Last time Ben Caplan was in Australia, he was accompanied by a band called the Casual Smokers — a motley crew who helped their frontman spark a gnarly jamboree of pluck-and-twang folk ballads. But, after a stint at Sydney Festival, he's fired the band, kept their instruments and taken up acting (beard in-tow).
Old Stock is being billed as a refugee love story and, with a multitude of instruments strewn about the stage, there's no chance this is going to be a spoken word gig. Seizing upon the Jewish musical tradition of the klezmer folk tale, Caplan will set about rattling off the tale of two Romanian Jews looking to make a new home in Canada in the early 20th century. If you're desperate for a seat in the front row, some sort of face-protector wouldn't go astray — Old Stock's won a bunch of plaudits and when Caplan dances, Edinburgh Fringe Awards tend to fall out of his trousers.
Caplan will do just five shows at the Arts Centre between January 29 and February 2.
Image: Stoo Metz Photography.