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‘One more sleep’: Craig McLachlan returns to stage

Craig McLachlan performing in the Rocky Horror Show production.

Craig McLachlan performing in the Rocky Horror Show production.

Actor Craig McLachlan will return to the stage within weeks, months after being cleared of sexual assault allegations against four women.

McLachlan will play US country music legend Hank Williams in the production Nobody Lonesome For Me, which opens in Perth in July.

“One more sleep”, McLachlan teased in a caption accompanying a photo of himself as the country crooner on Instagram on Wednesday.

The 55-year-old has not performed on stage since he was cleared last December of assault allegations while on the set of the Rocky Horror Show in 2014.

In May, ahead of a tell-all Seven Network documentary, McLachlan and partner Vanessa Scammell launched an impassioned defence of his character.

“This is not just about a headline for the day, this is ruining lives,” an emotional McLachlan said in a video, also posted to his 10,000 followers on Instagram.

“Not just me, you want to crucify me? Fine. Look what it’s done to my beautiful partner, look what it continues to do to my family every day.”

The Gold Logie-winner, who has always maintained his innocence, raged about the “absolute demolition” of his life as a result of the allegations.

“The crucifixion was so brutal,” he said.

McLachlan was charged with seven counts of indecent assault and six counts of common law assault after accusations by several female cast members working on the 2014 Rocky Horror production.

He was stood down from the Rocky Horror Show and The Doctor Blake Mysteries after he was charged.

The Victorian Magistrates Court dismissed the charges in late 2020. However, in her 105-page decision, Magistrate Belinda Wallington said she wanted known the four complainants “were brave and honest witnesses”.

She rejected McLachlan’s suggestions the women colluded against him.

The magistrate noted laws around the standard of proof required for consent had changed since the time of the allegations.

Nobody Lonesome For Me also has performance dates in South Australia, Tasmania, regional NSW and Queensland.

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