Category: Performance

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde at Vertigo Theatre – Interview Joe Perry

Posted on by James Hutchison
Joe Perry in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media

The Vertigo Theatre production of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde promises love – betrayal – and murder – and it delivers all three in a highly theatrical production all brought to life by a terrific cast under the artful direction of Javier Vilalta.  

Joe Perry takes on the role of the tortured genius in a physically demanding and nightmare-filled performance. Daniel Fong is the voice of reason as Dr. Jekyll’s friend Hastings Lanyon. Grant Tilly plays Gabriel Utterson whose investigations eventually reveal the true relationship between Hyde and Jekyll. And Allison Lynch plays Eleanor Lanyon a smart complex woman who finds herself being drawn towards darkness and obsession.

This is a story of mystery and horror and the lighting, costumes, live music performed by the actors, the towering brick walls, and intermittent fog all add to the growing sense of dread and doom. Nick Lane’s script is faithful to the original story while providing some new and exciting elements. The play works best when there are big bold moments as we follow Jekyll – a man whose desire to provide the world with scientific knowledge – is thwarted by the monstrous pleasure-driven animalistic side of his own humanity.

I contacted Joe Perry to talk with him about the production and the process of bringing this classic tale to the Vertigo stage.

JAMES HUTCHISON

What does Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde say about the light and the darkness that dwells in all of us?

JOE PERRY

It’s really looking at that duality and what happens when desperation and unintended consequences put you in a situation where you have to reconcile your own morals. Dr. Jekyll starts out doing his research looking to leave his mark on humanity but there is this unintended consequence. He feels released physically. Because as Dr. Jekyll he’s trapped in this physically ill body and when he becomes Hyde he’s free. But that freedom has consequences. And now he has to make a choice. Does he move towards that freedom that he gets with Hyde, or does he continue his work with the integrity that he originally intended?

And I also think part of the exploration is that we all have thoughts that are not something we’re proud of or something that we would say out loud, but the repression of that – of its very existence – is not going to make them go away. It’s just going to bottle them up and then they’ll explode out in an animalistic way. I think possibly that’s a bit of what people are afraid of in themselves. And being Hyde gives him this freedom and this release but at a cost to everyone around him and at the cost of his own sanity and at the cost of people’s lives and safety. And yet he can’t not do it because that freedom is so tantalizing.

Daniel Fong, Grant Tilly, and Allison Lynch in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media

JAMES

Besides yourself, this production features three other well-known actors to Calgary audiences. There’s Daniel Fong, Allison Lynch, and Grant Tilly. They’re all playing multiple characters in this version of the story. What was the rehearsal process like? What sort of discussions amongst yourselves did you have about Jekyll and Hyde as you brought the story to life?

JOE

Well, our director Javier really challenged us, and we had some conversations about those moral questions that the play was bringing up. And it was a really free and interesting room to be in. I’ve never been in a rehearsal hall like this because Javier works so visually. He has these beautiful stage pictures in his head that he’s putting together. And he sees all these design elements and the four of us are kind of like in this playground made of that but we’re not necessarily seeing all of the elements as he’s seeing them. So, we were able to play and extend in a way that you don’t get to do in a lot of plays.

And I think you see that in a lot of the characters. I think Grant, Allison, and Daniel have transformations as actors on stage as profound as the Jekyll and Hyde transformations. And their characters are just so wonderfully crafted by each of them that it’s really an honour to share the stage with them. They’re people that I have worked with before or I have watched on stage and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. So, I am just sitting here in full gratitude every day to be able to share the stage with them.

  • Joe Perry and Daniel Fong in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media
  • Grant Tilly and Joe Perry in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media
  • Grant Tilly, Allison Lynch, Joe Perry and Daniel Fong The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media
  • Daniel Fong and Joe Perry in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media
  • Joe Perry in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media
  • Allison Lynch and Joe Perry in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media
  • Joe Perry and Daniel Fong in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media

JAMES

You mentioned that Javier uses a lot of physicality. And the play contains theatrical moments – moments that stick with you – and it’s exciting to see a production embrace that. How did some of those key moments evolve?

JOE

There’s a fight in the play that Javier had seen in his head and we kind of choreographed that together. He knew when he wanted it to go in slow motion and when he wanted it to be an extended, brutal, very theatrical sort of fight sequence. So that was sort of starting from the design first and then putting the movements into what he wanted to do.

But then with something like the first transformation from Jekyll to Hyde, he gave me a framework of where the lights would be and then he let me sort of free flow into it and he’d say, “More. You can go more.”

My favourite bit as an actor and something that I haven’t had the opportunity to do since theatre school is the final shattering of Hyde where it gets really expressionistic in the physicality. That was another bit where Javier told me to, “Just surrender to the physicality. This is not a moment of realism. This is a moment of extension. This is a shattering of the psyche and just surrender to it.”

And being able to do that as an actor is cathartic because you get to extend beyond what you would see in a naturalistic play, or what you would be able to experience in a naturalistic play. So that catharsis was really fun. And Javi had real specific ideas of what these characters would look like and then when he put them over into our hands he was really open to seeing where we were going with them and there was a real give and take and support.

JAMES

How is it to be back on stage and in particular the Vertigo Stage?

JOE

Honestly, it’s just an absolute joy. I was lucky enough to do The Extractionist by Michaela Jeffery here last year. That was the first play I’d done in four years. I mean, it’s my lifeblood. I missed it. I’ve missed it through the pandemic. Stepping away from the stage for that long was never the intention. And the Vertigo audiences are generous and committed. And it’s just a pleasure being able to play these characters on stage. I can’t even really begin to express my gratitude. 

JAMES

Jekyll and Hyde are pretty iconic characters in the Western Cannon. They’re pretty well known and played by all sorts of actors in all sorts of adaptions including Spencer Tracey and Lon Chaney during the silent movie era.

JOE

That was one of the first ones I watched.

JAMES

What did you think?

JOE

It was great. Interesting and totally different themes. 

JAMES

Yeah, totally. And that’s the neat thing. Do you think maybe part of what makes something a classic is its ability to be flexible in its interpretation?

JOE

Yes. The short answer is yes. The long answer is that this narrative is in almost everything that we watch. It’s Fight Club. It’s The Hulk. Jekyll and Hyde is in almost every movie. It’s in almost every play. Everybody knows Jekyll and Hyde on the macro scale. They know – take a potion and become someone else. It’s The Nutty Professor. And you can explore so many different themes. Nick Lane’s adaptation explores some very specific experiences in his life. Javier’s interpretation of Nick’s adaptation is Javier exploring his own things. And then my acting of Jekyll and Hyde is exploring my own thing. It’s just such a wonderful and rich conduit to explore the human condition because essentially, it’s about the duality of man, which I think is a pretty age-old question in philosophy and art.

Allison Lynch in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Photo Fifth Wall Media

JAMES

There’s a female character Eleanor Lanyon who is new to the story in this adaptation and she seems to have a dual nature in many ways too.

JOE

Yeah, she’s a rich and complex character as well. And the way that Allison portrays Eleanor is super rich and complex. She’s dealing with more than just the potion and the science. She’s dealing with the constraints of a marriage that isn’t fulfilling. She’s dealing with the constraints of the time in society. And this is totally just my own look at that character. But I think she is really struggling with so many different constraints that the men in the play aren’t. We’re doing things for our hubris and honour. She’s doing things for her freedom and her autonomy.

JAMES

So, you got to play Jekyll and Hyde and there are other iconic characters like Hamlet, Poirot, and Sherlock Holmes in the Western canon. Are there other characters – well-known or not – that hold a particular fascination for you that you would like to play?

JOE

I mean, Hamlet is an easy answer. But if we’re going with Shakespeare Prince Hal has had a special part in my heart for a long time. Just an interesting character to me. And I’ve always wanted to do Sam Shepard’s True West with my brother Stafford. But to be honest my passion lies in playing new characters. I love new work. I love working on new plays. I love incepting new characters. 

JAMES

What is it that fascinates you about the creation of new work?

JOE

It’s alive. Reprising old work is alive too. You can always look at something through a new lens. But having the ability to take new interesting voices from our communities that are speaking about current contexts and being able to explore that in a way where it’s not going up against an existing benchmark that’s already there or trying to contextualize something from another time into this time I find really exciting. I think there are so many unique interesting Canadian – Calgarian – Albertan voices. And every time I see these new works at any festival or on the larger stages I find it thrilling. Workshopping or acting in a new play in any sort of capacity or a new movie is my passion for sure.

JAMES

That’s where your heart lies, does it?

JOE

Part of it. But it’s always fun to go and see iconic characters. Everybody knows Jekyll and Hyde or Hamlet and the question is how can I authentically bring myself to this role? How can I make it something that’s current and something that’s interesting and something that says something that nobody else could have because so many people have said their own thing with it already? So that’s been a lovely challenge and something I always welcome. And I’m really proud of the work, and I’m really proud of the room, and I’m really proud of all of the people that are involved in this production.

***

VERTIGO THEATRE presents

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
By Robert Louis Stevenson. Adapted by Nick Lane
Four actors bring Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic horror to life.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde features Joe Perry as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Daniel Fong as Hastings Lanyon, Allison Lynch as Eleanor Lanyon, and Grant Tilly as Gabriel Utterson with Bernardo Pacheco and Tiffany Thomas as Understudies.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is written by Robert Louis Stevenson and adapted by Nick Lane. Directed by Javier Vilalta, Set Design by Lauren Acheson, Costume Design by Ralamy Kneeshaw, Lighting Design by John Webber, Sound Design, Composition and Musical Direction by Kristin Eveleigh, Dialect Coaching by Laurann Brown, Fight & Intimacy Direction by Brianna Johnston, Stage Management by Laurel Oneil, Ashley Rees and Caaryn Sadoway.

Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell – Interview Nathan Schmidt

Posted on by James Hutchison
Nathan Schmidt as W.O. Mitchell in the Rosebud Theatre production of Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell.

Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell is a joyful, fun, and feel-good night at the theatre all brought to life on the Rosebud Theatre’s Opera House stage in a brilliant performance by Nathan Schmidt.  

Based on the works of W.O. Mitchell and penned by his son and daughter-in-law, Orm and Barbara Mitchell, the play weaves together an entertaining and insightful script that travels between Mitchell’s fiction and the story of his life.

Mitchell was a writer, performer, and teacher who is best known for his 1947 novel Who Has Seen the Wind. The novel beautifully captures small-town life and the world as seen through the eyes of a young Brian O’Connal growing up on the Saskatchewan prairie. Mitchell is also known for his Jake and the Kid stories which were popular radio plays during the 1950s. No stranger to the stage himself W.O. Mitchell was a storyteller who performed his one-man shows across Canada and penned several plays for the stage including The Kite, The Devil’s Instrument, and The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon. 

I contacted Orm Mitchell to talk with him about his father’s work and the journey Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell took to reach the stage. You can read that interview by following the link above. I also spoke with Nathan Schmidt to talk with him about the production and the challenges of performing a one-man show.

JAMES HUTCHISON

What was your reaction when you first read the script and knew you were going to be playing W.O. Mitchell?

NATHAN SCHMIDT

I’ve done a couple of W.O. Mitchell shows. I’ve been in Jake and the Kid, and I’ve done The Kite twice, so lots about the script felt familiar, and I had experienced W.O.’s writing. So, I knew that he was funny, but the scarier thing was I thought, “Oh, man, I’ve got to play this real person who people know.” Whereas Daddy Sherry or Jake – those are characters. Those live in the imagination. It’s a different thing when somebody lives in the real world. And Morris Ertman our Artistic Director would say “When we open Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell all the family is going to come and watch the show.” And I was like, “Oh, my gosh. I’m going to have to play the father or the grandparent of these people in the audience.” So that was the most intimidating thing.

  • Morris Ertman and Orm Mitchell Opening Weekend Talk Back of Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell
  • Barbara and Orm Mitchell
  • Orm and Barbara Mitchell at Chapters Book Signing
  • 75th Anniversary Edition of Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell. Illustrated by William Kurelek. Available from Freehand Books.
  • W.O. Mitchell

JAMES

Even a one-man show needs a director. For this show, it was Karen Johnson-Diamond. How did the two of you work on the play? What was that process like?

NATHAN

As an actor, Karen has done a number of W.O. Mitchell plays. I think she had been in Who Has Seen the Wind and Jake the Kid and she had a love of W.O. Mitchell as well. So, she came in with a lot of love for the stories and a lot of knowledge about W.O. Mitchell. But she’s also just a wonderfully comedic actor and performer, and so her sense of comedy and her sense of how this thing would play was really just spot on. And all of the direction that she offered to me was really helpful to clarify the joke and to clarify how the show moves forward.

What she really loved about the structure of the play is how it follows him through his life from like six to seven when he loses his father – to ten to eleven – to high school – all the way through to Daddy Sherry and misses a bit of the middle, because as W.O. Mitchell says in the story – he’s kind of focused on the first part of life and the end part of life. Those are the concentrated bits that it seemed his imagination was drawn to.

So, we would do a lot of work with linking. Linking how this story moved to this story and then to this story. And W.O Mitchell had a way of making it feel like it was all sort of off the cuff, but in the end, it was all very planned, and he was coming back to stuff he’d set up earlier and he had really worked out how the punchlines worked and how the ideas and stories came around. So, we did a lot of work like that to try and get into the head of the writer and the storyteller. It was a great process. She was wonderful.

  • The Kite – Rosebud Theatre – 2019
  • The Sunset Limited – Rosebud Theatre – 2016
  • Freud’s Last Session – Rosebud Theatre – 2014
  • Doubt, A Parable – Rosebud Theatre – 2014
  • Fiddler on the Roof – Rosebud Theatre – 2008
  • Man of La Mancha – Rosebud Theatre – 2009
  • The Spitfire Grill – Rosebud Theatre – 2017
  • A Christmas Carol – Rosebud Theatre – 2020 & 2021
  • The Diary of Adam & Eve – Rosebud Theatre – 2011
  • Oliver! – Rosebud Theatre – 2010
  • Damien – Rosebud Theatre – 2018
  • The Drawer Boy – Rosebud Theatre – 2006
  • May & Joe – Rosebud Theatre – 2011
  • The Secret Garden – Rosebud Theatre – 2010
  • Jake and the Kid: Prairie Seasons – Rosebud Theatre – 2011
  • Underneath the Lintel – Rosebud Theatre Production – 2013
  • The Kite – Rosebud Theatre – 2005
  • The Lion, The Witch And the Wardrobe – Rosebud Theatre – 2014
  • An Inspector Calls – Rosebud Theatre – 2016
  • Stones In His Pockets – Rosebud Theatre – 2022
  • The Trip to Bountiful – Rosebud Theatre – 2023
  • Cotton Patch Gospell – Rosebud Theatre – 2013
  • It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play – Rosebud Theatre – 2013
  • Nathan Schmidt as W.O. Mitchell in the Rosebud Theatre production of Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell.

JAMES

This is your 50th performance on the Rosebud stage and so I’m wondering when you look back on all the parts you’ve played do some of those characters have a lasting influence on you in any way?

NATHAN

Yeah, there’s a couple that really stick – that I learned a lot about myself from and sometimes that’s uncomfortable. I was in Doubt by John Patrick Shanley and that was a really uncomfortable play for me to be in. It taught me a lot about who I am when I’m helpless and so those things kind of stick. The character teaches you something about who you really are because your instincts as a person are either in conflict with the character or line up with the character in ways that are surprising. That was a big one. I did a Cormac McCarthy play called The Sunset Limited and that was also another hard one.

As W.O. Mitchell says, those characters marked me. And I think the thing I love most is the relationship that characters create with the audience. One of my favourite things I ever got to do was The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey. I was playing one of the farmers. In The Drawer Boy, this young kid comes to hang out at the farm and find out about these two old guys. It was an older character, and I was younger, and I was really worried because it didn’t feel real. I didn’t feel in it, and I was really up in my head about it and nervous, you know,  that I was a fraud or I was going to fail, and then one of the things that actually cinched me into it was – I don’t remember how it came about – but maybe it was offered by Morris and he said, “Here’s a toothpick. Just chew on the toothpick for the whole show.”

And so, I would have these toothpicks in the show, and I just chewed on this toothpick the whole time, and it helped me feel like that cranky grumpy guy in that story. Well, you know, a bit later – after the run, I got a little blue index card in the mail and on it was glued a toothpick, and on the backside, this person had written, “We attended the show and your Morgan was like seeing my grandfather alive again, and he passed away in 80 whatever.” She was so clear that she had an experience of seeing her grandpa that day, and I was able to offer her unbeknownst to me an experience like that. And so, you know that play holds a special place for me too because of that story. It’s quite a lovely play.

W.O. Mitchell reading at Trent University

JAMES

W.O. Mitchell perfected the technique of appearing not to be performing. To be spontaneous and to appear as if he was telling the story for the first time. So, he’d draw his audience in through deliberate mistakes or confusion, he’d say, “Oh, did I tell you? Or I forgot to mention.” And in your performance, you totally capture that sense of spontaneous and unrehearsed storytelling. So much so that my son heard a couple of ladies leaving the theatre and they enjoyed the show, but they remarked that they were surprised that you seemed to lose your place and had to go back. Which means to them it was completely natural. So, to me you’re one of those actors who really achieves a feeling of reality in your performance no matter what part you’re playing. That’s a long speil just to ask, how do you do that?

NATHAN

Morris said this the other day and I think it’s true. I think when we get curious about people then we kind of fall in love with them. And I think it’s true of the characters we play, and I think in the rehearsal there is something about just falling in love with the reality of whoever they are and whatever drives them. You’ve heard it said that one of the actor’s adages is don’t judge the character even if you’re a villain. Villains are motivated by what they believe to be true or good or at least by what is in their best interests.

And I think the actor’s job overall – and W.O. Mitchell did this in spades too – is to collect people. To watch people and to observe what they do and why they do it without judgment and to allow them to steep into you and to become part of you and the energy of being them and how they participate in the world. It’s partly that and it’s partly just having fun. It’s just fun to try and make it as real as possible.

St. Sammy and Brian: St Sammy calling down the wrath of the Lord to smite Bent Candy's new red barn. Illustration by William Kurelek from 75th Anniversary Edition of Who Has Seen the Wind
Saint Sammy and Brian: Saint Sammy calling down the wrath of the Lord to smite Bent Candy’s new red barn. Illustration by William Kurelek from the 75th Anniversary Edition of Who Has Seen the Wind. Available from Freehand Books.

JAMES

You know, it’s interesting that you mentioned fun, and I think W.O. Mitchell is able to capture the feeling of childhood and play and imagination and curiosity. What are your thoughts about the child within you in terms of that living in you as an actor?

NATHAN

I have three kids now and when I watch the four-year-old and two-year-old play for them every game is real. They just believe it. My little guy just thinks he’s the Flash. He thinks he’s the fastest thing going and so he’ll be like, “Watch this Dad.” And he will just run through and he’s like, “You didn’t even see me, did you.” And I remember as a kid wearing my North Star Velcro runners and those are the fastest shoes, and I can run so fast in my North Star shoes because they’ve got shooting stars on them and that makes my feet fast. And I believed it to be true.

Our adult logic brains know it’s not true, but it could be in your imagination. And the audience does the same thing. They all know they’re not seeing W.O. Mitchell. Karen said, “Nobody’s coming to see the actual W.O. Mitchell. They’re coming to have an experience of W.O. Mitchell and if we deliver it in a way that doesn’t give them any reason to doubt too much – then the audience will let their imagination see me as him.” And so, you know, I think our imagination is a remarkable and amazing gift, and I think as creatives we may access it a little bit more at times, but it’s there for everyone. They just have to access it.

JAMES

This is storytelling at its simplest and best. One actor. Minimal set. What is it like for you as a performer doing a one-man show? How do you create that connection with your audience?

NATHAN

I’ve done a number of one-person shows now and it gets to be a lonely room as opposed to having one or two other people or a group of actors to hang out with. It can be lonely in that way, but the audience really becomes the best friend of the show. And especially in something like this where it’s such a direct address. The whole point of the show is the relationship of the storyteller to the audience. At the end of the play, W.O. says that this is the thing – the energy of a live audience responding to a story – that’s where it’s at.

And for me, that is where it’s at. I love that relationship. I’m always curious about it and excited about it. Sometimes puzzled by it, you know, sometimes it lands really well, and people just explode with laughter and sometimes they don’t, and you can’t put together all of why that is, but people get to be who they are and so it’s a really lovely sort of bond that I’ve come to love about performing. And that’s the amazing thing about storytelling in theatre. And at the end of the play he says,

“You know…the energy of death lies behind everything I’ve written—it’s death and solitude that justify story telling. Telling stories draws us human aliens together in the mortal family, uniting us against the heart of darkness, defending us against the terror of being human. Writing’s a lonely act—like playing a dart game with the lights out. You have no idea whether your darts are coming anywhere near the bull’s-eye. But this (open handed gesture to audience)…this dilutes the darkness, gives me what all stage performers love—that immediate thrust of a live audience responding to story magic. (Looking out to audience, grins). We were flying tonight!”

A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison at Johnson City Community Theatre Tennessee

Posted on by James Hutchison

Scrooge was in love – once long ago. This must be clearly understood or nothing wonderful can come of the tale you are about to hear.

That’s not exactly how A Christmas Carol begins. No, it begins with Marley was dead and looooong buried. Marley was Scrooge’s business partner and only friend in the world, but Scrooge had once been in love. That is true. He had loved Belle. They were engaged. His life could have been very different and that’s what makes Scrooge such a tragic and sympathetic character.

This Christmas, 176 years after the story was first published, the Johnson City Community Theatre is producing my big cast version of a Christmas Carol from Thursday, December 5th to Saturday, December 22nd. The production is being directed by Melanie Yodkins and stars Tom Sizemore as Ebenezer Scrooge. I connected with Melanie and Tom early in November to talk with them about the Johnson City Community Theatre and the production of the play.

JAMES HUTCHISON

Tell me a little bit about the Johnson City Community Theatre.

Director Melanie Yodkins

MELANIE YODKINS

Johnson City Community Theatre is the longest consecutively running community theatre in the entire state of Tennessee and next year will be our 108th season. The patrons have always kept it going. The people who love to perform. The people who love to be in the productions.

We have an archive going all the way back 108 years with photographs and production brochures and memorabilia. We’ve got folks who have been here forever. Generation after generation.

That’s really the joy of community theatre. Family is really the biggest piece. My husband Jason and my son Andrew are in the play. My son is a year old and cute as the dickens.

TOM SIZEMORE

No pun intended.

MELANIE

No pun intended. I literally only have them walking across the stage and they light the lamps in the street scenes. Andrew is definitely not old enough to handle much more than that. My husband and I actually met on that stage six years ago. We met and fell in love. We were doing a Christmas play, and we started dating on December 18th. We were married less than two years later. And just before our third wedding anniversary, Andrew was born and now he gets to perform on the same stage.

JAMES

But, isn’t that nice. We were talking about history and so when your son is twenty years old there will be a production photo of him and his dad in the play. So, what do you think theatre provides a community?

MELANIE

I think people crave story. I think they crave that connection with literature with the past with people with opposing viewpoints, and I think theatre allows those doors to just be blown wide open, to allow for people to see and to experience things that otherwise they would not.

Actor Tom Sizemore

TOM

And with the times we’re living in people can be transported to, in this case, Victorian England and so it’s a way for them to feel better and feel good about things that maybe in other areas or other walks of life they’re not feeling so good about. And I think it’s a wonderful way for children to develop self-esteem, self-image and confidence.

JAMES

How young were you when you got on the stage, Tom?

