Writer and director Laurence Rosier Staines puts down his pen, dismounts his director's chair and chats to Zoe Ferguson about his play A Czar Is Born, which was originally a Sydney University Drama Society production and is now part of the Sydney Fringe Festival.

How would you describe Czar?
It's based heavily in the style of The Marx Brothers and Commedia Del'Arte, and a combination of other influences of styles I like. Ultimately it's about two warring publishers. There's impostors and chaos ensues, its action and comedy then orchestrated to music. 

What inspired you to create this fantastic musical comedy?
Well actually I was watching the Coen Brothers movie The Hudsucker Proxy and really liked the word ‘proxy' and the idea of mistaken identities etc. I had alot of ideas in my head and just wrote it last year when I was meant to be studying for exams. I was motivated to get it done all of a sudden because I had proposed it to be put on at the Sydney University Drama Society (SUDS) when I only had written a bit of it, with a plot outline, so that got the wheels turning.

From SUDS, how did Czar get picked up for Fringe?
I applied for Fringe, I just sent through the idea of my play to them and they liked it so we got into the festival which is great.

Have you got any ideas for your next gem of a play?
I've been thinking about a new one, set in the present day, it's about a record company executive and a drug baron in a battle over a rock star and who gets to kill this faded figure for their own benefit.

When you're not writing or directing, where do you like to go in Sydney?
Restaurant: Bill and Toni’s in Darlinghurst
Bar: Bavarian Beer Cafe...any of them!
Cafe: Clipper Cafe and Well Connected in Glebe
Venue: The Gaelic Theatre and The Metro Theatre.


Don't miss out on this entertaining musical comedy, being shown at the Seymour Centre's Downstairs Theatre on the 11th, 15th, 16th, 18th and 23rd of September. It's a battle of brains not to be missed.