Pamela Rabe & Bert LaBonté to join August: Osage County

We are thrilled to share that Australian stage and screen legends Pamela Rabe and Bert LaBonté are joining our Perth season of August: Osage County. 

The iconic duo are currently starring in Belvoir’s production in Sydney as the formidable matriarch Violet Weston, and her son-in-law Bill Fordham, respectively. 

You'll know Pamela from her unforgettable role as Joan "The Freak" Ferguson in TV’s Wentworth, as well as from the films Sirens, Cosi and Paradise Road. She’s also starred in countless iconic theatre classics including The Cherry Orchard, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, My Fair Lady, The Glass Menagerie, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

One of Australia’s leading men, Bert LaBonté recently captivated audiences as Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. You might remember him as Sam Pickles in the epic adaptation of Tim Winton's classic Cloudstreet, or from his musical roles in The Book of Mormon, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Chess. On TV, he's appeared in Five Bedrooms, The Newsreader, Playing for Keeps, and Upper Middle Bogan. 

Pamela and Bert join an exceptional cast of seven local Perth actors including Caroline Brazier (Things I Know To Be True, The Children); Geoff Kelso (The Seed, The Pool); Amy Mathews (Toast, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll); Hayley McElhinney (Dirty Birds, Oil); Will O’Mahony (Things I Know To Be True, Assassins); Rohan Nichol (Plainsong, Red Dog); and Ben Mortley (York, Laughter on the 23rd Floor). Rounding out the thirteen-strong ensemble cast is Bee Cruse, Anna Samson, Greg Stone and Esther Williams. 

Widely regarded as one of the best plays of the 21st century, August: Osage County promises to be a blockbuster production – and with Pamela and Bert making their Heath Ledger Theatre debuts, it will be an experience not to be missed! 

Scroll down to read full bios for Pamela and Bert.

August: Osage County is at the Heath Ledger Theatre from 27 February – 16 March.

Pamela’s most recent Belvoir credits include The Cherry Orchard, Dance of Death, Ghosts and The Glass Menagerie. From over 100 productions, other theatre highlights include The Children, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Grey Gardens, The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, A Little Night Music, Private Lives, A Room of One’s Own, Much Ado About Nothing, The Wizard of Oz and, while a founding member of the Sydney Theatre Company’s Actors’ Ensemble, several acclaimed productions including Mother Courage and Her Children, Benedict Andrews’ The War Of The Roses, The Season at Sarsaparilla, and Barry Kosky’s The Lost Echo. She has recently returned from performing in the National Theatre UK/Alexander Zeldin Company’s production of The Confessions in London and throughout Europe. Pamela has also directed plays for the Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company and the Malthouse Theatre.

Her work in television includes The Secret Life of Us, Fucking Adelaide, Rosehaven, Deadloch, Bay of Fires and Wentworth. She has appeared in several feature films including Sirens, Paradise Road, Vacant Possession, Cosi, and The Well.

Pamela has received many accolades for her theatre, film and television work, including Helpmann, Green Room, Logie, Variety Club, Stockholm Film Festival and AFI/AACTRA awards and she was recently recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her distinguished services to the Arts.

One of Australia’s leading men, Bert LaBonté recently captivated audiences as Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Other musical theatre credits include: The Book of Mormon (Watchtower Productions), Helpmann Award Winner An Officer and a Gentleman (Gordon Frost Organisation), Chess (The Production Company), Grey Gardens (The Production Company), and others. His Melbourne Theatre Company credits include: The Truth, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lungs, Rupert, Birdland, The Mountaintop, Elling and others. For Sydney Theatre Company, he has performed in Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, All My Sons, The Grenade and Spelling Bee, and his Malthouse Theatre credits include: Cloudstreet, I am A Miracle, Time Share.

Screen credits include Colin From Accounts (Binge), Erotic Stories (SBS), Five Bedrooms (Networks Ten), Pieces of Her (Netflix), Lie With Me (Fremantle), FISK (ABC), The Newsreader (ABC), Surviving Summer (Netflix/Werner Film Productions), More Than This (Baby Banksia), Jack Irish (ABC), Wentworth (Foxtel), Playing for Keeps (Network Ten), Upper Middle Bogan (ABC), Tomorrow When The War Began (ABC), Lowdown (ABC), Wilfred (ABC), The Let Down (ABC/Netflix), and Squinters (SBS). Film credits including Animal Kingdom (Porchlight Films) and The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee (Kathy Morgan International).

Bert had also just made is Directorial debut with Melbourne Theatre Company’s Topdog/Underdog.