TOM

Well, I’ve been doing community theatre for about twenty years. But my parents always said that I was singing before I could talk. I’ve been singing my whole life and after college and having been in a few musical productions it just made sense for me to branch out and do some non-musicals as well.

JAMES

You’ve had a lot of vocal and musical training and I’m wondering when you’re doing a play like a Christmas Carol, which is not a musical, how does your vocal training impact your ability to portray a character?

TOM

Quite a bit, actually. There are moments in this play that are sublime – that really tug at the heartstrings – that are very tender – that are very touching. And so, from a vocal standpoint, and especially in a smaller, more intimate venue, which is what is here at the theatre in Johnson City I’m really trying to use different vocal techniques to bring out some tenderness – to bring out in this character, some vulnerability. Which I definitely think should be there. But at the same time when the spirits are aggravating me to death and wanting me to see things that I really don’t want to see and I don’t want to deal with – then my disapproval or my impatience with that whole situation comes out and I use a lot of vocal techniques to let them know that I’m not happy.

JAMES

So, Tom, you and Melanie are talking to me from a room in your home that is filled with Christmas Carol memorabilia. Clearly this story is a love and a passion for you.

TOM

It is. I told Melanie that this is a dream come true for me. I had played Marley in a previous production but to play the old miser is something I’ve always wanted to do. I grew up in the Washington DC area and it was a tradition for us to go to Ford’s Theatre, every Christmas and see their production of Christmas Carol. I’ve been fortunate because I’ve been able to meet Charles Dickens’ great-grandson and his great, great-grandson and to have been to Dickens’ home in London. When I was growing up the story was one that I just loved, and I’ve seen every version that I could find whether it was film or television or just in any media. And then I started collecting things that are related to that including a 1916 poster from a version of A Christmas Carol, and I actually have a silent movie and was produced by Thomas Edison.

JAMES

You’ve been prepping for this role for a long time.

TOM

I have.

The Ghost of Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge in the Johnson City Community Theatre Production of a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography

JAMES

Melanie, I’m curious to know what resonated with you about my particular adaptation?

MELANIE

I read over fifty scripts and when I was reading through your script what it provided that no other script did was the ability to add my own creative flair to the story. And you had already written in several things that I wanted to do. For example, the part where Christmas Future comes out of the box and wraps all of the chains around Scrooge and then Scrooge ends up in the box and I wanted to do that very same thing and it was already written in your script.

And I was reading it myself but I decided I needed more voices so I could just sit and listen to the voices telling the story so I could visualize it. So, I put together a table reading with some folks who I trusted and I just sat there and I listened. And it just resonated so deeply with me. And it was a no brainer. I was like, “This is the one I want. This is the one I want to do.”

JAMES

So, tell me a little bit then about some of the things you’re doing in terms of design elements for your vision of the story?

MELANIE

Andrew Whitman is our set designer. He’s actually one of my students from eons ago. He was in high school doing a summer arts program and I was one of the teachers running the program. And he has since graduated from college and worked at the Barter Theatre, the equity theatre up in Virginia. And so, I asked him to pitch me some ideas after reading the script himself. And one of the things that he brought up was that he wanted the desk to also be Scrooges bed and Scrooges tomb.

So, we’ve built this gargantuan desk. It’s big enough that Tom can fit on top of it. And Tom can also fit inside of it with another person. We really wanted to play on that concept that the desk represented Scrooges Empire. It really is his idol. It really is his life and then to have him buried in it or entombed in it we thought would be a really poignant way to drive home that little nugget. And then we also have it on a three-foot-high platform. So, I’ve got two staircases that kind of move around this platform so you can create different spaces based on where the stairs are so for example when they’re both in front of it that’s when it’s Scrooge and Marley’s. So, it’s this homage to the great and powerful desk and Scrooge.

JAMES

One of the most challenging parts for me to write was the scene where Belle leaves Scrooge. I rewrote that a number of times because I needed to make it very clear what was going on there. I love that the older Scrooge watching the scene tells his younger self to “Go after her you fool.” That’s a wonderful moment but we wouldn’t feel anything unless we had the earlier scenes where we see some real tenderness and love between them.

MELANIE

You have to feel something for Scrooge, or it wouldn’t matter. It’s not enough to know that he is who he is. You have to understand how he got to be the way he is. And you have to understand what he sacrificed to become that person without even realizing that he was sacrificing it.

You know, the first time the actors playing young Scrooge and Belle went through that scene their levels just kept going up and up and up until they were actually yelling at each other. And all of a sudden she says, “Are you not miserable?” And he just looks at her and there’s this dead silence there for a minute and you just sit there holding your breath. And, then she goes on to say, “I have no choice but to release you. And, I hope you’re happy in the life that you’ve chosen instead of a life with me and I will always mourn the life that we could have had.” And she leaves him standing there absolutely shredded.

  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.
  • The Johnson City Community Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison and directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography.

JAMES

Tom, what are your thoughts about Scrooge’s journey to redemption?

TOM

By the end of the play he needs to show how deeply affected he is by what he has been shown, but he resists and fights it tooth and nail and he tries to make excuses. And one of the other ways I’ve looked at it is Scrooge is a businessman and being a businessman he’s smooth and persuasive and he’s used to getting his own way and when he doesn’t that’s not a feeling that he is very comfortable with. But I also think there is a humourous aspect to it as well. For instance, when the Ghost of Jacob Marley asks him, “Do you believe in me or not?” Melanie has blocked the scene so that Marley is only about an inch from my face. And then Scrooge says, “No, I do not.”

JAMES

Why do you think A Christmas Carol resonates today so many years after it was originally written?

MELANIE

I think there is a little bit of Scrooge in every single person. To the extent that we get wrapped up in me, me, me, my, my, my, this is my world, this is what I’m doing. These are my goals. This is my focus. And then all of a sudden, Christmas comes around and we’re like, oh, hey, we can give ten dollars to a charity or we can collect food for the food bank or we can give gifts to people that they’re going to love. But then you still have people who don’t even want to do that.

I love the fact that this truly is a story of redemption which makes a really beautiful connection to Christmas too. Because if we think about the biblical side of it Christmas represents the time of Christ’s birth and the beginning of redemption and you kind of have a really nice parallel with Scrooges own redemption and the redemption that we find in Christ, which is much of what literature of the time alluded to back when A Christmas Carol was written. People weren’t writing Bible stories, but they were utilizing the same moral concepts from Scripture and putting it into story form.

And so it touches people’s hearts in such a way that doesn’t make them feel like we’re shoving Jesus down their throat. We’re touching people’s hearts on a totally different level and reminding people about charity and compassion and those are the things that should really be our business in life. That’s why we’re here. We’re here for all of humanity. It’s all our responsibility. And all of those elements work together to create a reason why so many people love this story.

JAMES

Tom, how about you?

TOM

Tiny Tim and Ebenezer Scrooge in the Johnson City Community Theatre Production of a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Directed by Melanie Yodkins. Eric Donahue Photography

If Scrooge can change, we all can change, but that process is not easy. And in Scrooge’s case I think there’s a reason Dickens wrote it as a ghost story. It’s significant to me that in order for this process to begin, Scrooge has to be scared to the point that his legs are shaking. He’s never experienced anything like this before in this life. So, in order for change to occur sometimes, we have to experience something that we would never expect or something out of this world has to happen in order for a person to change. And because of all of the relationships, the family bonds, the love of the Cratchits the story is timeless. We probably all have, truth be known, family members that we are reminded of from the story.

JAMES

Why should folks come out and see Johnson City theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol?

MELANIE

Because the artistic concept of how we’re presenting this play, while telling an absolutely fabulous story, isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen. It’s incredibly original. And we have incredible actors. After Tom auditioned, I needed to find a Marley that matched the epitome of the Scrooge that Tom brought to his audition. And the young man who is playing Marley, absolutely, bar none just blew me out of the water. It brings such a high calibre of performance quality to this production that people need to come and see the hard work, the dedication and the heart of storytelling that is found only on this stage this season.

TOM

I think it’s definitely an ensemble cast so that each person brings something to their role and their character. People will be talking about it and raving about it. And it goes without saying that I’m just honoured and privileged to be part of it.

Cast A Christmas Carol

Olivia Ares, Gavin Arsenault, Larry Bunton, Asher Church, Lorelai Church, Sam Church, Adam Derrick, Tony DeVault, Camden Downes, Hudson Downes, Cierra Fannon, Jada Greenlee, Shanna Greenlee, Danielle Hammonds, Andrew Headen, Jason Headen, Linden Hillhouse, E.C. Huff, Landon Kell, Audrey Kuykendall, Magee Little, Jamie Lombardi, Richard Lura, McKenna Marr, Tom Sizemore, Nathaniel Oaks, Evangeline Perreault, Matthew Pickle, Raelyn Price, Elizabeth Renfro, Saqqara Scott, Derek Smithpeters, Alice Tester, Lucy Tester, Daniel Tester

Links to Play Page where you can download four Christmas Play Scripts by Playwright James Hutchison for Free including the comedy What the Dickens, the romantic comedy Under the Mistletoe, and both a large cast version and small cast version of A Christmas Carol.

JP Thibodeau – StoryBook Theatre

Posted on by James Hutchison
JP Thibodeau Storybook Theatre
Artistic Director – JP Thibodeau

StoryBook Theatre is Canada’s largest volunteer-run Theatre for Young Audiences and produces a season of plays that are designed to offer mentoring opportunities and artistic development to emerging artists while providing high-quality entertainment at affordable prices for Calgary families and theatregoers. In addition to offering a season of plays, StoryBook also runs a year-round theatre school that provides classes in acting, dance, and music for children, teens, and adults. Now in its 43rd Season and operating out of the Beddington Theatre Arts Centre StoryBook has entertained more than a million Calgarians and has become an important part of the cultural fabric of this city and an integral link between the professional theatre community and emerging artists.

Part of the driving force behind StoryBook Theatre’s success and growth has been its Artistic Director JP Thibodeau who is an award-winning actor, director, and theatre designer. Over the last few years JP has worked with playwright and composer Joe Slabe to create world premiere musicals, including Lest We Forget, Naughty But Nice, and the multi-award- winning Touch Me: songs for a disconnected age, presented by Theatre Calgary. He has worked on stage and behind the scenes on a variety of productions including Richard III and Romeo & Juliet with The Shakespeare Company; Rock of Ages and The 39 Steps with Stage West; Dad’s in Bondage and Lest We Forget with Lunchbox Theatre: and A New Brain and Avenue Q with StoryBook Theatre. JP has directed more than 55 musical productions and has worked tirelessly to foster the growth and development of young musical theatre artists across the country. He is the recipient of the 2016 Greg Bond Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to musical theatre in Calgary and was just awarded the Sandstone City Builder Award at the Mayor’s Lunch for Arts Champions in recognition of his work with StoryBook theatre and emerging talent.

I met with JP at his office in the Beddington Theatre Arts Centre at the end of July just before he was about to begin directing the North American tour of Queen’s We Will Rock You by Ben Elton for Annerin Productions and Jeff Perry Promotions to talk with him about his own journey and his vision for StoryBook.

Storybook Theatre Production Still Rent
StoryBook Theatre’s Production of Rent

JAMES HUTCHISON

You got a nice honour at the Mayor’s Lunch for Arts Champions this year. You received the Sandstone City Builder Award.

JP THIBODEAU

The award is really about the initiatives we’ve been doing here at StoryBook. And I didn’t really realize it but my entire career has been about emerging artists and community building. I think the hard part about getting the award is that I get the honour of the award, but there really is a team of people that contribute in a lot of different ways.

JAMES

So, you came into StoryBook with a vision that you’re now seeing realized. Can you can talk about that initial idea and vision?

JP

I left a previous job after ten years because I got to a point where I wasn’t fulfilled artistically or business-wise. So, I had to walk away from that for my own sanity, and at that point I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up.

And George Smith, who was running StoryBook at the time, had reached out to me and said, “Can you direct a show for us?” And so, I came out and directed a show and we had lots of talks about StoryBook and where it was because the year previous it had almost gone bankrupt. So, they were trying to figure out what it needed to be when it grew up.

So, we were both in this – what do we want to be when we grow up stage?

And when 2013 came around, they asked me to take over interim, but I knew I didn’t want to take a job just because I needed a paycheck. I needed to make sure that there was some fulfillment in it. So, the board and I talked a lot about vision. And we had a retreat and I said, “What’s missing in this community is a bridge between the professional theatre community and the amateur world.”

And there’s nothing wrong with the amateur world. There’s an important place in the world for community theatre. But what’s missing is that in between for the people who’ve gone away to school and they’ve come back to Calgary, but they can’t get hired at Theatre Calgary or anywhere professionally yet. And there’s no one helping them hone their musical theatre craft and saying you have potential – so let’s change that and put them with some professionals.

And one of the biggest realizations I had my first year when I took over was understanding the importance of networking in the arts and how fundamental that is to any career longevity. You need to know people. You’re not going to get an audition – you’re not going to get an interview – you’re not going to get anything with anybody unless they’ve heard of you, or someone in their circle has heard of you. And so that really became my focus as an emerging artist myself.

JAMES

What were some of the pillars that you wanted to put in place to make your vision of StoryBook a reality?

JP

My kids had a big part of that because at that time we were going to the Saddledome to see The Wiggles, or we were going to see these big touring shows that we’re paying 80 and $90 to go see. And there’s nothing in it for the parent. It’s just for the kids. So, as parents, you’re just chaperones, you’re just babysitters and I’d think, “This isn’t family time because I’m not getting anything out of it.”

And StoryBook used to have this thing called Cookie Cabarets, and the audience would come in and all the kids would file down to the front of the building, and the parents would sit at the back, and I would go to the booth and watch the show from the back, and I’d see all the parents on their phones while all their kids are down front, and they weren’t sharing the experience because we were telling them the kids sit close and the parents sit at the back. We were telling them don’t enjoy this as a family.

Within the first month after seeing that I changed it and said, “We aren’t doing it anymore.” And I got lots of backlash. And I said, “No, they need to enjoy this together.” So, then it became if they’re going to enjoy it together, there’s got to be something in it for the adults. So how do we do that? And that’s when the re-planning and the reshaping of what our seasons would look like began.

Storybook Theatre - Artistic Director JP Thibodeau - Season 43

JP

And for me, it became about engaging professionals. Every show needed to have professional mentorship. Whether that was the director or the choreographer, or the stage manager, whoever it was, there needed to be that professional development and mentorship on the team. And in those early years, and even today, I really make sure that everyone on the team is offering some kind of a mentorship to those emerging artists who are finishing high school or have just come back from university or college. And by giving them that mentorship we instantly elevate the quality of the show.

And that’s when directors like Mark Bellamy or Karen Johnson Diamond or Kevin McKendrick and all these other great Calgary artists got involved and started really helping me shape who we were going to be. And so, we started elevating the production quality and that gave the parents something. So now they’re going, “For my $25 I’m getting so much more, and it’s worth the time with my kids.” And I think the beauty of theatre, in general, but especially in our city with a lot of oil and gas families where mom or dad work a lot is that they get to spend that time in the theatre with their kids and this is their hour they’ve set aside to come and be with the family.

JAMES

One of the things I really like is that you have the cast come out for autographs and selfies at the end of the show.

JP

That was the one thing I was told I would not be allowed to change, but when I first took over I didn’t want to do it.

JAMES

Really?

JP

As an actor, I don’t like being me. I like being a character on stage. But after watching the first season I thought I don’t know how you couldn’t do it. We get letters from the kids and from the parents who took their child to their first show ever where they got to see the show and then meet the people in the show after.

And when we do our first meet and greet for a new show that’s starting production we talk about the importance of what we do and why we do it. We talk about StoryBook and who we are and where we’ve been, and why I’ve assembled the team I’ve assembled for that show.

And we talk about how they’re going to be someone’s first theatre experience and someone in that audience is going to be moved enough to pursue this as an art form or become a future patron all because of what we do in this show. And nine times out of ten that someone comes and talks to you after the show and you may not even realize it until I get the email later and forward it to you.

Mary Poppins at StoryBook Theatre
StoryBook Theatre’s Production of Mary Poppins

JAMES

Where do you want StoryBook to be two, three, four years from now?

JP

Right now the office runs with two – three people – max and at this point we want to look at the internal and figure out how do we support me? How do we support the office? How do we support the Theatre School in a way that has longevity and sustainability, because while we were growing all the programming, we never grew the office. So, we never gave focus to the bloodline that makes this all actually happen.

The board and I had a great talk last year and I said, “You know, when I first took over, I said in ten years, we should be equity, and be a full union house.” And last year, I said to them, “I’m going to retract that. I don’t know that we should because I still think we’re a necessary part of the building blocks of the community. We are the next step for someone who’s looking to make a career. But we’re not the full step. And so, we need to focus on the educational component, and really make sure that what we’re offering is mentorship and guidance into the next level of someone’s career.”

And we do that right now through the shows but I’d love to see that transcend a little bit more into education. And you know, by no means am I suggesting that in five years StoryBook will become a college or anything like that and it’s not necessarily the Rosebud model either but something where a student could finish school and we offer internships where they’re directly correlated to a school program where they can come here and work on set design, for example, and create these relationships beyond the StoryBook doors. But right now, we don’t have the capacity to do that administratively, so I want to figure out how to grow us from the inside.

JAMES

So, what you’re looking for is the business model that will allow for people to come here and work and mentor and build an organization that has stability.

JP

That’s exactly what we’re looking at is the business model and I think this current season has the right number of shows for us, and I think beyond this it would probably be doing tours. We could take some of the shows we’ve created, or some of the shows that we’re working on, and start touring them. Like Alberta tours, or Western Canada tours, or across Canada tours.

JP Thibeadeau Singing with the Cast of MisCast – A StoryBook Theatre Fund Raising Event

JAMES

StoryBook offers subsidized programming can you tell me about that?

JP

When I first took over, we had a theatre school and at that point we were seeing about 500 kids a year. Now we see about 3000. And so it’s grown a lot. But one of the biggest comments we would get on feedback forms was parents saying they wish they could do more but they can’t afford it. And so, we started talking in the office, and I said to the team, “Well, what’s one more kid? It doesn’t cost us anything more to throw one more kid in the classroom.” And I said, “Let’s just try it.”

And so it quickly became our mantra to not say no to anybody. So, on average we get five or six requests for subsidy a week. And I remember I was talking to this one girl’s dad and he said they feel like they’ve done their daughter a disservice because they couldn’t afford piano or dance or voice lessons for her because this is her love, but they just have no money to do it. And they were so so happy that she can at least audition for the shows and get in and that made me realize how fortunate I was as a kid. I was fortunate enough to have voice lessons and piano lessons because my parents could afford it.

But there are so many kids who can’t. So, we decided that we’d create this program, The Ellie Tims Project named after one of the founders of StoryBook. And the intention is to give youth whose families can’t afford it free piano or dance or voice lessons for a semester and provide free building blocks and inspire them. That’s part of the reason we want to look at the business model and figure out how to get more fundraising to support these programs.

JAMES

So, what you initially started in order to create a bridge between the professional world and the community theatre world has turned into city-building and community-building.

JP

It is now, for sure.

JAMES

I bet you didn’t anticipate that.

JP

I didn’t. Not at all. I never saw myself as an emerging artists advocate. But when I ran this dinner theatre in Canmore, you know, having been freshly out of school, I was hungry for a job. So, I knew where the hungry people were, right, the ones who were just finishing school. They’re keen, they’re eager, they’re willing to try and do things and they have a more naive, yet energetic attitude, and there’s more optimism to them wanting to be a part of something.

So I did that – then, and I’m still doing it now. And at StoryBook our Student Summer Intensive Program is the nearest and dearest to me. It’s all these young people who have just found themselves. They’ve just decided who they are, and how to express themselves and you watch them form these relationships that will last a lifetime. They don’t know it yet, but we know it – watching it.

And so, you watch them bond and I always say to the parents on opening night that this program isn’t about them putting on a show. It’s about them finding themselves and creating something together and being community builders. And usually, at the end of the program, I’ll ask who’s planning to make this a career and less than half raise their hands.

There was one girl a couple of years ago who went through the program and now she’s in her fourth year of University because she’s always wanted to be a lawyer, but she took the program because she just loves it. That made me realize that this is about building and understanding community. And theatre is about community and how we interact with each other. Good or bad. We work together. We work through it.

StoryBook Theatre’s Production of The Wizard of Oz

JAMES

One of the things I want to talk about, other than the StoryBook is your own work because you’re a designer, you’re an actor, you’re a singer. You’ve done all these other things. I’m just curious about some aspects of you as an artist. What about as a director? How do you approach a show?

JP

The script has to be one that I’m excited about and passionate about and I think a lot of it comes down to casting. And I think for me as a director I’m okay with young people who don’t have it already there. I think for a lot of directors the casting is 90% of the work, because if you cast the right people the show is done. But I like casting the diamonds in the rough. The talent is there, but it might not be polished, and I like that, as a director, I like that challenge and seeing them grow in the process.

JAMES

And perhaps an artist at that stage is going to grow a great deal more given that opportunity.

JP

I think so. A lot of my process is about living on your growing edge and so I talk about that a lot in the rehearsal process. If the scenes are too comfortable, you’re not growing. And so, we talk a lot about that and a lot about storytelling and that musicals aren’t about music they’re about storytelling and using the music to help tell that story. So, if that means that the song isn’t as perfect and beautiful as it could be that’s okay as long as you’re telling the story because the audience can feel the story and hear the story and that’s fundamentally your job.

JAMES

Any particular show on your wish list that you want to direct?

JP

There’s two. One is A Chorus Line. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I’m not a dancer, and I’m not a choreographer. But I’ve always had this great vision for this show, and I would just love to see it come to fruition. The first time I saw it I don’t think the director understood the show. It was a tour. I saw it in Toronto. All the acting was disconnected from the song. And I felt like there was acting going on and then songs going on and there was no connection. And for me, as a director, in my rehearsals I’ll talk a lot about how dialogue is the extension of music.

So when a song is up tempo the dialogue immediately following that song should still be in that tempo. And the dialogue in that scene should take us to whatever the tempo is for the next song. We should feel that naturally. It shouldn’t feel jarring when all of a sudden the song stops and now we’re talking to this person in the scene.

I think the way A Chorus Line is set up is it is very much – dialogue by this person, they sing a song, next person, and so on, right. Given that the title of the show is Chorus Line it’s about the group of people not the individuals, and I think, every time I’ve seen it, that’s been a part that I feel is lost – the idea that this is about that group, the whole group of people and their connection to each other, not just one person, which is the irony of the show.

JAMES

So, that’s one.

JP

Yeah, that’s one. And I want to direct Shakespeare but I don’t know it well enough. And I’ve done my fair share of contemporary Shakespeare designs but I just don’t feel Shakespeare’s as accessible for a modern audience as it could be. I think the Shakespeare Company’s done a great job of bringing that together but I would like to direct it and make it more accessible to a modern audience and someone more like me.

JAMES

That would mean commissioning and reworking the script obviously.

JP

Totally.

JAMES

The Lion King did a pretty good job of reimagining Hamlet.

JP

I think my bucket list would be to do something like that. Something that’s innovative. I’d love to create something new and be a part of the creation of it and a part of a team of creators.

JAMES

What are you working on right now?

JP

I’m working on Queen’s We Will Rock You by Ben Elton for a North American tour.

The 2019/20 North American Tour Cast of We Will Rock You – The Musical by QUEEN and Ben Elton

JAMES

How did that opportunity come about?

JP

I think this is one of those networking opportunities where you’re just connecting with all the right people at different times and then somehow, they all connect and come together at the same time.

