Following George Walker is inspired by the life of Adelaide actor Rory Walker’s great grandfather George W Walker: a vaudevillian and impresario who toured Australia in the early 20th century, including the Limestone Coast, alongside some of the biggest theatrical stars of the day. It is a story of family, community, love and legacy – and laughter.
Rory has mined the legend of his great grandfather in this deeply personal one-man show. As a baby George was left in a box on a doorstep in Aberdeen and throughout his career was a restless traveller, working around Scotland, America, South Africa and Australia. A singer and comedian, he worked with Harry Lauder and the eccentric Walford Bodie, a hypnotist and magician famous for his ‘mock’ electrocutions and act of ‘bloodless surgery’.
Still, it was a rough and lonely life. At the end of his days, George returned to Scotland and wrote a memoir that Rory would later find as a young boy, left forgotten in a cupboard in the Walker family home.
Rory is bringing the legend back in his performance Following George Walker and can’t wait to bring the frivolity, fun and 20th Century fashion to Mount Gambier and Naracoorte.
“I’m really looking forward to coming back to the Limestone Coast to where my great grandfather George Walker performed in Naracoorte and Mount Gambier back in the 1920s,” he said. “I can see why George loved the place. Come join me in this vaudevillian extravaganza, it’s a performance close to my heart made for the people of the Limestone Coast.”
Following George Walker hilariously captures the spirit of a travelling road show as our hero Rory struggles to piece together the fragments of his great grandfather’s life, even as he struggles to piece together the fragments of his own performance in a one-man vaudevillian extravaganza filled with music, sketches, songs, comedy, magic, ventriloquism and cinematography and – in the midst of it all – a powerful story of family, community, love and legacy.
As a tribute to his Caledonian heritage, Rory has invited piper Ed Coventry and drummer Anthony Munro from the Naracoorte Highland Pipe Band to join him on stage at the Naracoorte Town Hall for a musical number. Post show the entertainment continues with the full Naracoorte Pipe Band.
At the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre, Highland dancers from Mt Gambier’s Ardlair School of Dancing will perform on stage during the show, accompanied by Ed Coventry. After the show there will be more dancing from Ardlair School with music provided by the Blue Lake Highland Pipe Band.
Naracoorte Town Hall
Thursday 11 August, 1pm
Friday 12 August, 6pm
Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre
Monday 15 August, 1pm
Tuesday 16 August, 7pm
This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.
