In 2016, Jamie Oxenbould played two characters in The Literati, Justin Fleming’s adaptation of Molière’s Les Femmes Savantes (The Learned Ladies) – the good-hearted but impoverished Clinton and the hen-pecked father of the girl he hoped to marry.

In one hilarious, unforgettable scene, the two characters went head-to-head. “… Oxenbould’s one-man dialogue between father and prospective son-in-law drew spontaneous applause on opening night for its vaudevillian brilliance,” wrote Limelight’s Digital Editor Jason Blake in a review for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Mark Kilmurry, the Artistic Director of Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre, has long been aware of Oxenbould’s comic genius. They first worked together in 2008 on You Talkin’ to Me? Diary of an Olympic Cabbie, which Kilmurry adapted from Anthony Sharwood’s book and directed at the Ensemble.

Jamie Oxenbould and Mark Kilmurry. Photo © Karen Watson

“Jamie was perfect as the jobbing taxi driver during the Olympics and since then we have collaborated on many plays, around nine or 10 I think, from Neil Simon to brand-new work and adaptations. He is always a pleasure to work with and be in the rehearsal room with,” says Kilmurry.

“Jamie also played...