This is through Annerin Productions here in Calgary and Jeff Perry Promotions. Jeff has been one of the biggest stadium promoters in Canada for years and they wanted to start creating shows. And they’ve done this with RAIN and Let It Be that went on to Broadway and the West End. And they recently did that with Jukebox Hero and when they were developing that show they asked me for advice and input about how they could do it in Calgary.

And with We Will Rock You I think there are ten Alberta based artists performing in the show out of a cast of sixteen and the whole band is from Calgary. The entire production company is all Calgary based and so it’s pretty impressive for a North American tour coming out of Calgary to be happening.

JAMES

I’m seeing A Chorus Line down the road.

JP

There you go.

JAMES

So, here’s a logistical question. You’re designing a show that you’re going to pick up, and you’re going to set up that morning, you have a quick tech and that evening you have a show, and then you strike and go to the next town. What are some of the logistics of creating a touring show like that?

JP

My brain has been hurting? Just so many questions. Every stage is a different size. So, how do I block the show? Do I block it for the smallest stage? Do I block it for the medium stage? So we’re making decisions as we go and seeing what works best. And there’s been a lot of that kind of stuff. Plus, Queen’s pretty heavily involved. Which is so cool and so scary all at the same time. So, their music Supervisor flies in on Monday to be with us for the first week of rehearsals to make sure all of the music is learned the way that Queen wants it learned.

JAMES

So, you have to lock things in earlier. Things that you wouldn’t normally have to lock in at that point.

JP

Yeah. The show’s been designed to travel and transport and build in four hours and so it’s got to easily pack up and the set has to be built before we even start rehearsals. I have to commit to everything whereas with StoryBook there’s a little more flexibility.

JAMES

When does it open?

JP

It opens September 3rd in Winnipeg and then travels to ninety-plus cities in the US and Canda through to March 2020. Including New York City at Madison Square Gardens in November and then it comes back to Calgary December 27 at the Jubilee.

JAMES

I have one other question. So how do you manage your time? Like with your commitment at StoryBook and your directing how do you keep organized? How do you keep things on schedule? Because you’re such a busy guy.

JP

Well first, I hate the word busy. I call it living. It’s a choice and no one’s forcing me to do it. So, it’s not busy and I know my wife on certain days will disagree, but I think we’ve gotten a custom in our society to glorifying busy or the idea of busy. You know someone might say to me, “I’m so busy at work today.” And I’ll go, “What’s so busy?” And they’ll say, “Well all these patients today.” And I’ll say, “Oh, so like you went to work. You did your job.” So busy now is just working. That’s why I hate it

JAMES

Alright, I’ll change the question, then. How are you so productive?

JP

I don’t think I would be if I wasn’t organized. And there are times of the year where it’s great and there are times when it’s a gong show. Christmas time is a gong show every year until December 12th hits, and it’s my birthday, and all the shows that I’m part of are open. It’s fortunate that in the position I’m in now and where I am at in my life that I can be a little bit more prescriptive about when I work, or when I’m on-site to work. Because I can do a lot of it from other places. And we’ve done pretty good as a family setting aside time. I’ve got two boys. So, even driving here today, I was dropping my boys off at swimming and I would reach over and poke my son and do these things that annoyed the hell out of me as a kid when my dad would do it. And I’m doing it now because I just want to be connected to him. But it’s tricky, because, my job is night and my wife’s job is day and so we’re passing ships in the night sometimes.

JAMES

You have a very clean desk for a person who is so productive.

JP

It’s funny, you’re the third person this year, who has said that to me. Someone came into my office and said, “Well, who’s desk are you sitting at?” I said, “Mine.” He said, “That is your desk? I figured your desk would be the messiest desk.” And everyone in the office was laughing because that’s exactly, I think, how people see me. They see everything I’ve got my fingers in, and they think I must live in chaos. And I don’t. I can’t be artistic and thrive unless I’m organized, at least I know that works for me.

Interview with Mark Bellamy and Sayer Roberts: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Stage West

Posted on by James Hutchison

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak at Stage West Calgary is one of the most entertaining and fun shows I’ve seen on a Calgary stage. This production is outstanding, and I guarantee you’ll be delighted and amused and laughing at the exploits of Monty Navarro as he plots and murders his way into high society.

The Tony Award winning A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder tells the story of Monty Navarro whose mother was cast out and disinherited by the D’Ysquith family when she married for love. Monty and his mother are forced to live in poverty as the D’Ysquith family remains unmoved by his mother’s appeals for reconciliation. When Monty’s mother dies and Monty learns the truth of his birth and that he’s eighth in line for an earldom he sets about to avenge his mother’s death and take his rightful place as head of the family.

The book, songs, and music from a Gentleman’s Guide are smart, fun, and witty, but having great source material only works if you have an exceptionally talented cast to pull it off, and director Mark Bellamy’s production has assembled a stellar cast that works seamlessly together. Kate Blackburn as Sibella and Ellen Denny as Phoebe are pitch perfect and hilarious as the women in Monty’s life who tempt him, tease him, and manipulate him based on their own desires and ambitions.  Tyler Murree shows he has a real gift for farce as he portrays every member of the D’Ysquith family with an air of comic pomposity and entitlement.  And Sayer Roberts plays Monty Navarro with all the charm of Cary Grant and the elegance of Fred Astaire making Monty one of the most gracious and likeable rogues you’ll ever meet.

The play is filled with memorable and smart songs including, I Don’t Understand the Poor, Better With a Man, and I Will Marry You as Monty knocks off his relatives one by one on his quest to become the Ninth Earl of Highhurst. Will Monty succeed or will he get caught? Will fate lend a hand? Will he marry Phoebe? Will he always love Sibella? You’ll have to see it in order to find out.

This is easily a five-star production and worthy of two thumbs up. In fact, it’s so good I’m seeing it again, and I’d highly recommend you see it before it closes, because you’ll have a darn good time, and this production won’t be available on demand. Theatre and live performance is the ultimate “here for a limited time” experience.

I sat down with the director of the show Mark Bellamy and actor Sayer Roberts who plays Monty, the Wednesday before the finale of Game of Thrones, to talk with them about the play, musical theatre, and our predictions of who will sit on the Iron Throne.

Mark Bellamy – Director and Musical Staging – A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Stage West Calgary

JAMES HUTCHISON

How did you both get involved in the Canadian premiere of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder here at Stage West?

MARK BELLAMY

I’ve loved this show from the minute I’d heard about it. I love the music and I’m a huge fan of this style of musical theatre. There’s a lot of old school techniques that have been put into the writing and the structure of it. So, I learned they were doing it while I was here directing Baskerville last year, and they announced their season, and I was like, “Ah you’re doing Gentleman’s Guide.” And Kira Campbell who’s the Artistic Associate said, “Yeah we’ll get you for Gentleman’s Guide or for this other show, and I’m not sure which one to put you on.” And I was like, “Oh God, please put me on Gentleman’s Guide.” And they did.

Actor Sayer Roberts who plays Monty Navarro in the Stage West Calgary Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

SAYER ROBERTS

I saw it ages ago when they did the performance on the Tony Awards, and for a lot of Canada that was the first time any of us had seen or heard anything about the show. And I remember watching it and asking, “What is this amazing show?”  And then I got a chance to see the show a couple of years later on Broadway, and I instantly knew that this was one show that I would very much like to do. And the fellow doing it too – he wasn’t the original – he was a replacement – but he was incredible, and I thought, “That’s what I aspire to be as a performer.” So, when the audition posting came out that Stage West was doing this I know that myself and almost every other Canadian was, “What? They’re doing this. I have to be a part of it.”

JAMES

The stars aligned.

SAYER

Exactly.

MARK

Yeah, they sure did.

SAYER

So, I went into the audition with a healthy dose of the cynicism that you always have to have as an actor, “This isn’t my show yet. I’m just going to lay down what I can do and show them what I would bring to the role, and if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t you move on.” But as soon as I walked into the room and Mark was there and Kira and Konrad Pluta, the musical director, and we started working on material I really felt like Mark gets this show, and I really wanted to work on it. It was a really fun audition, and I just felt good about it regardless of if I got the part or not, and as an actor you have to take that as a win. It doesn’t matter if you get the show or not. That’s not in your control. So, I left the audition going, “That was really fun, and I had a good time, and I feel like I established a good relationship with the people who are in the room and if that gets me the job that remains to be seen.” It was just one of those things where I felt this could work really well.

Ellen Denny as Phoebe D’Ysquith and Sayer Roberts as Monty Navarro in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

JAMES

Mark, I’m curious about how much you look at the individual and how much you look at the chemistry between the actors when you’re casting a show?

MARK

That’s hugely important to me. I’ve always said that one of my superpowers as a director is that I cast really well. And you don’t just cast the individual roles. You have to cast the rehearsal hall. You have to cast people that are going to work well together and especially in a show like this that has a long run you have to cast people who are going to get along well, and after many years of doing this I have a pretty good sense of who a person is and how they’re going to fit the room. Like Sayer said, so many people were excited to do the show – we had over seven hundred submissions between Toronto, Calgary, and the West Coast, and we saw probably two-hundred of those people either in person or via video because everyone wanted to be in this show. So, I was really fortunate that I got to pick from an incredible pool of talent.

JAMES

Have you ever had that amount of choice before?

MARK

Never.

JAMES

Are you spoiled now?

Kate Blackburn as Sibella, Sayer Roberts as Monty, and Ellen Denny as Phoebe in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

MARK

Yes. (Laughs) I’m really spoiled. Especially after working with these guys because there are some really distinct requirements for this show. You have to have people who have legitimately trained voices. Who can sing without a pop sound and these guys all can – as you’ve heard. Especially Sayer, Kate, and El – that trio of voices has to be so clean and they’re extraordinary. And I can’t actually think of anybody else in Canada I’d want to do this show with other than these people. I’ve been saying this – even before rehearsals started – that I have the best cast in the country, and this will be the cast that you will have to beat from now on.

JAMES

This needs to go on tour.

MARK

I would put this production on any stage in Canada.

JAMES

This is one of my favourite shows I’ve seen at Stage West in the last ten years.

MARK

I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen here. And not that I’m biased because I directed it – but I am. (Laughs) I love the show, and because it was the Canadian premiere we worked really hard, and I was able to get these incredible performers. I was like, “We have to make this good. We can’t compromise anywhere. We have to push and push and push to make it as good as we possibly can.”

Elizabeth Stepkowski-Taran as Miss Shingle and Sayer Roberts as Monty Navarro in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

JAMES

I’ve been telling people about it and saying you’re going to like it – young or old you’re going to like this show. What do you think are the elements in this play that make it work so well?

MARK

I think there is something about a charming villain that we love. He’s like the antihero. But he is supremely charming, and we root for him. It helps that all of the people he offs, for the most part, have a slightly despicable edge to them or are deserving of their deaths in some way. But I think we love to see someone who’s an underdog and a bit of an outsider succeed in spite of all the odds, and it satisfies that part of our soul that goes, “I know he should get caught but he’s not going to and that’s so great!”

SAYER

The writing is why it appeals to me. It’s the book and the lyrics and the melodies. And it’s like a mixture of Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward and Noises Off and the classic British farce and Gilbert and Sullivan. It’s just such a perfect marriage of all of the mediums coming together to create such an exquisitely written piece. And I think, just like Mark was saying, the antihero charmingness – the fun farce side of it – he’s murdering people and yet this is fun, and there’s the underdog story, and it’s all bouncy and light from the beginning. It’s an entertaining show.

MARK

And there’s a lot of great humour in it. So, there’s that aspect and also the aspect that we have one actor, Tyler Murree, playing all of the D’Ysquith family. That’s a fun little tour de force. And it plays into that theatrical convention, and it gives the audience a bit of that, “Oh we know what’s going on. We’re in on the joke.”

Tyler Muree as Lord Adalbert D’Ysquith and Katherine Fadum as Lady Eugenia D’Ysquith in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

SAYER

As if the show isn’t funny enough already it just bumps it up so much more once the audience starts to catch on that that’s the same guy…

JAMES

…and he’s playing all the parts…

MARK

…and it’s really clever, and it starts out really slowly, and as you escalate towards the end of act one you just suddenly start to rip through these people. Like literally in scene eleven – which is the ultimate finale of act one – there are four times where he changes characters and comes in and out.

JAMES

Well, on a show like this just how vital is that backstage crew for you?

SAYER

This show would not be possible without a dynamite costume crew and running crew.

MARK

There are two crew members who are dedicated to doing nothing but changing Tyler Murree into all the D’Ysquiths. And all of those costumes had to be constructed.

SAYER

So, he might be wearing a full suit, but it’s all connected with a zipper in the back.

MARK

So, shirt, tie, vest, jacket it’s all one thing.

JAMES

One piece that he can step into and out of.

MARK

Because for some of his costume changes he’s literally got fifteen seconds.

JAMES

That’s part of the magic for the audience. Didn’t he just leave and then he comes back.

MARK

I think we’re so good at it that sometimes people don’t realize what just happened, because it’s so seamless and he’s coming out so calmly that sometimes you don’t realize he’s just made an immense costume change.

Tyler Muree as Lady Hyacinth with her entourage in the Stage West Theatre production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

JAMES

So, in terms of the production, how do the costumes and the set add to the overall experience of seeing the play.

SAYER

Well for me as an actor whenever I put on a costume it instantly amps up by twenty percent whatever the character was before in rehearsal and that’s particularly true when you’re doing period dramas. Costumes give you the aesthetic, and it definitely adds to the British sensibility of the show, and it changes how you move, how you sit, how you stand. I know for the women wearing those kinds of dresses and with their trains behind them it completely changes things for them. I didn’t have to deal with that as much because I simply wear high waisted suspender pants which I could live the rest of my life in very comfortably. (Laughs) And Monty goes from poor to slowly getting richer and the changing of the jackets really helped with that. That’s a real juxtaposition from starting with a rather old well-loved jacket that literally has pockets that are falling apart to ultimately finishing in a tux.

Tyler Murree as Lord Adalbert D’Ysquith Katherine Fadum as Lady Eugenia D’Ysquith, Sayer Roberts as Monty Navarro, and Ellen Denny as Phoebe D’Ysquith in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

MARK

I think the set and the costumes are so vital to this show which was another challenge for Stage West because we need these Edwardian costumes, and that’s not something Stage West has a ton of sitting in their storage room, because they don’t do a lot of shows like this. So, a lot of this had to be created. Leslie Robison-Greene who is our costume designer is a genius. It was just incredible what she came with, what she was able to construct while she was here, and what she was able to adapt.

JAMES

Are there any particular songs that you just love and why?

MARK

I’ve Decided to Marry You, I think, is the pinnacle of the show.

JAMES

Is that the one with the two doors where he has Sibella in one room and Phoebe in the other room and he’s trying to keep them apart?

SAYER

Yes. I think with the exception of the bench scene from Carousel between Billy and Julie there’s no better example of musical theatre than the doors. I shouldn’t say of any musical theatre because there are lots of different genres but going for musical comedy there’s nothing better than that door scene.

MARK

It so hits the peak of the farce that the show is and that kind of encapsulates the whole thing. I think one of the things that’s beautiful about the music is that even though it echoes the British Music Hall and it echoes Gilbert and Sullivan it does it in such a way that it’s a homage that doesn’t copy it, and it doesn’t feel antiquated.

SAYER

It’s accessible.

MARK

It’s accessible and very modern and every single song carries the story forward and that to me is the hallmark of a really good musical.

Sayer Roberts as Monty Navarro and Kate Blackburn as Sibella Hallward in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

JAMES

It reminds me a lot of My Fair Lady.

MARK

Yeah.

SAYER

It’s very Lerner and Loewe.

JAMES

I Don’t Understand the Poor really reminds me of…

SAYER

Why Can’t the English

JAMES

Yes, but it feels fresh and original.

MARK

I’m a huge fan of the Golden Age Musicals of the late fifties to mid-sixties, and this really does echo back to that era when all the great American musicals were being produced.

Ellen Denny as Phoebe D’Ysquith and Sayer Roberts as Monty Navarro in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

JAMES

So, what is it about musical theatre that adds to a theatrical experience? What does the music bring?

SAYER

Well, there’s an old saying, or a piece of wisdom, or whatever you want to call it, that says, “When you have something to express you speak it. If you can’t speak it – you sing it. If you can’t sing it – you dance it.” And the progression of that so perfectly encapsulates what musical theatre is. And in good musical theatre there is a reason the character is singing. I love speaking Shakespeare. I love speaking monologues and straight plays, but there is nothing quite as deep as you can get into, in my experience, as you can in musical theatre when you sing words that are accompanied with some kind of soaring melody that is an expression of the turmoil or the joy or whatever is going on inside the character. Scientifically music evokes a different part of our brain so the audience tunes into it on a different level. So when you mix the emotion that you can gain from poetry and the emotion you can get from a piece of orchestral music and you put that together that’s double the amount of emotion you could have alone by itself. 

MARK

Music is visceral. It just is. It affects you in a different place, and I think it carries emotion in a way that a scene – I mean not that scenes can’t – but it just heightens everything, right? Which is what I think that saying is about. As you continue to heighten and heighten and heighten – the song heightens the scene and the dance heightens the song. And I think it’s thrilling to watch, and I think it’s also thrilling to watch really talented performers who can sing the way that these guys sing, and when you hear these voices it’s stunning, and it’s beautiful. So, I think that’s part of it because I started my career as a performer doing musicals, so they hold a special place in my heart because I think you can move an audience in a way with a musical that you can’t with a straight play.

Sayer Roberts as Monty Navarro in the Stage West Theatre Production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

JAMES

Well speaking of moving an audience, why should an audience come see this show?

SAYER

I think it’s probably because they’ve never seen a show like this before. And if you like British Farce, if you like musicals, if you like comedy and drama – you’ll like this.

MARK

It’s got a bit of everything. And I think it’s probably one of the most entertaining evenings you’ll spend in a theatre for a very long time. It’s ridiculously fun. It’s ridiculously entertaining.

JAMES

Okay, quick question for both of you – off topic – do either of you watch Game of Thrones?

MARK

Oh, God yes.

SAYER

I haven’t started yet.

MARK

Not any of it?

SAYER

No.

JAMES

I’m interviewing you now, but by the time this gets published the finale will have aired this coming Sunday. So, Mark who do you think is going to end up on the Iron Throne?

MARK

Oh, God.

JAMES

I’ll tell you who I think.

MARK

I don’t know. If you asked me that two weeks ago I would have had a different answer, but now after seeing what just happened…I think it’s going to be Arya.

JAMES

Oh, interesting.

MARK

I think she’s the only one who isn’t conflicted in some way who can actually do it.

JAMES

Interesting choice. My choice is Tyrion in the South, Sansa in the North, and Jon goes back to his direwolf.

MARK

I read a whole article comparing it to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and how you know Frodo doesn’t stay – he ends up going to the Gray Havens and that Jon Snow is Frodo and he won’t stay. He wouldn’t be happy on the throne. But that’s an interesting theory – that it splits. That might be it. 

JAMES

Who knows? I’ve been wrong about so much.

MARK

Who saw any of this coming? Who saw that last episode coming? It will be interesting to see what happens. I had this random thought the other day that the only other person it could possibly be is Gendry because he’s actually been legitimized.

JAMES

Oh yeah.

MARK

She made him a Lord. He’s actually been acknowledged as a Baratheon. Spoiler! He’s the last and technically the Baratheons are kind of still on the throne. Anyway…

JAMES

…we shall see.

SAYER

I just love that.

MARK

People are so invested.

SAYER

And it just shows you that people need this stuff in their lives so much so that here we are talking about something fictitious and completely meaningless in the rest of the trajectory of our life and our world and politics and everything and yet it matters so much to us what happens to these characters and that’s why we’re engaged, and that’s why entertainment is not frivolous.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Book and Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman
Music and Lyrics by Steven Lutvak
Based on the novel by Roy Horniman

CAST

Mark Allan – Ensemble, The Magistrate, Mr. Gorby & others
Alicia Barban – Ensemble, Miss Evangeline Barley & others Understudy for Phoebe D’Ysquith
Kate Blackburn – Sibella Hallward
Emily Dallas – Ensemble, Tour Guide, Pub Owner’s Wife & others Understudy for Sibella Hallward
Ellen Denny – Phoebe D’Ysquith
Katherine Fadum – Ensemble, Lady Eugenia D’Ysquith & others Understudy for Miss Shingle
Sarah Gibbons – Ensemble, Understudy for Female Ensemble roles
Jeremy LaPalme – Ensemble, Understudy for The D’Ysquith Family
Luke Marty – Ensemble, Tom Copley, Dr. Pettibone, Guard & others Understudy for Monty Navarro
Tyler McKinnon – Ensemble, Detective Pinckney, Pub Owner & others
Tyler Murree – The D’Ysquith Family
Sayer Roberts – Monty Navarro
Elizabeth Stepkowski-Tarhan – Miss Shingle

THE BAND

Konrad Pluta – Musical Director/Keyboards
Rob Hutchinson – Bass sub
Jonathan D. Lewis – Violin
Jim Murray – Trumpet sub
Keith O’Rourke – Clarinet
Sean Perrin – Clarinet sub
Jason Valleau – Bass
Andre Wickenheiser – Trumpet

CREATIVE TEAM

Mark Bellamy – Director & Musical Staging
Konrad Pluta – Musical Director
Howard Pechet – Executive Producer
David Fraser – Set Designer
Leslie Robison-Greene – Costume Designer
Norman Macdonald – Wig Designer
Anton de Groot – Lighting Designer
Michael Gesy – Sound Designer/Head of Audio
Shane Ellis – Scenic Artist
Kira Campbell – Production Manager Artistic Associate
Sean D. Ellis – Technical Director
Ashley Rees – Stage Manager
Darcy Foggo – Assistant Stage Manager
Jennifer Yeung – Apprentice Stage Manager
Taisa Chernichko – Dresser
Chris Cooper – Followspot Operator

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview with Actor Christopher Hunt: Waiting for Godot

Posted on by James Hutchison

“It’s a play that changed the theatre landscape in the world, and makes you entertained in the moment, and lets you reflect on your own situation and the world that you’re in. And that’s the other kind of marker for this play is that existential, you know, absurdist world view of ‘There’s no God, there’s no religion, there’s nothing to believe in so why are we here? What’s the point of life? What’s the point of continuing on?’ This play swims in those waters too. All those kind of questions that sometimes wake us up in the middle of the night, or strike us at our most insecure moment.”

Christopher Hunt

On World Theatre Day I journeyed to The GRAND to meet up with Christopher Hunt, one of the founders of Black Radish Theatre, to talk with him about his acting career, Black Radish Theatre, and the ageless appeal of Waiting for Godot.
Andy Curtis as Vladimir, Duval Lang as Pozzo, Christopher Hunt as Estragon, and Tyrell Crews as Lucky, in the Black Radish Theatre Production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

Although we’re a long way in both time and distance from January 5, 1953 when Waiting for Godot premiered in Paris – and opened up new possibilities of expression for the stage – the play still resonates with a modern audience. ‘Before Beckett there was a naturalistic tradition. After him, scores of playwrights were encouraged to experiment with the underlying meaning of their work as well as with an absurdist style. As the Beckett scholar Ruby Cohn wrote: “After Godot, plots could be minimal; exposition, expendable; characters, contradictory; settings, unlocalized, and dialogue, unpredictable. Blatant farce could jostle tragedy.”

At it’s simplest, the play is about two longtime friends waiting on the side of a road near a tree to meet with Godot, but on a deeper level, Godot explores the existential nature of existence and the underlying perseverance of humanity. It’s also a play rich in comedy, and a thought-provoking piece of theatre. So, it seemed rather appropriate that on World Theatre Day I journeyed to The GRAND to meet up with Christopher Hunt, one of the founders of Black Radish Theatre, to talk with him about his acting career, Black Radish Theatre, and the ageless appeal of Waiting for Godot.

