HUMAN SACRIFICE THEATRE is a relatively new independent theatre company,
having performed 4 shows so far which have gradually moved away from naturalism
into, with Sam Shepherd’s latest hit “The Late Henry Moss”, a show that is still very
real, raw and confronting in its exploration of human relationships, but that also
incorporates elements of mysticism, the unknown, and the sense that there is an
unseen force at play.

   Actor and producer Mark Diaco formed the company in 2006 in order to be able to
stage and act in Sam Shepherd’s “True West”, and he and his company have had a
mutually beneficial relationship with Chapel off Chapel, where all Human Sacrifice
Theatre’s plays are performed, ever since. The company now has a sizable following
amongst the Stonnington community to the point where it can even afford to
occasionally pay its actors. Even when it can’t, they have no trouble finding high
quality performers who are happy to work for free and benefit from the company’s
outstanding reputation for attracting high quality performers and directors and
producing work that receives rave reviews.
Mark used to act out Batman comics as a child but didn’t know he wanted to be an
actor until his high school sweetheart volunteered him for the role of “Kaniki” in
Grease, and he got those exhilarating yet petrifying feelings in his stomach. “The
minute you lose the nerves, the butterfly in your gut, you should look for another job”,
he says.

   Director David Myles agrees: “I love it when actors say after the show they were
frightened of doing what I wanted them to do, or that they were on the verge of
refusing to do it because it was so confronting”.
The Late Henry Moss is the last in a series of plays influenced by writer Sam
Shepherd’s relationship with his father, who was a raging alcoholic, as two brothers
get together to reminisce over a bottle of booze. Henry Moss appears on stage as he is
remembered by one of the brothers, and his 40 years younger girlfriend, a mystical,
almost shamanic character, conveys the fact that the old man really died on the inside
25 years before his physical death.

   It is the interplay of mysticism with the brutal reality of the family relationships that
intrigued David most about Henry Moss. The live musicians on stage add layers of
meaning to the dialogue and action.

   Some of the most rewarding parts of this production, particularly for director David
Myles, has been the joy of seeing people realise they can do something they didn’t
think they could, the psychological aspect of actors making themselves vulnerable and
placing absolute trust in the director, harmonising disparate personalities on a
professional and personal level, and seeing the bonds, friendships and heightened
relationships that develop out of working so closely together in a rehearsal room,
where there’s nowhere to hide.

   The Late Henry Moss explores the fragilities of a family and sibling rivalry in a way
that only acclaimed and highly sought after actor-writer Sam Shepherd is capable of,
and, like all good theatre, it has an ending that allows each audience member to draw
their own meaning and apply their own interpretation.