Award-winning actor Rob Carlton says he has a long history of taking on the roles of sketchy Australians.
So when the international mega-series The White Lotus put out a call out for a middle-aged Australian with a young girlfriend traveling in Thailand, Rob immediately felt he had a good chance. “I looked at it and said to myself ‘I’ve got this – there isn’t a face in Australia that can tell that story as fast as this one!”
But while he admits the season-three cameo in The White Lotus was a wildly bizarre experience, and one he ‘will never give back’, his professional musings are now in a decidedly more personal and real place.
Rather than others’ personas, he is reflecting on his own in the one-hander Virgin in a Knife Fight. Moreover, Rob is bringing the dramatic comedy to Glen St Theatre on August 21 and 22.
The show reportedly swings from hilarious to heartfelt as Rob recalls adventurous tales from his life: “It’s about what I was actually like, as opposed to remembering everything with rose-colored glasses.”
Rob is at the heart of each of its four stories; the first being a knife fight which he suddenly finds himself in as an 18-year-old traveler. “It became quite dangerous very, very quickly,” he says.
“I guess the world surprises you. It comes at you. As we get older, sometimes the surprises come from within. We are surprised by our friends, our loved ones, ourselves.”
The Avoca actor believes that if a story is told well then the storyteller is likely a big part of the problem.
“I was part of the problem on a number of these occasions! By going back and telling the story to an audience we can all have fun, usually at my expense, and we can all get something from it.”
The former Pittwater High student who grew up in Bayview says he is looking forward to coming back to Belrose. “I’ve only performed at Glen St once before in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare,” he says. “But it still feels like coming home.”
Director for that production as well as Virgin in a Knife Fight is acclaimed Aussie actor Darren Gilshenan – Rob’s closest creative collaborator and one of his dearest friends.
Since it began three years ago, Virgin in a Knife Fight has toured the fringe festivals of Adelaide and Perth, as well as comedy festivals around the country. But the format of one person on stage with only a chair for a prop remains: “It’s the easiest and cheapest way to get out and tour. I’ve been to amazing places and seen comedians, magicians, clowns, and acrobats.”
Among numerous acting credits, he has played Kerry Packer in two seasons of the ABC mini-series Paper Giants, has won Tropfest for his comedy mockumentary Carmichael & Shane, and appeared in the 2024 Netflix television adaptation Boy Swallows Universe.
Rob has twin boys who are now 22 and he is married to writing coach and mentor Adrienne Ferreira, whose business encourages people to write their own stories.
“For the last four years, we’ve run a storytelling night called Brave Words Live, up here on the Central Coast. We invite people to tell their own stories. They’ve written them, they’ve worked hard on them, and they sit in a chair and read them out.”
Rob does something similar in Virgin in a Knife Fight – only it’s a theatrical experience. “I’m thrilled to share these stories with my audience because I think they’re funny,” he says. “I think people get something from them, and they might feel less lonely in the world. I share them respectfully and with manners.
He is grateful for his working life and says it’s been a wild ride so far. “My goal is to have as many interesting conversations with interesting people in interesting places as possible. I seem to have picked a career that can deliver on that.”
Virgin in a Knife Fight is at Glen St, Belrose, at 7.30pm on August 21 and 22. Bookings at glenstreet.com.au/whats-on/virgin-knife-fight or phone 9470 5913. Viewer information: Occasional course language and mature themes.
