Actors Peter Houghton and Anne Browning met in Melbourne in 1997 while cast in a production of Hamlet. They were both single and playing lovers on stage. Houghton remembers seeing Browning for the first time in the Melbourne Theatre Company cafeteria. She had a sleepy, grumpy face. He noticed her intense green eyes. He thought she was very attractive but also quite formidable.
A Vintage Magazine and a Coincidence
At first, their interactions were a bit awkward. Humour helped break the ice. They would sit on the dusty floor of the rehearsal room in their tracksuits. The director was often working with another actor. Instead of practicing their lines, they flipped through faded 1970s magazines left in the corner. They joked about the models in flared trousers and chopped beards.
One day, Houghton flipped to the horoscopes. He asked Browning what the stars had in store for them. She told him her sign was Scorpio, which was the same as his. He just wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. But when he read the prediction, it stopped him. The text said he had met someone through work who would be one of the most important people in his life, perhaps a partner and soulmate.
It felt weird and uncanny. They laughed it off. Houghton felt embarrassed because it sounded like a calculated romantic ploy. He quickly turned the page. Somewhere in his brain, he knew it was the truth.
From Stage Lovers to Real Life
Later, when the show was well underway, they were walking along St Kilda Road after a performance. They stopped at the lights. Houghton summoned the courage to say he had a crush on her. Browning looked at him and replied, “Well, that’s good. Isn’t it?”
Houghton took her understated response as confirmation that she felt the same way. It was very much her style. He liked that it had a question mark on the end of it. After the show closed, their connection grew. They officially became a couple. They filled their days and nights with dinner and theatre dates.
Browning was living with her sister. Houghton was living in a big groovy warehouse in Richmond with other actors. He liked that when she came to his place, the bohemian setting made him look a bit more impressive and artistic than he was.
Early on, they went on a hiking trip to Wilsons Prom. They were massively overpacked. It quickly emerged that neither of them was good at camping. As soon as they got back to the car, they made a beeline to KFC. They gorged themselves on fried chicken after days of miserable camping stodge. They were secretly thankful they were not in nature anymore. Browning was violently ill all the way back. All that rich food after rehydrated dust exposed them as kind of daggy on that trip. That was OK.
Houghton and Browning share a clown-like heart. Over the decades, this has helped them through hard times. Big life events like losing a parent have been somewhat easier because there is a levity and lightness Browning brings. She never lets him go into the dark places or stay there for too long.
Since meeting in that rehearsal room, they have spent almost 30 years together. They have had two children and performed all over the world. Romantic love has its seasons. Really loving someone also has to do with trust. Houghton trusts her implicitly. She trusts him. They do not let each other down. They always show up for each other when it matters. They help each other realise their own dreams. That is the thing about having a teammate you can rely on. It is priceless.
They met working with each other as theatre artists. They are still doing that now after all these years. A magazine from the 70s with an out-of-date horoscope written by a charlatan brought them together. Houghton does not believe in horoscopes. But he does believe in that one.
Peter Houghton, Anne Browning and Tom Gutteridge perform in the world premiere of Crapbox. The show runs from 27 October to 7 November at the Explosives Factory in St Kilda, Melbourne.
Source: The Guardian
