Trevor Rueger, Javelin Laurence in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie and adapted for the stage by Steven Dietz is designed to not only give your little grey cells a workout but to tickle your funny bone as well. Yes, this adaptation of Christie’s story is murderously funny while still retaining all the intrigue, mystery, and appeal of the original story. The fun, and there is much of it, comes from how the production is designed and the imaginative way in which the story is told.
To begin with I want to say how very much I like Trevor Rueger as the world-renowned Belgium Detective Hercule Poirot and Javelin Laurence as his trusty companion and friend Captain Hastings. I would love to see more of these two in these roles on the Vertigo stage. They have a delightful chemistry and feel absolutely perfect as Poirot and Hastings. In fact, the whole cast is brilliant. And much of the success of any play is based on finding actors who fit their roles and interact with each other in a natural and appealing way and director Jenna Rodgers has certainly accomplished that and put together a terrific ensemble.
However there is one slight situation which requires a word of explanation. On the night I saw the play the very talented and well known to Calgary audiences Meg Farhall who plays Woman 1 was, due to illness, unable to perform. Stepping into the role was another well known and talented actor from the Calgary Community, Ayla Stephen. I have little doubt that Farhall is absolutely brilliant in the play, and I’m disappointed I didn’t see her performance but rest assured Ayla did a wonderful job and fit into the ensemble perfectly. Of course, we wish Farhall a full recovery and a speedy return to the stage. So, for this review I’ll be talking about Ayla’s performance, but the production stills will be of Meg Farhall.
Heidi Damayo, Todd Houseman, Javelin Laurence, Meg Farhall, and Graham Percy in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
The rest of the cast is composed of the highly versatile and talented Graham Percy, Heidi Damayo, and Todd Houseman. These three bring much fun to the proceedings as they play multiple roles and illustrate a keen sense of comic timing and playful story telling. The play is designed in such a way that one actor plays Poirot, and one actor plays Hastings, and the other four actors play multiple characters.
The story begins when Hastings meets a young lady, played by Heidi Damayo on a train who will only identify herself as Cinderella. Hastings is absolutely charmed by the young lady, but she departs and Hastings heads home and finds his flat mate Poirot restless and disappointed that no new adventure has surfaced to occupy his time and challenge the little grey cells. However, Hastings notices a letter in the post from a Paul Renauld, played by Graham Percy, asking Poirot that he come urgently as Renauld fears that his life may be in danger because of a secret he possesses.
This intrigues Poirot and with the call to adventure answered Hastings and Poirot arrive in France only to discover that Renauld has been murdered! His body was found in a shallow grave on a golf course adjacent to his estate. But of course, everything is not as it seems. And as usual in a Poirot story there are some delightful twists and turns along the way before the true identity and motive of the murderer is revealed.
Trevor Rueger, Javelin Laurence and Hedi Damayo in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
The list of suspects includes Paul Renald’s wife Eloise Renald played by Alya Stephen who seems to have an alibi. There is Renald’s son Jack played by Todd Houseman who had argued with his father and made threats against him only days before. And there is Theodora Van Hoven played by Alya Stephen and Theodora’s daughter Marte Van Hoven played by Heidi Damayo who have recently moved into the neighbouring estate.
Much of the fun in a Poirot mystery comes from the fact that there are always plenty of suspects who have some connection to the murder. In this case that includs the mysterious young lady known as Cinderella and another young woman by the name of Bella Duveen who is also played by Heidi Damayo. Adding to this group of suspects there are a number of other characters including a weepy maid, Renauld’s lawyer, a judge, a station master, and a couple of characters from a previous murder similar to Renauld’s murder who may be connected in some way to the current investigation.
Javelin Laurence, Todd Houseman, Trevor Rueger, Graham Percy in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
Poirot is not the only one investigating the crime. There is the local police Commissary Lucien Bex, played by Graham Percy who is more than happy to have Poirot on the case and marvels as Poirot turns up clue after clue after clue that Lucien’s own men have missed. In addition to Lucien there is Monsieur Girard a detective from the Paris Sûreté, played by Todd Houseman who sees himself equal to if not better than Poirot. The two rivals, decide to make things interesting by making a gentleman’s wager as to who will be first to solve the crime.
In addition to a terrific acting ensemble director Jenna Rodgers has assembled an outstanding design team including set designer Julia Kim, costume designer Jolane Houle, lighting designer Kathryn Smith, and sound designer Tori Morrison who also created additional compositions to add to the original music compositions by Robertson Witmer.
Heidi Damayo, Graham Percy, and Meg Farhall in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
One of the things that keeps the energy up in a play is designing smooth transitions between scenes and in order to accomplish that you have to design a set and style of production that makes the scene changes feel like a dissolve on stage instead of stopping the action, moving things about, and beginning again. When we first take our seats, we are greeted with an empty stage with two very tall panels on either side. The stage is painted in beautiful garden colours that make us feel like we are being transported to a country estate in France where a substantial part of the play takes place.
There are a variety of locations including a golf course, an estate, a garden shed, a court of law, and a train station. To facilitate the various locations a few props are used when needed. Tall flats with a door to enter or exit from and with windows on the second floor through which we can observe the shadows of the occupants in the rooms above are wheeled on and off stage to create the various locations. During these transitions the dialogue and music continue and so the action and energy never stops. Adding to the ambience is the lighting design which leads our eye to particular places on stage and creates a unique feeling for each location.
Trevor Rueger, Graham Percy, Todd Houseman, Javelin Laurence, Meg Farhall and Heidi Damayo, in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
The music – and there is plenty of it – is a particularly fun element. It adds to the comic moments by underscoring the sudden reveals, red herrings, and clues and plays up some of the melodrama of the murder mystery genre. The music never overpowers what’s happening on stage or being said by the characters but instead blends perfectly and naturally with the dialogue and action.
You know one of the fun things about a great fictional character is that it gets many interpretations. In fact, part of the joy of Hamlet, Sherlock Holmes, and Felix Unger is not just the written text, but also the unique qualities each actor brings to the character. So, when it comes to Poirot, I love Peter Ustinov’s portrayal of the character and in particular his version of Death on the Nile because he adds an element of comical mischief to his Poirot. I love David Suchet’s Poirot because I think he really embraces the vision that Christie had for the character, and he often seems during his investigations to ponder the morality of mankind. And Kenneth Branaugh’s egg obsessed Poirot is all about the moustache, I think. A bold choice. And moustache aficionados everywhere will be excited to know that there’s a rumour going around that Kenneth Branaugh’s moustache will be returning as Poirot for a fourth time in order to solve The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in a new movie adaptation of Christie’s classic novel.
Todd Houseman, Graham Percy, Trevor Rueger, and Meg Farhall in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
So, the fun of seeing a stage production is we get to see a new interpretation of the character by one of our local actors. Trevor Reuger’s performance as Poirot is a delight. Trevor is a master of comedy and like most good comic actors he also has a talent for the dramatic and he’s able to be serious when needed and playful when needed. Yes, his Poirot is obsessed with order but his drive and determination to arrive at a solution is what makes him so much fun to watch and he is often two or three steps ahead of everyone else.
Javelin Laurence as Hastings brings a feeling of immediate trust and likability to their portrayal of Hastings. Much of the play has Hastings and other characters delivering narration directly to the audience and Laurence brings a charm and slightly naive honesty to their interactions with both the audience and other characters. But that can be forgiven because Hastings is a bit of romantic and their encounter with Cinderella has left them with hopes and feelings that we’ve all felt sometimes when we’ve had a brief encounter with someone and there’s been a little spark of interest between us.
Trevor Rueger, Javelin Laurence, and Meg Farhall in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
The rest of the cast is just as marvelous and its so much fun to see them playing off each other and finding both the comedy and the mystery in the play. Whether she’s playing a weeping maid or the mysterious and brash and full of life Cinderella Heidi Damayo is a joy to watch. She knows how to turn a phrase or give a look to the audience that delivers a laugh or a more mysterious and sinister message.
Ayla Stephen can play big bold characters and Theodora Van Hoven the new neighbour is a big flamboyant and commanding woman who is clearly used to getting what she wants and she’s not afraid to do battle with Poirot or anyone else who stands in her way. In contrast to this powerhouse Ayla plays Eloise Renald the loving and grief-stricken widow with a sincere and emotional honesty.
Meg Farhall and Trevor Rueger in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
Graham Percy brings an adoring fanboy quality to his portrayal of Commissary Lucien Bex who I wouldn’t be surprised to find out has a poster of Poirot on his study wall. Percy contrasts that characterization with some wonderful deadpan moments as he plays other characters including the grounds keeper, a train agent, and a front desk clerk.
Todd Houseman’s portrayal of Monsieur Girard from the Paris Sûreté has a delightful arrogance and cheerful pomposity that contrasts nicely with his portrayal of the emotional and fiery son Jack who is one of the main suspects in the murder. Houseman also portrays the family lawyer, and he physically feels very much like a snake as he slithers in and slithers out of scenes providing Poirot with the latest version of Paul Renauld’s will.
Todd Houseman and Heidi Damayo in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
There are two particularly delightful parts to Steven Dietz’s inventive script that I’m going to share with you because telling you about them doesn’t dimmish how fun they are to watch, and I think they are in fact a huge drawing card that makes the evening memorable.
Since this is a cast playing multiple roles, situations arise where the actor playing one of their roles is required to play one of their other characters at the same time. For example, at one point in the play when Todd Houseman is playing Jack the son of the murder victim, he is suddenly required to also play Inspector Girard and interrogate Jack. Houseman’s quandary is shared by other cast members as they too are asked at times to double up and the resulting solutions the actors come up with results in plenty of laughter and fun.
Trevor Rueger, Heidi Damayo, Graham Percy, Javelin Laurence, Todd Houseman, and Meg Farhall in Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre. Photo Fifth Wall Media.
This is Agatha Christie so – yes, the plot does get complicated. There are always a lot of characters to keep track of and motives to sort out and all these characters are usually lying about who they are, where they were, and what they know. So, to help the audience understand exactly what’s going on Poirot enlists the rest of the cast and a bunch of bowling pins dressed in little costumes that match the costumes of the characters in the play to help explain what we know so far. Needless to say, not only do we clarify the case and the suspects and their motives, but we also get to enjoy a lot of good laughs along the way.
Murder on the Links at Vertigo Theatre has all the zany fun of a play like Arsenic and Old Lace but still retains all the elements we’ve come to expect from a satisfying and puzzling mystery. Director Jenna Rodgers has worked her magic by gathering together a talented group of actors and designers who bring to life an inventive and clever script by Steven Dietz that makes for a fun and entertaining evening at the theatre.
Murder on the Links runs at Vertigo Theatre until Saturday December 21st with matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 PM and evening performances from Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 PM. Single tickets start at $30 and are available by calling the Vertigo Theatre Box Office at 403.221.3708 or online at vertigotheatre.com.
The Vertigo Theatre Production of The Woman in Black starring Joe Perry and Andy Curtis. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Hannah Fisher, Lighting Design by Narda McCarroll. Photos by Fifth Wall Media
“I’d always known in my heart that that experience would never leave me. That it was woven into the fibers of my being. Ah yes, I had a ghost story. A true story. A story of haunting and evil. Fear and confusion. Horror and tragedy. But it was not a story to be told around the fireplace on Christmas Eve.”
The Woman in Black Adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt
***
Vertigo Theatre’s Production of The Woman in Black directed by Jamie Dunsdon and starring Joe Perry and Andy Curtis is a tension-filled journey into fear and terror. Yes, it’s a ghost story but I think it’s more than just an encounter with the supernatural. If the play had nothing more to offer us than a few chills and thrills, I don’t think it would have run for 33 years and racked up 13,232 performances to make it the second longest-running non-musical play in London’s West End.
No, I think the appeal of the play comes from the fact that Arthur Kipps, the main character in the story, through no fault of his own finds himself in a life-and-death struggle with forces beyond his control. That is what makes the story so relatable. In our own lives we all encounter such forces but usually in the form of disease or accident and those encounters can leave us fighting for our survival or can change the trajectory of our lives. So, for me, that’s a key component as to why I enjoyed the play so much. I can identify with Kipps. What man or woman or person hasn’t found themselves in a situation where the forces of nature or the decisions of others whom we have no control over impacts our lives and all we can do is man the lifeboats and ride out the storm.
The Vertigo Theatre Production of The Woman in Black starring Joe Perry and Andy Curtis. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Hannah Fisher, Lighting Design by Narda McCarroll. Photos by Fifth Wall Media
The Woman in Black is based on the 1983 novel by British author Susan Hill and adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt and was first staged in 1987 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough before premiering in London’s West End in 1989. The play takes place in a Victorian Theatre where Arthur Kipps an older gentleman played by Andy Curtis has hired a younger actor played by Joe Perry to help him tell his story. Kipps is troubled. In agony. Haunted. The telling of his story he hopes will purge his life of the horrible experience he encountered as a young man. The Actor is only too happy to help him stage the story and tackles the telling of it with enthusiasm. To make the telling of the story work the Actor takes on the role of Kipps and Kipps using his memory of those he encountered portrays all the other characters.
The story is a simple one. A reclusive elderly widow by the name of Mrs. Drablow has died and Kipps is sent to the remote town of Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral and sort through her papers and settle her estate. The Estate is the fog-shrouded Eel Marsh House that can only be reached from the mainland at low tide along a narrow causeway. A local man by the name of Keckwick drives Arthur out to the estate in a pony and trap. At the estate, Kipps discovers a locked room, a family graveyard, and personal letters from Jennet Humfrye the sister of Mrs. Drablow that help shed light on the mysterious Woman in Black. I don’t want to say too much more about the plot as I think that would destroy the mystery for those who don’t know the full story and a lot of the fun as an audience member is the slow reveal of who the Woman in Black is and what terrible things have been visited upon the townsfolk of Crythin Gifford.
