Chanella Macri on what it actually takes to play the lead role.

Theatre performer, Chanella Macri, is drawn to characters and roles that reflect her own desire and struggle to take up space in the world. 

So, when the 28-year-old came across the 10-year-old character of Cathelijn, the lead role in the three-cast production of Barking Gecko Theatre's HOUSE, she couldn't have felt more at home. 

"It's just the most magical idea in the world," says Macri. 

"The house is a safe haven for young people, and the production is sort of a journey for the characters to find their place in the world. 

"I think for Cathelijn, it's finding enough space to be big, and be everything that she is, in all of her 'too muchness' and all of her joy and excitement and adventure. I think that was just pure magic, and as an adult, it's like it just sort of lights up everything in you, and that childhood wonder of how things could be."

Macri says Cathelijn's character reflects what many of us experience as children, and the confusion of not knowing how much space to take up. 

"I grew up being 'too big', especially physically, and there's something about the way that playwright Dan Giovannoni has brought Cathelijn to life. It spoke to me, and it was a beautiful and healing thing, to be able to embody that.

HOUSE is the work of playwright Dan Giovanni and Barking Gecko Theatre's former Artistic Director Luke Kerridge, and explores central themes of friendship, loneliness and resilience. The duo were also behind the Helpmann award-winning stage hit, Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories. 

The WA-based production of HOUSE centres around Cathelijn, who is completely alone in the world – no friends, no family, no-one to turn to. All by herself in the centre of a dark forest, she tries to be strong. And that’s when she sees it — a living, breathing house. 

It's in this house that Cathelijn finds a friend in Piotr, a chatterbox boy played by Perth actor Isaac Diamond, and Elka, an explorer played by Nicola Bartlett.

Image: Barking Gecko Theatre.

The gentle and whimsical tale originally toured in 2021 as a Barking Gecko Theatre and Perth Festival co-production. The new live stage production in November, 2024 will coincide with the release of the book version of HOUSE by Fremantle Press.

As a second-generation immigrant "living in a bigger body", Macri says she recognised parts of herself in Cathelijn, and believes the story will resonate with parents and kids alike. 

"They're such real three-dimensional characters that there's so much to see of yourself in them, even though they're children."

Macri says working with a cast of just three was both "wild" and "magical".

"We've spent a lot of time building our connection to each other and building that world together," she says. 

"There's so many things that go into the production, particularly into the building of the house that we get to perform in, it's the most magical thing I've ever done in theatre. 

Image: Instagram/@barkinggeckotheatre.

Who is Chanella Macri?

A second-generation immigrant with Samoan-Italian heritage, Macri grew up in from the Blue Mountains, Sydney, and later moved to Victoria where she studied acting at the Victoria College of the Arts. 

While there's no theatre in Macri's blood, she says she comes from a long line of storytellers, thanks to her Samoan culture. 

"I'm a storyteller in all its forms, but I think theatre is a really powerful thing, and I have a great love for it. It's a powerful form of storytelling, and because it's live, there's this quite ethereal moment with the audience. 

"You're offering a story to them and finding a connection in that moment that can't be replicated. That's why I love theatre, and HOUSE, the production and the role of Cathelijn, actually found me."

Macri says she feels honoured to have the opportunity to bring Cathelijn to life. 

Image: Barking Gecko Theatre.

"I'm always looking for a role, a character and a story that has space for me. And by that I kind of mean, I live in quite a big body, I am a woman of colour. So I'm looking to explore the complexity of what it is for me to be a person in the world, and certainly an actor on stage, and have the space to exist within it. 

"I'm always interested in the character's who are complex and quite dimensional. People that aren't just amazing and have the challenges of being a real person in the world, which is to go through a lot and struggle to find who you are."

Book your tickets to see Barking Gecko Theatre's production of HOUSE, on stage November 1-9, 2024.

Feature Image: Barking Gecko Theatre.