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RIP Bonnie Bryant (1 Mar 1923 - 19 Aug 2009)
On Tuesday 25 August we all had the melancholy duty to perform of attending Bonnie's funeral at Palmdale. Bonnie had not been well for some time, as she was ever more prone to falls as time went on, and her final curtain closed on 19 August 2009. On 3 & 4 March, 1958 the group produced a revue called Happy Days. A revue is always a great way to bring new members into the group. [Your current scribe joined in 1987 for a revue called This Fractured Century incidentally]. The cast of Happy Days included 41 people one of whom was billed in the Tuggerah Lakes Advocate as "Barnie Bryant". It was of course, our Bonnie and her first appearance with the group was as a soloist in the Minstrel Show segment and lending her hand in other parts in the revue.
Bonnie and Ted made their stage debut together for Wyong Drama Group as ‘bystanders’ in Pygmalion (1958). Next up Bonnie seized a far more challenging role - as the front-end of a cow in Noah. Bonnie went on to direct some 36 productions from popular farces to the more poignant dramas and thrillers. Bonnie held the positions of vice-president, secretary and long term committee member and through humility saw herself as a worker not a leader, except as a skilled director. She always set the example volunteering for those less glamorous tasks and supporting all working bees. No task was too menial: suppers, prompt, general coffee-maker for set builders right up until infirmity held her too often at home. Such was Bonnie’s dedication that, until recently, she rarely missed a meeting. Bonnie won many awards, most notably Best Actress in the NSW Amateur Drama Festival in 1970 for her performance as Agatha in The Old Ladies: The String of Amber. (43 groups competed in this State-Wide Festival).
Nearly every festival entry from her hands has received nominations and she has mentored many, ‘best actors and actresses’. In 1994 the coast-wide Coarse-Acting Championships were held. It is an indication of our group’s high esteem of her that the awards were called “The Bonnies”. Coarse or not, live theatre is unpredictable and like all troupers Bonnie had her own stage frights. During a very serious drama Bonnie remembers a whole window coming loose in her hands as she closed it on stage. She calmly passed it through the wall to a stagehand backstage and continued on. In 2007 when Bonnie was too ill to attend a festival performance of Cage Birds (which won best production), the director and cast of eight took themselves to her home and performed the play for her in her family room. Bonnie has always nurtured the whole person, caring about members and their families. Bonnie has been mentor for both directors and actors. Her critique was always eagerly awaited after performances and it was always fulsomely generous. Until very recently she was still sought out by experienced directors and performers for that extra polish and those special touches for which she was renowned across the Coast’s theatrical community. A great encourager, she advocated entering festivals and extolled the learning gained from that experience. Bonnie was able to get the best out of people and was happy to work with novices to release the thespian within. She has shaped, cajoled, enticed and inspired beginners and experienced alike. In August 2004 at our encore TheatreFest, Bonnie directed Peter Kocan's extremely moving play Home Fires Burning. This was probably the last major production Bonnie directed on her own. Typically for Bonnie it won Best Actor (for Laszlo Weidlich); Best Direction (for Bonnie); Best Ensemble Performance; Best Set and Best Unpublished Play. As a tribute to Bonnie we have a thumbnail video of the entire production online on the Encore TheatreFest 2004 page. In the 2000 publication of Ian Hawkins' Curtain Up: celebrating 100 years of amateur theatre on the Central Coast, Bonnie was in the top three mentioned in response to the coast-wide survey question “Who has inspired you most and who do you admire most in the local theatre scene.” At Bonnie’s funeral on August 25, 2009, the congregation gave her a standing ovation.
The above article was written mainly by Julie Bailey, with additional material by Peter Deane and Rose Cooper. Click Here for the Eulogy delivered by Pollyanna Forshaw.
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