The Vertigo Theatre Production of The Woman in Black starring Joe Perry. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Hannah Fisher, Lighting Design by Narda McCarroll. Photos by Fifth Wall Media
The sound design by Andrew Blizzard, set design by Scott Reid, and lighting design by Narda McCarroll are blended perfectly in a way that adds to the mystery and tension. Along with these design elements wonderful performances by Joe Perry and Andy Curtis help deliver plenty of spine-tingling chills. In his notes to the play Stephen Mallatratt says, “Darkness is a powerful ally of terror, something glimpsed in a corner is far more frightening than if it’s fully observed. Sets work best when they accommodate this – when things unknown might be in places unseen.” And I’m happy to report that this production of The Woman in Black takes that advice to heart.
Darkness like silence is a tool for creating emotion and engagement. And the fun thing about creating suspense is that done right you invite the audience to use their own imagination as part of the experience. Who hasn’t woken up in the dead of night and glanced to a corner in the bedroom and been seized by the sudden fear that something is lurking in the corner? A good ghost story uses those natural instincts to create a terrifying experience. And more than once during the play audience members screamed and afterwards a nervous wave of laughter washed over the theatre. And that’s because we buy into the story and that indicates just how effective the lighting is at creating mystery and suspense and how the sound sets the scene and how perfectly designed the set is to allow for events to unfold.
The Vertigo Theatre Production of The Woman in Black starring Joe Perry and Andy Curtis. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Hannah Fisher, Lighting Design by Narda McCarroll. Photos by Fifth Wall Media
There’s also a chemistry between Joe Perry and Andy Curtis that makes the play work. Curtis has such a rich and easy voice and he feels so centred on stage that he draws us into the story. Perry captures the enthusiasm of the actor as he dives into his character blissfully unaware of the danger he is putting himself in as he brings the Woman in Black’s story to life. This really is an ensemble production where every choice from the acting to the costumes to the setting to the direction combine in such a way that we are swept into another world where our hero finds himself in a terrifying and life-altering experience.
In our own lives, we may not face malevolent spirits, but we certainly do encounter an unexpected illness or betrayal or financial setback at times in our lives. So even though the play deals with supernatural evil we understand the play because we have encountered such feelings and emotions in our own lives. Joy, failure, fear, hope – emotions are the tapestry of life and director Jamie Dunsdon is a master at creating emotionally compelling theatrical experiences and her production of The Woman in Black provides audiences with a safe way to experience something terrifying and emotionally satisfying because the truth is we go to the theatre as much to experience fear and terror as laughter and joy.
Lauren Brotman in the Vertigo Theatre Production of The Girl on the Train. Photo Tim Nguyen.
Rachel Watson wakes up one morning from a drunken blackout with a gash across her forehead, her hands covered in blood, and no memory of the night before. Adding to the mystery is the unexplained disappearance of Megan Hipwell a woman whose life Rachel has been obsessing over and observing as she travels by train to and from work every day.
Not content to let the police and Detective Inspector Gaskill handle things Rachel begins her own investigation into the mystery while she desperately tries to remember that night and figure out what happened. Add to the mix Megan’s husband Scott Hipwell and Megan’s therapist Kamal Abdic and then throw in Rachel’s own ex husband Tom Watson and his new wife Anna Watson and there are plenty of secrets to be revealed and several suspects to uncover in this exciting and tension-filled thriller.
Jack Grinhaus Artistic Director Vertigo Theatre Photo by Dahlia Katz
I sat down with Jack Grinhaus the Artistic Director of Vertigo Theatre and the director of The Girl on the Train to talk with him about the show, the importance of trust in the rehearsal hall, and what Vertigo Theatre has planned for their 2024/25 Theatre Season.
JAMES HUTCHISON
So, Jack, Vertigo Theatre is producing The Girl on the Train adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel based on the best-selling novel by Paula Hawkins and the Dreamworks film which came out in 2016. How did this particular play land a spot in your season?
JACK GRINHAUS
It was a great book that I read and adored a number of years back and the play is written very much in the thriller mode – which I really enjoyed. I love the idea of a strong female lead. I love that there’s a truth about women in the world and how they are perceived. I thought the issues around alcoholism and memory were really intriguing subject matter to deal with. And the play is also highly entertaining and challenging because you’re trying to tell this story that’s flipping through different times and spaces. So, to me, it felt like a story audiences would get behind but it’s also the kind of work I’m interested in which is very much that fast-paced thriller that I think Vertigo’s been moving towards.
JAMES
You talked about the novel and the challenge always is how do you tell the story in a different medium. How does the play convey the story but still manage to capture the essence of the novel?
JACK
The novel takes the view of all three women. So, you have chapters from Anna, Megan, and Rachel and each chapter kind of overlaps. So, you’re seeing all three women through their own interpretation of their experiences whereas the play focuses on Rachel’s story and Megan and Anna’s stories are told through the eyes and the memory of the other people telling their version of events.
So, when Megan is confessing to having an affair to her husband Scott, she’s cruel and vicious and mean about it because of how he remembers it. He remembers it in that way and in this way, Megan becomes more of an enigma. There isn’t one version of Megan. We see four to five different versions of Megan. We see her how her therapist Kamal sees her. How Scott sees her. How Tom sees her. And how Rachel sees her as sort of this fantasy character.
Adaptations are really about finding a way to distill the book’s ethos into the play and finding a way so that the important tenants of the book and the story and characters are retained in a way that makes sure the book’s main thrust is still present and existing but in a format that is contracted and shrunk.
JAMES
The film boasts an outstanding cast including one of my favourite actors Emily Blunt who was up for an Oscar this year for her role in Oppenheimer. Your own cast that you’ve assembled for this production is outstanding with many Vertigo favourites bringing the story to life. You’ve got Lauren Brotman playing Rachel Watson, Filsan Dualeh playing Megan Hipwell, Tyrell Crews as Tom Watson, Stafford Perry as Scott Hipwell, Jamie Konchak as Detective Inspector Gaskill, Mike Tan as Kamal Abdic, and Anna Cummer as Anna Watson. Tell me a little bit about this cast and what qualities each actor brings to their roles.
JACK
Lauren who plays Rachel is my wife and we’ve worked together for a number of years and Lauren has an extraordinary facilitation with emotion. She’s able to capture emotion in multiple ways. She can go from screaming to laughing to crying in the span of a second or two. And she’s able to make the character of Rachel much more affable because the Rachel character if not done well can come across as this irritating self-absorbed narcissist who’s getting involved in something she shouldn’t get into. But because Lauren is capable of giving us a much more authentic and nuanced experience, she brings complexity and truth to Rachel.
When it comes to someone like Ty and Stafford, they’re both well-known in the community and they’re both strong male counterparts to Rachel. And in this story, they have the opportunity to support Rachel but they also both provide a bit of danger. Ty has played the bad guy a lot and he’s the sweetest guy so he can play a sweet guy but then flip that switch.
And Stafford is someone who feels almost like a little boy in a man’s body. And Scott is like that. He’s just this guy who gets thrown into this situation and he says, “You know five minutes ago I was just a guy with a mortgage and a wife and suddenly now I’m a circus attraction.” And he’s not good at that.
Anna Cummer who plays Anna in the play is so wonderfully idiosyncratic in the way that she prepares as a human and as an actor and as an artist. She’s a seasoned actor – a strong actor – who can give us that neurosis, jealousy, and fear that the Anna character has.
Jamie and Mike are just excellent rocks. You know whenever you cast a company of actors you need a couple of rocks in the company who hold down the fort because we have Rachel and Anna and Scott all emotionally up here so the key to an ensemble is to have two people that are emotionally down here.
And then Filsan brings this beautiful youth and enigma. She’s the youngest person in the company. The one with the newer experience in theatre comparative to the other actors who have maybe ten or fifteen years on her. So that innocence is kind of Meghan in a way, right?
So, they each have qualities that are really within the characterization and a lot of that came up in the audition process and right away we went, “Ah, you embody this character in this way as a person naturally.” And then as a group I needed really strong actors because of the nuanced performances necessary for it to be a believable piece of theatre.
JAMES
You mentioned that your wife Lauren is in the show and that you’ve worked with your wife over the years and I’m curious to know how do you enjoy that professional relationship and how do you maintain a successful personal relationship?
JACK
I don’t know how it is for other people, but we’ve just always been very similar on how the art is done. We can battle in the rehearsal hall, and I know that she’s going to try and do the best out of what she can get from the character, and she knows that I’m only going to try and get the best out of her. But at the end of the workday, we go home and leave it alone. And if someone starts talking about the work at home the other will say let’s wait for the rehearsal. And because I think we see art in the same way the end game is always the same and, in that way, it means we’ll never actually fight because we know we’re both trying to reach the same goal.
Filsan Dualeh and Stafford Perry in the Vertigo Theatre Production of The Girl on the Train. Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
From what you’re saying I’m taking that trust is a huge part of your relationship with your wife but let’s expand that out to talk about how important is trust in the rehearsal room and putting on a production.
JACK
It’s critical. I always say as a director I need to win the room in the first five minutes of the first rehearsal. Because if I don’t win the trust of that team – if they don’t believe that I can lead the ship – then I’m going to lose them and once you lose the room it’s very hard to get it back.
And so, I like to come in very well prepared and also come in with a great sensitivity to the understanding of the actor process and let them know that I’m strong and I’m here to support their journey. I’m happy to have discussions about things and if I’m curt or I cut you off it’s only because part of my job is about time management, and I have to keep things moving.
So, I’m very clear upfront about the rules of the game. People know I’m the leader of the team, but it doesn’t mean that your voice is not needed wanted or justified and if there’s time to have conversations we will. So, I’m really clear on my vision and the idea I have for the show so that they can buy in. And the key to building trust in that room is about supporting each other and giving them a place where they feel they can work safely.
JAMES
So, let’s say I have a friend this weekend who says I don’t know what to do and I say there’s Vertigo Theatre’s production The Girl on the Train. What should I tell them? Why should they go see it? What’s the hook?
JACK
I think it’s a gripping, exhilarating, crime thriller experience and we all love that storyline. And because you’re following this journey through the eyes of the unreliable narrator there are red herrings and that’s a bit of a puzzle and it’s also highly theatrical in its presentation. The writing and the acting are naturalistic, but the set and the projections are much more expressionistic and metaphoric, so I think it feels very epic in scope. So, if you want a really great experience, you can come out and have a drink and have a conversation with some of your friends and see something that is not only theatrical it’s cinematic in style and it’s a great thriller with great acting.
Lauren Brotman and Jamie Konchak in the Vertigo Theatre Production of The Girl on the Train. Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
Since you mentioned cinematic a couple of weeks ago the Oscars came out and I’ve seen a few awesome films that were nominated this year like American Fiction which just blew me away and The Holdovers which I loved. And on the weekend, I saw Past Lives and that devastated me. Which totally surprised me. But for me out of the films I’ve seen so far, I think the one I like best is The Holdovers. Did you have a favourite out of the films that you’ve seen and were nominated this year?
JACK
I loved Oppenheimer. I really did. I found myself really drawn to it. I mean I love Christopher Nolan the director and I love the work that he does. The performances weren’t necessarily very deep emotional experiences but I’m a big history buff and I love the storytelling and the way it was shot and even though it was a longer film it didn’t feel like it. It didn’t drag at any point for me. I was in it the whole time. I just wish I’d seen it in the movie theatre and not at home because it feels so epic and I would have loved to have been in the cinema for that one.
JAMES
I saw an interview with Jeffrey Wright who was in American Fiction, and he said when he’s making the work he doesn’t think about awards but afterwards awards bring recognition to the work and if they’re going to hand out awards anyway why not hand them out to him. And that made me laugh. So, I’m curious about your thoughts. We have the Betty’s coming up which are our local theatre awards. What are your thoughts about placing artists in competition with each other and that whole idea of awarding work?
JACK
There are many layers to that question. With film and TV when you win an award it can actually bolster awareness about the film and the work helping it to grow but usually a play is completed by the time it gets an award so I’ve always felt that awards are really valuable for young artists who are coming up and it can give them some stature. It’s kind of like good reviews. Those things can bolster grant writing potential and maybe even opportunities for work and so I’ve always thought awards are really great for young people.
I’m also curious about the idea that does a work of art only become great if it’s publicly lauded or can a work of art still be great even without that? You think of some of the greatest artists in history people hated for years and years and years and then suddenly twenty, thirty, fifty, a hundred years later their works are being lauded.
I think it’s valuable in it’s a way for communities to get together and to at least acknowledge each other and that’s great but we could also just have a big party at the end of the year – a big theatre party and have a nice dinner together and just celebrate each other in a way without necessarily having to say you’re the best of the best you know.
When Connie Chung was interviewing Marlon Brando she said, “You know you’re considered the greatest actor of all time.” And Brando said, “Why do we always have to deal with absolutes? Why does it always have to be somebody is the best? Somebody is the worst. Can’t you just attune yourself to a thing and be one of the people who does that.”
JAMES
So, last year you gave me a little sneak peak about next season, and I was wondering what do you have planned for the 2024/25 theatre season at Vertigo?
JACK
Well, it’s about turning the page and I always build seasons that are feeling the zeitgeist of the day in a way and trying to understand where we are. And I think even though people would argue the pandemic isn’t over we are certainly past the most fearful stage of it where we just didn’t know anything, and we were all just guessing. And I think we’re in a place now where we have a better understanding that helps us reflect on ourselves and look at that time and think about who we are today.
So, for me – turning the page – are stories about people who are doing exactly that. They’re reflecting on the past and figuring out what are we going to do now in the future. And so, all of the plays live in that ethos a bit. And we also want to provide opportunities for audiences to have a great time next year. It’s still a hard time in the real world so why not enjoy the entertainment that we can provide. And we’ve got four premieres this coming year. So, lots of new plays.
We start the season with The Woman in Black which is a ghost story and just closed in the UK after nearly thirty-five years and over 13,000 performances since 1989. And we were the first phone call to say can we have it because they kept it on moratorium for a number of years – not allowing anyone to produce it. And it’s about Arthur Kipps looking back on his past to try and understand what happened to his family. So, starting off with something like that around Halloween is lots of fun.
Then there’s the Canadian premiere of Murder on the Links which is a new version of a Christie Poirot – which everybody loves with six actors playing thirty roles. That’s exciting. It’s nostalgic with the way we love those chestnuts that time of year. It’s the holiday season. People want nostalgia. They want to look back a little bit and see those things and it’s a great story right.
