Di Smith excited to be part of Wild Thing play at Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre

Actor and producer Di Smith, the well-loved Dr Alex Fraser character in A Country Practice, who has for a decade also entertained viewers in The Great Outdoors, said, "its a beautiful piece, very funny and very real".

Smith - fresh from being part of the production of The Fall Guy film alongside Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt - will be part Wild Thing, which goes goes on stage on Tuesday, April 18, at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre.

Smith is starring with fellow prolific actors Katrina Foster, Di Adams, Helen O'Connor, Lewis Fitzgerald and Tony Poli about a strong bond of friendship between four women who led different lives but were besties since high school meeting up for "Musketeer's dinner" every now and then.

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Now in their 60s, Jackie portrayed by Smith whose character is experiencing a life crisis, Foster as Susan, Adams as Elizabeth, and O'Connor as Frances, have decided to let their hair down during a weekend trip to Jackie's country home.

Producers of this play being brought to regional theatres across NSW by the Arts On Tour are warning viewers about strong language, drug use, loud gunshot, and references to suicide that can remind viewers about "your own pulse under your skin".

Smith said the play reunited her with her old friends who are now stalwarts in Australia's entertainment industry, particularly Hawley who is "brilliant, bold, and completely unique".

Hawley, a novelist, has written for films and TV bringing home several Australian Film Industry trophies and nominations, first winning the AFI award for best screenplay of the mini-series Bodysurfer and nominations for Wendy Cracked a Walnut and Ring of Scorpio.

"If [a scene in the] play wasn't funny, it could be confronting, we all have to face these scary things as we get older," Hawley said.

"But this play is not about women ageing but about women having friendships which fascinate me ... sometimes we can be loyal and sometimes we're not."

Smith and Hawley have been friends since sharing a flat together in their 20s, and during the lockdown they thought was a miserable moment in their lives, they decided to take a chance on producing the play that Hawley has "kept under the drawers".

"There was a whisper of a chance as we emerged from the inferno, heartbreak, and lockdown which was 2020 that we could get Wild Thing onto the stage. We took it," Smith said.

"January saw us rehearsing at NIDA [National Institute of Dramatic Art], one of the most rehearsal periods of my career.

"Not only because it was thrilling to produce but because the cast and creatives I had in front of me made that magic mix of a perfect company. It was a great room to be in. We laughed so much and argued so hard the way actors, writers and directors do."

Smith was Blunt's script supervisor in The Full Guy and said her "small role" has however showed her a glimpse of how Gosling and Blunt are typical "family oriented people even while there is a lot of Hollywood around them".

"It's interesting to see when people are so well known and we forget that their whole life is not so far different from others," she said.

"Ryan is so lovely even though I didn't work with him as I was working with Emily a lot ... Ryan [and his wife the actor Eva Mendes and their two children] has his whole family spending six months living in the eastern suburbs not far from where I live and everyone said he's such a delight.

"Emily [and her actor husband John Krasinski] brought their kids but had to go back to England for school ... everybody seems to want to stay in Australia in summer."

But Smith said she is mesmerised by how the two famous actors lived ordinary lives, similar to her real-life besties in Aussie actors Miranda Otto and Toni Collette.

"They're all living in that echelon but also have particular challenges as families they have kids and school and are they doing their homework."

As for Wild Thing, Hawley said she was in tears when she found out the play would come to life on stage because it will tell the story of what it was like growing up during a different era than today.

"I am laughing and crying ... It is funnier and more poignant than I could ever have believed, thanks to them.

"They are sensational so whatever the underlying message in the play, it is sugar-coated with the joy of having the characters and their enduring friendship since childhood.

"I feel sorry for kids growing up these days because theirs is no longer a journey of discovery ... somehow I am not sorry I didn't grow up in this generation."

You can book your tickets here. Wild Thing will also be shown at Orange and Bathurst.