Wesley Enoch

Playwright, homebody and hoarder of all things sentimental

Playwright, homebody and hoarder of all things sentimental

Award-winning playwright, director and Noonuccal Nuugi man Wesley Enoch lives in North Fitzroy, Melbourne, with three housemates (two of whom are chefs) and no pets – “I kill pot plants,” he says. While Enoch, 39, spends much of the year travelling – next month he will direct The Man from Mukinupin for Company B at Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre – he says home is being surrounded by the things he’s gathered along his way. It’s also where he works, from his bedroom, which is full of DVDs, pictures and much-loved mementos.

Island home I grew up mostly in Brisbane but my family is from Stradbroke Island. My parents got us off the island when we started school. Stradbroke is full of relatives – if not half of them, then three quarters – and we’d go back all the time. We’d fish and my dad used to set us up with little bottles of vinegar and we’d eat oysters straight from the rocks.

In the beginning I grew up in a very church-oriented family. I was Baptist and we’d do Bible studies at a whole range of other churches. When the Mormons came knocking, my mother would invite them in. Those days created a culture of inquisitiveness among us four kids. It was all about discovering and testing knowledge.

Travel companion I travel a lot but as long as I’ve got my computer with me – it has all my music and pictures – I don’t think about being away from home. When I do return, I love cleaning, cooking and hanging out. I love being a homebody.

Creative clutter I’d like to think of myself as someone who wants clean lines but no, I’m into clutter. When you go to European galleries, they plaster a wall with lots of different pieces and there’s something about that I really enjoy. I have a big wooden structure – it might’ve been a stationery cupboard in the 1920s – which is a clutter space. There are lots of stories there. A friend gave me an old wooden carved “W” from a printing press and another made these crazy wooden rings, two inches high, and they’re in there, too. My home is full of artefacts and gatherings of various things along the way.

Prize piece I used to walk into a little gallery around the corner here in Melbourne and was really engaged with Jackie Ralph’s work. I couldn’t afford anything then, so when I won the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award (for The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table in 2005), I said “OK” and bought one of her paintings of a big sumo wrestler. I also like to buy art from the artists of the cities I’ve worked in.

Sentimental pick My old teddy bear. He’s got one eye off and is falling apart; I’ve never been able to get rid of him. I also have a box of memories. It’s good to remember where you came from.

Framed favourites I have a lot of pictures of actors I’ve worked with, including a series of three framed images of Ursula Yovich, Wayne Blair and Deborah Mailman. I really love having them in my life.

Presidential piece I walked past this great shop in Paris a few months before the US election and it had this Obama T-shirt. It cost more than any T-shirt should but I had to have it. I found out later it was an original Shepard Fairey by (US design company) Obey. I love its sense of history.

Precious pick I bought this beautiful cup and saucer in a ceramics gallery in Japan in 2001. I was in awe of it and lived in fear I would break it so I gave it to a friend. She died two years ago and left me that cup and saucer. It sits downstairs and reminds me of this fantastic friend.

Private sanctuary Downstairs is the living area – a social space – but upstairs is my bedroom and it’s private. I watch DVDs or go on Google searches hunting for something. My room is a sanctuary.

Fitness ambition My exercise of choice is walking but I really need to think a bit more about it. I turn 40 soon and I just keep saying to myself, “Fit for 40, fit for 40!”

Latest obsession My big passion at the moment is trying to think big and help develop a national indigenous theatre company of a scale that is of importance in this country. We have a generation of artists ready to take that next step and, if we don’t, the danger is we’ll lose that generation of artists.