We have the Canadian premiere of Deadly Murder. Deadly Murder is a dark deep psychological thriller. Very uncomfortable. Very cat and mouse. It’s that thing where you lock two or three people in a room and you see what happens. And it’s the old Hitchcock thing. It’s not scary to find out there’s a bomb in the room. It’s scary to find out there’s a bomb in the room that’s going off in five minutes and now what?
Then we have the world premiere of a new play called A Killing at La Cucina which is about a food critic who dies at a restaurant called Fate where one in a thousand people are fed poison and they go there because of that. And we’re introducing this new super detective who might very well be the next Poirot named Lucia Dante who investigates this fast-paced and intense mystery along with her AI colleague Isabella.
And we close the season with the Canadian premiere of The DaVinci Code which you know is nearing a hundred million copies in sale. It’s been about twenty-odd years since the book came out and I don’t think there’s a person who hasn’t at least heard of it. And I think that audiences are looking for things that they can recognize, and I think DaVinci Code is definitely one that is an exciting piece that is adapted by the same people who did The Girl on a Train, so it’s got that fast pace and that excitement in a treasure hunt adventure that goes all across Europe.
How are we going to do that?
We’re not going to have Europe all over the stage but that’s the beauty of theatre we’re going to use the set design and maybe the projections and the sound and the way that the lighting is set to create those environments where the audience goes – Yes you are in a Piazza in Milan. I see it. I see it all. Right. You’re in the Louvre. I totally take it we’re in Paris. So, I think those challenges – you know a big ten-person or eleven-person cast and a big show to crown the season – are the kinds of things Vertigo is excited about moving into.
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.
Ryan Parker, Vanessa Sabourin, Shannon Blanchet, Scott Shpeley, Garett Ross, Sheldon Elter, and Beth Graham in the Catalyst Theatre Production of Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Christenson. Production Design by Bretta Gerecke. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
Before I dive into a deeper look at Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe I’ll start off by simply saying I give it two thumbs up. I’d give it more thumbs but those are all I got. Evolution has seen fit to stop at two thumbs per person and that does seem to serve us well although had evolution seen fit to give me four I’d give Nevermore four thumbs up. So, yes – go see it. It’s a show that comes highly recommended not just from me but from countless other reviewers and audience members.
I think the best filmmakers, painters, and writers all have a particular vision. We know A Wes Anderson film from a single frame. We know a Van Gogh on sight, and we recognize a Rolling Stones song after hearing a few notes. That’s what makes these artists stand out. Their work is unique in form and structure and execution. These artists see and understand the world from a slightly different angle than the rest of us and so they bring new life to many of the things we take for granted – be that a sunflower or the life of a poet.
And so, who better to bring to the stage the life of Edgar Allan Poe – an artist with his own unique artistic view of the world – than Catalyst Theatre and writer, director, and composer Jonathan Christenson. Nevermore is filled with energy that explodes across the stage in bold and theatrical storytelling that distinguishes Catalyst Theatre as a truly unique and visionary voice in Canadian Theatre. And if Poe was able to shake off his uneasy slumber and journey from his resting place in Baltimore to Calgary and see the show – I have little doubt that he would be pleased with this nightmarish and mesmerizing telling of his tale – elaborate costumes, rhyming prose, imaginative staging, and a rather macabre story all set to music and flawlessly choreographed.
Scott Shpeley in the Catalyst Theatre Production of Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Photo by Tim Nguyen. Production Design by Bretta Gerecke.
Nevermore first graced the Vertigo Stage in 2011 and this revival has the good fortune of bringing back together the incredible ensemble from that original production. Scott Shpeley channels the bedevilled poet with a wide-eyed wonder and a growing sense of doom as the other cast members transition between a multitude of characters in Poe’s life including his mother Eliza Poe an actress who dreams of fame and fortune played by Vanessa Sabourin.
Sheldon Elter brings to life Edgar’s older, gregarious, and optimistic brother Henry while Garett Ross takes on the role of the pious and stingy Jock Allan who gave Edgar a home when Edgar became an orphan after his mother died.
Ryan Parker plays the rather aloof Rufus Griswold once a friend of Edgar’s who becomes jealous of Edgar’s talent and makes it his mission to tarnish Poe’s reputation. Shannon Blanchet plays Elmira Royster Edgar’s first love whose father isn’t too keen about the prospect of his daughter marrying a poet. And Beth Graham plays Edgar’s first wife Sissy who must endure scandalous rumours about her husband’s involvement and affection for another woman.
These are big bold characters that move about the stage like living marionettes and the entire cast energetically throws themselves into a story that depicts the tragedies and hopes that haunt Edgar’s short life.
Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Production Design Bretta Gerecke. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Production Design Bretta Gerecke. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
Ryan Parker, Vanessa Sabourin, Shannon Blanchet, Scott Shpeley, Garett Ross, Sheldon Elter, and Beth Graham in the Catalyst Theatre Production of Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Christenson. Production Design by Bretta Gerecke. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe covers Poe’s life from birth to death. Forty years in a little over two hours. Like all biographical plays, certain things are adjusted and manipulated to tell a coherent and simpler story because – well you’ve only got two hours.
And in some ways, I think a play is very much like a painting – paintings are a version of reality seen through the lens of the artist and the subject matter of a play is a version of reality seen through the lens of the playwright and director and the actors and the entire creative team and the purpose of the play is to entertain – to enthrall its audience and Nevermore succeeds on every level.
Catalyst Theatre’s
NEVERMORE: THE IMAGINARY LIFE AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF EDGAR ALLAN POE
A whimsical and chilling musical fairy tale at Vertigo Theatre
The Cast
Shannon Blanchet (Elmira Royster) Sheldon Elter (Henry Poe) Beth Graham (Rosalie/Fammy/Sissy) Ryan Parker (Rufus Griswold) Garett Ross (David Poe/Jock Allan) Vanessa Sabourin (Eliza Poe/Muddy Clemm/Louise Gabriella) Scott Shpeley (Edgar Allan Poe)
The Creative Team
Jonathan Christenson – Writer/Director/Composer Bretta Gerecke – Set/Costumes/Lighting Designer Laura Krewski – Choreography Wade Staples – Sound Designer Matthew Skopyk – Music Producer Leo O’Reilly – Catalyst Production Manager John Raymond – Stage Manager Nyssa Beairsto – Assistant Stage Manager Ruth Alexander – Music Director Keven Green – Catalyst Technical Director Alexandra Prichard – Lighting Associate Kat Evans – Costume & Props Associate Jonathan Beaudoin – Costume Coordinator Rebecca Cypher – Costume & Props Assistant Derek Miller – Sound Design Assistant
Vertigo Theatre presents a highly entertaining and suspenseful production of Gaslight by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson based on the play Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton. Bringing the play to life is a terrific cast including Kelsey Verzotti as Bella, Braden Griffiths as Jack, Valerie Planche as Elizabeth, and Hailey Christie-Hoyle as Nancy. The production is directed by Jack Grinhaus and delivers plenty of mystery and suspense.
Kelsey Verzotti as Bella and Braden Griffiths as Jack in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Gaslight by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson. Directed by Jack Grinhaus. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
All devoted husband Jack Manningham wants is for his wife Bella to get well. Ever since moving into their new home in London Bella has experienced a number of episodes that have made her doubt her own sanity. Items disappear, noises are heard, and the gaslight dims on its own. Jack enlists the help of Elizabeth the housekeeper and the new maid Nancy to make sure that Bella gets the rest and quiet she needs in order to recover. But things aren’t exactly as they seem and as layers of the story are revealed – including the disturbing history of the house – Bella must figure out what’s really going on before things turn deadly.
I spoke with the director of Gaslight Jack Grinhaus about the play, his role as Artistic Director of Vertigo Theatre, and what fictional detective he’d want to clear his name if he’d been wrongly accused of murder.
JAMES HUTCHISON
So, Gaslight takes place in Victorian London. There are mysteries at play and sinister forces at work. Tell me about your production of Gaslight and what audiences can expect from spending a night with Bella and Jack.
JACK GRINHAUS
It’s a great classic thriller but because of this new adaptation it feels very present and modern. There’s this woman who feels isolated in her home and I think we’ve all known what that feels like over the last few years, and she’s in a relationship she can’t understand, and she is confused about herself. And in this new adaptation, Bella is the agent of her own freedom, as opposed to the original script which had a detective come in and help solve the puzzle. All three women in the story are extremely strong actors and characters and it’s been really exciting to work with them.
And I see the play very much as a superhero origin story because there’s this woman who starts off feeling like she can’t believe in herself. She doesn’t trust herself. She doesn’t trust the world around her. She thinks maybe something is going on in her mind, but as time progresses she’s like Neo in The Matrix. She starts to accept that she can actually expose all the truths of the story. And I think audiences will have a really great time following her because it’s from her point of view and while she’s being gaslit we’re gaslighting the audience as well with the way we’re staging the play and with the way we’re using the design elements.
Braden Griffiths as Jack and Kelsey Verzotti as Bella in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Gaslight by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson. Directed by Jack Grinhaus. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
Our perception of ourselves often depends on the feedback that we get from others.
JACK
Yes.
JAMES
How much of our identity do you think comes from what others reflect back to us?
JACK
Well, that kind of goes back to that existentialism, Sartre kind of idea, right? There’s no shame until we are witnessed by others. It’s a really intriguing question. I’m going to give you a little anecdote of me gaslighting myself recently.
During our run of Murder on the Orient Express, Haysam who starred as Poirot was doing the big Poirot finale. I was in my office. I was listening to the play on the program sound outside in the hallway.
I thought, “Okay, I’ll go down and see the applause and go talk to the audience after the show. I’ll just hang out in the office until then because I’ve seen it fifty times.” And I waited for a particular point in Poirot’s final monologue, where he speaks about one of the characters and he says, “Oh, she’s in a new play called No, No, Nanette on Broadway and she’s very successful.” And I went, “Okay, great. I’m going to head down.”
And I went downstairs, and I went into the theatre, and I slowly opened the door, and as soon as I walked in Haysam was on stage saying, “Oh, she’s in a new Broadway show called No, No, Nanette and she’s very successful.” And I went, “What the hell? How? Didn’t I just hear?” And I started to question myself. I went, “Oh, no. I must have only thought I’d heard that line.” And then I found out after the show that a woman had actually shouted in the audience and they’d stopped the show. She thought her husband was having a medical emergency, but he actually just had his eyes closed and was listening.
So, they decided to restart the play and go back to the top of the monologue, and I walked out of my office and into the theatre at the same moment in Poirot’s final monologue missing all of what happened in between. I thought, “I must have lost my mind.” It was funny because why wasn’t my first instinct to think, “Oh, maybe something happened on stage, and they had to go back?” Instead, my first instinct was to think that there’s something wrong with me. I basically gaslit myself.
And I think people who are predators can really take advantage of that kind of thing. Knowing that people self-deprecate and blame themselves and their sense of shame and guilt is so high in relationship to other people that they doubt themselves. And it’s because we always want to please the people around us. That’s the secret weapon of the person who does the gaslighting.
JAMES
You’ve got Kelsey Verzotti as Bella, Braden Griffiths as her husband Jack, Valerie Planche as the housekeeper Elizabeth, and Hailey Christie-Hoyle as the new maid Nancy. What are some of the qualities this cast brings to their characters and to the telling of the story?
JACK
I’ve known Val for a long time. We’ve worked together in the past. And so, I knew Val and I knew her as a great rock in a company, a strength in a company. She’s a director as well, which I like as a director because you’ll get someone who’s looking at the big picture from the inside. And her great strength of character I knew would support some of the younger women in the show, Kelsey and Hailey, who are still new to a certain extent. They’ve both started to have burgeoning careers, but they’re still in the early stage of their career. And I thought here’s their first big chance at a really intimate big show here in Calgary. It’s good to have someone like Val who can keep them grounded and supported when needed and Val’s also such a strong actor that she brings up the people around her too.
And there’s something about Haley’s ability, even in her youth, to show great strength of character and independence. And that’s really great for her playing Nancy, who’s sort of an obstinate maid in the house who’s got her own game going. So, Haley right from the audition had this kind of maturity and wisdom that I felt was important for playing Nancy because Nancy is someone who probably came from the street, probably has a lot more street sense and streetwise than education and wealth because she came from nothing. And so, she has to have – even in her youth – this look in her eye that shows experience and life.
Hailey Christie-Hoyle as Nancy in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Gaslight by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson. Directed by Jack Grinhaus. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
Braden is a brilliant actor and has always been the good guy in shows in Calgary. He’s never really been known as the bad guy. So, this is a great way to gaslight the audience by going, “Hey, look it’s the nicest guy in Calgary.” And I just think Braden’s such a strong actor bar none that his ability to play the ambiguity of Jack is really exciting because that’s really hard. It’s hard to direct an actor into ambiguity. And that’s what we need because you can’t totally know whether Jack is really the bad guy or not. And maybe he isn’t. You have to see the production to find out. And that ambiguity that Braden brings to the character keeps the audience guessing for as long as possible.
And Kelsey is such a strong, young actor who needs to be able to carry the weight of the show. She has this great sensitivity and emotional availability and vulnerability, but at the same time you can see there is a powerful spirit there, a strong human there. And that’s Bella. Bella is both. And oftentimes you’ll find actors who play one or the other better. Somebody who’s better at playing somebody who’s vulnerable and not as strong. And then other people can play someone with a hard edge but not as vulnerable. And Kelsey has this great balance flowing between those two worlds which is what we need to legitimately believe Bella’s journey. We need an actor who can be vulnerable and then finds the strength to empower themselves to success.
And the cast has really great chemistry and the second we had the first read we knew we nailed it. They all have these qualities that I perceived as important for the version we are telling of Gaslight.
Kelsey Verzotti as Bella and Valerie Planche as Elizabeth in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Gaslight by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson. Directed by Jack Grinhaus. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
The title of the play is Gaslight but in a greater sense we’re talking about betrayal. Being betrayed leaves a deep wound and it seems to be a common theme in a lot of plays and movies and books. Why do you think it is we like stories about betrayal?
