Mining the surprise discovery of his mother’s 1946 diary, Damian Callinan creates a cinematic, romantic romp through Post WW2 Melbourne.

The show initially recreates the 1940s movie theatre experience with big band orchestras and newsreels leading the audience into the first feature film. A camera weaves through the crowd at a packed 1940s town hall dance. However, just as we meet our heroine, the film comes to an abrupt halt and the audience are returned to live on stage, where Damian admits he ran out of funding to finish the film. With the audience’s permission, he begins to pitch how he thinks the rest of the film will play out.

Using voice over extracts from the diary, Damian begins to flesh out potential scenes, explores the social history of the time and also discovers that his dad wasn’t the only suitor vying for his mum’s affections. As the list of admirer’s lengthens, Damian introduces the idea of making the film a split narrative using his dad’s retirement diaries as the source material: The ex-school principal’s attention to detail alongside the charming musings of the 19 year old social butterfly making for hilarious contrasts. Eventually back in 1946, the recently returned RAAF fly boy from Northcote emerges from the pack as the most likely to win Kathleen’s hand.

During the course of the performance, Damian darts back and forth between the two texts and dual timelines, contrasting their courting days & retirement years. From town hall dances to Probus Club excursions and victory parades to Better Hearing classes.

However, the film’s plot takes an unexpected turn when Adrian’s otherwise sweet and amusing diary, reveals the sudden and tragic accident that ultimately ends their loving 61 year relationship. However, that is no way to end a romantic blockbuster. The screenwriter returns to the original 1946 diary, and the final scene of the film plays out on the silver screen. Finally, the dashing fly boy sweeps the Preston girl off her feet at a CYMS dance in East Brunswick.

• ABC Conversations

David Zampatti

See Saw: Western Australian’s Arts Magazine Damian Callinan: Double Feature, Double Feature @ State Theatre Centre Rehearsal Room, 27 January 2023 @ Perth Fringeworld

My dad kept a journal, and after he died we read through its pages – the big things and little things that tumbled together to construct his life.

Almost invariably, once Mum and he finished their nightly game of table tennis or darts, he’d sign off with the result (there would have been some brutal contests) and, finally, he’d write  “Another happy day”.

I only mention it because Kathleen and Adrian Callinan, Damian Callinan’s mum and dad, both kept diaries too, and, as he leafs through their lives and love in his sweet, sad, wonderful Double Feature, I could imagine them signing off many times with the same sentiment.

And there was much to be happy about as young, bright-eyed Melburnians looked to the future after the privations of the Depression and the cataclysm of World War II.

Times may have been tight, but there were dances and outings – and there were the movies, especially the weekend double features.

For Kathleen, fresh out of Sacred Heart, Preston and Santa Maria in Northcote, there was family, work, the church – and there were boys at the dances and movies, quite a Melbourne Cup field for pretty Kathleen until one, just out of the RAAF, caught more than just her eye.

That was Adrian, and for both of them, it was a match for life, through work and kids (Damian is the youngest of five), retirement at home and then a village.

And there’s a tragedy, one too deep to reveal here, but even then there is the love and laughter of good people in a good place and time.

Callinan is an expert entertainer, here, quite literally, giving the performance of his life. A humorist more than “just” a comedian, he inhabits himself, he’s stepped right out of his own life and on to the stage.

The production is beautifully mounted, in the style of the cinema Kathleen would watch of a Saturday. It’s a slow burn as he brings you to his story and draws you into it.

He laughs with you at its funny moments (there are so many) and when he has cause to shed a tear, there couldn’t possibly be a dry eye in the house.

This is my show of Fringe World thus far – it’s got a decently long run, so you’ve got plenty of opportunities not to miss it. Don’t.

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Perth Happenings

Double Feature @ State Theatre Centre Rehearsal Room, 27 January 2023 @ Perth Fringeworld

When discussing family, heartbreak and tragedy, it takes an experienced and talented performer to still weave in laughs, and this is exactly what Damian Callinan did. Double Feature is a show quite unlike any other.