Christopher Hunt in Waiting for Godot
Christopher Hunt is Estragon in the Black Radish Theatre Production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Photo by Andy Curtis.

JAMES HUTCHISON

In a previous interview you talked about having inspirational teachers at the start of your career when you were getting interested in drama and acting. Who were some of those teachers and how were they inspiring for you?

CHRISTOPHER HUNT

The first play I ever did was Tom Sawyer in grade four, and Mrs. Allen was my teacher. I remember she had auditions and I thought Sam Crystal was going to be Tom Sawyer because he was so outgoing, and I was really surprised when I got the part of Tom. And we did the play – you know – whitewashing the fence and Aunt Polly and all that stuff, and I just have such vivid memories of the fun that that performance gave me.

And then a few years later in Junior High I had a teacher named Mrs. Palmer who taught drama as an option, and again she played these theatre games that I’d never experienced before, and it allowed this shy little farm boy to open up and try different things and be funny.

And then in High School, I had a teacher named Marlene Hansen – she directed us in one-act plays for festivals, and one year when I was in grade eleven a grade twelve student won a scholarship to the Drumheller Drama School, and this guy didn’t want to go by himself, so Mrs. Hansen scraped together some money so I could tag along too, because I was a young keener. And once I found the Drumheller Drama School, that was like finding my tribe. These were theatre nerds like me – I didn’t know there were so many! And that lead me to take the Drumheller Drama School the next year and the year after that, when I was out of high school.

Jan Alexandra Smith and Christopher Hunt in the Theatre Calgary production of An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. Photo by Trudie Lee.

JAMES

After that, you ended up going to the U of C, and I was interested to learn that you originally went into Education, and I was wondering why you chose Education and what made you switch to Drama?

CHRISTOPHER

I think it was because of those influential teachers that inspired me, and I thought that teaching would be great because I had so much fun with them when I was a student. I remember going to matinees as a student to Theatre Calgary in the old QR Centre and seeing The Importance of Being Earnest with Stephen Hair and Maureen Thomas, and I just thought that was amazing, but I never thought I could do that. I just loved the theatre and the fact that I was doing plays in high school was enough for me so I thought teaching drama would be a great thing to do. But when I got into university and I took some Drama courses and some Education courses – the Education courses were a bad fit, but the Drama courses were a good fit. So I talked it over with my parents who were helping me pay for university, and I said, “I think I’m going to switch.” My dad was a farmer all his life, and he was worried about me going into an industry that was even less reliable than farming. He wanted something a little more stable for the only one of his kids who went on to a university education. My brothers went to Olds College for agricultural studies, and my sister took some college courses. But then my parents did some plays in the amateur High River theatre group – Windmill Theatre Players – and once they saw what it was like, they could understand why I was so enamoured with it, and it became a little easier to get their support.

Christopher Hunt and Cast in the Caravan Farm Theatre production of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Photo by Tim Matheson

JAMES

As an actor you’ve said you’re open to using all sorts of different tools and techniques for creating a performance and I’m just curious how being able to draw on different techniques such as improvisation or method acting has been helpful in terms of hitting the stage, rehearsing plays, and developing characters.

CHRISTOPHER

I think as actors and as theatre people we get a chance to go into a whole bunch of different worlds and different stories and different kinds of telling stories and different buildings in which to tell those stories and different audiences to tell those stories to. And I’ve seen and worked with people who have a specific way of approaching the work. They always prepare this way. They always warm up this way. They always present themselves a certain way, and to me I admire that, but I think it can be limiting when you have all these variables in terms of types of stories, types of venues, types of characters, and because there’s so much variety, I think it’s better to embrace the variety than protecting a particular way of working. You have to be open, otherwise I think you’re limited in terms of the opportunities that might potentially come your way.

Andy Curtis, Christopher Hunt and John Ullyatt in the Vertigo Theatre Production of The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow and John Buchan.

JAMES

Now, just before Christmas, you were at Vertigo Theatre in Dracula: The Bloody Truth. You were Van Helsing and that’s a play with multiple characters in it and you’ve done The 39 Steps which also has a lot of different characters and there seems to be a lot of that type of theatre happening now. Do you enjoy performing in that kind of show?

CHRISTOPHER

I do. It’s big bold choices – not subtle choices. But if I was just doing roles where I played a bunch of different characters in funny hats and voices and stuff like that I think it would get pretty tiring. That’s what I love about what I do. I can do that, and then I can do The Scarlet Letter or I can do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – all these different challenges.

Philip Riccio and Christopher Hunt in 1979 by Michael Healey
Philip Riccio and Christopher Hunt in the ATP production of 1979 by Michael Healey. Photo by Benjamin Laird.

JAMES

Last year you were the recipient of the 2018 Harry & Martha Cohen Award which is given to individuals who have made a significant and sustained contribution to theatre in Calgary. You were nominated for the award by Grant Reddick and Marilyn Potts and they said, “Season after season, Chris has given performances that are significant, technically assured, innovative, subtle, engaging, amusing and often deeply moving. He is a master of comedy, his energy and timing in farce are delightful, and he tackles serious drama with ease.”

CHRISTOPHER

That was very nice of them to say all those things.

Christopher Hunt and Kristen Padayas in Flight Risk by Meg Braem.
Christopher Hunt and Kristen Padayas in the Lunchbox Theatre production of Flight Risk by Meg Braem. Photo by Benjamin Laird.

JAMES

So, what was it like to win that award which has been given to some really talented people? That’s quite an honour.

CHRISTOPHER

Huge honour. Huge. And yeah, just the other night Denise Clarke was given that same honour for this year. It’s a beautiful club to be a part of and I don’t take it lightly. It’s nice to be recognized for the work we do, and for the longevity, and for the decision to stay in one place and to be a part of one community. People say, “Why didn’t you go to Toronto/Vancouver/L.A./New York?” or whatever, but you know, I can have a family here and a home here and a career here, and I get to work with people from all over. And sometimes I get to go all over, so it’s a pretty sweet gig. I’m certainly not in it for the money but I feel pretty fulfilled and rewarded for the work I do.

Founding Members of Black Radish Theatre – Tyrell Crews, Christopher Hunt, Duval Lang, and Andy Curtis. Photo by Hugh Short.

JAMES

So, you’ve assembled a group of people and you’re starting a new theatre company called Black Radish. Why this group of people? Who are they? What brought you guys together?

CHRISTOPHER

Well, we’re all Calgary-based actors. There’s four of us. And what brought us all together was this bucket list show of Waiting For Godot. I met Andy Curtis back in our university days. He was a Loose Moose improviser and a very funny and talented guy, and then we worked together years later at Quest Theatre and at Ghost River Theatre and One Yellow Rabbit, and we’ve been actors-for-hire and have crossed paths several times over the years. And at some point, maybe ten years ago, we talked about Waiting for Godot. And it was a play we both loved and wanted to do. And then maybe about five years ago – maybe even longer – we said, “Let’s get together and just read it for fun.” And I can’t even remember who the other people were who helped us out that first time, but over the years people came and went, and once or twice a year we would read it and talk about how great it would be to do this play. We’d say, “We should talk to the artistic directors and pitch it and see if anyone would want to do it!” And no one did but, we kept on talking about doing it. And Duval Lang was the next person to come on board, and he would have us over to his place to have coffee and read the play and talk about it. And then Tyrell Crews is the fourth member of Black Radish. He had worked at the Stratford Festival a few years ago and saw an awesome production there and he said, “Man, we could do a play like that easily in Calgary, with the talent here.” And for some reason he thought of me and Andy as the main two guys and we said, “It’s funny you should say that, because we’ve been reading this play for years!” And he went, “Seriously?” So he said, “I’m going to apply for the rights – let’s do it.”

Tyrell Crews is Lucky in The Black Radish Theatre Production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Photo by Andy Curtis.

JAMES

What is it about the play that you find so compelling?

CHRISTOPHER

When I read it in high school I didn’t get it, but I liked the simpleness of it but also the complexity of it. And then the summer before I started at U of C, I saw a production of Waiting for Godot at the Pumphouse that Loose Moose did. Keith Johnstone directed it. John Gilchrist the restaurant reviewer was Pozzo. Dennis Cahill and Mel Tonkin were the main two guys. Frank Totino was Lucky and I believe Keith Johnstone’s wife at the time, Ingrid, played The Boy. And that production blew my head off, and I just went, “This is astounding.” It was so simple. It was so funny. It was so moving. It was a perfect little jewel of a production. And a lot of people loved that production. And I’ve since found out that Keith Johnstone had a huge history with Samuel Beckett. He saw the original English language production in 1955 and loved it. And changed his career to become a theatre guy. And a year later he was the playwright in residence at the Royal Court Theatre, and Samuel Beckett came to London with his next play. And Keith Johnstone met him and they became friends. Keith was one of the first people he allowed in to watch his rehearsals. And Keith’s directed the play maybe eight times since then, including the one that I saw. So Tyrell and I went and chatted with Keith last month and got some of his thoughts on the play and Beckett and that world, How many guys are there in the world who knew Samuel Beckett that are still around? And he’s here in Calgary!

JAMES

Let’s talk a little bit about Godot and that world. How are you approaching it? What do you think of it? I’m curious – what are your thoughts?

CHRISTOPHER

Well, to me, it’s a good play because it’s open to interpretation both for the artists doing it and for the audience watching it. I think what I love about it is its open-endedness, and its ability to speak to whomever. That was one of the nuggets that Keith said. He said, “When I was twenty and I watched this play I went, ‘This play is about me.’ Now, when I read it, this play is about me now as an old man as opposed to a young artist.” And it’s been famously done in Sarajevo and South Africa and prisons, and so it speaks to people everywhere, especially if it’s a good production. And it spoke to me when I saw it and it speaks to me now. It’s deliciously vague and malleable and thought-provoking and funny. And it’s easy I think to veer off and to make it too sombre, or to make it too silly and funny. It’s a tricky balancing act. And that’s what I loved about that Keith Johnstone Loose Moose production because it was moving, funny, and thought-provoking. It was all those things good theatre should be.

Duval Lang is Pozzo in the Black Radish Theatre Production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Photo by Andy Curtis.

JAMES

How would you describe Vladimir and Estragon’s relationship in the play? You’re playing Estragon and Andy Curtis is playing Vladimir, correct?

CHRISTOPHER

Yeah. You know, it took me a long time to start to see any real difference between the two. They’re two kind of clown-like tramp-like figures that are down on their luck and have health concerns and personal concerns and frustrations with each other, but also a long history with each other. And I think as I read more about them and read what other people thought of them I started to figure out that Vladimir is more of the thinker. He’s more looking to the sky, and he’s more thoughtful and intellectual and in his head. And Estragon is more rooted to the ground and hungry and tired and forgetful. And so he’s more earthbound and Vladimir is more outward bound. And they know how to push each other’s buttons, and they know how to support each other. And then there are moments of, “I honestly can’t go on. I don’t think I can do this anymore.” Or, “I think it would be better if we parted,” and those kind of moments hit you like a ton of bricks, because who hasn’t thought about that?

Andy Curtis is Vladimir in the Black Radish Theatre production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Photo by Andy Curtis.

JAMES

What are you hoping to discover in the rehearsal process for the play?

CHRISTOPHER

Well, we’re all really excited to be working with Denise Clarke as our director and our design team because they’re all super talented and have a lot of intellectual rigour and theatrical knowledge to help bring this story alive. Denise has talked about wanting to honour the text and the history of the play, but also to give people something unexpected. We want to shake things up a bit. And Denise, with her work as a choreographer and a writer and a performer, has a lot of ideas around how to be in a space, especially in the Grand which is a beautiful space to be in.

Andy Curtis as Vladimir and Tyrell Crews as Lucky in the Black Radish Theatre production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

JAMES

You know what’s really interesting to me about the text is that it doesn’t really give you much of a clue about the world outside of this tree and rock and road. We don’t know the truth of the world outside although we do know there’s the Eiffel Tower, but this bleak landscape might be more normal than the exception.

CHRISTOPHER

Yup, that’s true and it’s a field day for designers too, because how do you include those elements? How do you make those elements? What kind of a tree is it? What kind of a rock is it? Some people ignore that, and put it inside of a concrete bunker, and some people ignore the stage directions and have them dress totally different. So it’s what you pick and choose, and what you focus on and what you share that makes your version come alive or not.

Christopher Hunt and Andy Curtis in Waiting for Godot.
Andy Curtis as Vladimir and Christopher Hunt as Estragon in the Black Radish Theatre Production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

JAMES

And your designer is Terry Gunvordahl.

CHRISTOPHER

Yes. Set and lighting designer.

JAMES

The last thing I saw on stage that was Beckett was about eight years ago when he did Krapp’s Last Tape. He was acting in it and Anton deGroot was at Lunchbox at that time doing the RBC Emerging Director’s program and that was the play he had chosen to present. And I went to see it and it was a really good production and Terry was really good in it.

CHRISTOPHER

I’m sorry I missed that. Terry is a big Beckett fan and he’s done this play before – an amazingly well-remembered production in Kamloops years ago with some great actors in it including Jonathan Young from The Electric Company and Betroffenheit which was a big hit all across the world actually. So, Terry knows this play well and he’s really pumped to do it again here at the Grand especially because he used to design shows here when Theatre Junction was more active producing their own work.

Anton Matsigura is The Boy in the Black Radish Theatre production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Photo by Andy Curtis.

JAMES

So, why should people come and see the show?

CHRISTOPHER

It’s a new company to support, and it’s in a space that’s revitalized and welcoming again. It’s a play that changed the theatre landscape in the world, and makes you entertained in the moment, and lets you reflect on your own situation and the world that you’re in. And that’s the other kind of marker for this play is that existential, you know, absurdist world view of “There’s no God, there’s no religion, there’s nothing to believe in so why are we here? What’s the point of life? What’s the point of continuing on?” This play swims in those waters too. All those kind of questions that sometimes wake us up in the middle of the night or strike us at our most insecure moment.

Waiting for Godot
a tragicomedy in two acts
By Samuel Beckett

Cast

Estragon: Christopher Hunt
Vladimir: Andy Curtis
Pozzo: Duval Lang
Lucky: Tyrell Crews
The Boy: Anton Matsigura

Production

Director: Denise Clarke – Assistant Director: Sarah Wheeldon – Set & Lighting Designer: Terry Gunvordahl – Costume Designer: Ralamy Kneeshaw – Sound Design & Composition: Peter Moller – Stage Manager: Meredith Johnson – Photography and Graphic Design: Hugh Short – Web Site: Keith Watson

BLACK RADISH THEATRE is a new Calgary-based theatre company, founded by Duval Lang, Andy Curtis, Tyrell Crews and Christopher Hunt, and is committed to revisiting relevant theatre classics. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett is their first bucket list show and is being performed at The GRAND – Calgary’s theatre since 1912.

Black Radish Theatre presents Waiting for Godot – a tragicomedy in two acts – by Samuel Beckett. April 25th to May 12th at The GRAND. Evening performances Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm. Tickets are just $46.00 for adults and $30.00 for Students and Seniors. Tickets are available online at www.blackradishtheatre.ca

Interview with writer, composer, and musical director Joe Slabe: Crossing Swords

Posted on by James Hutchison
Writer, composer, musical director and founding artistic director of Forte Musical Theatre Guild: Joe Slabe

“Music is able to tap right into a visceral emotional reaction that doesn’t require words or which can layer on top of words so there’s a whole other way of communicating that comes into play, because yes there are usually lyrics but the music can lift and elevate those lyrics and actually create a short cut to your emotional core and make you feel things. And when movement and dance get involved that’s a whole other level of expression. It’s really all the arts because theatre involves architecture and colour theory and costume and literature and music and dance and so musical theatre is sort of all the arts in the pursuit of a single vision or message.”

When the boys from St. Mark’s join the girls from St Anne’s to present Cyrano de Bergerac, three friends get more of an education that they bargained for. Love blossoms, jealousies flare, and secrets are revealed that may end their youthful innocence forever as life imitates art in this funny and poignant coming of age story. Winner of five awards for excellence at the New York Musical Festival, Crossing Swords is a backstage musical that shows that sometimes being yourself is the most heroic act of all.

I dropped into the Beddington Theatre Arts Centre, a couple of weeks ago where rehearsals were underway for Crossing Swords, in order to talk with Joe Slabe about musical theatre and the journey his play has taken to reach the stage.

JAMES HUTCHISON

You’re in musical theatre. You’re a composer. Sometimes you’re on stage.

JOE SLABE

Yup.

JAMES

So, I was wondering what kind of music does Joe Slabe listen to when he’s home alone just chillin’?

JOE

I listen to a lot of musicals obviously, because I’m passionate about those, but I like jazz, and I still like classical. I was trained as a classical pianist. So, it depends on my mood. I also still like the pop music of my youth – the pop music of the eighties – and so. if I’m having people over sometimes I’ll just put on that channel on Stingray.

JAMES

Any particular artists? Any particular songs?

JOE

I would say the big popular musical influences on me were the piano-based artists like Billy Joel and Elton John, because you could feel cool as a piano player because they made the piano rock – which was great. And I think every generation discovers the Beatles, and I discovered the Beatles when I was in my teens, and they were a huge influence on me.

JAMES

So, what was the vision behind the creation of the Forte Musical Theatre Guild?

JOE

I was writing these little musicals and I was really interested in the idea of new musical theatre in Calgary because everyone was doing new plays, but no one was doing new musicals. And I was pitching them, and no one would touch them. They said, “No they’re too expensive. You can’t do that.” And then I went well, “Be the change you want to see.” And so, I started the company, and what’s interesting is that within two or three years suddenly everyone was doing new musicals. But that’s okay, we were the first.

Sometimes racy, sometimes sweet, Naughty but Nice! takes a hilarious and slightly risqué look at everyone’s favourite holiday season and promises to leave you with a song in your head and hope in your heart! – Forte Musical Theatre Guild

JAMES

Having your own company gives you more control over the process.

JOE

Yes, you’re not waiting around forever for people to workshop your stuff or whatever. The thing is, I’ve really been trying to work with younger writers too, and that’s why the review shows that we do are so great, because you don’t have to write a whole musical. You can write a song and get a chance to see how it plays in front of an audience. So, in a show like Naughty but Nice or Touch Me – Songs for a (dis)connected Age those were shows structured around a theme where a young writer has a chance to write material for a show, but they didn’t have to write an entire show.

JAMES

I read in an interview you sent me that during your first year of high school you were playing the music for a production of West Side Story.

JOE

Yes.

JAMES

And that really sparked your love for musical theatre, but I’m wondering now, many years later, what do you retain from that young kid who first thought that theatre was special and magical?

JOE

It’s the sense of finding my tribe, I think, this group of people who care about the same things I do. And I feel like musical theatre is a force for good in the world. If you look at the history of musical theatre its always been, sort of, on the leading edge of social justice like, Showboat, which came out in the 1920s and tackled racism head-on or West Side Story where they don’t demonize either group of kids – they just recognize that juvenile delinquency arose out of big social problems, and I think theatre has always been ahead of movies and television in addressing social or hot button issues.

JAMES

Do you think theatre has the ability to respond quicker and to get that work out there?

JOE

And there are fewer filters on the writer and the artists, because in theatre the playwright is the final word. You can’t change a single word without the playwright’s permission. Whereas, in movies the author is the studio, and so they can hire and fire the writer and still own the show, and they can bring someone in to change it. In theatre you can do it faster and there are fewer filters that you have to pass through.

Touch Me – Songs for a (dis)connected Age – Equal parts hilarious and heart wrenching, this modern musical revue impresses with its soaring vocals and refreshingly true depictions of our most private technological transgressions. Winner of three Calgary Critics’ Awards, Touch Me is bound to get you thinking about the connections in your life. Forte Musical Theatre Guild

JAMES

So, what do you think are the unique opportunities for musicals to tell stories?

JOE

It communicates directly with your gut. Music is able to tap right into a visceral emotional reaction that doesn’t require words or which can layer on top of words, so there’s a whole other way of communicating that comes into play, because yes, there are usually lyrics, but the music can lift and elevate those lyrics and actually create a short cut to your emotional core and make you feel things. And when movement and dance get involved that’s a whole other level of expression. It’s really all the arts because theatre involves architecture and colour theory and costume and literature and music and dance and so musical theatre is sort of all the arts in the pursuit of a single vision or message.

Austentatious is a hilarious play within a play musical that follows the Riverdale Amateur Players as they unwittingly butcher Jane Austen’s beloved classic as they present a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Terrible theatre at its absolute comedic best. By Joe Slabe, Matt Board, Kate Galvin, Jane Caplow, and Luisa Hinchliff. Forte Musical Theatre Guild.

JAMES

Well, let’s talk a little bit about Cyrano de Bergerac, because that is your inspiration for your play Crossing Swords, and I’m wondering what is it about the original story – the original play – that appeals to you?

JOE

I’m in awe of it because if it’s done right, and I’ve seen it done well and I’ve seen it done really badly, but if it’s done right, it’s really funny. It’s lushly romantic. There’s sword fighting, and it’s tragic, and it’s heartbreaking, and I can’t think of another play that balances those elements so well. And so, my challenge was to try and write a show that was funny and was romantic and was sad. And when I started writing it-it was going to be a tragedy, but I backed off the tragic element of the show when the Dan Savage, “It Gets Better” campaign happened, and I kind of went, “You know the world doesn’t need another gay coming of age tragedy. The world needs a gay coming of age hero.” But the ending is bittersweet because of the love triangle. No one gets what they want, and they all emerge a little bit bruised but wiser, and the kids are alright in the end.

Katie McMillan as Nicky, Troy Goldthorp as Jeremy, and Adam Forward as David in the Storybook Theatre Forte Musical Guild Production of Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe.

JAMES

So, how did the idea for Crossing Swords actually begin?

JOE

I was doing my masters in musical composition in London and up until then I was writing mostly comic stuff, and my sense of humour was a little bit dirty and kind of smart-alecky, so a lot of the songs in my book were these smart witty things, and my instructor on the course said, “You know talking to you-you seem like the kind of guy that cries at long distance commercials. You know, I feel like you are a very sentimental person, and yet I don’t see any of that in what you write.” And he challenged me to write something that was from my heart instead of from my head. And I sort of took that on board, and I went well, “I think that’s true,” and I remembered when I was a teacher at St Francis, we had done a production of Cyrano and how much I had loved it. And I’d say Crossing Swords is kind of a summation of all my teaching experience, because I taught stage combat, so there’s stage combat in the show, and I taught with amazing colleagues, and so – the teachers in the play are kind of composites of a bunch of people I worked with that I thought were really fantastic, and the kids are composites of the thousands of kids that I taught and how cool they were, and so – I found myself drawing on all that and the affection that I felt for the characters arose out of the affection for this program I taught and working with these colleagues and with these students, and I think that comes through in the show, because there’s no villain. Like not even the uptight math teacher even. I think we learn a lot about him and grow to like him. I love all of the characters in the show, but there are conflicts that arise.

Cast from the 2012 production of Jeremy de Bergerac now retitled Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe. Nominated for five Betty Mitchell Awards and three Calgary Critics’ Awards. Cast: Adam Schlinker, Tory Doctor, Selina Wong, Roberta Mauer Phillips, Eric Wigston. Forte Musical Theatre Guild

JAMES

Did having such a personal attachment to the material make it an easier show to write or a more difficult show to write?

