Local Actor / Playwright Makes It Big Down Under

John Hinton, an actor and playwright from Ditchling, now living in Brighton, has recently returned from the Adelaide Fringe Festival, where his one-man musical comedy about Charles Darwin was nominated for multiple awards and played to packed houses.

The show, whose full title is The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection or the Survival of (R)Evolutionary Theories in the face of Scientific and Ecclesiastical Objections: being a Musical Comedy about Charles Darwin (1809-1882), played twenty-six performances at Holden Street Theatres in Adelaide, and, out of 930 shows in the Fringe programme, was shortlisted for Best Theatre Production, while John himself was shortlisted for Best Performer. The show was also under official consideration for the Critics’ Choice Best in Fringe award.

Far from resting on his success, Hinton is throwing himself straight into his next solo project, Ragnarok: The Weird of the Gods. This time, his subject matter is the end of the world, as told in the Viking mythology, and the play will premiere at Fringe 2012 on 5 May. Just as the Darwin play was written to tie in with his double anniversary in 2009, the new play is timed to tie in with the end of the world predicted for later this year.
 

The Norse gods permeate our lives more than most of us realise – they gave their names to four of our seven days of the week, they have influenced Christianity, they have spawned operas and comic strips and films. Their tale of how everything is going to end is one of the most incredible, heart-wrenching, action-packed stories ever told. Hinton says, “Well, if you’re going to do a play about the end of the world, it’s probably best to do so before the world actually ends.”

Theatre of the Preposterous presents Ragnarok: The Weird Of The Gods, Upstairs at Three and Ten on 5 May, 6 May, 26 May and 27 May at 3pm.