The show starts slowly with funny anecdotes and crowd work by this talented comedian, however we are soon introduced to his Mum, Kathleen. Kathleen shares her story with us via her diaries, describing life as a God loving, social young lady, who had many a gentleman suitor in the peak of World War II. There is something so incredibly special about this show. The production is based upon the Double Feature movies Kathleen watched on nights out, and we are introduced to her, and Callinan’s family via photos, artwork and how they played their part in the creation of the show.

We follow the race as contenders appear to win over Kathleen’s heart, with the odds changing with each diary entry. When the final winner joins the race, her is an outright favourite that you can’t help but fall for yourself.

There are many references that perhaps our younger audiences may not have experience with, but when you have crowd work like this, you truly don’t mind if you miss something, you still feel like you’re in on the joke.

There is such joy and love in the delivery of Double Feature. There is also sadness and tragedy, which we, as the audience, are given time to process and acknowledge in a skillful way.

This heartfelt story is one that will move you and you won’t want to miss it.

Thank you, Damian, for allowing us into that love story.

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Lia Loves

Double Feature @ The Kingfisher, Gluttony @Adelaide Fringe 2023

As with most shows I review, I refuse to do any research before enjoying the performance in the moment.

And boy was I glad I came into this one cold.

Damian Callinan, award winning actor, writer and comedian has a surprise discovery of his mother’s 1946 diary, filled with tid-bits of her every day; work life, volunteer commitments with wounded servicemen, church activities and her wild social frolics.

However, through this journey of unmasking and revelation, more questions are raised than answered, so we go on a cinematic voyage with Callinan, as he turns his mother’s diary, as well as his father’s retirement journal into a double feature of love and loss, with his parents as the stars of the show.

We play the part of the test audience – and his family all have special roles in the making of the ‘film’.

Great nieces and nephews [who bear a striking resemblance to Damian’s mother – the genes are strong in this family] are the storyboarders, makeup artists and boom operators. A lovely inclusion that demonstrates the closeness and love Callinan has for his family.

We begin on a Friday evening in February, 1946 with a girls night out, and we are introduced to one of many young suitors for 19 year old Kathleen Purcell.

This forms the basis of ‘The Kathleen Stakes’ – where each time a paramour is mentioned his stakes are either increased or decreased depending on the situation at hand.

The comedic entr’actes, which follows the retirement journal of Callinan’s father, is interwoven with the life Kathleen led before meeting her husband.

An emotional and heavy turn of events was lightened by Callinan’s innate ability to intertwine humour and heart. His unique storytelling talents were beautiful to watch and be part of.

Having lost my dad recently, this returned feelings of grief and sorrow, and reminded me that in times of sadness, there is still room for wit – as this is a helpful tool to process the anguish at hand.

Such a unique show, told with pure courage and spirit, and a smattering of laughs, this is one to bring your parents to, and enjoy a heart-warming night out.

Time to turn this one into a hit film, Callinan…

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Theatre Travels Adelaide – Lisa Lanzi

Double Feature @ The Kingfisher, Gluttony @Adelaide Fringe 2023

There are comedians and comedy offerings GALORE at any Adelaide Fringe.  Then there is Damian Callinan with his deeply personal, self-penned, erudite Double Feature.  Humour, irony, romance, grief, love and loss, all fit together in a powerful and entertaining story peppered with profound insights into life and family.  A tableaux of love indeed, and I’m thankful I was able to experience this piece of theatre.

Callinan is a multifaceted and much awarded comedian, actor & writer, and more recently creator and star of the Netflix film, The Merger.  In a superb hour of entertainment the audience was definitely along for the ride, delighting in the expert comic timing and intuitive asides.  It is such a pleasure to witness a performer who commands the stage and is immersed in their ‘world’, not afraid to honestly impart emotion.  It is worth a gander at Callinan’s bio and website as well – a man of prodigious talent and is active on many entertainment fronts.

The three-time Barry Award nominee discovered his mother’s wartime diary, written while still a single woman, cataloguing her work, charity activities, romances, and the many movies and dances attended.  It was secreted in a box that also contained his father’s vast collection (twenty three volumes) of more utilitarian diaries: (I paraphrase here) ‘who borrowed the mower’, ‘flow much improved after urethra procedure at clinic’, and ‘Mass only 15 minutes today as Father X had a chiropodist appointment’.  With these anecdotes forming a basis for the back and forth narrative of Double Feature, Callinan welcomes us into the family with warmth, affection, and humour.  With a some video and a photographic ‘slide-show’, superb story-telling, and the device of framing the whole as a ‘feature film pitch’ Callinan conveys his parents’ great love affair and the more tragic direction the family’s lives eventually took.

