‘Let’s give it a crack’: Dylan Alcott shows he’ll try anything once

Turn to the dictionary definition of “over-achiever” and you may well find yourself looking at a picture of Dylan Alcott.

Not content with his stellar sporting record in both wheelchair tennis and basketball, a burgeoning TV and radio career, running a music festival and heading up his own consultancy and advocacy organisations, Alcott is now determined to crack the world of theatre with his stage debut in The Rocky Horror Show this week.

Dylan Alcott will play The Narrator in the upcoming production of The Rocky Horror Show.Credit:

“I’m a f---er for opportunity,” says the 33-year-old. “To be honest I can’t believe it and I’m very, very grateful for it.

“I’ve had a burning desire to have a crack at acting for two reasons. One, I love sharing stories and challenging myself, but also I want greater representation on our screens, on our stages of people with disability. It’s always been something that I’ve been passionate about and I thought rather than talk about it, let’s give it a crack.”

Alcott will play The Narrator in the classic Richard O’Brien show, which this year celebrates its 50th birthday, alongside veteran performer Jason Donovan.

And while this is Alcott’s first time on stage, he can already list “actor” on his impressive resume, after his role last year in the streaming show, Bump, with Claudia Karvan.

“That was a good test because I was like, ‘If I don’t like it, I won’t do it. But also, if I’m really, really crap, I won’t do it’,” he says. “But I got a good enough response.”

Alcott is well-used to the spotlight and there will be more excitement than trepidation when he hits the Theatre Royal stage.

“Of course there will be nerves, but I also get on a stage three times a week and do a lot of keynote presenting,” he says. “So in that instance, I’m used to the stage.”

It’s impossible to separate Alcott from his position as a high-profile advocate for his community and he is well aware Rocky Horror represents an opportunity for him to put people with a disability front and centre.

Dylan Alcott’s tennis career is just one of the highlights of the 33-year-old’s resume. Here, he celebrates winning Wimbledon.Credit: Getty

“The fact that I’m one of the first people with a physical disability to be in the Rocky Horror Show is awesome,” he says. “It’s about breaking down barriers and perceptions and also providing opportunities for the current and next generation of people with disability to come through. We deserve the same opportunities as everybody else, especially in the theatre.

“I think there needs to be more opportunities for actors with disability to be themselves and to play roles.”

And on the complex question about whether actors with a disability should play characters that reference their disability, Alcott believes there is “room for both”.

“My character in Bump didn’t even mention the fact that I was in a wheelchair. There was no storyline around it. I just happened to be in a wheelchair.

“My disability is definitely a part of me, it’s part of my identity. So a lot of people are like, ‘We don’t even see you’re disabled’. I’m like, ‘No, I want you to see my disability. It’s nothing to shy away from, I’m proud of my disability’.”

Ultimately, his goal is to change perceptions about young people with a disability.

“It’s not to win gold medals, grand slams, bloody Logies, whatever,” he says. “I’ll keep doing that whether I’m on stage or not. But, yeah, the acting stuff is my next frontier.”

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