JACK
Partly because we all understand it. We’ve all had a moment in our life where we’ve been gaslit. We’ve all had personal or professional relationships in business and in life where somebody has led us down a particular path and then pulled the rug out from under us. And I think we all know what a terrible feeling it is to go through that.
But I also think betrayal is part of the bigger picture of what we do at Vertigo, which is intrigue. I think most people in our world are honourable as humans. And for us, we’re fascinated by the underbelly of society. We’re fascinated with people who are willing to do things that we may not be willing to do. And so, you have television shows like Succession and even though these stories are dramas it’s really about the intrigue. It’s about trying to figure out why, how, and who in regard to the story. The thing about Vertigo is we lay so many breadcrumbs that our audiences are used to watching every blink, every chin movement, and every hand gesture. And so, I’m really marking those moments in the play, and I think the audiences love that. I think that we as humans love to solve puzzles and riddles.
Kelsey Verzotti as Bella, Braden Griffiths as Jack and Valerie Planche as Elizabeth in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Gaslight by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson. Directed by Jack Grinhaus. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
Part of the job of the artistic director is to provide a vision forward in regard to the theatre and the plays it produces. Next season you’ll be designing your first season as Artistic Director of Vertigo Theatre. I’m curious to know what goes through your mind as you’re picking the plays you want to produce and designing an overall season.
JACK
It’s a great question. It’s a huge one. Because you’re encapsulating quite a bit. As an artistic director you have to imagine that there are maybe thirty or forty balloons that you’re trying to hold all the strings together on. First is the theatre you’re working at and its mandates. You have to serve that. Then you have to serve the needs of the patrons, the donors, the staff, the marketing, the board, the funders, the sponsors, the local community, and your own artistic interests.
Jack Grinhaus Artistic Director Vertigo Theatre Photo by Dahlia Katz
And, of course, you’re making sure that there is parody and equity in the voices and faces involved in projects. And I like to look at what the tone of the world is at the time, what’s going on in the ether at the moment. What’s the zeitgeist reading so that people always feel like there’s something interconnected in the works they’re seeing artistically.
Our current season I said was so much about people escaping isolation. Which is intriguing because that is exactly what we’ve all been doing. Next season is a season of what I call transformation. A season of people starting to look again at who they are and trying to affect the world around them and how that works. And to me, that’s very much what we’re doing now. We’re coming out of the pandemic and we’re asking ourselves, who are we now and how do we impact the world around us? And so, all the plays for next season were built around that thematic element.
And I’m interested in authenticity and intensity in the work. I think it’s really important that people are drawn into the stories and the emotional experience. And I love high theatricality, so I always pick plays that are really theatrical in nature, and I’m also interested in balancing seasoned and new audiences’ interests.
And so as an artistic director I’m trying to blend all of those things together in an exciting, engaging, and thrilling season and to offer something fun because people have been beaten up over the last little while and they want entertaining plays with great stories and I think that’s what makes Vertigo seasons so successful.
JAMES
While I was doing a little research on you and I came across Bound To Create Theatre which was formed in 2004 by yourself and Lauren Brotman. And on your website, it says in regards to the type of work you create that you are keenly interested in the beauty, boldness, and truth born from confronting the challenges that face the human spirit. So, what has been a highlight or two from the work that you’ve created with B2C Theatre about the challenges of being human and what sort of impact do you hope it’s had?
Lauren Brotman in Hedda Noir adapted by Jack Grinhaus from the Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler. Photo by Philomena Hughes.
JACK
When we started the company we realized there were a lot of niche issues that were not necessarily being discussed and so we started taking on stories that we felt were about lesser-known issues and also exploring highly theatrical means and premiering incredible works by new voices in theatre.
One that really sticks out for me is dirty butterfly by Jamaican British playwright debbie tucker green, which is kind of a poetic piece about the collateral damage of domestic abuse. We had this incredible underbelly storyline, and we’re also premiering in North America for the first time this incredible black playwright from the UK. Obsidian Theater, who’s the premier black company in Canada, partnered with us for that.
And it was incredible because we would have women’s shelters coming to see the shows and women coming out saying, “You know, seeing your show made me understand that I’m not alone.” And when you hear that – that’s kind of everything. Martha Graham once said that if she affected one person in her show in the entire run then it was worth it. And now debbie tucker green’s work is world-renowned.
Lauren Brotman, Kaleb Alexander, and Beryl Bain in dirty butterfly by debbie tucker green. Photo by Joe Bucci.
Also, Meegwun Fairbrother’s Isitwendam (An Understanding) which was a play about a young man who is half indigenous and half white and he goes to work for the Conservative Government and his first job is to go and discredit a residential school survivor’s reparation claim. And when he goes there his whole life is turned upside down as he finds out about residential schools. We started this fifteen years ago and now we’re hearing more about residential schools, but at the time that was not a subject that most places or people were interested in negotiating.
We worked with Native Earth in Toronto that premiered our play and we toured it all over the country and it was just a real opportunity to deal with a really important issue but in a really unique way. It was a detective fiction basically because it was about a young man who is trying to figure out the mystery of his missing father. And it ends up that his father was at one of the schools and had taken his life. That’s what started to pull me into the detective genre because I co-wrote and co-created it with Meegwun Fairbrother – the writer – the creator. He brought his story and I sort of created this bubble of detective fiction and Lauren and I sort of tweaked and worked in that. And so that was really exciting.
Meegwun Fairbrother in Isitwendam by Meegwun Fairbrother and co-created by Jack Grinhaus. Photo by Joe Bucci.
For the first fifteen years or so we were purposefully tackling things that we just didn’t think people did. And we were very lucky to have a very strong audience and community-based support behind it. And it was really exciting. And we learned how to do everything – write, produce, direct and it really defined who we were as artists and our integrity as artists and our passion and how hard we work.
Ray Strachan and Lauren Brotman in Hedda Noir adapted by Jack Grinhaus from the Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler. Photo by Philomena Hughes.
JAMES
For my last question let me set the scene for you. It’s been a weekend where you and a number of other artistic leaders from the Calgary community have been brought together at a remote mansion by an eccentric millionaire named Sir Cedric Digglesworth who wants to leave his fortune to the arts community, but rumours are rampant that not everyone is on his good list and he’s about to change his will. Then in the middle of the night, a gunshot rings out and when everyone rushes into the library they find you holding the proverbial smoking gun and the lifeless body of our famous arts patron Sir Digglesworth lying dead at your feet. You stand wrongly accused of murder. What famous fictional detective would you want to investigate the crime and clear your name and why would you want to pick that particular detective?
JACK
This one is going to be the shortest answer and the easiest one for me. I would take Batman, the Dark Night Detective, any day of the week. Batman would come in and not only solve the crime, but he would equally punish the appropriate criminal in a way that would be a more fitting justice than maybe what the cops would. And so my go-to is always going to be Batman.
JAMES
Was Batman a hero when you were a kid?
JACK
Oh, of course. I had all the comics on the walls and all the books as well. And he’s called the Dark Night Detective, you know, and the new Batman is that detective genre style.
JAMES
Do you have a favourite Batman?
JACK
Listen, I’m a kid in the nineties, so I gotta go with Keaton. The sound of his voice is always going to be Batman to me. And my favourite actor ever is Jack Nicholson. It’s really hard to beat that joker.
Murder on the Orient Express at Vertigo Theatre is a masterful and thrilling production of the Agatha Christie classic cleverly adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig.
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Everything is not as it seems. That statement has never been more true of a murder mystery than in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Hercule Poirot finds himself surrounded by an eclectic assortment of characters including wealthy American businessman with a shady past Samuel Ratchett, the elderly Russian Princess Dragomiroff forced to live in exile, and the overbearing, loud, and life of the party Mrs. Hubbard, an American. Before the train can reach its destination, it is stopped by a snow drift in the mountains and during the night one of the passengers is murdered!
Poirot is assigned the task of investigating the murder by his friend and manager of the railroad Mousier Bouc who is also travelling on the train. There’s an abundance of clues. An abundance of suspects. And only Hercule Poirot can untangle the web of deception and decipher all the clues to figure out his most baffling and morally challenging case.
Vertigo Theatre takes you along for a thrilling, fun, and intriguing murder mystery featuring a terrific cast including Haysam Kadri as Hercule Poirot. I sat down with the director of the play Jovanni Sy who is also a playwright and actor to talk with him about Murder on the Orient Express, what makes the mystery genre so popular, and how he came to play Mr. Miyagi in the premiere of The Karate Kid – The Musical.
JAMES HUTCHISON
The murder mystery is a popular genre of fiction. So, I’m curious what do you think it is about that genre that has such a lasting appeal, and then I’m wondering specifically, why is Poirot such a popular figure? What did Agatha Christie stumble upon or deliberately design to make Poirot the much beloved and popular character that he is?
JOVANNI SY
I have a theory. I think people love mysteries because the detective is ultimately a seeker of truth. It’s solving a puzzle but it’s also trying to uncover the truth in the face of all your adversaries trying to inundate you with lies. There’s something really appealing about that, about being able to weed through all the deception, weed through all the artifice to uncover a nugget of truth.
And as for Poirot, I think people love him because he’s a showman. He’s so idiosyncratic. One of the really interesting things about the whole detective genre is that we get to know most well-known detectives on a reasonably superficial level. The story is not about their journey to get from point A to point B and learn something along the way. It really is a plot-driven genre, so people will like mysteries in as far as the mystery is compelling and good.
I don’t think Poirot would’ve been a popular detective if Christie weren’t extremely adept at constructing these wonderful puzzles for him. We know his characteristics, but they’re all rather external. They’re about his vanity or his pomposity or his strict moral code. But he doesn’t often undergo a dramatic journey the way protagonists in other genres do. It’s really about how good is he at solving the mystery.
Mike Tan as Monsieur Bouc, Sarah Roa as Countess Andrenyi, and Haysam Kadri as Hercule Poirot in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig and directed by Jovanni Sy. Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
In this production, you’ve assembled a stellar cast including Haysam Kadri who is portraying Poirot. What do you think are the qualities Haysam brings to his portrayal of Poirot and as the director of the play how much of that is the director’s vision and how much is the actor’s vision? How did that collaboration work on this production?
JOVANNI
What Haysam brings, other than being a superlative actor is real fierce intelligence. He’s really good at thinking through the text. I mean, I think it’s no surprise he is the artistic director of The Shakespeare Company, and you know for most interpreters of Shakespeare you really need a very rigorous sense of diction and thought. Thought and text have to be aligned and with Shakespeare it requires a real cerebral kind of technique.
And I think approaching the character ultimately, it’s him. He’s the guy doing it. I think where I help is early on in rehearsal, I felt he was doing a wonderful job right off the top, but it felt like his Poirot had a more Sherlock Holmes kind of rhythm to him. Because, you know he’s done such a wonderful job of playing Holmes where everything was super direct, and Holmes is like tunnel focused and everything is to get to the point. Poirot’s not like that.
Poirot is a hedonist. Poirot loves his rich food and his expensive wines and beautiful women. And he is a bit of a showman. In Ludwig’s text he has a lot of stuff where Poirot’s constructed something like the way a magician would present a trick – you sit there and in a second I will show you – this! And he constructs a lot of reveals in a very ostentatious almost vaudevillian kind of way.
So, we almost had to slow down Haysam’s motor. I think his own personal motor is probably more closely aligned to a Holmes-like character who is super fast, super cerebral, super to the point, and instead have him sit back and really enjoy the indulgences of a Poirot and the way he enjoys unfurling the mystery for you in a very showy manner.
JAMES
You know, it’s interesting too with Poirot being as you mentioned a hedonist that perhaps he is more in touch with the psychology and motivation of his suspects.
JOVANNI
Absolutely. I think you’re quite right. Whereas Holmes is much more evidence-driven, science-driven, and data-driven with his kind of process Poirot is about constructing the mindset of the killer. He definitely looks at a murder scene and thinks, “Is this a tidy or an untidy kind of killing? What frame of mind were the perpetrator or perpetrators in? Were they in a hurry? Were they enjoying themselves?” He really tries to pinpoint the psychological makeup and motivators for any kind of crime and match that against his range of suspects. Whereas Holmes is practically on the spectrum where he observes a lot but misses things about the way people work because he’s clinical and robotic in his approach.
Lara Schmitz as Greta Ohlsson, Haysam Kadri as Hercule Poirot, Elizabeth Stepkowski-Tarhan as Princess Dragomiroff in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Agatha Christies’s Murder on the Orient Express adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig and directed by Jovanni Sy. Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
One of the interesting things about Murder on the Orient Express is of course the setting because the play takes place on a train, and that certainly provides challenges for your set designer, Scott Reid and your actors. But it’s also fun to see on stage. Can you talk a little bit about the set design and what it was like to create that world and put the characters into it?
JOVANNI
It has its inherent challenges. Some things are really hard to circumvent as in Ratchet’s sleeping compartment must be next to Mrs. Hubbard’s on one side and Poirot’s on the other. You can’t really get around that. I think the geography of the crime is pertinent to its uncovering. So, some things are set in stone.
It’s a challenge because a train is a confined space and I think we leaned into it as much as possible. We didn’t try to do an abstract representation where a train corridor could suddenly easily accommodate the five people who needed to be in the corridor. So, you know, in that scene where they’re all passing each other, we just leaned into how even in the most luxurious train on earth you still have a problem if it gets crowded when you try to pass each other in a corridor. Or when you have nine people in a room that is literally three by five how do you stage that?
It was tricky and it takes a lot of precision so that people aren’t blocking each other. Fortunately, the sight lines are good. Scott created some really smart conventions like being able to see through the walls from the rooms to the corridor and having walls implied but not completely filled out.
Luigi Riscaldino as Michel the Conductor, Sarah Roa as Countess Andrenyi, Haysam Kadri as Hercule Poirot, Mike Tan as Monsieur Bouc the Vertigo Theatre Production of Agatha Christies’s Murder on the Orient Express adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig and directed by Jovanni Sy. Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
So, I want to talk a little bit about another iconic character because you’re also an actor and earlier this year you were in the world premiere of The Karate Kid – The Musical, and you played Mr. Miyagi, who in the original movie was played by Pat Morita. What was it like to work on that show and become part of the DNA, so to speak, of Mr. Miyagi?
