Life Member Interview - Ken Painter

Written by Grant Kennedy for Frankston Theatre Group’s Life Member Interview Series.

Ken Painter was made a Life Member of Frankston Theatre Group in 2004, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Group and many years spent working behind the scenes.

Born in Daylesford, Ken was the youngest of eight children. Sadly, his father passed away

when Ken was just two years old. The family later moved to Mildura, where they lived for six or seven years, before settling in Mornington in 1966.

Ken attended Dromana Technical School and, after leaving school, began a career in telecommunications. His first job was with the Postmaster-General’s Department, better known as the PMG, which later became Telecom and eventually Telstra. Ken spent 30 years with the organisation.

In 2002, he established his own company, Telken Pty Ltd. The business successfully secured contracts with companies including BlueScope Steel, Esso and Telstra. Telken also supported Frankston Theatre Group by sponsoring several productions and awards. Ken retired from full-time work in 2017.

Ken and his wife, Grace, joined FTG in 1989, although his introduction to theatre had come earlier through the Triangle Theatre Group in Hastings, where he met Grace.

Grace was appearing in Fur Coat and No Knickers when Ken was roped into helping backstage one evening. It proved to be the beginning of a long association with community theatre.

Over the years, Ken took on almost every kind of behind-the-scenes role at FTG. He served as President and Committee Member, as well as Production Manager and Stage Manager, and was involved in virtually every aspect of backstage work.

One particularly memorable production came in the 1990s, when Ken was Production Manager for FTG’s first show presented at the newly opened Frankston Arts Centre: Two Weeks with the Queen. Ken remembers it as an excellent schools production featuring some wonderful young talent. Around 800 school students travelled from across the area to see the show.

When asked about some of the more amusing moments from his years in theatre, Ken recalled working backstage at an opening event for the Frankston Arts Centre in 1995.

The Welsh Male Choir was performing, and the director of the event, Nina Cooke, had decided to cut the number of songs they were to perform by half. Unfortunately, nobody had told the choir.

At the end of one song, the Stage Manager brought the curtain down, much to the surprise of the singers, who believed they still had more songs to perform. It apparently took some persuasion to convince them that their time on stage had come to an end.

Ken’s own acting career was considerably shorter than his backstage career. He appeared in a one-act play at The Shed alongside Cynthia Dawson and Alma Ellis, directed by Pam McNeilly. Ken recalls keeping his script hidden inside a newspaper during the performance. It was great fun, but he freely admits that his real strength was always behind the scenes.

Another FTG tradition Ken remembers fondly was the Christmas shows at the Mechanics Hall. These productions included a chicken and champagne supper for the audience, which created almost as much activity backstage as the show itself.Before interval, plates of salad and bread would be prepared and laid out. The chicken would arrive around 15 minutes before the interval, at which point the team would quickly plate everything and have supper ready to serve, complete with champagne, as soon as the lights came up.

It was hard work and required plenty of coordination, but Ken remembers that, thanks to a great team, it usually went off without a hitch.

These days, retirement has given Ken and Grace the opportunity to enjoy another shared passion: travel. Together they have travelled widely, including cruises across several oceans to the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as trips throughout Asia and further afield.

After decades of productions, committees, backstage work and the countless practical jobs that keep a theatre company running, Ken’s contribution is a reminder that some of community theatre’s most important people are not always the ones standing in the spotlight.