Umina actor Samson Alston is set to star in an award-winning Australian comedy in Sydney from February 17.
Fag/Stag, written by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs, was first performed in Sydney three years ago, and for a limited time, the show is back for the Mardi Gras festival.
The play follows the lives of two young men, one gay and one straight, who navigate their sex lives, friendship and ongoing first world problems.
Alston said he was excited to be in a play that portrayed real-world people and challenged societal stereotypes.
“Hopefully, people can relate to the story; gender norms and toxic masculinity are completely thrown out the window— it’s just about these special moments between two best friends, who have different sexualities but are so similar,” Alston said.
“It shows the different perspectives of life for a gay man compared to a straight man, and how it’s not that different at all.
“My character, Corgan, is a 25-year old straight male who is masculine, surfy, and uneducated on the LGBTQIA+ community – so he is really naive and learns from his friend Jimmy, who is played by Ryan Panizza.”
Alston grew up on the Peninsula and left school in Year Nine to pursue an acting career at Palm Tree Studios Academy of Performing Arts in Wyoming.
“When I was in school, I was always that crazy, energetic kid, who had all this unused energy,” he said.
“I was asked to do a school musical in Year Six and loved it; I was being praised for being silly and crazy on stage and wasn’t getting in trouble.
“Drama school allowed me to go to New York on an excursion, and one of our family friends invited me to stay with her in Brooklyn for a few more weeks after my school excursion was finished.
“She had all these acting contacts and got me a lesson with Sheila Gray who teaches all the huge Broadway stars; I went to my first lesson, and she asked me to come back for a lesson every single day I was in New York!”
Alston said he was mentored and trained by the renowned acting coach for weeks and had the opportunity to act and learn from New York Broadway stars.
“When I came back, I had an absolute boost of motivation and this huge energy shift where I just went really hard with acting,” Alston said.
“Last year was my first year fully in the acting industry, and it was amazing; I played a key guest role in a major TV show for Channel 7, and I was in a sold-out production of The Credeaux Canvas, where I played Winston the leading character.
“So, yeah it was a pretty insane year.”
Since Alston gained professional management, he has starred in national ad campaigns for Vodaphone, Hungry Jacks, Shapes and Curtin Uni and performed the lead in The Shape of Things at the Flight Path Theatre in January.
Fag/Stag plays from February 17-March 7 at El Rocco, 154 Brougham St, Potts Point with tickets available at trybooking.com.
Hayley McMahon