JOVANNI
It was surreal is the only word I have for it. I mean, that was such an iconic movie for me. I was sixteen when it came out. And, Pat Morita, you have to understand, was like an idol to a whole generation of Asian performers, because we were so underrepresented. There were so few figures in television and film that weren’t the stereotypical background kind of guy who was a buffoon or an idiot or just inconsequential. Mr. Miyagi had power and agency and dignity and humour and pathos and Pat Morita did an incredible job. He got an Oscar nomination. So, he’s an iconic figure to so many Asian performers and artists of my generation and subsequent generations.
So, to walk into his shoes was daunting because he created a character that everybody knows – everybody loves, and the challenge was how to interpret it and make it my own and not try to just copy him because I couldn’t even if I tried. Even if I just wanted to say, “Hey, let me just crib, everything Pat Morita did.” I’m not Pat Morita. It wouldn’t work. And, in the end, what made it even more surreal was Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, and Martin Kove they all came out to see the show in St. Louis. Talk about meeting your idols. So, it was an incredible experience.
Director, Actor, Playwright Jovanni Sy
JAMES
I did read somewhere that there are plans for Broadway. Is that correct?
JOVANNI
It’s still in the works. I think if it happened it would probably happen in 2024, but you never know. It could happen. I hope it does. I would love to do that show again.
JAMES
Is that an ambition of yours to get on the Broadway stage?
JOVANNI
You know, it wasn’t. I’m pretty happy with my career in Canada. I mean it’s not an ambition in the sense of one that I would say I actively pursued. There are musical theatre specialists who move to New York, and they’re clearly working towards that trajectory. So it was, I would say more of a fantasy than an ambition. I thought about it the same way I thought it would be great to play shortstop for the Jays, you know, it’s just in the back of my mind. I took no concrete steps to get there. It just sort of happened. But would it be great to be on Broadway? Yeah.
JAMES
I understand that when this opportunity first came up you were busy with a lot of other things and you went, “Nah, I’m not going to do it.” But your wife, Leanna Brodie, had some good career advice for you.
JOVANNI
That’s absolutely true. When I got the call I was directing my thesis play at the University of Calgary. I had just started. I was at the busiest I could have been and I was also scheduled to direct a show in Winnipeg around the time that Karate Kid would’ve happened. So, I thought, you know, I already said I’d do something else, but she said, “Look your friend would understand if you got this. You could pull out of your directing commitment.” Which I ended up doing. But she told me, “If you’re going to do it, don’t just do it half-ass. Do a good job.” And I listened to her. I actually really worked on the video audition. I sent it in still thinking this is ridiculous. There’s no way. But it happened. It just happened and I almost didn’t bother submitting because I thought I’m too busy. Leona is the smartest person I know and always gives very good advice.
Daniel Chen as Victor Fung and John Ng as Tommy Lam in the Vertigo Theatre Premier of Nine Dragons by Jovanni Sy. Directed by Craig Hall. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
You’re an actor, director, and you’re also a playwright. Your very own mystery, Nine Dragons, premiered on the Vertigo stage in 2017, which I saw, and I really liked. The story follows Chinese Detective Tommy Lam in 1920s Hong Kong, while he investigates the deaths of several women, and he finds himself battling racism and he risks losing his career, reputation, and maybe even his life. So where did the inspiration for that story come from and what does the future hold for Detective Tommy Lam?
JOVANNI
The funny thing is, I had an image of Tommy’s foil the character Victor Fung, first. I think I saw a picture of a Chinese man in a beautiful tuxedo looking very Noel Cowardesque and I thought, what an interesting man, who is he, why is he dressed like this? And I thought of a Victor Fung like character and I’ve always loved mysteries so the idea to make it noiresque and set it in 1920s Colonial Hong Kong came early.
I was working on this piece in Toronto before I moved out to Vancouver in 2012, but I ran into Craig Hall the artistic director of Vertigo Theatre at a conference in Calgary and we talked about this piece I was writing and he thought, that sounds really interesting. And Craig has his own connection to Hong Kong, and he’s been to Hong Kong a number of times. So, that’s how it started. That’s the connection to Vertigo and why it premiered there. It wouldn’t have happened without Craig.
And what’s in store for Tommy? Craig actually commissioned a prequel, which is another Tommy Lam story that takes place about thirteen years before Nine Dragons. So, we’re talking 1911, Hong Kong and I started working on it. And it may have a future at Vertigo. Jack Grinhaus the current artistic director of Vertigo Theatre and I have been talking about it but it’s early. We’ll see.
JAMES
You know, you’re writing plays and you’re creating this character have you ever thought of writing some Tommy Lam mystery novels? You could write a whole series.
JOVANNI
I haven’t. But you know I love that genre and if I were to turn to long-form fiction, I think I would go in the mystery direction.
John Ng as Tommy Lam and Duval Lang as Henderson in the Vertigo Theatre Premiere of Nine Dragons by Jovanni Sy. Directed by Craig Hall. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
So, you not only write mystery, but you also write comedy and congratulations are in order because you recently won the Playwrights Guild of Canada Comedy Award for your play, The Tao of the World. And it’s a free adaptation of William Congreve’s Restoration comedy, The Way of the World. Your modern version takes place in Singapore, and it’s two years after a pandemic and the wealthy elite are making up for lost time by hatching schemes to bed other people’s partners and to swindle each other out of their dynastic fortunes. What’s the story behind the creation of that work?
JOVANNI
It’s really weird. I was at the UofC doing my MFA in directing and I needed to direct a thesis play. It kind of happened coincidentally because I was working on this Nine Dragons prequel which is a totally different beast and I had plans to direct this other play, a Brecht piece and then the faculty had some reservations about the viability of doing that piece so they suggested I do something else. And somebody said, “You know, we’re in the middle of COVID, we could use some laughs. Have you thought about doing a comedy?”
So, I thought, I’ve always loved Restoration comedy. I remember seeing a bunch early in my career and being a fan of a number of them. And I started looking at them and I thought about The Way of the World, but I thought at the same time, how can I take this established piece and try to reinterpret it from modern times because there’s something interesting about a new definition of restoration.
The Restoration comedies are all about the restoration of the monarchy after Cromwell. You know, the years of the Republic. So it’s the restoration of the monarchy coming in because most of the English royalists had been exiled in France. But what does restoration mean today? And to me it really meant the restoration of everyday life after we’ve been shut down.
I started working on it right in the middle of COVID when we were still working remotely, learning remotely. Masks were mandatory. Social distancing was mandatory. And so, what would it be like after COVID? Because I imagine the rich and wealthy would be just as naughty post-COVID as they were post-restoration of the monarchy, there’d be a kind of a giddy bawdiness and licentiousness.
And of course, I wanted to set it in an Asian setting because that’s what I’ve done with a lot of my works is try to recenter the experience to interpret it to a modern audience that includes Asians but doesn’t exclude everyone else. So that’s how it came about and was set in Singapore. It was almost like an experiment that just went really, really well.
JAMES
So, you know, it’s funny you mentioned needing a play and then this comes along. How much of your work do you find is just having the practical thing that you need and then inspiration strikes?
JOVANNI
That happens more often than you’d guess. I hadn’t even thought of it that way. Thank you. Wow. That’s a real, Aha! Yeah. I think it’s born of pragmatism first then the inspiration comes later. Or you know, not even inspiration. It’s like, I’ve got something to solve, so how do I solve it? I’m almost a believer that inspiration’s overrated and that if you frame creativity as a series of puzzles to be solved where you can define the parameters what you would call inspiration comes afterwards because you’ve had something active to work on.
Which is why I love writing in genre. I love the mystery genre. So, genre can actually be liberating because it sets the parameters for you and gives you something to do so you don’t have time to worry about do I have some kind of divine inspiration? You’re just trying to crack a knot, right?
JAMES
Inspiration is problem-solving.
JOVANNI
Yeah.
JAMES
We read mysteries, and we watch them on TV or at the movies, but there’s something extra fun and engaging about going to the theatre and seeing detective fiction. What makes the stage such an ideal and fun medium for experiencing a who-done-it and what sort of fun are audiences in for when they come to see your production of Murder on the Orient Express?
JOVANNI
I think first, it’s ultimately a fair test because you are literally, as an audience member, seeing everything exactly the same as the detective is seeing it. Everything that’s happening is happening in front of your eyes. There are no edits. There’s no selective choosing of things. You are solving the mystery at the same rate and with the same details that the detective has. So, it’s fair.
But the other thing is the implication that you can experience a surprise. The gasp. It’s happening right in front of your eyes – the mystery or shock, or unexpected bit of violence, or an unexpected bit of mayhem – it’s so immediate. And I think that’s why the stage is one of the best places to see mystery because it’s a visceral thing. You get that immediate connection when reading a mystery but it’s not in front of your eyes. You’re not seeing blood or a flash of light or hearing a sound that resonates to your core. So, if you’re going to see Murder on the Orient Express, you’re in for a literal ride. It’s like a train ride. You feel like you’re there on the train confined with the passengers and there’s a sense of danger and a sense of fun.
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VERTIGO THEATRE presents Agatha Christie’s classic MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig
Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS features Haysam Kadri as Hercule Poirot, Luigi Riscaldino as Michel the Conductor/ Head Waiter, Stafford Perry as Col. Arbuthnot/Ratchett, Jesse Del Fierro as Mary Debenham, Elinor Holt as Mrs. Hubbard, Alexander Ariate as Hector MacQueen, Mike Tan as Monsieur Bouc, Elizabeth Stepkowski-Tarhan as Princess Dragomiroff, Lara Schmitz as Greta Ohlsson and Sarah Roa as Countess Andrenyi.
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is Directed by Jovanni Sy, Assistant Direction by Camryn Hathaway, Set & Projection Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by April Viczko, Assistant Costume Design by Katriona Dunn, Lighting Design by Jonathan Kim, Sound Design & Original Composition by Andrew Blizzard, Assistant Lighting Design by Tauran Wood, Fight & Intimacy Direction by Brianna Johnston, Stage Management by Donna Sharpe, Ashley Rees, and Raynah Bourne.
When romance novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued from a car crash by his “number one fan” Annie Wilkes – he feels lucky to be alive. As Paul slowly recovers from his injuries in Annie’s isolated home, Annie reads Paul’s latest novel and discovers to her horror that Paul kills off Misery – her favourite character. That’s when Annie’s obsession takes a dark turn, and she forces Paul to write a new novel that brings Misery back to life. In a perilous game of survival, Paul works on the new novel while plotting his escape from the menacing and unpredictable Annie Wilkes.
Misery stars Anna Cummer as Annie Wilkes, Haysam Kadri as Paul Sheldon, and Curt McKinstry as Buster and I’m happy to report that Vertigo’s production of Misery is a thrilling dive into the scary world of deadly obsession. Everything you want in a psychological thriller is here including phenomenal performances, an incredible set, atmospheric lighting, a chilling soundscape, and plenty of big payoffs all under the gifted direction of Jamie Dunsdon.
I sat down with Jamie to talk with her about Misery, and I started our conversation by asking her what is it about Annie Wilkes that makes her such a compelling and menacing character.
JAMIE DUNSDON
What makes her so compelling is that she’s so human. She feels so real. She’s not a villain. She’s not Moriarty. She’s broken is what she is. She’s a normal human being. She’s someone who has had hurt in her life and pain in her life, and she just used the wrong means to cope with it and that led to an obsession which led to fanaticism.
And for her, this is a love story. For Paul, this is a survival story. She’s entering this story from a much different angle than everyone else. And then she can snap on a dime, which makes her unpredictable and frightening and complex.
Anna Cummer as Annie Wilkes in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Misery based on the book by Stephen King and adapted for the stage by William Goldman. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Rebecca Toon, Lighting Design by Anton deGroot, Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES HUTCHISON
You’ve got a wonderful cast with Anna Cummer as Annie Wilkes and Haysam Kadri as Paul Sheldon. Tell me a little bit about how these actors are bringing these characters to life and what we can expect as an audience.
JAMIE
When I was casting, I didn’t want a Kathy Bates impersonation. It was about finding a person who could bring complexity to this character. I think it’s easy to look at a character like Annie Wilkes and just play a psychopath. I wanted an actor who could enter her from a human angle. And I felt the same way about the Paul character. I didn’t want a James Caan impersonation. I didn’t want someone to do the same thing that he did.
We’re not trying to do an impersonation of the film, even though this is an adaptation of the film more than of the novel. We are trying to honour what audiences want from the Misery story while also giving them something that’s a little more rounded and a little more complex. So, Anna and Haysam bring something that’s really beautiful to the characters. They bring their years of theatre experience and playing real rounded human characters, so these characters on stage feel like people you could know, and that’s mesmerizing to watch.
Anna Cummer as Annie Wilkes and Haysam Kadri as Paul Sheldon in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Misery based on the book by Stephen King and adapted for the stage by William Goldman. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Rebecca Toon, Lighting Design by Anton deGroot, Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
You know, one of the most chilling aspects of the story is the fact that there actually have been fans who have stalked and killed the very people they claim to admire and love.
JAMIE
I know.
JAMES
That’s what’s so strange about humans, right, how that love can twist into hate. And I wonder what do you think it is about human nature that makes some people travel down that dark path of obsession and violence?
JAMIE
I’m not sure what makes them go down that path. I think people who have trauma and then live with that trauma on a loop in their head are looking for coping mechanisms and that can make the mind do dangerous things.
And then I’m guessing what happens with obsession is there’s a shift in the concept of ownership. I think a lot of fans feel ownership over the thing that they love, and when that ownership gets carried to its furthest logical conclusion ownership means control, and ownership means they have a right to control the subject or the object of their fascination and fanaticism. I think objectification and ownership is probably where the shift happens in their mind.
But what makes people go down that path? I’m not sure.
In our production, we’re playing with what happens when people get traumatized. What’s going to happen to Paul Sheldon if he lives through this experience? Is he going to be a different person on the other side? Is he going to be a different person in the same way that Annie is clearly a different person than the child she was? Something happened to her and her past made her who she is.
