Ellis Pearson
We’d like for you to meet Ellis Pearson, a tour-de-force of artistic talent. Ellis is a painter, sculptor, theatremaker, director, actor, magician, juggler, mime, musician, funny man and now a teacher of creativity. He combines his wonderful inventiveness with a crazy sense of humour to create works of art and theatre that appeal to audiences anywhere in the world. He has performed throughout North America, Europe, Scandinavia, and in South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand. He is currently a teacher at WAAPA and performing in The Arrival for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. He took some time out from rehearsals to answer a few questions for us.
Where are you from?
I’m from South Africa. I never thought I could move away from Africa but it has been fantastic being here in Oz for the last 6 and a half years.
What character do you play in The Arrival?
Aki, the man who sets off to find a safer country to which to bring his family.
Do you have an experience to share of when you had to move from a new place?
South Africa – because of the system of apartheid – has been a difficult and dangerous country to live in for the past 50 years. It has become even more dangerous in the last 15 years. In the midst of a spate of violent attacks about ten years ago, my wife and young son were hijacked at gunpoint and that’s when we began to look at the possibility of finding a safer country to live.
How do you keep in contact with family or friends living overseas?
Every 3 years or so we fly back to South Africa to visit with family and friends. But we have far more friends here now.
Why did you want to become a performer?
After school, I studied art and design for 4 years. A theatre practitioner was invited to do a workshop with the art students. I became so excited when I realised that the artist could become the moving sculpture or image. I loved the possibility of drawing or painting through movements and with vocal sounds.
Who inspires you?
Theatre practitioners who inspire me are Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook and Pina Bausch.
If I wanted to become a performer what advice would you give to me?
My advice is: do what you REALLY love, then everything else falls into place.
The Arrival runs from July 1 – 15, at the Dolphin Theatre, UWA. Performances are 10am and 1pm daily, plus special twilight performances on July 5 and 14 at 6.30pm.
Click here to read more about the show or book tickets.