Award in the wings

David Greenaway changed the face of theatre in the hills when he established the GemcoPlayers more than 30 years ago and his efforts were rewarded with the Cardinia ShireCouncil’s Community Service Award on Australia Day this year. Nicole Williams tried to find out what makes him tick.
BY HIS own admission, David Greenaway is not a dramatic person and knows nothing about drama.
So it might surprise some that he almost single-handedly established Gemco Players, a community theatre group encompassing Gembrook, Emerald, Monbulk, Cockatoo and Olinda more than 30 years ago.
The idea for the group started one night in 1980 when David was alone and wanted to meet some people in his community, having moved to Australia from England in 1977.
“It was boredom, basically,” he said.
“I was a single person living in my house in Menzies Creek and there are only so many maths books you can mark so I stuck a notice in the milk bar.”
That notice enticed 20 people to turn up to the first meeting, interested in being part of a community theatre group, and each one walked away with a role in Gemco’s first production – a ‘forgettable’ musical melodrama to be performed in only two months’ time, according to David.
Even after years as a maths teacher in Australia and England, David admitted to being nervous during that first meeting.
“My motivation was just to have a little meeting,” he said.
“I was nervous because I had only taught children and youth through school, never really in front of adults.
“But that was the birth of Gemco with 20 people in 1980.”
“We started with a musical melodrama with meals,” he said.
“There were no back stage people – we were the backstage!”
Gemco Players also has a youth theatre group, which started within six months of that fateful meeting, and which David still leads.
“What would keep me younger than working with young people?” he said.
“The social side of any group is important.”
These days there are well over 100 people associated with the group, who have performed in more than 65 different venues, including a nudist club in Gembrook.
The constant moving and lack of storage led David and his cohorts to put the wheels in motion to build their own theatre and community centre, The Gem, which opened in Emerald in 2009.
According to David, his love for theatre did not start with the Gemco Players.
As a child growing up in England, he helped his builder father construct a new church – which included a stage.
He is reminded regularly of that stage by a scar on his wrist, caused by a wayward chisel, and he went back to the church during a recent visit to the UK.
“I was there on my own and I walked away from that church and thought, maybe that is where I got the interest,” he said.
That interest developed during his career as a maths teacher, where he volunteered for numerous school productions.
David’s love for the theatre is obvious during our interview, which is peppered with references to films and plays – some performed by Gemco Players and some he has seen elsewhere.
But he will not admit to having any more than a common interest in theatre and drama.
“I am only a math teacher, I don’t know anything about drama,” David said.
“I just watch and pick up things.”
David’s role has always been primarily behind the stage, although he occasionally walks the boards, like in the current production of Wait Until Dark where he plays a policeman – with three lines. It may be a small part but David seemed almost surprised it was offered to him.
In recognition of his 40-plus years of volunteer service to the township of Emerald, David was awarded the Cardinia Shire Council’s Community Service Award on Australia Day this year.
In his speech, Mayor Ed Chatwin listed David’s achievements as president on Gemco Players, manager of The Gem, member of the Emerald Village Committee, Emerald Community House chairman and founding member of PAVE Festival – the list goes on.
David admits that volunteering comes with a level of satisfaction but it can not become the reason for giving time.
“You do it for your personal satisfaction, I don’t disagree with that, but as soon as you start looking for recognition, you lose the point of why you are doing it.”
When trying to describe his pride of receiving the Australia Day recognition, David refers to a story from his days in England.
As a farewell before his move to Australia, the school where he was teaching threw him a party.
“They put on this farewell thing and 250 people turned up.
You don’t forget things like that but I don’t sit there thinking about it all day.”
“But I did feel good about it (winning the Australia Day award) and I am proud.”