Nathan Page's Adelaide move

Page, who will star in the State Theatre Company South Australia’s production of Andrew Bovell’s classic Australian comedy After Dinner, recently moved to Adelaide as his partner Sarah-Jayne Howard is the Australian Dance Theatre’s (ADT) new associate artistic director under Garry Stewart. Page, who studied his craft at the Adelaide College of Arts, spent some of his formative years in Adelaide.

“I studied here and I cut my theatre teeth for two years here before moving to Sydney and then Melbourne,” says Page, who was the lead in State Theatre’s 2016 box-office smash The 39 Steps. “It’s really nice coming back. It’s such a creative hub. This time I brought my little family with me. My partner’s about to start as associate artistic director of ADT with Garry [Stewart]. So, it was a really late decision. We thought, ‘Yeah, okay – let’s trial it’.”

Page, who first moved to Adelaide to train as a cyclist with the Australian Institute of Sport before studying acting, hopes this will be a permanent move.

“We hope so. If the job works out for her [Howard] and she enjoys it then I think we’ll be happy to live in Adelaide because I can take my work anywhere. She wants to work with that company.”

His first stage performance in two years is a return to State Theatre. Page will star alongside Elena Carapetis and Jude Henshall in Bovell’s (Lantana, The Secret River) debut play, After Dinner, a comedy about five single suburbanites in an ‘80s bistro. It is the 30-year anniversary of the comedy that is experiencing a bit of a resurgence as Sydney Theatre Company performed it in 2015.

“It’s a bit of a period piece now in a funny kind of way,” Page says. “It’s a mirror of that time.”

After the State Theatre run, Page will star in the crowdfunded film adaptation of the  popular television series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mystery, where he stars as Detective Inspector Jack Robinson opposite Essie Davis.

“We’re really grateful and surprised by that [crowdfunding],” Page says. “We’ve got to put something solid on the table because there are a lot of people who have put their money into it … There’s a little hub of people who are dedicated fans of the show, and certainly to Jack, who are coming here. For 39 Steps they flew over from the UK and Canada, and they’re doing it again [for After Dinner]. They all meet up here and they sort of book out a week of tickets, which is always scary because you want to be in form for them,” he laughs. “They all have a great time; it’s the catalyst for them to come together.”

After Dinner
Dunstan Playhouse
Saturday, April 7 to Sunday, April 29
statetheatrecompany.com.au