JOE

It’s one of the few times where I’ve been writing and it really was like taking dictation. A lot of writer’s talk about this experience of suddenly the characters just start talking to them, but it had never happened to me before, and what was really weird was – as I’m typing they were saying things that were surprising me. It’s a freaky experience, because I’d go like, “Oh, really? Are we going there? Holly Crow! Oh my God!” And that’s my inner monologue as I’m typing what the characters are saying. So, that was certainly easy. The other thing was a lot of times when you’re writing comedy you’re never really sure if it’s good until it’s in front of an audience, but as I was writing this show I was pretty sure that it was good, and moreover I actually didn’t care what people thought of it, because I believed that it was good. So, that was a very unique experience for me.

JAMES

So you wrote the first act while you were taking your masters in London in 2005. And then it kind of percolated for about six years while you went off and did a bunch of other stuff, and then you wrote the second act and finished the play for the New York Musical Festival.

JOE

No, I wrote it for here first. And it was called Jeremy de Bergerac, and we did it in the Joyce Dolittle at the Pumphouse Theatre. It was one of those things where I was going to produce a show with Forte and the rights for that show fell through, and then I needed a show, and I kind of went, “Oh, maybe this is the universe saying you should finish this show?” So, I did.

JAMES

So, you produced it in Calgary in 2012 and then at the New York Musical Festival in 2013, and then you had a production in 2016 with The American Theatre Group in New Jersey, and now you have the production here. So, you’ve had multiple directors and performers and several different people all contributing to the development of the musical over a period of many years, and I’m wondering what do you get from all these different collaborators?

JOE

Well, the great thing is when you have actors inhabiting the role they’re really focused on their individual character. When you’re the playwright you’re looking at the big picture, and even as a director you’re looking at the big picture. But an actor is really interested in their character. So you get great notes from actors, and I trust – if an actor is having trouble with a line and if they’re a good actor – chances are there’s a problem with that line. And seeing different actors in a role is really interesting because they make different choices, and it shows you that there’s always more than one way to do things that can be equally effective.

American Theatre Guild Production of Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe

JAMES

How do you determine which notes are the ones I’m going to take and seriously have a look at, and how do you determine which ones might not be something you need?

JOE

Trusting the source is number one. If you’re working with a director that you respect then their instincts are probably going to be good. I did have an experience when I was in New York at the music festival and the director Igor Golden leaned over to me in rehearsal and he just said, “The scene ends here.” And I said, “Oh yeah, but there’s this really great thing coming up.” And he said, “Yeah, but I think the scenes over.” So I said, “Okay I’m going to take it away and I just want to see – because I’ve got some really great stuff here – and so I’m just going to see if I can move that earlier in the scene and then I’ll bring it in.” And he said, “Okay, we can try it.” So, we tried it the next day, and I went, “Yeah, that sucks.” (Laughs) “You’re right. The scene ends here.”

JAMES

And it did very well at the New York Festival. It won five awards.

JOE

It did. It won for best book of a musical. So, it won for the script, and it also won something called the Theatre for the American Musical Prize which is the show that best exemplifies the American Musical Theatre Tradition of balancing book and song. I thought that was funny because I’m a Canadian.

2013 New York Musical Festival production of Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe. Crossing Swords won five awards at the festival including the Awards for Excellence in Writing (Book), Direction, Musical Direction, Individual Performance and the Theatre for the American Musical Prize! Cast: Linda Balgord as Miss Daignault, Steve Hauck as Sir, Lyle Colby Mackston as Jeremy, Ali Gordon as Nicky, Marrick Smith as David.

JAMES

So, let’s talk a little bit about your current creative team in this new production coming up. Who have you assembled to bring us the show in 2019 here in Calgary?

JOE

Well, I have Val Pearson directing, and sitting in rehearsal with her is like a master class in acting. She directed the very first version, and she is amazing with young actors, and we have some very young actors on the show. And JP Thibedeau who is, of course, the Artistic Director at Storybook is doing sets and lights for us, and we’re in the Vertigo Studio so that’s great. He’s very familiar with the space.

JAMES

So, you have more options than you had when you presented it at the Pumphouse in 2012.

JOE

Yeah a few more options, although we’re keeping it pretty simple. The nice thing about the show is it doesn’t require a lot of huge production elements because your imagination does a lot of the work, because it’s a memory play and we’re remembering these events that happened, because we get to see the kids as older characters and then they’re remembering this pivotal experience that changed their lives. So, because it’s a memory play we don’t need the entire cast of Cyrano, we just need the three principal characters, because that’s who we remember and these were the important events.

Adam Forward as David, Katie McMillan as Nicky, and Troy Goldthorp as Jeremy in the Storybook Theatre Forte Musical Theatre Guild production of Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe.

JOE

And I’m really excited about the cast. Katie McMilliam who played young Mary in Mary and Max at Theatre Calgary is in it. She also played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz at Storybook, so it’s great to have her. Adam Forward who won the Broadway World Award for his performance in The Outsiders here at Storybook is in it, and he’s seventeen, and Katie is eighteen, and the characters are supposed to be seventeen. Adam’s still in high school, so it’s fantastic to have these actors. who are the right age, playing these parts. And then Troy Goldthrop is playing Jeremy, and he actually grew up here, and he has a little more experience. He’s been out in Ontario. He was in the Charlotte Town Festival, and he’s come back home, and he’s playing the lead in our show. And then we have Troy Doctor playing Sir who’s a musical theatre veteran here in Calgary, and Shari Wattling is playing Miss. I’ve worked with her a number of times on musicals, and she hasn’t been performing as much lately, because she was working at Theatre Calgary as their literary manager and then as their associate artistic director and then as their acting artistic director.

JAMES

Her plate was full.

JOE

Her plate was a little full, but it’s been great to get her back on the stage.

Shari Wattling as Miss and Tory Doctor as Sir in the Storybook Theatre Forte Musical Theatre Guild Production of Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe.

JAMES

So, why should Calgary audiences come out and see the show?

JOE

Well, they sing while fencing. They actually have stage choreography that they act out that’s timed to beats in the musical numbers, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before, so I think that’s pretty cool. And also, because it started here, and the level of talent from these Calgary artists is amazing, and because it’s a really timely story. You know, you always think that the battle for understanding for LGBT kids is done. You think, “oh that’s done – surely that’s accomplished” and yet we’re still talking about things that you thought were long settled and weren’t an issue, and they just come back, and so maybe we need an empathy lesson. And that’s what theatre does great. It puts you in the shoes of someone whose experience is different from yours and creates empathy. And that’s not just the gay coming of age story. The play puts you in the shoes of a math teacher who’s very uptight and has very strong opinions about the way the world should be that are quite diametrically opposed to the French drama teacher, and she has her very strong ideas about the way the world should be, and it’s not that they’re wrong – it’s just that they have different opinions, and the strength of this show is that it allows you to understand and sympathize with the other point of view. Which is something sorely lacking right now in our political and social discourse. People are so locked into their silos that they’re not willing to entertain other people’s point of views, and this show is about Jeremy and his best friend having to come to terms with – “You’re not the person I thought you were, and how do I wrap my head around this, and how do I make peace with that when I don’t agree or understand where you’re coming from.” And it’s just we’re human, and our job as humans is to learn how to understand each other.

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Storybook Theatre presents Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe in partnership with Forte Musical Theatre Guild from April 19th to May 4th at the Vertigo Studio Theatre. Evening shows run Tuesday to Saturday at 7:00 pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm. There will be a relaxed performance on Friday, April 26th at 7:00 pm. Tickets are just $30.45 for adults and $25.20 for students and are available online at www.storybooktheatre.org

Troy Goldthorp as Jeremy in the Storybook Theatre Forte Musical Guild Production of Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe.

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Crossing Swords by Joe Slabe

CAST

Troy Goldthorp as Jeremy
Katie McMillan as Nicky
Adam Forward as David
Tory Doctor as Sir
Shari Wattling as Miss

PRODUCTION TEAM

Valerie Ann Pearson: Director
Christ Thompson: Assistant Director
Joe Slabe: Musical Director
Jocelyn Hoover Liever: Choreography
Karl Sine: Fight Director
Darcie Howe: Costume Design
Cat Bentley: Hair Design
Allie Higgins Pompu: Make-Up Design
JP Thibodeau: Set/Lighting Design
Emma Know: Props
Jennifer Merio: Marketing
Jody Low: Production Supervisor

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Joe Slabe is a Calgary-based writer, composer and musical director who obtained his Masters Degree in musical theatre composition from Goldsmiths College at the University of London. In 2013, Joe presented his play Crossing Swords at the New York Musical Theatre Festival where it won five NYMF awards including Excellence in Book Writing and the Theatre for the American Musical Prize. Joe also co-wrote the 2007 NYMF hit, Austentatious, which was recently published by Playscripts Inc. and has played London, New York, Philadelphia and Calgary. Other musicals Joe has written include, Maria Rasputin Presents (produced by Forte Musical Theatre Guild and nominated for three 2013 Betty Mitchell Awards including Outstanding New Play) If I Weren’t With You, (presented by Lunchbox Theatre and nominated for a 2013 Calgary Critics’ Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical), Jeremy de Bergerac (re-titled Crossing Swords and nominated for five 2012 Betty Mitchell Awards including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Composition and Outstanding Production of a Musical) and Twisted (nominated for three 2011 Betty Mitchell Awards including Outstanding Production of a Musical). Joe is also an award-winning musical director having musically directed fourteen shows in Western Canada over the past four years. In that time, he has been recognized with three Betty Mitchell Awards for his work. Joe is the founding artistic director of Forte Musical Theatre Guild and received the 2004 Greg Bond Award for outstanding contributions to musical theatre in Calgary.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Last updated April 19, 2019.

Hamlet: A Ghost Story – Actor Ahad Raza Mir

Posted on by James Hutchison

“I believe that no matter what part we’re playing we have a part of ourselves in that character so you need to find that part of you that fits best with the character. It’s just you at a new address. It’s you exploring yourself in a different place and I think that’s the only way for me to make it honest. In school and in rehearsals, they always go, “Be honest. Be honest. Be honest.” And when I read the script – the first time I read it as me. I’m not reading it as a character. I’m reading it as I would read it. And I think the only way to bring out an honest performance is for you to bring it out from inside. I don’t think it makes sense to put something on because then that becomes acting.” – Ahad Raza Mir

Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

Last September, I interviewed Haysam Kadri the artistic director of the Shakespeare Company about their season of Hamlet which included, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with ATP, Hammered Hamlet at the High Performance Rodeo in January, and now Hamlet: A Ghost Story in partnership with Vertigo Theatre. The Shakespeare Company and Vertigo had previously collaborated on a highly successful production of Macbeth and were looking to repeat that success.

Now, Calgary audiences will have a chance to see a thrilling new adaptation of Shakespeare’s most famous play as the tormented prince of Denmark seeks vengeance for the murder of his father at the hands of his Uncle Claudius. The tale is a ghost story, a detective story, and a revenge story all packed into one unforgettable night of theatre. This is a Hamlet for the modern age as The Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Productions, and Vertigo Theatre team up for a ghostly re-imagining of one of the Bard’s greatest works.

This is part two of a two-part series about Hamlet: A Ghost Story. In part one, I interviewed Director Craig Hall and Playwright Anna Cummer, who penned the adaptation, about their unique take on one of Shakespeare’s most famous and most produced play. In part two I sit down with actor Ahad Raza Mir who has returned to Calgary from his native Pakistan to play the title role and to talk with him about his approach to acting and his thoughts about playing Hamlet.

JAMES HUTCHISON

Ahad, you’ve achieved a lot of fame in your native Pakistan, but you’re returning to the Shakespeare Company here in Canada for an opportunity to play Hamlet. So, what is so compelling about the character that brought you back to the stage here in Calgary?

AHAD RAZA MIR

In high school and university, you always hear the name Hamlet. You always hear “To be or not to be” and you kind of go, “What’s the big deal? And then you read it, and you go, “Wow, this is a beautiful piece of literature.” And I think as you mature as an actor and the more work you do you realize that Hamlet is a kind of rite of passage that you have to cross. And for me as an actor, I’ve been doing a lot of film and TV and I think this was the perfect opportunity for me to come back and explore how I’ve matured and how I’ve developed as an actor.

And I also have some very selfish reasons to come back to a place where I originated. The Shakespeare Company and Calgary is what has shaped me to be the actor that I am – not even just the actor but the person that I am. You know I think this place is what groomed me. Canada groomed me. Being at the University of Calgary. Living in Canada.

Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

Your father, Asif Raza Mir, is also a well-known actor and has had a high degree of fame. Did he have any words of advice to you that have helped you balance the work with the fame?

AHAD

He has advised me about how to handle people. How to handle crowds. But he’s tried to make it a point for me to figure it all out on my own, and that’s because he thinks I tend to be easily influenced, and he thinks that the realities I see about showbiz I need to realize on my own, or they won’t truly make sense to me.

And he comes from a different time. A time when there was just one television channel in Pakistan, so if your show was a hit then the whole nation went crazy about you. There was a show my dad did back in the eighties and the streets would literally be empty because everyone was home watching that show. Now the time is very different. There are multiple channels. There are digital platforms. But the exposure is just as high now because of social media. Sometimes I feel there’s this constant need to inform your fans about what you’re doing on social media whereas my argument is if you’re watching me in a show where I’m in the 1940s and the next second you’re seeing me at the beach with a coffee in my hand it throws your audience off.

JAMES

Breaks the illusion of what you’re trying to create as an actor.

AHAD

I want people to appreciate the performances and appreciate the stories.

JAMES

Focus on the stories and not necessarily on what you’re having for lunch.

AHAD

Exactly.

Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

You know Hamlet spends a lot of time contemplating life and thinking about existence and looking up into the stars and examining motivations and what’s going on. Is that a characteristic you have yourself? Do you find yourself contemplating all those big questions?

AHAD

I have. I’m someone who struggles to decide between shampoos and what to eat, so I hope Hamlet can teach me something. Although, if you read the play he doesn’t really figure it out in the end, but I think, as Craig our director has mentioned, he’s a man of the new age. And that means you have to give up certain values and certain customs of a time before and then kind of adapt to new things. So, that’s the struggle for him in the play. I know how I should act but there must be some other way for me to approach this. And that option is what confuses him. That thought is what confuses him. And similarly for me, when I have too many options about deciding what do I do with my life that’s a struggle. Being at the University of Calgary I remember I was in business. I was a business student, and I was still doing shows with the drama department there. And I was going, “I want to do business, but I love theatre.” And then one day I went, “I need to decide.” And that decision was so difficult to make but when I finally made it – when I switched to drama – my life changed.

Meg Farhall as Rosencrantz, Ahad Mir as Hamlet and Behrad Mashtagh as Guildenstern in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

Do you think that’s one of the appeals then of Hamlet? The fact that he struggles with questions that we in our lives also struggle with and as an audience as we’re watching him struggle we somehow relate to that?

AHAD

Yes, because that’s what being human is all about. It’s about making choices. Making mistakes. Making the right decisions. It’s all about the right person to get married to. The right choice for post-secondary. It could be anything, and I think that’s relatability. He’s struggling to make one choice – being that’s it’s to murder somebody or not.

JAMES

It’s a big choice.

AHAD

It’s a big decision, and I think we all struggle with that on a daily basis.

Curt McKinstry as Claudius and Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

What are you hoping to bring to your Hamlet?

AHAD

I’m hoping that I can bring something relatable to the new age of viewers. To make him feel contemporary so that the eighteen-year-old coming to see the show from first-year university can get it and feel what Hamlet’s feeling. Plus, I’m just trying to make him human.

Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

I’m curious when you’re playing a character like Hamlet how much of your performance do you know going in and how much is developed through the rehearsal process?

AHAD

I think I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do with Hamlet. I wanted him to be, for lack of a better word, a bro.

JAMES

Hey bro.

AHAD

Hey bro, what’s up? You know somebody you want to hang out with. And as soon as we sat down and started doing the table work, I found out the text supports that he is this kind of melancholy, brooding, depressed soul. And I think he’s almost like a child who is feeling certain emotions for the first time.

Daniela Vlaskalic as Gertrude, Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

Because he’s lived this charmed life.

AHAD

A perfect life.

JAMES

For thirty years he’s been the son, he’s been the prince, and he’s been allowed to study and then suddenly his dad is murdered.

AHAD

And it’s not just one thing. It’s mom’s married your uncle. Your uncle’s killed your father. You’ve seen the ghost of your dad. And then there’s Ophelia and all these things are happening and he’s feeling these emotions for the first time. I actually think he’s feeling anger and grief all together at once. And feeling it for the first time again like a child that’s getting upset and all they can do is scream because they don’t know what to say and they don’t know what to do so that’s kind of what he’s going through.

Behrad Mashtagh as Laertes, Natasha Strickey as Ophelia, Karen Hines as Polonia, Curt McKinstry as Claudius, Daniela Vlaskalic as Gertrude, Ahad Mir as Hamlet, Allison Lynch as Horatia in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

So, the new production at Vertigo is a ghost story.

AHAD

Yeah.

JAMES

And I’m wondering if you yourself believe in the supernatural and have you ever had any encounters with spirits or ghost?

AHAD

I have. I have. I didn’t really believe in them in the beginning, but I remember one time I visited my grandmother’s grave and I hadn’t seen it before and I went on my own. And I couldn’t find it, and so I went to the guy who knows whose grave is whose and I said, “I’m looking for this lady.” And he goes, “Okay let me go look.” And he goes back to his little office and he’s looking at his books, and I felt this kind of pull. And I’ve never been here. I felt this pull towards this one grave, and I just went up, and I approached it, and I didn’t think anything of it at the time. And I was looking at it and there were some rocks on it and stuff and some little painted flowers, and the guy comes up and he goes, “Okay, here’s the number.” And I’m like, “Okay, where is it?” And he goes, “It’s right here. You found it.” And I just said, “Okay.” I said my prayers and went back to the car and I just started crying because that feeling…was terrifying to be honest…it was just scary. Out of hundreds of graves I just started walking one way and there it was.

JAMES

You feel that she reached out to you?

AHAD

Yeah, I am a hundred percent sure, but it was freaky.

JAMES

She must be happy for your success.

AHAD

I hope so, yeah.

JAMES

So, how do you stay grounded and focused now that you’re dealing with the fame and you’re dealing with trying to focus on the work?

AHAD

I think my father is a big part of that because his father was a cinematographer and a director so fame has been part of the family for a long time. So, any time I let it go to my head my Dad goes, “Big deal.” And my Dad, for example, is the same guy in the house that he is outside when he’s working and when he’s interacting with fans. Whereas I’ve seen people one way outside of work and when they’re at work they’re something else. So, I think seeing that has made me realize that at the end of the day it’s all about the work and being true to yourself and being honest.

Ahad Mir as Hamlet and Natasha Strickey as Ophelia in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

So, how do you approach the work?

AHAD

I believe that no matter what part we’re playing we have a part of ourselves in that character so you need to find that part of you that fits best with the character. It’s just you at a new address. It’s you exploring yourself in a different place and I think that’s the only way for me to make it honest. In school and in rehearsals they always go, “Be honest. Be honest. Be honest.” And when I read the script – the first time I read it as me. I’m not reading it as a character. I’m reading it as I would read it. And I think the only way to bring out an honest performance is for you to bring it out from inside. I don’t think it makes sense to put something on because then that becomes acting.

JAMES

Tell me about the actors you’re working with here – what are you excited about in terms of working with these folks?

AHAD

There’s a connection that is sometimes lacking in film and TV. Not to put film and TV down. I mean, it’s because of film and TV that I am where I am. But I think the connection you create – I won’t even say with another actor – I’ll say with another individual – another human being during rehearsal and during a scene, there’s a kind of magic behind it. There’s no retake. The moment is the moment. And I’m working with actors I remember seeing in productions when I was in University, and when I was starting out professionally, and now I’m getting a chance to work with them and that’s exciting.

Curt McKinstry as Claudius, Ahad Mir as Hamlet, Behrad Mashtagh as Laertes, Allison Lynch as Horatia in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

Why should we come to see the show?

AHAD

I think at the end of the day Shakespeare is always relatable. But the reason you should come watch our show is because we’re going to give it not just a modern contemporary spin but then there’s the whole ghost element, and the supernatural, and the thriller vibe that comes in with Vertigo. We’re doing it in a way that I don’t think has been seen before, and I think it will be interesting because you’ve got somebody who is coming from a very different background performing Hamlet. And I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this, but one of the other reasons I’m back is that you know in Canada we’re really focused on diversity and diversity on the stage. You know our cast should reflect our society and even though we’re good at it I don’t think we push that enough. I remember being in University and there were a bunch of white people and me, and I know so many Pakistanis and Indians and whatever it might be that live in Canada and want to explore music, dance, art and all these things and sometimes it’s sad to say their parents don’t let them explore those avenues even though being in Canada is one of the best places to do it because outside those options aren’t there. So, I want to set an example for the young minorities and say, “Hey if I can do it you can do it.” You know maybe I’ll inspire somebody to go, “I don’t want to do biomechanics. I want to learn how to play the guitar and do music.”

JAMES

And I don’t think the arts and theatre are going to survive unless we diversify the audience and in order to diversify the audience one of the things we have to show is people of different backgrounds performing these roles.

AHAD

And I think Canada is still doing a good job about that, but the issue is even before all that. It starts at the home. It starts with allowing that child to explore what he wants to explore. And maybe some young Pakistani guy goes, “Hey, he did it, why can’t I do it?” And hopefully, he goes and argues with his parents and hopefully his parents will be supportive.

JAMES

But first he’ll take business and then he’ll realize he’s in the wrong thing.

AHAD

Yeah, but if I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have realized it. So, maybe that’s what it takes.

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CAST
Ahad Mir as Hamlet
Joel Cochrane as Ghost, Player King, Priest
Meg Farhall as Marcella, Rosencrantz, Player Queen
Karen Hines as Polonia
Allison Lynch as Horatia
Curt McKinstry as Claudius
Behrad Moshtagh as Laertes, Guildenstern
Graham Percy as Barnardo, First Player, Grave Digger
Natasha Strickey as Ophelia
Daniela Vlaskalic as Gertrude

CREATIVE TEAM 
Craig Hall, Director
Anna Cummer, Playwright
Hanne Loosen, Set & Costume Designer
David Fraser, Lighting Designer
Peter Moller, Sound Design
Karl Sine, Fight Director
Jane MacFarlane, Text & Vocal Coach
Claire Bolton, Stage Manager
Chandler Ontkean, Assistant Stage Manager
Derek Paulich, Production Manager
Rebecca Fauser, Assistant Director

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Vertigo Theatre has entertained audiences for 42 years with high-quality programming, evolving into a truly unique organization. We are Canada’s only fully professional theatre company dedicated to producing plays based in the mystery genre. Vertigo is located at the base of the Calgary Tower in the heart of downtown Calgary and is home to the organization its two performance venues and the BD&P Mystery Theatre Series. Our artistic mandate allows exposure to a broad demographic and our diverse audience includes all walks of life. We build strong partnerships through our various student and professional outreach initiatives that are designed specifically to help meet our community investment objectives. Vertigo Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (P.A.C.T.) and engages artists who are members of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

The Shakespeare Company is Calgary’s lean and mean classical theatre company, highlighting the best of the Bard in all his comedy, tragedy, and bawdiness. Founded in 1995, by Richard Kenyon and LuAnne Morrow, TSC has brought the Bard alive for Calgarians through both Shakespeare and Shakespeare inspired plays. We are committed to making Shakespeare accessible through innovative performances and inspired directing.