Anna Cummer as Annie Wilkes and Haysam Kadri as Paul Sheldon in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Misery based on the book by Stephen King and adapted for the stage by William Goldman. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Rebecca Toon, Lighting Design by Anton deGroot, Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
In the play, Paul doesn’t give up. He’s resourceful. He’s trying to figure his way out of this situation. So why doesn’t he give up? What keeps him going? What do you think the story says about our desire to fight and survive?
JAMIE
In the novel, he kind of does give up. There are some significant moments in the novel where he wishes for death. We don’t go quite that far in the play, although we hint at it. I think what happens and what pushes him through is probably that Paul gets broken down into the animal version of himself, and that animal instinct to survive.
And the other thing is, he’s got something to fight for. Being locked in this little room changes him. It makes him a better person in a lot of ways. Trauma tends to make someone either a better or a worse version of themselves. And so, I think, he gets a new outlook on the world, and that gives him something he’s trying to escape for. He has a different perspective about his life as a writer and the characters he writes about and a deeper love of the work he’s done. I think he is transformed by this experience.
Haysam Kadri as Paul Sheldon in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Misery based on the book by Stephen King and adapted for the stage by William Goldman. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Rebecca Toon, Lighting Design by Anton deGroot, Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
A theatre production involves all kinds of elements and talented people working on those aspects of a production. What are some of the elements you’re bringing together in terms of set design, lighting, sound, costumes, and makeup and how are you using some of those elements to tell the story?
JAMIE
This adaptation of Misery was commissioned by Warner Brothers for a Broadway production, and they pulled out all the stops. They put Warner Brothers’ money into it. The play is massive. And the team at Vertigo has pulled out all the stops as well. They’ve really embraced the challenge.
We’ve got special effects. We’ve got fire. We’ve got guns. We’re using light in a sort of cinematic way. And Scott Reed is doing my set for Misery which I’m really lucky for because the set for this show is very demanding. How do you create a claustrophobic space on stage while also allowing for all the other things that need to happen inside the house? I won’t spoil it, but Scott’s given us a really beautiful mechanism to work with that allows us to travel through the house but to also feel the claustrophobia of Paul’s room.
Misery can feel like a small story. It can feel like a little two-hander, but the scale of this production is pretty massive. I made a list of every special effect in the show and every unusual bit of combat and choreography, and production challenges, and I think that every production challenge that has ever existed in theatre is in this play. Except for bubbles, maybe.
JAMES
Is it too late to add the bubbles?
JAMIE
No, it’s not too late. I’ll look for a place. Just for you.
JAMES
Excellent.
JAMIE
I think audiences are in for a treat. It’s not spectacle for the sake of spectacle. It’s all there to serve the story. Some of the special effects are really tiny and you wouldn’t even think of them as special effects, but they’re special effects to us because they require special technology or a special prop. There are a lot of tricks that we have to do in this production to make things possible.
Haysam Kadri as Paul Sheldon in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Misery based on the book by Stephen King and adapted for the stage by William Goldman. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Rebecca Toon, Lighting Design by Anton deGroot, Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
There are lots of different schools of thought about approaching directing and putting on a show and I’m curious to know how you describe your own approach to directing and whether or not you follow any particular philosophy or process or method.
JAMIE
I don’t have a process. In fact, my approach or my process is to not have a process. I was trained with a process. I did my masters in directing and so I learned a process. I learned an approach to tackling plays, but over the last fifteen years of my directing career, I found that when you try to paste a process on top of any given project you’re asking that project to fit within a previously held set of parameters. And that doesn’t work. Every play means something new. So, my approach is to learn what kind of director I need to be for each project.
So, for this cast, for example, I’ve worked with Haysam and Anna and Kurt McKinstry who is in the show as well. I’ve worked with them all before. I know them as actors. I trust them as actors implicitly. And they trust me. We have a really great relationship.
So, we do table work at the beginning and we did some table work on this, but back in my early days of directing, I would have felt the need to write down our objectives for every scene. And today I’m much more like – okay we can talk about our objectives, but we’re not really going to know everything until we’re up on our feet. So, there’s a lot more fluidity than there used to be in my process. There’s a lot more responsiveness to the needs of the moment. So, my approach to directing is to be responsive rather than prescriptive.
JAMES
Is there something about the play or directing or theatre you never get asked that you’d love people to know about?
JAMIE
I would love people to know about the role of the stage manager because most people don’t know what the stage manager is, and the average audience member will never know who that person is or how they exist in the world of the play if the stage manager is doing their job.
And on this show, we have a team of stage managers that are holding this thing up. Every moment they are running around backstage doing things and getting things ready. Meredith Johnson is my lead stage manager, and I often joke that the best-kept secret in Calgary is that the best director in town is Meredith Johnson. She’s a hero and a consummate artist, and without her artistry a show like this wouldn’t work. And it is artistry. There’s timing. There’s finesse. There’s an element of directing in stage management. The true hero of productions like this one are the stage managers.
Anna Cummer as Annie Wilkes and Curt McKinstry as Buster in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Misery based on the book by Stephen King and adapted for the stage by William Goldman. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon. Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Rebecca Toon, Lighting Design by Anton deGroot, Photo Tim Nguyen.
JAMES
I’m going to go back a couple of years. Back in March of 2020, you were directing a production of Admissions by Joshua Harmon for Theatre Calgary. I think it was just about to open or it had just opened and then COVID hit.
JAMIE
It was about to open the next day.
JAMES
And you had to shut it down and here we are now September 2022. Two and a half years later. I’m curious about two aspects. First, what was it like having to close that show and then what’s it like coming back with a full production now? And I’m curious to know how do you think COVID has impacted the theatre world and you as an artist.
JAMIE
Not being able to open Admissions was one of the most painful things I’ve gone through in my career. We got so close. It was a show I was proud of. It was a show that was doing really well in previews. I feel like it was all this unfulfilled potential energy that was suspended and never got released. So, I have a lot of sadness about the fact that show never opened, and it was a show that not only got postponed but they chose not to bring it back in the end. So, it’s deeply sad for me, and I carry a lot of sadness about that project.
I think a lot of theatre artists have experienced that in the last couple of years, and it’s made them question why they do theatre. There’s a lot of pain in this industry right now. We’ve seen ourselves get shut down and locked away and so now that we’re coming back what I’m seeing is this real joy of being in a room with people that you trust and you want to create with again, and that’s really beautiful and more beautiful than it used to be because we’re aware of how special it is, and we’re more aware of the ritual of live theatre – of the empathetic ritual of coming together in a space to experience things together.
***
Misery stars Anna Cummer as Annie Wilkes, Haysam Kadri as Paul Sheldon, and Curt McKinstry as Buster. Katherine Fadum is the understudy for this production. Misery is directed by Jamie Dunsdon, Set Design by Scott Reid, Costume Design by Rebecca Toon, Lighting Design by Anton deGroot, Sound Design & Composition by Dewi Wood, Fight Direction by Karl Sine, Stage Management by Meredith Johnson, Carissa Sams and Michael Luong.
The Drowning Girls – Vertigo Theatre – Photo Tim Nguyen
Tim Nguyen’s work is striking and vivid and the images remain with you long after you’ve seen them. He’s one of the most sought after performing art photographers in Calgary and his work ranges from capturing all the energy and emotion of live theatre to the intimate and personal process of portraiture. You can see more samples of his work and contact him through his website: Tim Nguyen
I sat down with Tim at his home office to talk with him about his theatre work, his award-winning fine art photography series Lumination, and his Rococo Punk project for the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary.
Photographer Tim Nguyen
JAMES HUTCHISON
So, before you became a photographer you were thinking of acting as a career and you went to the University of Calgary because you were bitten by the acting bug.
TIM NGUYEN
I was.
JAMES
What type of acting? Comedies? Dramas?
TIM
I discovered very early on that I’m not funny on stage. My comic timing is atrocious. I’m relatively amusing in conversation, I would like to think, but on stage, it’s the patter or the timing, the thinking on my feet – just doesn’t happen the same way. So, I made peace with that fairly early on, and I decided that I would try my hand at more dramatic roles. Angsty roles. Because I was twenty and I wanted to talk about my feelings on stage.
So, I got to the middle of third year and it became really clear to me that this was not the right path that I was on. I’d botched a couple of auditions that I thought I was a shoe-in for, and when the casting came out I was at the bottom of the list. So, I got handed a lesson. A harsh lesson. And it left me time to reflect and realize that this wasn’t the right thing for me. I felt like I was moving vaguely in the right direction, but the artistic direction was slightly askew of where it needed to be.
So, after having this very difficult conversation with a prof of mine, who’s now retired from the university, I realized that it was actually okay to change directions and to admit that I hadn’t been approaching things quite right and to move on to the next thing. And it was a breath of fresh air, and at the same time, it was a bit of a kick in the pants. But I was also sort of lost at sea. After I graduated, I worked in retail for a while. I sold cameras. I did construction. I travelled Europe for a little while. And when I got back from Europe a few photo jobs just landed on my desk and then snowballed into bigger and bigger things.
Sylvie Moquin – Lumination – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
When did you start to realize you had an eye for composition?
TIM
I have a really specific point in time that I can call back to. I think it was grade eleven where I had this little box camera. It was basically a reloadable disposable camera. And that was what I carried around in high school for the most part. And there was a day where my girlfriend at the time and myself were downtown in the Devonian gardens with the late afternoon sun spilling in through the windows and just beautiful shadows coming across the old Devonian gardens. They had those big angled skylights on the one side and this really stark tile. And for whatever reason, I asked her to go and sit over inside the shadow. Inside this specific area. And I took four pictures on this little box camera and when I got them back that was it. It was this lightning moment where I looked at what I had shot and what I was trying to do and I looked at the shapes – the forms – the shadows – the light and I knew that there was something there that I needed to keep investigating.
Brian Smith – Portrait – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
It’s interesting, you said you walked in there and you’re looking at the shadows. You’re looking at the light. You’re looking at the textures. You’re looking for that place where you can put the subject and something magical is going to happen. Because most people would not see that and so much of photography is understanding or being attuned to the light.
TIM
Once the camera-specific elements were muscle memory everything else just became about the composition. I don’t spend much time or energy on getting my settings dead on when I’m shooting theatre anymore because it’s just automatic for me.
JAMES
And when you’re doing production stills they’re running the show.
TIM
I get one crack at it. I have not read the script. I haven’t seen the set. And that is the only day of the production that I’m in house.
Crime Does Not Pay – Downstage – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
Why do you choose not to know the play before you go shoot it?
TIM
It didn’t start off as a conscious choice. It started off as a matter of opportunity. The first company that I shot for was Downstage when they first formed. Simon Mallett, who founded the company, was doing his masters at the same time I was an undergrad. So, we’d known each other in university and even in school I was the guy with the camera. And he started bringing me down to the Motel Theater to cover shows that he was producing. And these are shows that were being done with Home Depot lighting and bits of pipe and drape. There was no production value to them. They were just people trying to do politically motivated theatre, and they had a statement they needed to make.
JAMES
Right, because Downstage is based on conversation. We want to start a conversation about a particular subject, so they’d create a show.
TIM
Right from the get-go that was their mandate. So, I was given the freedom to just show up. I was given a couple of bucks for my time. It was the starting point, the foundation of learning how to tell a story through still imagery and finding my own aesthetic inside of that as a medium. Because it’s one thing to just document a production as it’s happening. I could stand in the middle of the house and point my camera at various corners of the stage, but it’s going to look like that’s the level of effort that I put in. When I go and I cover a production I am running the entire time. I’m sweating as much as the actors on stage are, and it’s been quite a while since I’ve been concerned with how much noise I’m making. If anything, I’m akin to phones going off, candy wrappers crinkling, or a baby crying in the house. But I’m the only person in the audience so it’s less problematic.
Mark Bellamy, Barbara Gates Wilson, and Tyrell Crews in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Death Trap by Ira Levin – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
And you’re capturing something that’s going to be here and then gone anyway – and yours is the record. It’s an extremely challenging thing to get good photographs of a stage performance because you’re trying to capture particular moments – particular connections between the characters – or particularly revelations of a character, and those are fleeting and fast. So, I imagine your time as an actor, has in some ways, informed your shooting of plays.
TIM
A hundred percent it has. One of the things that I noticed early on was my sense for where an actors blocking was going to go – where they were going to travel on stage. I was effectively predicting it a lot of the time. So, I’m trying to stay a step ahead of the actors and where they’re travelling, but then I have to have the right composition to complement their eyeline for their intention plus whoever they’re speaking to. It’s a hell of a challenge.
JAMES
It’s spontaneous, yet there’s a certain structure to it
TIM
Very much so.
Andy Curtis, Anna Cummer, and Tyrell Crews in the Vertigo Theatre Production of The 39 Steps – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
How would you summarize what you’re trying to capture in the frame when you shoot a play?
TIM
When I’m shooting a play I’m not really paying a ton of attention to the text. I don’t fully absorb the storylines most of the time. I’m looking for moments of heightened emotional responses from the actors. Moments of high intensity. High action where lighting effects or special effects are going to go off. Things like that. But at the same time, those are really particular moments. Eighty percent of the play is still covered beyond that.
When I’m looking at the rest of the show what I’ve realized is that I’m not really looking a hundred percent at what’s happening through the viewfinder either. I kind of relax my eyes – kind of like when you take your glasses off. I relax my eyes a bit and I look at forms, negative space, where the highlights are and how elements complement one another, and I’m composing around that for the most part. So, it’s a bit of experience based, and it’s a bit of a sense for how shape and form and colour should fit and interplay, and those I think are the main approaches that I’m using these days
Jesse Lynn Anderson and Graham Percy in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep adapted by Aaron Bushkowsky – Photo Tim Nguyen
JAMES
In addition to doing production stills you’re also doing some advertising work for theatre companies with your photography. Let’s talk about the new season campaign you created for Vertigo.
TIM
This has really been a natural progression of what I’m doing in the performing arts community. I’ve been doing the production stills and headshots for ages and doing advertising and poster work for the arts isn’t completely brand new for me, but it’s relatively recent.
