AFI Award winning Australian actor Damian Walshe-Howling, best known for his portrayal of Andrew “Benji” Veniamin in the TV series Underbelly, returns to the makeshift stage at The Windsor Hotel in Melbourne as part of Gluttony: The Play.
After a sold-out season during Melbourne Food & Wine Festival this year, Gluttony: The Play returns for a second seasonal serve this October.
Set in a fictional restaurant Gourmandise, a group of mates come together for the first time in a long time over a meal – where friendship, love, betrayal and of course – food and wine are the gateway to what happens next.
Written by playwright, Nick Parr and chef, Rob Kabboord (former chef-de-cuisine at Sydney’s Quay), Gluttony is an immersive food-wine-and-theatre experience where you can sit within the performance and see it unfold before your very eyes. But don’t fret – you don’t become part of the storyline – you’re there as a voyeur only.
Diners come for the stylish setting, stay for the food and enjoy the stellar cast who deliver an entertaining show with a difference.
Damian, who has also appeared in TV drama series Last King of The Cross, Janet King and Time of Our Lives, talks to The Write Drop, for our At The Bar series.
MY CITY
I live in Melbourne and I love it because the art, music and food scene is absolutely thriving – as is the bar scene on the north side.
FAVOURITE FOOD MEMORY
My mum was born and bred in Southern Italy and she makes the most magnificent Pasta Pork Ragu. The meat is abundant and tender, the flavours rich with a perfect complexity to animate the taste buds.
FAVOURITE BAR
No favourite, but two of note are THE BLACK CAT in Fitzroy. I love it for its authentic rustic Melbourne feel, with a slight Lower East Side New York twist. I drink either an IPA, a Pale or a Negroni. The other is BAHAMA GOLD on Lygon Street, Brunswick. I’m happy to drink a beer or whatever cocktail takes my attention.
DRINK THAT DESCRIBES YOU
I would need multiple drinks to describe the degree of variability in my personality. Let’s say a Pale Ale for the fuck of it, followed by a Heathcote Shiraz to bring the warmt, and then a Negroni Chaser to ignite the Italian fire.
BEST HANGOVER CURE
Obviously, another drink. (I once texted a friend who was enquiring about my level of hangover after a big night. I started my reply text with the words “Oh Jesus…” which autocorrected to “Call Jesus…” Perfect response and at that stage, I’m not sure there is any cure except time and a big egg and toast brekky).
BEST INTERSTATE BAR
It’s not so much a bar but it has a bar. AFRICOLA in Adelaide. Amazing African fusion food, and last time I was there the bar staff included me in a lock in while they proceeded to invent all sorts of cocktails for which I was their guinea pig. Too much fun.
FAVOURITE WINE
I’m a sucker for anything full bodied, red, slightly dry from either S.A. or Southern Italy. I always pick by feel and label, and I never remember the names. I know what my palate likes, but I don’t know anything about my palate intellectually.
FAVOURITE WINERY
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE in Mclaren Vale South Australia. They make incredible wines, amazing food and a brilliant outdoor festival style atmosphere around New Year’s.
NEXT DESTINATION
I would love to go back to Italy, because it’s been a long time and I would love to visit some of the southern wine regions while I’m there. The other places I most want to see are Croatia, Iceland, Morocco, Portugal and Argentina. It would need to be a shared experience. I have loved traveling solo a lot, but in a different phase right now.
https://www.gluttonytheplay.com
Main photography credit: Alina Gozina.