Hit & Myth Productions is a professional independent theatre company based in Calgary, Alberta. Hit & Myth was established in 2006, and since that time has produced over 30 professional shows, engaging numerous local actors, directors and designers. Hit & Myth has produced musicals, comedies and cutting edge dramas, a genre that we lovingly call “commercial alternativism.” From musicals like Urinetown and Evil Dead, to hard-hitting dramas like Martin Mcdonagh’s The Pillowman and David Mamet’s Race, to dark comedies like Neil Labute’s reasons to be pretty; to vibrant adaptations of both Shakespeare (Titus Andronicus and All’s Well That Ends Well) as well as Shakespeare inspired (William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead and Equivocation) works. Hit & Myth seeks to entertain, while always packing a serious theatrical punch. Hit & Myth collaborates with small to mid-sized sized theatre companies and independent artists to co-produce theatre that is provocative, modern, sensational, and above all else, entertaining. Our productions strive to reflect the dynamic and diverse theatrical community of Calgary and Calgary audiences.

Hamlet: A Ghost Story – An Interview with Director Craig Hall & Playwright Anna Cummer

Posted on by James Hutchison

“And in Shakespeare the stakes are massive, but I think we all have injustices and little revenges that we want to take on a daily basis. That’s why Hamlet is such a frustrating character in so many ways because the ghost of his father comes and says your uncle killed me. You need to take revenge and do your duty as a son. And then he proceeds to find every excuse to not do it because he’s a man of the modern age where complexity and morality have become so much more real and palpable. Like, duty to the state is of a kind of time and I don’t think Hamlet’s a man of the court in that same way. It’s not just all black and white. He lives in a world of grey morality and philosophy.” Craig Hall, Director – Hamlet: A Ghost Story

Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

This is part one of a two-part series about Hamlet: A Ghost Story. In part one I’ll be talking with Director Craig Hall and playwright Anna Cummer and in part two I’ll be talking with Ahad Raza Mir who has returned to Calgary from his native Pakistan to play the title role.

Back in September, I interviewed Haysam Kadri the Artistic Producer of the Shakespeare Company about their season of Hamlet which included, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with ATP, Hammered Hamlet at the High Performance Rodeo in January and now Hamlet: A Ghost Story in partnership with Vertigo Theatre. The Shakespeare Company and Vertigo had previously produced a highly successful re-imagining of Macbeth and were looking to repeat that success.

Now Calgary audiences will have a chance to see a thrilling new adaptation of Shakespeare’s most famous play as the tormented prince of Denmark seeks vengeance for the murder of his father at the hands of his Uncle Claudius. The tale is a ghost story, a detective story and a revenge story all packed into one unforgettable night of theatre. This is a Hamlet for the modern age as The Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Productions and Vertigo Theatre team up for a ghostly re-imagining of one of the Bard’s greatest works.

I sat down with the director of Hamlet and Artistic Director of Vertigo Theatre Craig Hall and playwright Anna Cummer, who penned the adaptation, to discuss their unique take on Shakespeare’s most famous and most produced play.

JAMES HUTCHISON

You’re calling this new adaptation Hamlet: A Ghost Story.

ANNA CUMMER

We are.

JAMES

So, do you believe in the supernatural and have you had any ghostly encounters yourself?

ANNA & CRAIG

They laugh.

ANNA

Yes, I am a firm believer. The thing is I never see them. I feel them. I have a sense that something is there. I have encountered two ghosts for sure. One was in the South of France and the other one was in Vancouver when our upstairs neighbour died in the middle of the night and I had a flash of him in my mind as we were going to bed and he was laughing and having a really good time. And I said to Craig, “That’s really weird but Jack from upstairs just flashed into my head.” And the very next day his caregiver said, “Just so you guys know, Jack passed away last night.” And it was right around the time he visited us.

And actually, I had another one in Ottawa where a very dear friend of ours had died a couple of days earlier and his wife had called. My mother was with me. I was doing Pride and Prejudice at the NAC. It was a co-pro with Theatre Calgary. So, we found out that Donovan had died, and it was really, really, sad and it wasn’t expected at all and I had misplaced my wedding ring. I went, “Well where’s my wedding ring? This is terrible.” And I didn’t want to tell Craig because I was always losing it and it turned out that my daughter, who was all of two at the time, had picked it up off the counter and had put it on the switch of a lamp and never in a million years would I have found it. But that night Donovan, the man who had died, came to me in my dreams and said, “Your ring is on the lamp switch. You’ll find it there in the morning.” And lo and behold I found it there in the morning.

JAMES

Craig what about yourself? Anything?

CRAIG HALL

Little inklings here and there. I don’t want to go too far into this, but my father passed away last summer and I was with him when he passed. So, he passed and there was sort of mourning with my mom and sister and then I just needed a bit of space and I walked out into the hallway and as I was walking down the corridor in the hospital, I sort of felt a presence. And I sort of saw something in the periphery and I looked, and he wasn’t there but I knew it was my dad.

JAMES

You sensed him.

CRAIG

I sensed him. I think to me the supernatural is all about some sort of barriers between different sorts of realities and existence. I don’t have any religion in my family or in my history, so I don’t think of it in a religious sense but certainly in some sort of energy sense. I believe that the energy that is in us doesn’t go away. It doesn’t stop. So, it’s released into the world and I feel that sometimes that energy can get captured in a place or it can remain in a place for a reason, but I’ve never really thought too deeply about it. It’s kind of like Anna said, it’s not like you see something. There’s a presence. A coldness in a place that has no reason to be cold.

JAMES

Sounds though, like these have been positive encounters.

CRAIG

Yeah, but they’re still affecting and hair raising.

Meg Farhall, Behrad Mashtagh, Joel Cochrane, Curt McKinstry, and Daniela Vlaskalic in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

So, what kind of discussions did you have then in developing the script while you were in the process of adapting it?

ANNA

Well, interestingly enough Hamlet was one of the potential productions that Craig submitted when he was applying for the Artistic Director job at Vertigo.

CRAIG

Eight years ago.

JAMES

So, this has been on your mind for a long time.

CRAIG

Not in a deep way but certainly when I was contemplating that sort of mystery genre…

ANNA

…and pushing the mandate…

CRAIG

…and looking at the genre and going, “If I did this job then what’s in it for me? How limiting is it?” And realizing that there’s a whole lot of work outside of the obvious genre that can be embraced as genre work like the Macbeths and the Hamlets. And I don’t think we’re making Hamlet a ghost story – it is a ghost story. We’re turning up the dial but that’s what it is. It’s a revenge thriller. It’s a ghost story

ANNA

It’s a detective story as he tries to figure out whether the ghost has told him the truth or if he’s being led down the garden path.

CRAIG

And before he can act, he has to convince himself that there’s no chance that his uncle is innocent. So, he does this very intricate detective work and he sets up stings and so when you look at the work through that lens that was exciting for me because it meant the range of work that Vertigo could potentially have access to is far greater than some sort of antiquated drawing room murder mystery. So, in a way that seed was the thing that made me want to take the job at Vertigo and that’s been percolating ever since.

Curt McKinstry as Claudius and Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

ANNA

And with Hamlet one of the major issues about the play in production is the madness and how does one as an actor or how does one as a director or an adaptor approach the madness? Is it feigned all the time? Are there moments where he cracks? How can you convey to an audience a heightened sense of anxiety? And we went, well what if he’s being haunted? What if he is hearing these voices more preveniently than in the original script? Then we, as a modern audience, can buy into the other characters in the play going, “Oh yes, he’s mad.” Because he’s talking to himself and his behaviour is frenetic and for the other characters those are hallmarks for insanity, but of course our audience will be in on it. They’ll be able to hear those voices as well. They’ll be able to see the ghost when the ghost is not present in the original but might be present in our version.

The Ghost in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

So, what are some of the main themes you wanted to explore in the script and then once you have those in the script how do you put those into practice in the production?

Anna Cummer – Playwright

ANNA

I had very concrete ideas heading into this but now that we’re in rehearsal and we now have other voices than the ones in my head who are lending their interpretations and lending their ideas to the whole scenario I think things have changed a little bit. But to me, the real thesis statement of the play is, “To thine own self be true.” And that ultimately everybody has difficulty when they’re not being true to themselves or when they are being forced to be something that they are not. So, I started there because Claudius is pretending to be the best King on earth even though he got his crown by very dubious and treacherous means. Gertrude is also putting on a brave face and doing it for the state and trying to keep her son happy and comfortable and placate the new husband. There’s a lot of stuff happening. Same with Polonia – in our version, Polonius is played by a woman.

CRAIG

So, it’s a mother rather than a father. And that does change it. And we’re really making sure that change of gender trickles down so the way that Polonius talks to his daughter and his son has a completely different feeling than the way Polonia talks to her daughter and son. And it’s automatic. Polonia is a thoughtful mother, not just a bumbling fool. She’s a thoughtful mother who actually cares about her family and cares about her place in the court but generally for the sake of the family.

ANNA

So that way Laureates, Ophelia and Polonia can stand as the healthy example of family and familial interaction in comparison to the incredibly dysfunctional family that we now have in Claudius, Gertrude and Hamlet.

And with regard to Hamlet and, “To thine own self be true,” he’s been asked by his father – who was warlike, and action based – to do something that is completely out of character for him. He’s a thinker. He’s a philosopher. He’s a student. He’s wrestling with who he is as an individual and recognizing that he can not avenge his father the way that his father would want it to be done.

CRAIG

Hamlet is a man of the age. He’s not a man of the court. For all intense and purposes, he allows the coronation of his uncle. He doesn’t state his case. He doesn’t bring a petition to the council. It all kind of happens and he’s in mourning and he’s trying to reconcile things but there’s no sense to me that he’s eagerly anticipating stepping into his father’s shoes. He’s got a different kind of morality. He can’t do the actions because, I think, he’s an existential kind of thinker. He’s got a new way of thinking and a new morality and he just can’t be a man of action the way that’s required.

Ahad Mir as Hamlet in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

I’m wondering what you make of how he treats Ophelia and what’s his end game and thought process for doing that because the end result is she kills herself.

ANNA

Craig and I kind of cracked it. Or, I feel like we cracked it. We were asking the same question. There’s this loving relationship and he just instantly turns on her and why is that? Is she a pawn in his ultimate game? Is she something to be used in his attempt to find out whether or not Claudius killed his father or not? And we were going through it – and this is just Craig and I literally on the couch and I went, “What if they’ve gone all the way?” And so, they’ve had this loving relationship that has been consummated and so Ophelia in all her scenes with her mother is trying very very hard not to let her know that. Her brother we think has more of an inkling because of his frank conversation with her as he leaves. “Do, not lose your chastity to this guy.” And she’s, “Oh yeah, don’t worry about it. I got it. No worries. Oh no, I already have. Oh dear.” And mom comes in and then says the same sort of thing, “Keep your distance for my benefit and my honour.” And so, we’re toying with the idea that they’ve had a very – very close relationship and that she is his island of solace. She is the touchstone to which he returns time and time again and in his time of mourning, she has been a rock for him. None of this is in the original so we have to seed it for our audience.

Natasha Strickey as Ophelia and Daniela Vlaskalic as Gertrude in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

CRAIG

Because in the action of the play as it’s written you have no real inkling of their relationship before he starts treating her terribly. But if there was a deeper relationship that existed then that’s why when he comes to her funeral he explodes and rails there. It’s actually based on something.

And if her participation in Claudius and Polonia’s plot is a real betrayal of Hamlet and he realizes that they’re being watched when Ophelia comes back to him and says here’s all your letters and remembrances of yours and in that moment he realizes that she’s turned on him and that she’s become…

ANNA

…a confederate of the others…

CRAIG

…a tool of the Uncle. Then it’s not just arrogance and pettiness and meanness that makes him act the way he does – he’s been betrayed.

Ahad Mir as Hamlet and Natasha Strickey as Ophelia in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

Earlier you mentioned that Hamlet is a revenge story. Why do you think we have this fascination with revenge stories?

Craig Hall, Director – Hamlet: A Ghost Story

CRAIG

I think justice is a huge thing. I think going back to the mystery genre or the who done it people watch those things because they want to see somebody get their just desserts or take revenge. And there’s a weird celebration that comes along with you wanting to see the hero win the day and see the bad guy pay.

And in Shakespeare the stakes are massive, but I think we all have injustices and little revenges that we want to take on a daily basis. That’s why Hamlet is such a frustrating character in so many ways because the ghost of his father comes and says your uncle killed me. You need to take revenge and do your duty as a son. And then he proceeds to find every excuse to not do it because he’s a man of the modern age where complexity and morality have become so much more real and palpable. Like, duty to the state is of a kind of time and I don’t think Hamlet’s a man of the court in that same way. It’s not just all black and white. He lives in a world of grey morality and philosophy.

JAMES

Tell me about the cast you’ve assembled for this production.

CRAIG

I think this is probably one of the most eclectic group of actors that I’ve ever worked with. You know we’ve got Calgary stalwarts like Curt McKinstry playing Claudius, Daniella Vlaskalic who works everywhere has returned to play Gertrude. Then we’ve got Karen Hines who’s known more as a writer and a solo performer playing Polonia.

Behrad Mashtagh as Laertes, Natasha Strickey as Ophelia, Karen Hines as Polonia, Curt McKinstry as Claudius, Daniela Vlaskalic as Gertrude, Ahad Mir as Hamlet, Allison Lynch as Horatia in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

ANNA

Who’s never done Shakespeare before in her life but she’s killing it already. And we’ve got a lot of people with great comedic chops in it. So, Meg Farhall is playing one of the servants and Rosencrantz. And then Graham Percy who is just killer at Shakespeare gets to be the gravedigger and the prologue the player.

CRAIG

Joel Cochrane from Hit and Myth is playing our ghost dad and is one of the players.

ANNA

And then Behrad Moshtagh a UofC grad – he and Ahad went to school together – he’s playing Laertes.

CRAIG

And we’ve got Allison Lynch playing Horatia and then, of course, Ahad Mir as Hamlet. We decided very early on that we wanted a younger Hamlet and we also wanted some diversity in the piece.

ANNA

And Ahad was involved in our production of Macbeth and he actually understudied Haysam as Mackers and he has a certain facility with the text and also a really lovely innate ability to make it modern and conversational.

Meg Farhall as Rosencrantz, Ahad Mir as Hamlet and Behrad Mashtagh as Guildenstern in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

CRAIG

Ahad has had such an interesting journey as a young UofC grad coming up in the city and then suddenly he disappears to Pakistan and gets a whole other kind of training as an actor and gets all these new tools he can use because he’s been doing film and television over there. And we did Mackers in that deep thrust in the studio and we felt one of the things that made that really really successful was the intimacy of the performance space. You know you don’t have to suddenly play Shakespeare to hit the back of a proscenium house.

ANNA

A twelve hundred seat theatre.

CRAIG

The relationship with the audience can actually be much more vital and connected. And frankly, Calgary is bleeding its young diverse artists. They’re going to Toronto. They’re going to Vancouver. They’re going to Pakistan for opportunities that they’re not necessarily finding here. These young diverse actors are going to other cities and becoming super successful and we need to figure out some way to keep them here.

ANNA

So, if we can get them to come back it’s always a joy.

Curt McKinstry as Claudius, Ahad Mir as Hamlet, Behrad Mashtagh as Laertes, Allison Lynch as Horatia in the Vertigo Theatre, Shakespeare Company, Hit+Myth Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story. Adapted by Anna Cummer. Directed by Craig Hall. Set & Costume Designer Hanne Loosen. Lighting Designer David Fraser. Citrus Photo

JAMES

So, why come see the show?

ANNA

It’s lean and mean the way that the Shakespeare company always is so it’s going to come in at about two hours and fifteen minutes including intermission. And we’ve done away with all the political and historical stuff and we’ve distilled it down to a family drama that just happens to have murder and ghosts in it. It’s Downton Abbey with death and ghosts.

CRAIG

And we’re amping up the suspense and I think everybody wants to see something entertaining and dark and I think that’s what we’re really doing.

ANNA

Sex, death and revenge.

JAMES

The big three.

ANNA

It’s biblical. It’s epic.

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Vertigo Theatre presents the Shakespeare Company and Hit and Myth’s Production of Hamlet: A Ghost Story which runs from March 20th to April 13th in the Studio at Vertigo Theatre. Performance times are evenings at 7:00 pm, no performance on Monday, 2:30 pm matinees on March 23, 24, 30 and April 6,7, and 13th. Tickets are $35.00 and are available by calling the Vertigo Theatre box office at 403.221.3708 or online at www.vertigotheatre.com

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CAST:  Ahad Mir as Hamlet – Joel Cochrane as Ghost, Player King, Priest – Meg Farhall as Marcella, Rosencrantz, Player Queen – Karen Hines as Polonia – Allison Lynch as Horatia – Curt McKinstry as Claudius – Behrad Moshtagh as Laertes, Guildenstern – Graham Percy as Barnardo, First Player, Grave Digger – Natasha Strickey as Ophelia – Daniela Vlaskalic as Gertrude

CREATIVE TEAM:  Craig Hall, Director – Anna Cummer, Playwright – Hanne Loosen, Set & Costume Designer – David Fraser, Lighting Designer – Peter Moller, Sound Design – Karl Sine, Fight Director – Jane MacFarlane, Text & Vocal Coach – Claire Bolton, Stage Manager – Chandler Ontkean, Assistant Stage Manager – Derek Paulich, Production Manager – Rebecca Fauser, Assistant Director

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Vertigo Theatre has entertained audiences for 42 years with high-quality programming, evolving into a truly unique organization. We are Canada’s only fully professional theatre company dedicated to producing plays based in the mystery genre. Vertigo is located at the base of the Calgary Tower in the heart of downtown Calgary and is home to the organization its two performance venues and the BD&P Mystery Theatre Series. Our artistic mandate allows exposure to a broad demographic and our diverse audience includes all walks of life. We build strong partnerships through our various student and professional outreach initiatives that are designed specifically to help meet our community investment objectives. Vertigo Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (P.A.C.T.) and engages artists who are members of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

The Shakespeare Company is Calgary’s lean and mean classical theatre company, highlighting the best of the Bard in all his comedy, tragedy, and bawdiness. Founded in 1995, by Richard Kenyon and LuAnne Morrow, TSC has brought the Bard alive for Calgarians through both Shakespeare and Shakespeare inspired plays. We are committed to making Shakespeare accessible through innovative performances and inspired directing.

Hit & Myth Productions is a professional independent theatre company based in Calgary, Alberta. Hit & Myth was established in 2006, and since that time has produced over 30 professional shows, engaging numerous local actors, directors and designers. Hit & Myth has produced musicals, comedies and cutting edge dramas, a genre that we lovingly call “commercial alternativism.” From musicals like Urinetown and Evil Dead, to hard-hitting dramas like Martin Mcdonagh’s The Pillowman and David Mamet’s Race, to dark comedies like Neil Labute’s reasons to be pretty; to vibrant adaptations of both Shakespeare (Titus Andronicus and All’s Well That Ends Well) as well as Shakespeare inspired (William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead and Equivocation) works. Hit & Myth seeks to entertain, while always packing a serious theatrical punch. Hit & Myth collaborates with small to mid-sized sized theatre companies and independent artists to co-produce theatre that is provocative, modern, sensational, and above all else, entertaining. Our productions strive to reflect the dynamic and diverse theatrical community of Calgary and Calgary audiences. 

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Last updated May 07, 2022.

Interview Natascha Girgis – A Foray into Silly

Posted on by James Hutchison

“I like farce. I like the challenge of farce. I like the pace of farce. The fast thinking. I like the door slam timing. The mechanics of it. I like the hard math of a good farce. I love Shakespeare. Your mouth feels good just saying those incredible words and negotiating those fantastic ideas and the colourful language and the use of metaphor from such a rich writer.”

Stage West is serving up a healthy dose of farce with a talented cast in their current production Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act. This is a sequel to the hugely popular Drinking Habits that Stage West produced a couple of years ago and features most of the original cast from that production.

In the first play the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing were trying to save their convent this time around they’re trying to raise $5,000 to save an orphanage and according to Sister Augusta, played by Natascha Girgis, and Sister Philamena, played by Esther Purvis-Smith, the best way to do that is to secretly produce a batch of their much in demand wine. In addition, to the wine, Mother Superior played by Elinor Holt and Father Chenille played by Robert Klein decide to raise the necessary funds by putting on a play which of course doesn’t go smoothly. And as a farce there are plenty of other plots in the works and secrets to be revealed as the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing try to do God’s Holy work.

I sat down with Natascha Girgis to chat with her about the production and her approach to comedy.

Esther Purves-Smith as Sister Philamena & Natascha Girgis as Sister Augusta in the Stage West Production of Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act by Tom Smith. Directed by J. Sean Elliott

JAMES HUTCHISON

Natascha, is there a different approach you take when performing comedy as opposed to drama?

NATASCHA GIRGIS

I don’t think so. How I prepare depends on the piece. If there’s a historical precedent or if it’s an individual who has existed in the past then there’s research to be done. If it’s The Bard then obviously there’s a lot of book work. For comedies I find the work happens in the room. If it’s a prop-heavy show or a prop-heavy role where I need to manipulate a lot then the sooner I can get off book and have my hands available and be an active listener the better. That lets me react in the moment in the room to the other actor or to the circumstances without thinking, “Oh, what’s my next line?”

JAMES

Are there any famous comic actors that you admire that you kind of pattern yourself after? Or have been a great influence.

NATASCHA

My body is tattooed with Buster Keaton.

JAMES

When did you discover Buster Keaton?

NATASCHA

I might have been eighteen or something like that and it was purely by accident. I was working at the Plaza Theatre in Kensington and we had access to whatever movies we wanted to go see. I meant to see a Danish film, but it didn’t come in because of shipping so they put their Buster Keaton festival on early and I thought, “A silent film, really?” So, I stayed and saw Pale Face which was one of his shorts and my head exploded and I thought who are you? And I went every day after that to every one of the festival dates and have followed up ever since.

Buster Keaton – American actor, comedian, film director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer.

JAMES

What is it about Keaton’s performance that you find so mesmerizing?

NATASCHA

He lives, eats, breathes his medium. His work was everything. It defined who he was. He’d been working since he was an infant on vaudeville with his parents. He never went to school. His training was in the theatre. It was on the boards. It was a very rough knockabout physical act. His physical facility is incomparable, and he dates well because in his films – he’s man against the machine – he’s man against the world. His stuff is still funny and the risks that he took were astonishing. I own virtually every film and virtually every book that’s ever been written on him and I’m a member of both the British Society and the American Society of Keaton fans.

JAMES

So, what plays do you like? What makes you laugh?

NATASCHA

I like farce. I like the challenge of farce. I like the pace of farce. The fast thinking. I like the door slam timing. The mechanics of it. I like the hard math of a good farce. I love Shakespeare. Your mouth feels good just saying those incredible words and negotiating those fantastic ideas and the colourful language and the use of metaphor from such a rich writer.

Natascha Girgis as Sister Augusta in the Stage West Production of Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act by Tom Smith. Directed by J. Sean Elliott.

JAMES

I’m interested in how you approach physical comedy yourself and use that aspect in your performance.

NATASCHA

Very technically. I’ll throw an idea out there. I’ll think about the gag and how to physically orchestrate it and how to tell the story with your body and if there’s a fall or some sort of mechanical element required. And then I just clean it and clean it and clean it and try to make it very specific and very precise. And a Keatonism that I try to apply is think slow act fast. So, let the audience catch up with you but not get ahead of you and then surprise them if you can. And my approach is to give one hundred percent. Don’t mark it. If you mark it your body learns nothing. You have to give one hundred percent the entire time you’re in rehearsal.

JAMES

What do you mean by mark it?

NATASCHA

It’s often applied to dancers – sometimes they’ll go full out and sometimes they’ll just mark it – where they’re not doing it full out. I find you train your body if you do it full out every single time. It helps train your body for what is necessary in that moment.

