting than seeing actors change into their characters on stage,” Crewes said.

“In How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, Kennedy’s characters are so alive and so much fun.

“It’s a very physical piece, placing huge demands on the actors, so we’ve been looking closely at the works of Jerzy Grotowski and Vsevolod Meyerhold to enable the actors to use their own physicalisation as a means of storytelling.

“Although it’s Charlie’s story, we’d like to make it possible for every audience member to feel like they are exploring the endless options in changing identity for themselves.”

How to Disappear Completely And Never Be Found plays at 7.30pm October 20, 21 and 22. Tickets are $30, $25 concession – book at http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=HOWTODIS16&v=SUA

The Subiaco Arts Centre is at 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco. For more details, go to more go to http://actorshubperth.com.au/productions.