One of the conversations I had with Vertigo towards the end of last season was that they were getting a little tired with their existing imagery and style especially when Lunchbox and ATP and everybody else was refreshing their brand. So, I presented about eight different styles of artwork that I thought were potentials in one of the pitch meetings with Craig their artistic director and Evelyn and Kendra their marketing people and Darcy who was their graphic designer. The two winning concepts were the lighting style of my own Lumination work which Craig was aware of because I’d actually done a gallery show at Vertigo the season before and had about twenty of the Lumination prints on display there for most of the season.
The other part of this concept was influenced by True Detective, the TV series. The intro and theme has a ton of video compositing that’s done layer upon layer of faces with cityscapes that are sort of washed across them. They kind of look like projections that kind of look like they’re coming from inside the skin. And it’s this beautiful style of work that got copied over, and over, and over again by other people when it was popularized including us to some degree. So, what I ended up pitching to Craig was a combination of those two things. I wanted to do a floating shape and I wanted to create a composite that was tailored to each show.
Sherlock Holmes and the Ravin’s Curse at Vertigo Theatre – By Tim Nguyen
JAMES
So, there are little clues in your composition about the themes of the show about the subject matter of the show. And right now, we’re looking at the Sherlock Holmes image.
TIM
Sherlock Holmes and the Raven’s Curse. So going with fairly literal imagery to begin with we’ve got the bird’s wings. The raven wing shape moving upwards and then the raven sort of sitting over top of this particular part of the Isle of Skye. The Isle of Skye being one of the main backdrops for the show. And we’ve got Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the image as well.
JAMES
And then a mysterious woman.
TIM
There’s a mysterious woman of Asian descent. That’s why there’s dragon imagery in the background. At the time of creating this that role hadn’t been cast. So, we were looking for a creative way to incorporate the knowledge that there was going to be a third primary figure without making them identifiable. So, I decided to have her looking out into the scenery and having her back to camera.
JAMES
The great thing about this image is that when I look at it I want to know what this play’s about. It makes me curious. It looks intriguing and interesting. It looks mysterious.
TIM
Yeah, I’m really, really satisfied with how this one came out.
JAMES
Is this type of work something you want to pursue more?
TIM
I think so. This was a lot more satisfying to do than some of the piecemeal stuff that I’ve been doing just to keep bills paid. With this project, I was able to sit down for a longer period of time and concentrate on it and really give it some critical thought about how I wanted the aesthetic to come across.
Mercy from Overwatch by Porzelain PNG – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
You mentioned your Lumination series. Tell me a little bit about that project and how it got started.
TIM
So, Lumination was born from theatre as well. It was inspired by a Downstage play called In the Wake that I documented at the Motel Theater in 2010 and then they took it on tour. The production was entirely presented on a platform. It was five actors on a platform that was about ten by ten and they performed on it for ninety minutes. It was a fairly large chunk of plexiglass with pockets of lights that were on dimmers underneath that they could control and they could colour. And these were all Home Depot lights at the time.
And they did something absolutely beautiful with it. There was shadow play. There was puppetry. There was contact improv and shape creation with their bodies. It was just beautiful to take in. And it led to this immediate thought when I was documenting the play that I wanted to see what I could do with it. I wanted to see what I could do with that style of lighting.
And so, I asked Simon Mallett to borrow that set for probably about a year and a half before he let me borrow it, and I showed up at the Motel theatre one night after they’d done a run, and I put my own lights inside their box, and I put a light overhead. And that was the very first time that I had ever done that look. And it was just called the lightbox project or something like that at the time. I had a dancer, and I had a nude that I had brought to the space, and we just experimented with shape and form and musculature to see how it worked. And it worked out beautifully. Those photos are as good as any of the things that I shot during the two years after that.
And then a couple of years later, I got my own studio space, and I had Anton deGroot who built the set for In the Wake rebuild that stage in my studio. And I had that for three and a half years. I’ve since replaced that with something more robust. Something that’s actually got an acrylic top and I stick lights underneath and point them upwards now.
Justin Dale, world Champion Cyr Wheel Performer – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
So, what was the evolution of the subject matter then in terms of what you were shooting?
TIM
It didn’t start off as theatre, I can tell you that much. I started off mostly with dancers. I had a fairly good in with Dancers Studio West and a couple of other companies at the time. I was really interested to see what this hard contrast lighting would do with musculature, particularly legs and movement and jumping and that sort of thing. So, dancers were a natural and for the first year that I was doing this project I was asking people to come as they were. I did have some styling on site, but I was mostly interested in seeing who these people were as I was having a brief conversation with them and finding out what made them tick.
JAMES
You were looking to capture something of the person and the personality?
TIM
Yep. So, I was shooting this with a 200-millimetre lens. I was 25 feet away from the set. So, there was a bit of shouting back and forth over music and that sort of thing. But what it did was – it isolated people in space.
So, I just rolled a blank sheet of paper down behind them. And the studio was thirty feet by twelve feet. So, I’m on one end and my crew is sitting behind me and the subjects – they’re on the far end totally by themselves. No props. No sense of background. The overhead lights were on because that was how I chose to shoot all these. So, they didn’t even really have a sense of what the lighting style was like.
Scorpio Theatre – Photo by Tim Nguyen
TIM
For a lot of these people it was it was a leap of faith and just assuming that I knew what I was doing. To start with I didn’t give people a ton of direction. I asked people not to bring a lot of props. For the most part, it was articles of clothing. It was wigs. Anything handheld was passable, but I wanted to look at people as they were. Or, who they wanted to present themselves as, and sort of play within that realm and see what I could extract from them. And I found that really fascinating. But about halfway into that process the theater stuff starting to creep in.
I had the entire crew from Scorpio Theatre come down to see me. They brought swords, shields, chain mail, and axes. They were doing a stage combat based show and there was a bunch of short scenes all stacked together, and each one of the scenes devolved into some kind of big fight. It was super amusing. I really enjoyed their show. And this ended up being their marketing material for it. We ended up creating these long panorama images that were a composite of this person fighting this person. With this person overhead. And this person down here.
Pan and Hook – Lumination – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
So, you would shoot people individually or two people at a time and then compose the whole image.
TIM
For the most part, all of these shoots have been two people at the most. In fact, in the Peter Pan one, those two people were photographed six months apart.
JAMES
That’s how Orson Welles used to shoot his films. We’ll do the close up now in Europe and I’ll get the guy in Hollywood six months later.
TIM
That’s a good comparison, I like that. So that actually touched off a really hard change in what my intention was. I suddenly had people showing up and they were putting on these full characters. For me, they weren’t showing up as themselves. That led to 2017 where all I did was photograph people in cosplay. I did a year’s worth of people in these high colour, cartoony type of outfits, and those were the characters that they wanted to present, and that I found incredibly fascinating. At one point I had nine Disney Princesses show up all at once. So, we spent an entire morning photographing Cinderellas and Ariels and Rapunzels.
The YYC – Princesses – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
And then you decided to make a book.
TIM
I did. The book doesn’t have any of the Cosplay work in it, unfortunately. The book is entirely black and white and it is the work that I did between 2012 and 2015. Since that time, I’ve been doing everything in colour.
JAMES
Some great portraits have been done in black and white.
TIM
Absolutely. Some of the best portraits have been done in black and white. For me, black and white changes the way somebody takes in the image. You are not focusing on blemishes, skin tone, bags under the eyes. You’re not focusing on nudity. You’re not focusing on anything other than the texture of an image and where the light is and the negative space. And those are all things that I gravitate towards, quite heavily.
Christina Robertson – Lumination – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
So, I’m curious when you’re going to do a portrait and you’re trying to capture somebody – how do you go about doing that?
TIM
It’s similar to how I approach doing headshots for people. And I think portraiture sort of evolved naturally out of my headshot business. When somebody comes for a professional headshot the first conversation I have with them is how uncomfortable are they being in the studio knowing that they’re about to be on camera? Because despite all of us being performers in one way or another, there is a heavy sect of people that really don’t want to be on camera. They would much rather be behind a keyboard. Behind the lens. Behind the scenes.
With portraiture, I put a lot of stock into putting people at ease before we even get started. And I feel like part of that is actually my personality. I present myself as very easygoing, very relaxed, low intensity, and that puts people at ease most of the time. So that’s a starting point and the portrait work I’ve been doing for the last year and a half has largely been conversational. So, I have a lot of outtakes, where people’s mouths are moving, or their eyes are darting around, and that sort of thing. And that’s something that I’ve had to teach myself to shoot around.
Erin Madill – Portrait – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
And so maybe you’re capturing the moment when they’re thinking about the question rather than answering the question.
TIM
Those pondering kinds of looks are quite popular.
JAMES
Because they drop the facade. They’re internally in their mind.
TIM
As soon as you get somebody really thinking about something all of the external stuff goes away.
So that is how a lot of my portrait work has been developing over the last year. I’ve been discussing, in advance, with people that are coming for a portrait what subject matter we should get into. And it’s led down some very curious paths including been given some really brutal trauma stories from people. And I’ve been let in on secrets from people that I will never – never redistribute. But it’s also led to this artistic wall that I’ve run into where I’m not totally sure how to present that work now, because of the context of how it was given to me. But I’m trying to find the right voice to put that into the world without exposing people in the wrong sense. The best that I’ve come up with so far is, I think, I’m going to discuss the questions that were asked more than the answers that were given. So, I’m sitting on about a year’s worth of portrait work that’s both beautiful and brutal.
Zac Savage – Portrait – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
Let’s talk a little bit about the project you did for the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary which is being unveiled this Saturday during Alumni weekend.
TIM
The Rococo Punk?
JAMES
Yeah. What exactly is Rococo Punk?
TIM
My interpretation of Rococo Punk – as an art style – is effectively the embodiment of Renaissance silliness.
JAMES
I like your definition better than what I read on Wikipedia. How did the project come about?
TIM
I had been developing a Renaissance style of lighting that I had been using mostly on nudes and on portraits, and I wanted to do something broader with that. The first thing I did was rent this dress from the university and I hired Natasha Strickey and we generated that photo. And after she graduated she ended up becoming a good friend of mine. And we’ve done a lot of creative work together like that, that has influenced to a heavy degree, the way that I’ve moved forward.
Natasha Strickey – Lumination – Photo by Tim Nguyen
TIM
And then I had a conversation about a year and a half ago about doing something like that with April Viczko, who directed a show called, The Learned Ladies at the University of Calgary three seasons ago. What I actually pitched to her was that I wanted to get the cast back together from that show and see if we could do a renaissance group portrait with everyone. Unfortunately for me, I hadn’t really considered that some of those actors aren’t in town anymore, or they’ve ceased acting, or they’ve just moved on to different parts of their lives. So that wasn’t really an option.
April counter-offered and suggested we try and see if there’s an event that we could wrap this inside of and get somebody to fund it. And the next time we sat down that was exactly what she had done. The Alumni Association was interested. Alumni Weekend was interested. So, let’s see if we can get some grad students and prominent alumni to come down for this rather than having to get these specific actors.
JAMES
This is a big project.
TIM
Humongous. I had the responsibility of the shooting days, and the post-production was entirely on my shoulders. But there was a team of about five people that did the initial groundwork and gathered the costumes and the casting and did all the fittings. And all of that took about a year and then on Alumni Weekend last year there was a team of 30 people that were working on this plus all the talent that came which for the most part are alumni, faculty and students and includeS 62 different people.
The camera was thirty feet back from the set. And I had it up on a platform on a tripod for the entire weekend. We photographed about two people at a time. It took two full days. It was about 20 hours of photography. And then it took all of October last year to put the image together.
So, this is going to end up as an enormous print that is going to be 60 inches wide that’s going to hang in the Reeve Theatre lobby. So right outside the space where we created it. And that’ll be a permanent installation that we’re revealing on the seventh of September and I’ve got wall space set aside at my studio, which I’ve just finished renovating, and I’m going to have my own copy of this made.
Rococo Punk – University of Calgary School of Creative and Performing Arts – Photo by Tim Nguyen
The grand reveal for the Rocco Punk was held on Saturday, September 7th in the Reeve Theatre Lobby during the University of Calgary’s Alumni Weekend. The photograph features University of Calgary alumni from the School of Creative and Performing Arts including: Anton deGroot, Michaella Haynes, Sarah Mitchell, Brad Mahon, Odessa Johnston, Julie Orton, Megan Koch, Cayley Wreggitt, Sadaf Ganji, Brittany Bryan, Jason Mehmel, Connor Pritchard, Marisa Roggeveen, Mark Bellamy, Emily Losier, Michèle Moss, Tim Nguyen, Natasha Strickey, Donovan Seidle, Pil Hansen, Allison Lynch, Tina Guthrie, Laurel Simonson, Jason Galeos, Meghann Mickalsky, Christopher Hunt, Vicky Storich, Clem Martini, Louisa Adria, Shondra Cromwell-Krywulak, Allan Bell, Allison Weninger, Kaili Che, Megan Stephan, Lisa Russell, Ana Santa Maria, Madeline Roberts, Myah Van Horm, Elizabeth Rajchel, Onika Henry, Val Campbell, Hailey McLeod, Taylor Ritchie, Liam Whitley, Adam Kostiuk, Bruce Barton, Zachary McKendrick, Simon Mallet, Braden Griffith, Laura Hynes, Lana Henchell.
Allison Lynch is Darling, Ayla Stephen is Boo, Kiana Wu is Sweetie, and Geoffrey Simon Brown is Baby in A Dinner Party by Christopher Duthie. Directed by Julie Orton
We write songs about love. We tell stories about love. We long for love. We celebrate love. Love is all around us and yet we don’t always know what it means. If we did we wouldn’t need to keep discussing it and exploring it and talking about it. We are, it seems to me, bound by our heart’s desire. So, what is this thing called love? I think if I was to define love – I would simply call it absurd.
So, I’m really excited that Christopher Duthie, Julie Orton, and Ayla Stephen have joined forces to bring Calgary the premiere of Christopher Duthie’s new play, A Dinner Party, which just so happens to be an absurdist examination of love.
When Boo, Darling, Baby and Sweetie are unable to agree on a common definition of Love, their otherwise normal dinner party spirals into an absurd chaos of marriage proposals, identity crises, culinary emergency and polite cannibalism. Part absurdist meta-theatre, part romantic cringe comedy, A Dinner Party asks how we know our individual Selfs and understand our Love for one another in the fragmented social landscape of the 21st Century.