JAMES

Let’s talk a little bit about the show you’re in now. What’s the play about?

NATASCHA

It’s about the sisters of perpetual sewing trying to raise some money to help save an orphanage. And everybody’s doing their best to assist with that because the most important thing is saving the orphanage, but everybody has a different idea about how to do that and so there’s a little bit more subterfuge involved in getting all that done.

Natascha Girgis as Sister Augusta, Luc Trottier as George & Esther Purves-Smith as Sister Philamena in the Stage West Production of Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act. Directed by J. Sean Elliott.

JAMES

You’re working with a lot of the same cast from the first play what’s that like?

NATASCHA

Many of which are my really good friends in life, and they approach the work the same way I do. There’s always another laugh to be mined, or if something is starting to go a little awry and you’re not getting the same laugh you used to you can talk about it. They never stop working because every show means something. Every show is important because you have a paying audience who deserve the same performance that you gave at the beginning of the run. And hopefully, it’s more informed. Hopefully, there’s more gags. You always keep working. And they approach it the same way I do which is why I like working with them.

Esther Purves-Smith as Sister Philamena & Natascha Girgis as Sister Augusta in the Stage West Production of Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act by Tom Smith. Directed by J. Sean Elliott.

JAMES

It’s interesting to me to hear you say the comedy continues to develop and mature. How does new material work its way in over the course of a run?

NATASCHA

You still need to be consistent but if there’s room for it and you’ve been given license by the director that within a certain set of parameters you can add something there might be a gag that can be mined. You’ll try something and it’s small and you’ll hear some laughter about it, but you watch to make sure that you’re not stepping on someone else’s moment. The more experience you have hopefully the more aware you are of everything that’s going on and when you can add something and when you shouldn’t because you don’t want the focus to suddenly shift to you when it shouldn’t be on you, to begin with. That’s just being responsible. That’s being considerate.

Esther Purves-Smith as Sister Philamena, Kate Madden as Kate, Elinor Holt as Mother Superior & Natascha Girgis as Sister Augusta in the Stage West Production of Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act. Directed by J. Sean Elliott.

JAMES

The nice thing about this play is that there are several roles for women and so I’m just wondering with the length of time you’ve been in the theatre performing different things are you starting to see a move towards better parts and more parts for women?

NATASCHA

There seems to be a growing awareness from producing bodies to include more female writers and to mentor more female writers not that women are the only ones writing parts for women but there seems to be a better inclusion of women where possible. Elinor Holt said it very succinctly the other day that sometimes in a play it’s just an occupation, but we always presume it has to be played by a man. Like you’ll have a judge, or you’ll have a police officer and for our now day sensibility our audience would buy it if you say – okay here we have the judo master and the judo master is a woman.

Natascha Girgis as Sister Augusta, Jeremy LaPalme as Paul and Esther Purves-Smith as Sister Philamena in the Stage West Production of Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act by Tom Smith. Directed by J. Sean Elliott.

JAMES

So, why should somebody come and see your show? What would be your sales pitch?

NATASCHA

Don’t be afraid of the sequel if you haven’t seen the first one. You’re going to get a fast-paced broad comedy with a lot of experienced performers who enjoy working with one another and hopefully that makes the comedy infectious. It’s a great night out. It’s not Strindberg on Ice. It’s not a long piece of theatre. It’s a short little foray into silly.

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Drinking Habits 2 Caught in the Act by Tom Smith and directed by J. Sean Elliott runs until April 14th. The show stars Natascha Girgis, Charlie Gould, Elinor Holt, Robert Klein, Jeremy LaPalme, Kate Madden, Esther Purves-Smith and Luc Trottier. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 403.243.6642 or online at www.stagewestcalgary.com

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Additional Media

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Red Rock Diner is Summertime fun at Stage West Calgary – Interview with Red Robinson & Ben Cookson

Posted on by James Hutchison

This summer if you want a great show, a fantastic meal, and a night out that will leave you feeling optimistic and happy in these strange and uncertain times head on down to Stage West Calgary and catch Red Rock Diner. Director and choreographer David Connolly has assembled an energetic, youthful, fun, and talented cast for this tribute to the early music of rock ‘n’ roll.

Lee-Anne Galloway, Ben Chiasson, Scott Beaudin, Ben Cookson, Carter Easler, and Sarah Higgins singing Johnny B Goode in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan is a rockabilly jukebox musical that celebrates the music of the fifties and features plenty of classic hits like Johnny B. Good, Who Wrote the Book of Love and Great Balls of Fire! The play is loosely based on the early career of Canada’s champion of rock ‘n’ roll music DJ Red Robinson who started spinning rock ‘n’ roll records on Vancouver’s CJOR while he was still in high school in 1954.

1954 was also the year the transistor radio – that marvel of modern technology – made it’s debut and made music portable. The first transistor radios were manufactured by Texas Instruments and sold for $49.95. That’s about four hundred and fifty bucks in today’s dollars, and even though the price was steep, Texas Instruments sold 150,000 units. Soon other companies jumped into the market and started manufacturing and selling their own radios and the price dropped and the radios sold, and the music spread. It spread because of DJ’s like Red Robinson who made it their mission to give the teens the music they wanted.

Red Robinson & Ben Cookson who plays Red in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner

I spoke with both the original Red Robinson and Ben Cookson who plays Red in the show. Red, who is 81, still has a youthful energy and infectious enthusiasm for rock ‘n’ roll more than 70 years after he first heard and helped spread the music of Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, The Big Bopper and Elvis. I asked Red where the idea for the play Red Rock Diner came from.

RED ROBINSON

Well, it started in the brain of Dean Regan who had written things like A Closer Walk with Patsy Kline and other things like that. And he came to me one day and said, “I’m doing a play, a musical, about you.” And I said, “Why the hell would you do that?” “Red,” he said, “when I saw you getting into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame I said, I went to school with that guy and I’ve got to write something.” And he did. And that’s how it was born.

JAMES HUTCHISON

So, you guys know each other from high school. Isn’t that cool. I didn’t know that connection. You know when I look at the show there’s a lot of great songs in it. But, I’m wondering – did he consult you about the music?

RED

Oh yeah, for sure.

JAMES

How did you decide what music to put in the show?

RED

Well, when he has the script for what’s going to be said then you can place the music. You know it’s like photography. Years ago, when I had an ad agency the girls would come to me and say look, “We’ll write this up and then get a picture to go with it.” And I said, “You’re doing it backwards. You get the picture and then you write it up.” That’s the way plays work too, musicals, you have the script and then you place the music and I think it was incredible his brain remembered the music from that period and he made it all match.

Sarah Higgins, Lee-Anne Galloway, Carter Easler, Scott Beaudin, and Ben Chiasson in The Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

There’s a lot of great songs in the show like Rock Around the Clock, Stand By Me, and Tequila. What are some of your favourites

RED

Oh, there are so many, I like Roy Orbison of course, he was a good friend for twenty-three years and he really was a gentleman. And I like Rebel Rouser, which was my theme, and it was really how I was. (Chuckles) A rebel without a cause.

JAMES

Well, you had a cause though, didn’t you?

RED

Oh, I did. It was to make rock ‘n’ roll acceptable to the public. People forget it was not welcomed by anyone except the youth – the teenagers.

Carter Easler, Lee-Anne Galloway, Ben Chiasson, Ben Cookson, Scott Beaudin, and Sarah Higgins in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

What do you think it is about rock ‘n’ roll that was so appealing to the kids?

RED

You could get up and dance to it. And that’s one of the ways you met girls. It was incredible. Jan and Dean told me they started Jan and Dean because they just wanted to go out and meet girls.

JAMES

There’s a lot of musicians who learned music and picked up a guitar so they could meet some girls.

RED (Laughs)

No question are you kidding?

Lee-Anne Galloway in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

You know you bring up an interesting thing because there’s a lot of male acts from that day but what about the girls? What about the females?

RED

We wanted more but we had a limited edition. There was a rockabilly singer by the name of Wanda Jackson – she was terrific. Elvis dated her for a while but then who didn’t he date? Brenda Lee was one. When she started singing my God it was amazing. This little girl who was not even five feet not really – belts out music like she was born to it. Well, she was, no question. Connie Francis another. I loved those ladies they were great, but it was very limited.

When I joined CKWX in Vancouver they had a playlist on the wall in the control room. Male, female, and this comes up in the play, male, female instrumental and group. And the program director called me in and said, “Hey you’re not following our format.” And I said, “How can I?” “What do you mean?” he said. And I said, “We got two maybe three female singers and that was it.”

JAMES

That’s certainly changed when you look at how many big stars are females today.

RED

Oh, it’s the opposite. It’s the opposite. Totally changed. And for the better.

JAMES

I do have an acting question. Ben Cookson is playing you in Red Rock Diner. What acting advice would you give Ben for portraying Red Robinson?

RED (Laughs)

That’s an odd feeling watching somebody play you. I think my advice to him would be to have fun and to just to act naturally – you know just like the song says by Ringo Starr. Get up there and have fun, act naturally but have compassion for the music and the people – the audience.

JAMES

So, you were there at the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll. Did the stars align for you or were you pushing in some way to get into that position? How did you end up being the person introducing rock ‘n’ roll to Canada?

RED

Nobody else would take a gamble, and they didn’t know what they were doing, and I’m not being rude. I was a kid. I was seventeen, and I knew what the kids in high school wanted. You know the teachers would throw a dance and play Glenn Miller, but in truth we all went down to a little restaurant called The Oakway at the corner of Oak and Broadway – it’s not there anymore. And the guy had a jukebox and he played rhythm and blues and we were all getting up and dancing to it and that’s where the idea of Red Rock Diner came from you know the title of the play. We just had fun.

Scott Beaudin in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

How did you discover the music to put on the air?

RED

Well, I’d go down to the music stores in those days and you’d ask for it and they’d reach under the counter and put it in a brown paper bag and give it to you like it was pornography. It was unbelievable. And I think it was because they were black artists – that was the problem – and you know that all changed – thank God.

So, I’d buy my own records and when I couldn’t get them fast enough I would go to a little record store in Billingham Washington just across the border, and I made a deal with a company called Stark Music and every new record that came in I took them. And I’d drive down – it’s about sixty miles – I’d drive down – get them and come back home and play em on the radio. By the time they were pressed in Canada and mailed out it would be another week to ten days.

JAMES

So, you were offering something that was fresh and on the cutting edge.

RED

That’s right.

JAMES

Where did the confidence come from? How did a seventeen-year-old guy have so much confidence and such a clear picture about what to do?

RED

Well, you know the story on teenagers. You think you can never die, and so what if you fail. I mean it meant nothing to me to fail. And I didn’t. I had a dream. I had a vision and I went ahead and I pursued it. And I think any young person who has a passion for anything whether it’s computers or whatever – they’ll make it so long as they’re dedicated to it internally.

JAMES

No fear of failure is powerful at that age.

RED

Oh absolutely.

Red Robinson spinning Rock ‘n’ Roll Tunes

JAMES

I went to your website Red Robinson – Home of the Legends and I listened to one of the programs you have on your website through Soundcloud about a concert in Vancouver on October 23rd, 1957. That’s the concert where you were introducing all the acts – it’s called – I think The Biggest Show of Stars.

RED

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

JAMES

Oh my God, what a lineup. Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Paul Anka.

RED

I’ve got a poster from that year and it is unbelievable.

JAMES

Did you get it autographed?

RED

Ha, ha, no I didn’t.

JAMES

Damn.

Red Robinson and Buddy Holly

RED

I’ve got Buddy Holly’s autograph. And that was where I got my first interview with Paul Anka and he was fifteen at the time and was full of self-confidence and all the same things I was. I played it for Paul in later years and he said, “Oh my God I’m a kid.” And there was Fats Domino, Jimmy Bowen, Buddy Knox, Buddy Holly and the Crickets and so many acts it was just unbelievable. The story is Irvin Feld who owned Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey saw rock ‘n’ roll as I guess a circus and he decided to take it on the road.

JAMES

You had all these amazing acts and they’re coming out and only doing a couple songs.

RED

Well Buddy Knox said, “We come out” – and well they only had a couple of hits at that time – “and we do the two hits and then we’d do one more and if we had enough applause or whatever we had an encore and you had to come out and do another song. That was it.” But I mean how can you have more than that with all the acts they had.

JAMES

What are some of your special memories because we’re talking about this show from 1957 and then there’s your radio days and the Expo in Vancouver in 86 where you presented The Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll – you mentioned Roy Orbison was a friend for twenty-three years, for example.

RED

Oh, yeah, he was a good friend. As a matter of fact, we were going to buy a radio station at one point. He always liked to invest in the arts. During the Expo in Vancouver in 86 we got the whole list of everybody we wanted and we wanted Roy but he was on the comeback trail with the Travelling Wilburys and he was a little reluctant but he said, “You know Red, you and your partner in the promotions department by the name of Les Vogt were the only guys who ever bonused me.”  We gave him a couple extra grand because he made us a lot of money and that bought a house for me and one for Les – in a sense because we were both able to put down the down payment. That’s the kind of relationship we had in those days. The disc jockeys and the recording artists.

JAMES

You know I love the Traveling Wilburys that was a wonderful album. So, sad he passed away right then. What a voice.

RED

What a voice and what a gentleman.

JAMES

You know I think even though Red Rock Diner is a play that appeals to the memory of people who grew up with that music this music appeals to everybody today.

RED

No question. I’ve had – my grandkids say to me – I wish we grew up in your era – your music was fun. I think that people were just trying to get the thoughts of the wars and everything on the back turntable if you know what I mean. Then the message songs came along during the Vietnam War years but for me, I think music is like movies they should be an escape. That’s what it is to me. But then, I’m not the authority on all this stuff, I just think that to play music that’s fun and uplifting is the right thing to do.

Ben Chiasson, Sarah Higgins, Scott Beaudin, Sarah Higgins and Carter Easler in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

I understand that Michael Bublé was in the original cast

RED

He was. I saw him yesterday by the way.

JAMES

How’s he doing?

RED

Oh fine. He’s back from the road and he’s waiting for the third baby to be born. So, he’s home for that. He’s just a wonderful rooted guy. He’s never let the ego take over his life. And he’s got a grandfather who inspired him to listen to music other than rock ‘n’ roll and he listened to Sinatra and Dean Martin and Elvis. Everybody says he’s Frank Sinatra but no he’s not. He likes Bobby Darin and Elvis Presley. That’s the truth. He’s a wonderfully talented kid. You’ve got to go to his show. This guy’s got a built-in sense of humour you can’t believe. And he’s down to earth.

JAMES

Did he play you in the play?

RED

He played the Elvis part. Here’s a quick story. Bruce Allen manages him and I’m on the phone on a long-distance call with David Foster and Paul Anka and they said, “Red would you talk to Bruce and tell him to sign Michael Bublé?” I said, “Is he reluctant?” And they said, “Oh yeah.” And so I said to Bruce, “You saw Red Rock Diner but you didn’t see what was going on behind the scenes. After the show every night the girls would swamp – you know I’ve got David Foster and Paul Anka listening – they would swamp the backstage trying to get an autograph from Michael. And he wasn’t even established yet and Paul Anka says on the phone, “Oh that brings back some memories.” (Red laughs) Bruce signed him after that. I don’t know if I was responsible, but I think I gave him a new light – a new look at him.

JAMES

Well you know musicians need their champions, right? I think that’s a good way to think about you. You were a champion for that music and for those artists.

RED

I really was, and I believed in it. And I’ll tell you one thing I never told anybody. I traveled by airplane all around this province doing sock hops, taking my own music with me, taking giveaways, and you know only because I believed in it and I wanted the music to spread and so if anyone hates rock ‘n’ roll you got to hate me.

Red Robinson & Elvis

***

Bringing the character of Red Robinson to life on stage is Ben Cookson. Ben bears an uncanny likeness to the young Red Robinson and has the same infectious positive attitude and smile.

Scott Beaudin, Sarah Higgins, Carter Easler, Lee-Anne Galloway, Scott Beaudin and Ben Cookson in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES HUTCHISON

So, when thinking about Red Rock Diner are there any particular numbers that really stand out for you? Because there’s a lot of great stuff in it.

BEN COOKSON

I get to rock out to every single tune on stage while it’s being played and performed and it’s hard to choose a favourite, but I really like Sh-Boom and one of my other favourites is Cry that Carter gets to sing in the second act.

Carter Easler in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

You know one of my favourites is the one you do.

BEN

Oh Boy?

JAMES

Yeah, Oh Boy. I saw the show on Friday and you were absolutely fantastic. Loved the song. Loved the feel of that. It was a beautiful moment.

BEN

Thank you so much. It opens up the second act. It’s a difficult voice to imitate because Buddy Holly was so unique and distinct in his sound and quality.

JAMES

Why do you think this music still resonates today?

BEN

This music still resonates today because the eighty-year-olds are still playing it for their kids and grandkids. I think rock ‘n’ roll introduced a heartbeat into music. I think it’s a heartbeat that appears in all genres today. Rock ‘n’ roll creates this internal feeling that you can’t help but move to.

JAMES

Is it a little something primal maybe?

BEN

Yeah, exactly. You get hooked on it right away. And I think that’s why that music is still being played.

Sarah Higgins, Carter Easler, Scott Beaudin, Ben Chiasson, Ben Cookson, and Lee Ann Galloway in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

What’s it like for you to perform in a show that’s running for a couple of months?

BEN

A show like Red Rock Diner – especially for the other five guys – is a heavy breathing show. They’re working their butts off. And it definitely becomes easier over time and that allows us to sink into the text of the songs and the actual beats of it and the reaction of the audience a little more, but it’s all for the audience because it’s their first time seeing the show even though it may be our sixtieth time doing the show. We owe it to them to give it our best every time.

JAMES

What type of research did you do?

BEN

I definitely looked into reel to reel tape and how that was used in radio production because at the time they were doing some pretty intense physical editing and changing records and Red would do all that himself. He’d be in the DJ booth changing records – changing 45s – and then going reel to reel in order to play the next commercial and he was constantly doing things. And I definitely listened to a lot of music. That’s not a bad assignment for homework. I listened to a lot of music a lot of the fifties stuff.

Ben Cookson as Red Robinson in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

JAMES

Did you listen to a lot of music growing up?

BEN

Well, my parents are both singers themselves they’re not professional but it’s a hobby they certainly love doing. So, music was a part of my childhood. My parents listen to all kinds of music. Elvis Presley was in the mix – the musical Jesus Christ Superstar was played every Easter, a lot of Celtic stuff, East Coast, Great Big Sea was a huge one growing up.

I did a lot of performing growing up in choirs and then I did the Grand Theatre’s High School Project in London Ontario where you get a chance to work with real professionals in the industry and see what it’s actually like to put on a full-scale musical. I did it two years in a row. I did Footloose and then I did My Fair Lady and I played Willard in Footloose and Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, and then I went to Sheridan College for their Honours Bachelor Musical Theatre Performance Program. That program was intense. It was everything I needed. It was the training I needed and it helped me make the connections that I needed

JAMES

Are there particular musicals that you want to do in the future?

BEN

I have soft spot for golden age musicals, but I definitely would love to do Les Mis. Les Mis is probably one of my favourite shows. I’d love to play Jean Valjean later in life or just one of the guys in the ABC Café…it’s a show where I could play any role and enjoy it.

JAMES

So, here’s a question for you. Did you like the movie?

BEN (Laughs)

I did. I’m one of the few who actually really enjoyed it in my friends’ circle. I enjoyed the rawness of it. I enjoyed the power and it was all about the music for me.

JAMES

I loved it. However, my sister completely disagrees with me and thinks I’m an idiot.

BEN

Yeah, a lot of people disagree with me as well.

JAMES

I think it’s competing against the love of the stage play.

BEN

It is. I enjoy the stage play more than the movie, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the movie. I really enjoyed the movie, but I love the stage production of it. I love it so much it makes me weep it makes me cry. It makes me laugh. It’s everything to me.

JAMES

So, tell me about working with this group of talented folks you share the stage with every night on Red Rock Diner.

Scott Beaudin, Ben Chiasson, Carter Easler, Ben Cookson, Sarah Higgins, and Lee-Anne Galloway in the Stage West Production of Red Rock Diner by Dean Regan – John Watson Photography

BEN

Well, to start it’s nice to work with a small cast. There’s only six of us in the show and we became a family within the first week. I mean you kind of go through trials and tribulations together when you’re rehearsing a show but all of us get along so well it’s so much fun to work with Carter and Lee-Anne and Sarah and we do trips to the mountains on our days off. It’s a blast and I went to school with Ben Chiasson. He was in my graduating year. And I’d met Scott the year before and Carter also went to Sheridon. We’re just a happy little family which I just really enjoy and I look forward to spending the rest of the summer with them.

JAMES

What’s your impression of Stage West as a company and Stage West as a performance space?

BEN

I think the large reason our cast has become such a family is because the production team and the family here at Stage West is so strong. Everyone cares so much about the production. Everyone cares so much about each other. It’s hard not to love what you’re doing and who you’re working with.

Stage West as an experience is very cool because you get a great buffet before the show and then you get your dessert at intermission and it’s a comfortable setting where you’re not cramped next to another person. And Red Rock Diner is a show that you can’t come to and not have a good time – you can’t not have fun at the Red Rock Diner.

***

Red Rock Diner runs until August 30th at Stage West Calgary. Tickets are available online or by calling the box office at 403-243-6642. Red Rock Diner is a fun show filled with great music presented by a young and talented cast and gets a full five out of five great balls of fire for being a Rockin’ Robin good time.

***

Red Rock Diner – Vancouver Canada June 1957 

The Cast – Red Rock Diner: Scott Beaudin as Val, Ben Chiasson as Richard, Ben Cookson as Red Robinson, Carter Easler as Johnny, Lee-Anne Galloway as Connie/Dance Captain, Sarah Higgins as Venus

Creative Team – Red Rock Diner: David Connolly – Director/Choreographer, Dean Regan – Playwright, Konrad Pluta – Musical Director, Executive Producer – Howard Pechet, Production Manager/Artistic Associate – Kira Campbell, Technical Director/Set Designer – Sean D. Ellis, Costumer & Wig Designer – Norman Galenza-MacDonald, Lighting Designer – David Smith, Sound Designer/Head of Audio – Michael Gesy, Scenic Artist – Shane Ellis, Stage Manager – Laurel Oneil, Assistant Stage Manager – Darcy Foggo, Dresser – Brianne Hughes, Replacement Stage Manager – Ashley Rees, Apprentice Stage Manager – Jennifer Yeung, Followspot Operator – Chris Cooper

The Band – Red Rock Diner: Musical Director/Keyboards – Konrad Pluta, Sub Musical Director/Keyboards – Jon Day, Drums – Jeff Fafard, Saxophone – Keith O’Rourke, Guitar – Brad Steckel, Bass – Rob Vause

***

Additional Media about Stage West’s Red Rock Diner

  • Stage West’s Red Rock Diner serves up healthy helping of nostalgia with a side of youth, heart and passion   YYSCENE Calgary’s Go-To Guide to Getting Out – Krista Sylvester, July 20, 2018
  • Interview: Legendary radio DJ Red Robinson: The Homestretch CBC He helped shape the radio scene in Canada in the 1950s. He has met everyone from the Beatles to Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. Red Robinson is an influential force who spent decades spinning tunes. He retired last year at the age of 80. His life inspired a new show now on at Stage West called Red Rock Diner. Red joined host Doug Dirks on the line. July 16, 2018 – Length: 08:27
  • Review: Red Rock Diner a rollicking dance through the ’50s – A musical highlighting the early career of Vancouver DJ Red Robinson  Review: 4 out of 5 stars – Dan St.Yves July 14, 2018
  • Review: Diner whisks audience back to Top 40 Glory Days: Red Rock Diner is a fun, rewarding way to spend a summer evening. Louis B. Hobson Calgary Sun, July 13, 2018

Rock & Roll Links

***

Uncensored, Unexpected, Unforgettable Theatre: Calgary Fringe 2018 – Festival Director Michele Gallant

Posted on by James Hutchison
Michele Gallant and Jane Mackinnon at the Calgary Fringe
Calgary Fringe Festival Board VP, Jane Mackinnon and Calgary
Fringe Festival Director and Producer Michele Gallant out promoting The Calgary Fringe Festival.

