STEVE MARESCA plays Norman Bruhn

Norman Bruhn was a notorious and violent Australian dockworker, armed robber and standover man with links to the criminal underworld in both Melbourne and Sydney. Bruhn’s criminal gang used the straight razor as a weapon of terror. They are attributed as Australia’s first ‘razor gang’ at the beginning of gang violence in Sydney in the late 1920s, known as the ‘razor gang wars’.

As an actor, people often ask me if it is hard to play a “villain”? An actor cannot see “heroes” or “villains” with who they are portraying, only people. Reading Norman’s life story, I saw a man full of ambition to be at the top of the table, and he would not let anyone get in his way. History was a favourite subject of mine in school, and to get to tell these stories of a turbulent time in Sydney’s history is quite a joy.