After more than 50 years directing plays and 80 years of acting, Warrick Bailey rose onto the Zamia Theatre stage in his wheelchair via a lift he said would be never be needed and exited laughing to rapturous applause.
The success of his final play at Zamia Theatre, Exit Laughing, co-directed with Lesley Sawyer, was clear from the audience reaction and the money raised – destined for a range of charitable causes.
At 86 years of age, Warrick has decided it’s time to hang up his director’s hat and enjoy the theatre from the audience.
He began acting from a very young age in Scotland when his mother started a cub group putting on plays.
“I was the eldest in the family, so my mother always gave me the leading role, and my younger brother had to be the female lead,” he laughed.
“I used to enjoy acting when I could remember my lines, although I was never good at remembering my lines.”
It was directing that was to become Warrick’s great love.
“I enjoyed the power,” he said jokingly of his decision to move to directing.
“I enjoy directing, creating something with other people’s talents and skills and it’s a social, community thing.
“As a director you have a vision for the play and know the sort of people you want in it. Casting is one of the keys to success.”
His first directorial role was Irregular Verb to Love at the Old Mill Theatre in Perth in 1971, where he is a life member.
Warrick studied a Bachelor of Arts in theatre, journalism, film and television at the Western Australian Institute of Technology where he also acted in and directed a number of plays.
When his wife, Janis, got a job in Queensland and Warrick began looking for a town to move his family to in Queensland from Perth, it wasn’t great schools that were foremost on his mind.
Instead, he was in search of a great theatre to continue his passion for acting and directing.
When he came across Zamia Theatre, he knew Tamborine Mountain was the place to settle. Discovering the great schools here for his children, Meaghan and Alan, was an added bonus.
Warrick went on to direct 14 plays at Zamia Theatre since 2002 and for three years was President, during which time he played an important role in securing funding to rescue and restore the theatre in 2009. Making suggestions about lighting, disabled toilets, male and female dressing rooms.
When the requirement for a disabled lift was discussed, Warrick said it would never be used; he had to bite his tongue when he used it to take his final bow.
His dedication to Tamborine Mountain Little Theatre was honoured when he was made a life member.
In August this year he and Janis put together a one man show, My Life in Theatre at the Zamia, which was in part a tribute their son Alan, who died of pancreatic cancer eight years ago. The evening was a huge success, raising around $2,700 for the charity Pankind as well as Canteen and Hummingbird House.
He also directed two plays written by Janis: Hearts Ablaze and M for Mabel.
On the last night of Exit Laughing, he paid tribute to all the theatre people he’d worked with and paid special tribute to his co-director, Lesley Sawyer, without whom he could not have carried on directing to this point.
“It was nostalgic. I wrote to the playwright, Paul Elliott, he said it was the most heartwarming letter he had ever received. I said how much the audience and cast had enjoyed doing it,” Warrick said.
“I just wanted to enjoy it and I did, every minute of it. I watched every performance and laughed every time. It also brings tears to your eyes as it’s about one of the members of a group of friends dying.”
Now Warrick said it was important to express his gratitude to the community.
“I want to say thank you to the community and the theatre for supporting my work over the years,” he explained, adding that all of the money raised by the Zamia gets ploughed back into the theatre as well as the community.
Warrick was honoured as senior citizen of the year in 2015 for his service to Lions, the theatre and the visitor information centre. And along with Janis he’s an active member of Lions and supports Janis’ work with Mountain Mates.
Now he plans to fill his spare time reading and keeping in touch with his brothers and his kids in Queensland and Western Australia, watching British television and maintaining his membership of Probus, Tamborine Mountain Little Theatre and Lions.
And of course, continuing to enjoy plays from the audience seat.