We’re only a few weeks away from the Uncensored, Unexpected, and Unforgettable Calgary Fringe and I’ve just finished making my list of want-to-see theatre. The Calgary Fringe has become part of the cultural fabric of the city and is a welcome addition to the theatre season providing Calgarians with the opportunity to see and experience local, national and international artists. I spoke with the current Festival Director and Producer of the Calgary Fringe Michele Gallant.

JAMES HUTCHISON

What is it about the Calgary Fringe that you personally love and keeps you motivated to do all the work and organizing required to present the festival every year?

MICHELE GALLANT

I love the fact that the fringe is all-inclusive, embracive, and that there’s no segregation. Everyone from all backgrounds of life can be involved and participate. All are welcome. I love that artists are free to choose what they want to perform, in what style, and on what topic. I love that patrons have a wide variety of acts to choose from, and how willing they are to take a chance on something new. I love the passion of our volunteers to support the arts and to have fun while doing it. I love that the artists support each other and that one hundred percent of the artist’s set ticket price goes directly back to the artist.

Calgary Fringe performers from 2014 - Rory Ledbetter, Penny Ashton, and Deanna Fleysher
Calgary Fringe Festival Artists, Rory Ledbetter from a Mind Full of Dopamine, Penny Ashton from Promise and Promiscuity: A New Musical by Jane Austin and Penny Ashton, and Deanna Fleysher from Butt Kapinski – Calgary Fringe Festival 2014 – Photograph James Hutchison

JAMES

These are tough times for the Calgary Arts Community. I know a number of Arts Organizations have struggled with funding and have had to adjust how they do business. How is the Fringe doing in these tough economic times and how have you had to respond to the downturn in the economy and what solutions have you been able to implement in order to continue the festival?

MICHELE

It has been a struggle for sure, and it’s meant being smarter and more creative about how we spend our money. We have a rainy day fund set up for situations just like this, but we know that can only go on for so long. We’re currently researching other business ventures and looking for models to help support and augment what we do by creating opportunities for reoccurring revenue streams while spreading the gospel of the fringe to outlying communities.

Of course, as a non-profit, any contributions and donations are always appreciated whether in kind or in cash. You can donate by visiting Canadahelps.org and searching for the Calgary Fringe Festival or donors can contact me directly by e-mail if they’d like to discuss making a donation. (michele@calgaryfringe.ca)

JAMES

The fringe festivals are great places for young artists to get a start. What advice would you give a young artist starting out about getting into the fringe festival circuit and maybe the Calgary Fringe specifically?

MICHELE

I don’t think it’s just a great place for young artists. I think it’s a great place for any artist of any age to get their start. The best advice I can give newbies is to plug themselves into the collective fringe hive minds via fringe festivals such as Calgary and others around the world. Talk with other fringe artists and don’t be afraid to ask questions about how they got started and what works or doesn’t work. Then plan a production and figure out a travel budget and start putting money towards that. Do some research and find out what funding is available to support what you do. Learn how to market and promote yourself. And apply to the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) touring lottery in early fall. It’s a great way to apply to multiple fringe festivals all at once.

Calgary Fringe Artist Mark Ikeda
Festival Artist Mark Ikeda out promoting his festival show Sansei: The Storyteller – Calgary Fringe Festival 2014 – Photograph James Hutchison

JAMES

The Fringe festival couldn’t operate without its volunteers. What kind of volunteer opportunities are there for people who want to get involved with the Fringe?

MICHELE

There are so many and varied volunteer opportunities available. Everything from ushering to box office staff to concessions to Lounge monitor to fringe ambassadors to being on the Board of Directors or the Management Committee. If you have a specialized skill like marketing or legal services and you want to help support the fringe I’d love to hear from you. And we’re still currently looking for some volunteers to help out with this year’s fringe. You can find more information on our website.

JAMES

What advice to have to first-time fringers and what can they expect?

MICHELE

Expect the unexpected! Be open for anything. Leave no stone unturned! There’s something for everyone. The number one thing I consistently hear from patrons is how passionate the artists are about what they do and their shows. They may not always like what they see but that never deters patrons from seeing more shows, in my experience. You can expect to see some amazing shows, meet some great people, and feel good that the money you’re paying goes back into the artists’ pockets.

Calgary Fringe Artists Ian McFarlane, Ryan Reese, and Geneviève
Frivolous Fools, Ian McFarlane, Ryan Reese, and Geneviève Paré out promoting their show The Hudson Bay Epic – Calgary Fringe 2014 – Photograph by James Hutchison

It’s never easy to pick what you want to see and this year is no exception. I like to try and see a variety of shows, so I’ll build my list to include some mask or clown shows, dance if there is any, a monologue or two, musical storytelling and even a conventional one-act play if one is being presented. And then of course when you attend the festival you get a chance to meet some of the performers who are out and about promoting their own shows and sometimes that will be a deciding factor. It’s always a fun way to spend a day or two during the summer.

A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison premieres at the Carriage House Theatre

Posted on by James Hutchison

I get a very special gift this year because A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison Premieres at the Carriage House Theatre in Cardston Alberta this December. Santa certainly outdid himself this year and so here’s an interview with some of the wonderful people bringing my adaptation of the famous story to life.

  • Peter Hague as Scrooge in the Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst
  • Darren Cahoom as the Ghost of Jacob Marley and Peter Hague as Scrooge in the Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • Peter Hague as Scrooge, Candace Perry as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Max Bevans as Scrooge as a young boy, Blake Evans as the Headmaster. Photography by Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • Levi Mason as Fezziwig, Cassidy Duce as Belle, Brad Peterson as Young Scrooge, and Jennica Williams as Mrs. Fezziwig in the Cardston Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • Peter Hague as Scrooge and Candace Perry as the Ghost of Christmas Past in the Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • Production Still from The Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • Peter Hague as Scrooge and Dominic Caravaggio as the Ghost of Christmas Future in the Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • Production Still from The Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • The cast from the Carriage House Theatre production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens sing a final song to the audience. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst.
  • The cast of The Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison. Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst.

“But Uncle I have always thought of Christmas time as a kind, forgiving, charitable time. It is the one time of the year when men and women open their hearts and think of all people as fellow passengers to the grave, and not as another race of creatures bound on different journeys. And therefore, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

***

And so do I! That’s Fred talking to his Uncle Scrooge about why he values Christmas so much. Christmas continues to be a time of celebration, reconciliation and compassion. There are so many wonderful and inspiring stories to enjoy this time of year. It’s a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart and Lionel Barrymore is one of my all-time favourites. And I never miss a chance to catch The Bishop’s Wife starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young. And of course, no Christmas would be complete without a telling of Charles Dicken’s classic tale A Christmas Carol.

When I sat down seven years ago, this very Christmas, to write my own adaption of A Christmas Carol, I discovered that I didn’t really have anything new to bring to the story, so I decided to write another play instead called What the Dickens!

What the Dickens! is a play in the tradition of Noises Off by Michael Frayn or Moon Over Buffalo by Ken Ludwig. It’s basically a play within a play and in this case it’s about the Pine Tree Player’s disastrous production of A Christmas Carol.

But as a result of working on that play I had spent a lot of time with the text of A Christmas Carol and I gained a lot of fresh insights into the story and so once I had finished What the Dickens! I was finally ready to begin writing my own adaption of the original story.

Peter Hauge who plays Scrooge in A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison Premieres
Peter Hague as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst

One of the things I wanted to do in my version of A Christmas Carol was show how Scrooge was shaped into the man he became. We all live in societies and all societies influence and shape the values and opinions of its members. So, I’ve expanded the role of Jacob Marley, which was Scrooge’s business partner and mentor, and I’ve added another business associate of Scrooge’s named Mr. Bentley in order to illustrate how Scrooge was shaped into the man he became and not alone in his disdain for Christmas.

As Fred, Scrooge’s nephew says, “There are those who see Christmas as a waste of time and energy and my Uncle Scrooge was not only a member of that tribe but in all likelihood their loudest cheerleader and most ardent supporter. He hated Christmas. He hated anything that did not make him richer and so he hated Christmas most of all.”

The production is being directed by Juliann Sommerfeltd who says that A Christmas Carol is a story about hope. “We all have Scrooge-like moments and so that makes him a relatable character whom we pity. His overnight transformation gives us hope that we can alter our own bad habits.”

“The reason I love the story so much and keep coming back to it is because I love the opportunity it shows that people have a second chance. There’s so much depression in the world that being able to realize that there is another day and that you can write on a brand-new page tomorrow and that no matter where you’ve been you can turn things around and start over is an important message.”

“Also, watching Fred’s kindness to his mean Uncle inspires hope that our own kindness can ignite change in the ones we love the most. All that, and a Christmas story as well.”

Over the year’s Scrooge has been played by an assortment of actors including Alistair Sim, George C. Scott and now here in Cardston by Peter Hague. Juliann says she chose Peter because “He has the ability to give Scrooge the edge he needs at the beginning of the play and then end the play with the audience smiling at Scrooge’s bouncing enthusiasm over his changed ways. He goes from bear to teddy bear and you just want to hug this teddy bear of a man.”

Peter says that “There’s some Scrooge in all of us and that’s why this time-honoured character is so compelling. Wealth is very important to Scrooge because he feels it brings him respect and power in his community.”

As Scrooge says to Mr. Harrington who has come to Scrooge’s office on Christmas eve asking for an extension on his loan, “You may find me cold and unfeeling sir, but I would venture to say I am a man of my word; a man whose word carries weight; a man whose word allows him the ability to strike a deal and back it up with his signature. My signature is worth something. Yours it would appear – if you continue to treat your financial obligations and business dealings in this manner – will soon be worthless.”

“Many people in this world, like Scrooge, are too self-absorbed to feel sympathy for others because they evaluate life as the world affects them instead of how they might affect the world.” says Peter. “It’s not until Scrooge sees life from the perspective of others that he has an epiphany that makes him feel that he has missed the mark. The “mark” being people, love and the relationships built in life. As audiences watch the show I hope they will consider what might be amiss in their lives and make changes that will make their lives and the lives of their fellow men more fulfilling.”

“The Carriage House Theatre,” according to Alonna Leavitt, Managing Director of the Carriage House Theatre Foundation, “is an integral part of the Cardston Community.”

Production still - A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison premieres
Michael Holthe as Dick Wilkens and Cassidy Duce as Belle in A Christmas Carol – Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst

“For some people, it’s the place they go to see their children and grandchildren perform in the school choir concert. For some, the Carriage House Theatre is the place they take their family to attend a movie. And then many people look forward to seeing the next live theater production – whether it’s a Summer Theatre show, a Junior High production or a Community Theatre production. And for many people, the theatre becomes an extension of their home where they feel safe. They involve themselves on the stage or behind the scenes in a production role and feel satisfaction and joy from that experience.”

“When a production such as A Christmas Carol is presented – where the cast and crew are all members of the community, the community spirit and enthusiasm is exciting. The Carriage House Theatre is a happening place for a small community like Cardston. We are so fortunate and feel so blessed to have this facility in our town.”

Dr. Robert Russell says the The Carriage House Theatre is the result of a dream that started thirty years ago when he along with two other business partners bought the local Cardston movie theatre, The Mayfair, in 1990. The Mayfair was completely gutted and renovated and reopened in 1992 as a 333 seat live theatre and movie venue. Dr. Russell’s two partners dropped out early and he’s had the whole thing for the last twenty-eight years. “The theatre is here to serve people and to educate, enrich and enjoy. And when we talk about educate we’re not just talking about the mechanics of theatre production but to educate people to think and think seriously about what they’re seeing.”

A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison Premieres

“In A Christmas Carol you have Scrooge who has wealth and materialism but no spirit. And if I can – with my limited means – present a story about change and the transition to a more Christ like type of attitude maybe people will leave the theatre with some idea of incorporating away from materialism and money, in their own lives, which are the two main things that drive a secular society. That’s what A Christmas Carol is – Scrooge becomes a Christian. He transitions from a miserly old unhappy man and finds joy by extending himself and his resources to other people – which is the very premise of Christianity. To me that’s the biggest thing. My whole premise in my life has been service to other people. I was a physician and my whole attitude of being a physician was to serve my fellow man with skill and expertise to make their lives longer and better.”

Scrooge echos Dr. Russell’s premise when he says, to his nephew Fred, at the end of the play, “You’re right. Christmas is a kind, forgiving, and charitable time. A time when men and women open their hearts and think of their fellow man. A time for mercy, charity, and benevolence. And so, in the memory of your dear mother, I will honour Christmas and keep it all the year – and I say along with you, God bless it!”

And so, this Christmas, might I suggest, you gather up the family and friends and head on over to the Carriage House Theatre and catch this fresh, fun and lively adaptation of A Christmas Carol where you’ll meet Mr. Bentley, learn all about the letters Scrooge wrote to his sister Fan, and find out who Mr. Newbury is. You’ll still find all the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future along with Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the Ghost of Jacob Marley, Old Fezziwig, Scrooge’s nephew Fred, and the love of Scrooge’s life, Belle. There are some new scary bits, a few good laughs, a tender moment or two and some surprises! It’s a fresh take on an old tale sure to thrill young and old alike.

The entire cast of A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison Premieres
Cast & Crew of The Carriage House Theatre Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the stage by James Hutchison – Photograph by Kelsey Pankhurst

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL BY JAMES HUTCHISON PREMIERES

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Peter Hague as Ebenezer Scrooge
Rob Crawford as Mr. Bentley
Mike Morphis as Bob Cratchit
Grant Comin as Fred
Blake Bevans as Mr. Granger and the Headmaster
Ben DeVuyst as Mr. Harrington and a Business Man
Levi Mason as Mr. Murdock and Old Fezziwig
Luke Credd as a Poor Boy and Cousin Herb
Sawyer Pawlenchuk as Mr. Newbury, Topper and Thomas
Esther Leighton as Mrs. Dilber
Darren Cahoom as Ghost of Jacob Marley
Candace Perry as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Rose and Caroline
Max Bevans as Scrooge as a young boy and Belle & Dick’s Child
Brad Peterson as Scrooge as a young man
Ellandra Leighton as Fan and Fezziwig’s Child
Jennica Williams as Mrs Fezziwig
Madisyn Bevans as Fezziwig Child and Caroler
Emma Schneider as Fezziwig Children and  Belle and Dick’s Child
Mike Devuyst as Jacob Marley and Old Joe
Cassidy Duce as Belle
Michael Holthe as Dick Wilkens and a Business Man
Jack Crawford as Belle and Dick’s Child, Ignorance and a Boy on the Street
Emma Quinton as Belle and Dick’s Child and Want
Emma Bevans as Belle and Dick’s Child
Asa Verdon as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Spirit
Marie Morphis as Mrs Cratchit
Isaac Morphis as Cratchit child and Fezziwig Orchestra
Alexi Morphis as Cratchit child and Fezziwig Orchestra
Josh Morphis as Cratchit child and Fezziwig Orchestra
Julie Anne Morphis as Cratchit child and Fezziwig Orchestra
Adam Morphis as Cratchit child and Fezziwig Orchestra
Nathan Morphis as Tiny Tim
Ashtyn Lybbert as Emma
Dominic Caravaggio as the Ghost of Christmas Future
Anica Baff as a Business Woman
Daniel Atwood as a Spirit
Synevie Wilde as a Spirit
Shelby Robson as a Spirit
Capri Powlesland as a Spirit
Vicky Powlesland as a Caroler
Mika McCarty as a Caroler
Brianne Watson as a Caroler
Savannah Hunter as a Caroler

PRODUCTION STAFF

Producer – Alonna Leavitt
Director – Juliann Sommerfeldt
Musical Director – Alonna Leavitt
Stage Managers – Samantha Atwood & Eden Atwood
Lighting Design – Jim Fletcher
Costumes – Val Jensen & Alonna Leavitt
Costume Construction – Doreen Card, Marina Leavitt, Sheila Hague, Janet Crapo, Darren Cahoon
Set Construction – Don Pierson
Set Painting – Janet Mein, Esther Leighton, Josh Creason, Paige DeVuyst, Levi Mason, Anica Baff
Box Office – Norma Reeves
Lighting Technician – Evy Schnoor
Make-up & Hair Design – Dalys Fletcher
Make-up & Hair Assistants – Kim Schneider, Tonnia Watson, Lacey Quinton, Teagan Perry, Ivy Schnoor, Katia Van Dysse, Beth Holthe, Krystin Bevans, Emma DeVuyst
House Manager – Debbie Fletcher

The Carriage House Theatre: The Carriage House Theatre has been providing the town of Cardston and Southern Alberta with live family-oriented entertainment for more than twenty-five years. The Theatre produces a regular season of plays as well as its popular summer musical festival while providing opportunities for talented local youth to participate in live theatre productions.

The Alberta Playwrights Network:  The Alberta Playwrights’ Network exists to nurture Alberta playwrights and provide support for the development of their plays. APN promotes Alberta playwrights and plays to the theatre community, while building and fostering a network of playwrights through education, advocacy and outreach. A Christmas Carol was partly developed and workshopped through the Alberta Playwrights Network Wordshed Program in 2015 with the participation of Trevor Rueger, Laura Parken, Roberta Mauer-Phillips and Julie Orton.

  • Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
  • Background information for this post included the article, Yesterday Once More, by James Frey in the summer 2005 edition of Lethbridge Living magazine.
Link to A Christmas Carol by James Hutchison

Link to What the Dickens by James Hutchison

QUOTA Gets a London Production in the British Theatre Challenge

Posted on by James Hutchison

Quota gets a London production and wins the Audience Choice Award as part of the British Theatre Challenge.

“All societies are based on codes of behaviour and when someone deviates from that code there has to be a way to handle the situation otherwise chaos would reign supreme, and we don’t want that now do we. We want everything nice and tidy. All the socks in the sock drawer and all the undies in the undie drawer.”

That’s a line from my play QUOTA. It’s what Dave Dixon gets told by Kathie, the Civic Census taker, after he gets flagged for corrective action.

  • QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
  • QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
  • QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
  • QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
  • QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
  • QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography

I wrote QUOTA while I was doing a little research for another play about the internment camps that the Canadian government ran during World War One and World War Two.* It’s always bothered me that we were fighting dictatorships that put people in camps while we were doing the same thing. Of course our camps weren’t concentration camps but once you have a different set of laws and rules applied to one group in your society – how do you keep it from going to the extreme?

Maybe you keep it from going to the extreme by making sure the rule of law applies to everyone equally regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

Of course that’s only if you believe that everyone is equal. Not everyone believes this. And if you’ve seen Avenue Q you know that we’re all a little bit racist. We’re all human and we make assumptions and have distorted beliefs about people and sometimes we’re not even aware of our own prejudice. But that’s a lot different than laws being enforced by a government that are intended to limit the rights and freedoms of a particular group simply because of of that group’s differences.

But governments are not composed of robots. Governments and Prime Ministers and Presidents and Kings and Dictators are all people. And so I have to wonder what kind of people are they? Are they good leaders? I think not if they allow such laws to be passed and enforced.

But what makes a good leader? I think good leaders don’t seek power for themselves but instead seek to empower others. Bad leaders are afraid of diversity. They’re afraid of others having power. They see the cup as half full and they want what’s in the cup all for themselves. And while I know there are lots of different definitions of leadership I think great leaders enlarge the world they don’t limit it. They share.

You know one of the purposes of theatre and story is to provoke discussion. Discussion about politics, morality, relationships, love, religion, and power. And comedy allows us to shine a light on attitudes and behaviours in a way that drama doesn’t. That’s why I wrote QUOTA. I wanted to take a look at how individuals go from being a member of society to becoming an identified minority and having their rights violated.

So, I’m excited to announce that QUOTA gets a London production and is being produced by Sky Blue Theatre as part of The British Theatre Challenge – Act II.  The British Theatre Challenge is an annual international playwriting contest run by the Sky Blue Theatre Company and this year, in addition to the ten winning plays produced in December 2016, an additional six plays will be produced on Friday April 7, 2017 at the Lost Theatre in London, England.  If you happen to be in London check it out.

Quota by James Hutchison

QUOTA is the story of Dave Dixon who – while looking for a job on-line – is interrupted by the Metro City Census Taker. This is unlike any census Dixon has ever taken and when he’s asked whether or not he was spanked as a child he refuses to answer. That causes the Census taker to call for police back up and Dixon finds himself being targeted for corrective action because of his unemployment and the fact that he’s left handed. When a 2 kilo bag of white sugar is found on the premises and Dixon is facing jail time for trafficking he has to make a moral choice between naming names and protecting himself.

QUOTA gets a London Production

Guilty by Pete Barrett: Guilty takes Alice Golding one step through the looking glass into a bizarre courtroom scene, peopled by men, where she is tried for her many failures: her failure to get on with her own mother, her neglect of her children, her failure to find a job and contribute to the family budget, her failure to maintain her looks and figure and the consumption of an entire cheesecake in one go, thereby robbing her family of a Sunday treat and leaving them bereft. Of course, there can only be one sentence: life.

About Michael by Peter Anthony Fields: A first-year high school English teacher meets with the school’s administrators for what he believes is his mid-term job evaluation. However, as the meeting progresses, he soon discovers that the evaluation is actually an interrogation…

Threatened Panda Fights Back by Rex McGregor : As the World Wildlife Fund’s poster boy for endangered animals, Ling enjoys a comfortable life full of adulation and all the bamboo he can eat. But when a rival species challenges him for the role, he risks losing everything.

Mother’s Ruin by Michelle McCormick: As new parents, life for Esther and Tom has become a continuous cycle of miscommunication and long waits for invitations that never arrive. Then one simple question threatens to change everything. ‘Where’s the baby?’

The Waiting Room by Steve Shapiro: This is the place where you wait between lives. Barbara and Helmut arrive separately and must be assessed to see if they have fulfilled their pre-incarnation pledges, and while The Girl and Dinesh negotiate a better life next time. One of them is destined to make a mark in history.

Sky Blue Theatre strives to produce diverse and relevant works as well as being a hub of creativity and professional development for emerging artists. Lost Theatre is dedicated to promoting and developing young and emerging talent through regular productions, festivals, training, workshops and showcases in addition to year-round education and outreach activities.

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* Internment in Canada – World War I & World War II

At the beginning of World War I, the Government of Canada enacted the War Measures Act which gave it the power to suspend and limit civil liberties as well as the right to incarcerate “enemy aliens”. Enemy Aliens were citizens of states at war with Canada and who were living in Canada during the war. The camps were operated from 1914 to 1920. Twenty-four camps housed 8,579 men which included 5,000 Ukrainians and 2009 Germans. The camps provided forced labour which was used to build infrastructure as well as some of Canada’s best-known landmarks such as Banff National Park.

During the Second World War 40 camps held an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 prisoners. This included Germans and Italians and after Pearl Harbor approximately 20,000 Japanese Canadians were taken from their homes on Canada’s West Coast without any charge or due process and placed in remote areas of eastern British Columbia. The Canadian Government stripped them of their property and pressured them to accept mass deportation after the war ended. Most of the Japanese Canadians that were placed in camps were Canadian Citizens.

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