Paired with Callinan’s wry recitation from dad Adrian’s diary, a softly spoken female voice-over uttered snippets taken from mum Kathleen’s entries.  Now and again, the maternal voice also ‘addresses’ our performer, sometimes advising him that it might be best not to include that bit in one of his shows – immediately after said entry has indeed been revealed publicly.  Various members of the younger Callinan generation make an appearance on screen as technical staff (make-up, art department etc) on the imagined and vastly under-funded film production: “it’s not child labour if they’re family”.  Although there are many, many layers to this tale, and all enjoyable, Callinan keeps the threads active and compelling so that we eagerly anticipate the next development.

I particularly enjoyed the droll digs at the Catholic Church (and non-threatening opportunity for some audience participation) along with some fascinating revelations about facets of the ‘culture’ including the Children of Mary, a group I had only vaguely been aware of as a Catholic school girl.  Contrasting with the religious hilarity, Callinan projected a horse-racing tote board listing the names of Kathleen’s suitors as revealed in her diary.  Their names were substituted with horsey monikers such as Fly Boy, Fancy Jack and Beaut Jack, The Polish Count and Brown Nut Ron (a whole other story there!), Pressure Ron and Whatisname.  The odds were also calculated as diary entries divulged various welcome or unwelcome actions by the suitors.  After quite some shenanigans, Fly Boy is revealed as the suitor who eventually married Kathleen and fathered Damian and his siblings.

Written and performed with endearing connection, wit, and empathy, Double Feature is a must-see this year!

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Wendy Samantha – Theatre Travels Melbourne

Double Feature @ Malthouse Theatre @ Melbourne Comedy Festival 2023

Tonight was quite the treat!

Damian Callinan invites you all to join him in what is a highly entertaining evening in The Tower at Malthouse Theatre where you will be delighted by his clever storytelling skills and sentimental humour that takes you on a journey back to Melbourne in the 1940’s.

Funnily enough, despite the tiered seating and stage lights Callinan is able to create a surreal feeling where it’s almost as though you are sitting in his living room after a warm hearty dinner of chicken maryland stew, sipping red wine and listening to various tales of good company, giggling and flicking through old photo albums of the people you all know.  He’s easy to listen to and includes the audience reactions, engaging all with fabulous comedic timing including when a phone goes off!

The atmosphere is set with the creative use of projection that includes precious old photographs, images of his family, his nieces drawings, well thought out text and funny movie poster photoshopped slides.  There is a fabulous use of a female voice over, and simple music for transitions that break up the storyline to create interest.  What Callinan is drawing us into through this performance is a slice of his family life that is relatable and to be rejoiced.  Held together with love, selected scenes are highlighted based on his mother’s diary entries which include writings of when she was dating and first met his father.  He uses the joke of “The Kathleen Stakes” that builds momentum as the show unfolds and we wait with baited breath which horse to back and who comes in first – or in this case, which man will win his mother’s heart.

Callinan does a tremendous job of bringing his mother’s memories back to life on stage, mixing it with moments from his father’s journals and providing us all with many good Melbournian laughs that take us through Northcote, Watsonia, Preston, Brunswick, Ringwood, and most definitely not through Templestowe down Blackburn Rd on a Friday night!  His characters are real, as his family is, and Callinan includes some incredibly touching stories here that are so heartfelt and genuine.  Able to make us laugh instead of cry, you reach for tissues but find yourself sitting up laughing out loud.

This show is a gem sitting in a treasure box at the back of your garage.  Bring out the super 8 movies and get ready to reminisce. The Catholic jokes are funny, as is the use of the bell provided to an audience member and the references to hawaiian pizza and senior’s meals.  You remember the Holeproof Factory, understand taking a trip to Dan Murphy’s and heading to Northland.  As Aussies, we all relate.

Far from being “weak as piss”, Damian Callinan will set you up for a truly “beaut night” where he offers hilarity as a comedian whilst being captivating as an entertainer.