If that doesn’t sound like a fun night at the theatre I don’t know what does. I sat down with Christopher, Julie, and Ayla while they were in rehearsal to talk with them about the play and how it explores relationships and love.
JAMES HUTCHISON
We’re going to be talking about your play A Dinner Party which is an exploration of love and so I’m curious about what your favourite love song is and why?
CHRISTOPHER DUTHIE
I think my favourite love song is, Naïve Melody – This Must Be the Place by the Talking Heads because it’s so beautiful and also because it’s about what we think love will be and then we discover what it is.
JAMES
Are you checking Google music?
AYLA STEPHEN
Yeah. (Laughs) I can’t think of any. I love – love songs so much and they always hit me right in the heart but then I forget about them and find new ones.
JULIE ORTON
I have two. The first one is Little Person by Jon Brion and it’s from the movie Synecdoche, New York which is a Charlie Kaufman movie.
JAMES
It’s a strange movie.
JULIE
It’s a very strange movie but it’s a beautiful song and it’s very reminiscent of this play. It’s about going through the world in a disconnected way hoping that one day you’ll bump into that other person you’ve been waiting for and that you can just live a simple life together with that other person. And my other one is When you Get to Ashville by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell because it’s just a really pretty lovely yearning song.
Christopher Duthie – Playwright – A Dinner Party
JAMES
So, where did the inspiration for this play come from?
CHRISTOPHER
I was doing my MFA in creative writing from 2015 to 2016 in Guelph when I was living in Toronto and I needed to figure out what to do for my thesis, and I had literally written down this conversation that I’d woken up with in my head that was funny, and then I’d put it away and I had figured once I finish my thesis I will come back to it. And I think I was secretly intimidated by the pressure of writing a thesis play and having to write something serious and important. And as a way of psyching myself out of that kind of thinking I just said, “I’m going to write this ridiculous play and try to make myself laugh and give myself the freedom to make myself laugh and see if anything comes from it.” And that scene became the play and quite quickly the structure and setting of the play became very clear, and I found that as I started writing something emerged that would be funny at first and then it would stop being funny and it became kind of serious, and once it was serious something real would happen and it would become funny again.
JAMES
So, what is the play about?
CHRISTOPHER
A Dinner Party is an absurdist party about two couples whose evening is thrown off course into a kind of chaos of marriage proposals, heartbreak, culinary emergency, polite cannibalism…but essentially it’s about two young couples disagreeing on what love is.
JAMES
The definition of love.
AYLA
It’s a millennial viewpoint on love and relationships that’s absurdist and highly relatable and also very funny. And I say millennial in a good way. It’s not derogatory and it’s not a judgemental term. It’s just that’s where we are and that’s where these characters are living.
JULIE
And one of the great things about the way Christopher has written the play is that it can to be explored in an ungendered way. So, every character could be played by anyone and have any sexual orientation. And it’s funny because when you end up with your cast, just by virtue of the dynamics in the room, all of a sudden, you’re making a different comment on a love dynamic. And so you can tell many different versions of love and many different stories.
And so we have a couple in the play who have been together for a long time and in our version of the play, they’re being played by two female-identifying performers. And so all of a sudden, the dynamics of an older settled love between two women is a really interesting story to dig into compared to the younger love couple in the play being played by a male-identifying performer and a female-identifying performer. Suddenly the dynamic of the settled female couple becomes much more interesting when compared to the younger male and female couple.
And the first time I was introduced to the play was when we did a reading at Christopher’s house. So myself and Mike Tan, Graham Percy, and Brett Dahl, were invited to read the play. And so in that dynamic, I was the only female and there were different dynamics at play for sure. But it didn’t change the arc of the play, it didn’t change the relationships at the core and what their issues are. It was fascinating. Now we have the inverse of that where we have one male and three females, and it works just the same.
JAMES
Who have you cast in the show?
AYLA
I’m playing the character Boo, and Allison Lynch is playing Darling, who is my partner in the show. And we have Geoffrey Simon Brown playing Baby and Kiana Wu playing Sweetie.
JAMES
Did you make any interesting discoveries during the writing process in terms of love that you didn’t expect?
CHRISTOPHER
I think I confirmed ideas that I had always sort of operated with. Like, I don’t necessarily believe that everyone experiences love in the same way. I don’t necessarily believe that there’s one person for everyone. I don’t necessarily think that everyone wants as their ultimate fulfillment of self to be with another person. I think those sorts of ideas made themselves apparent.
JULIE
There are definitely parts of both couples that I can relate to. You have this young couple that are in the early stages of being together. Like six weeks of being together and everything is wonderful. Everything is new and fresh. And there’s definitely parts of that relationship where I go, “Oh, I remember what that was like.” And it was so perfect, right? “Why can’t we live there forever?”
And then there’s this more settled couple that I recognize immediately. And I think, okay, I love the intimacy of how well they know each other. And I love the comfortability between them, but I also see the traps of that. And I also see the disconnections that can happen after spending a lot of time with someone. And so, I think for me, same as Christopher, it just confirmed the things that had been swimming around in my head.
JAMES
Ayla, what about yourself? Have you discovered anything new in terms of your views of love and relationships?
AYLA
I haven’t been in relationships as long as my character has but there is that beautiful comfortability and knowing that even if you’re having a fight there’s still that underlying love, and support and commitment that’s there. And not to say that’s easy or that makes it okay when you are not nice to the person you love, but there is a kind of security built into that.
Julie Orton – Director – A Dinner Party
JAMES
Why do we do that? Why aren’t we nice to the people we love? As actors, you do dramas all the time, where people who are supposed to love each other are not nice to each other. Any insights on good old human nature?
JULIE
I think in order to be in a long term committed relationship, you have to maintain a certain amount of vulnerability at all times. And I think it is human nature when you are feeling not as strong as you did yesterday or if you’re feeling a little insecure to occasionally swipe out in order to protect yourself. And sadly, it tends to be at the person that you love the most, because they know you the best. And it’s frustrating, and you wish it didn’t happen, but it does.
JAMES
Do you think in love we expect too much from our partner?
JULIE
Oh yes. And I think committing to one person is a really cuckoo experiment because you are an individual fully formed human with a much different experience leading up to the day you met them. And so, your way of interpreting things or looking at things or defining things is different than theirs. And so sometimes you come up against something that is just a conflict of experience and it’s really hard to say we’re two different people, but we’re going to continue on the same path, even though we don’t know where this is going.
JAMES
Is that a cultural thing or is it a human thing?
CHRISTOPHER
Without giving too much away I have right in the play that we have these two holy things in the West, in our culture. We have the dream of the perfect monogamous love, and then we have this dream of total personal freedom. And those ideas are at war constantly. Because I don’t really believe you can have both. Because I think how we define perfect love in our culture involves giving up a piece of yourself and surrendering to the fact that I’m with you on this road that we are creating together. And that is going to involve some of where you want to go, and that’s going to involve some of where I want to go, and we are going to disagree. And if our dream is to stay together, then we need to figure out a way to do that.
Ayla Stephen is Boo in A Dinner Party
JAMES
How much do you think we understand our partners and how does the play explore that?
AYLA
I think the play explores that quite a bit. I think that might be one of the thesis points. How are we communicating and what language are we using? Because if your timelines are different, and the way you’re talking about getting there is different – even if it might look the same – it’s not the same thing. And that can cause feelings of insecurity and vulnerability that can lead to those miscommunications and those anger points. So it’s like, “Oh, it sounds like we’re not working towards the same thing? Is this the right relationship for us to be in?”
JULIE
And I think another thing that the play explores is not just how well do we know our partners, but how well do we know ourselves in our partnerships, because I think we invest a lot in a dual identity and we end up losing a little bit of our individual identities. And so, at the end of the day, when you sit down with yourself and think how well do I know my partner – I think it’s actually who am I in this relationship?
JAMES
Julie, I want to ask how did you go from reading it in Chris’s home to now sitting in the director’s chair. At what point did you go, “I’m going to be the director?”
JULIE
Not one point did that happen. When I read it my gut reaction was I really want to be in this play because there are so few opportunities to do absurdist Theatre in Calgary these days. There’s been a little more this season with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Waiting for Godot which is great but not new absurd theatre. I don’t think I have seen a new absurdist play in years. And Christopher’s writing is so funny and quick and smart, and really profoundly beautiful.
So after reading it that first time, I just thought, “Oh, my God, I really hope he’s gathered us all here because he wants us to be in his play.” And then I didn’t hear a lot about it because he was working on his thesis. And then he reached out to me and said, “I want to talk to you about A Dinner Party,” and we met for coffee and he said, “I think you should direct it.” And it scared the poop out of me James, but I think I said yes immediately and then I went home and I was like, “What have I done? I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no idea the first thing about how to direct a play, how to lead a room, how to talk to actors. I just know how to be talked to as an actor.”
AYLA
See, and I disagreed.
JULIE
Yeah, you did.
AYLA
Julie and I worked on Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet together. And that was the first time we’ve been actors in a room together since University. And I was like, Julie’s had so many opportunities to work as an actor in Calgary and outside of Calgary. She’s immensely skilled and the way that she’s able to communicate with a director about what she’s doing and what she’s doing with us as actors in the scene I was like, “Julie should move into directing.”
CHRISTOPHER
You were the first person that said, “Julie could direct this.”
JULIE
And I’m excited that I said yes because it’s been profoundly exciting in the room. It’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, for sure. But there’s nothing I like more than sitting in a room and watching actors pull apart a script and invest in characters. And this is a character-rich play and so it hasn’t felt like I’m a total fish out of water. It feels like I can actually communicate what’s happening. And it’s been so joyful and I don’t know what happens next with me as a director, but right now, God, I love it!
Playwright/Producer Christopher Duthie; Sound Designer Thomas Geddes; Actors Kiana Wu, Geoffrey Simon Brown and Allison Lynch; Actor/Producer Ayla Stephen; Director Julie Orton; Fight Director Brianna Johnston; Set/Costume/Props Designer Deitra Kalyn – in rehearsal for A Dinner Party by Christopher Duthie
JAMES
So, you were all at the University of Calgary together and I understand that you’ve wanted to work together again for some time and now you’re finally making that happen. What was the process of bringing A Dinner Party to the stage?
AYLA
Chris did a lot of the legwork writing grants and finding opportunities and making partnerships and connecting with people in the community to get extra support. Like Vertigo came on board, once we had some grants, and they’re really doing a lot to support indie artists who are coming up.
CHRISTOPHER
They’re our venue sponsors.
AYLA
We had that support and we had people in our lives who were really excited about seeing us working together again because we’ve established ourselves as artists in the community now. And we raised additional funds through a Kickstarter campaign and it’s all for generating new work which I think hasn’t been happening as robustly as it had been in Calgary about five years ago. And we’re excited to be contributing to that.
CHRISTOPHER
I will say too that, as much as we are friends we admire each other’s work. And what we’ve talked about is coming to each other with projects we’re interested in leading and trying to find a sustainable way of supporting each other and making theatre in the long term. And also to help each other build the skills that we have and can share with each other to develop our own practices and production abilities.
JAMES
So, just before we wrap up here what’s your favourite line from the play? Without giving too much away.
AYLA
“I could so be a shepherd.” I love that line.
CHRISTOPHER
It feels a bit like tooting my own horn but actually, I really like the line, “No, I knew you were behind me.”
JULIE
Yes, that’s a good one. I like, “Love isn’t just one feeling it’s an amalgamation of every feeling.”
JAMES
And final question, just curious, what is polite cannibalism?
CHRISTOPHER
Oh, you’ll have to find out.
AYLA
Come see the show.
JULIE
Pinkies up.
***
A Dinner Party runs from June 20 to June 29th in the Studio at Vertigo Theatre. Tickets are just $30.00 for adults and $25.00 for students and seniors and can be purchased by calling the Vertigo Box Office at 403.221.3708 or online at VertigoTheatre.com. Please note that the show does contain adult themes and nudity and is intended for a mature audience.
Calgary theatre artists Christopher Duthie, Julie Orton and Ayla Stephen are proud to present the independent premiere production of A Dinner Party by Christopher Duthie, directed by Julie Orton at the Vertigo Studio Theatre from June 20-29, 2019.
Written as Christopher Duthie’s MFA thesis in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph, A Dinner Party is a comedy about true love for the post-truth era. This new take on the absurdist genre is hitting the stage for the first time in an independent production supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, a generous community of Kickstarter crowd funders, the venue sponsorship of Vertigo Theatre and the partnership of Inside Out Theatre’s Good Host Audience Inclusion Program.
A Dinner Party is the pilot project of an indie-producing collaboration between Duthie, Orton and Stephen. With over a decade of experience each onstage as actors and offstage as playwrights, theatre creators and/or producers, they are banding together to play a more active role in making exciting theatre happen in Calgary.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
“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.
***
***
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
***
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.
“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.
***
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
***
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
***
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.
If you enjoyed this interview with Craig Hall and Anna Cummer you might also enjoy:
Tyrell Crews and Mark Bellamy in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanne Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Diane + Mike Photography
Mark Bellamy, former artistic director of Vertigo Theatre, returns to the stage to take on the role of Sidney Bruhl in Ira Levin’s intensely entertaining thriller Deathtrap. Joining him on stage is Tyrell Crews as aspiring playwright Clifford Anderson, Barbara Gates Wilson as Bruhl’s wife Myra Bruhl, Karen Johnson-Diamond as psychic Helga Ten Dorp, and Kevin Corey as attorney Porter Milgram. The production is being directed by Jamie Dunsdon.
Deathtrap is one of the longest running mystery thrillers to ever hit Broadway and even though the play premiered more than forty years ago it’s as fresh and funny and thrilling today as it was the day it opened. The only problem is that because the play is filled with so many twists and turns and surprises you have to talk about the play without talking about the play. The only thing I can tell you, without revealing any spoilers, is how the play begins.
Sidney Bruhl, once a successful Broadway murder mystery playwright, has fallen on hard times after numerous flops, so when he receives a brilliant murder mystery play in the mail from a former student, Sidney begins to contemplate murderous thoughts about how he might steal the play for himself. I sat down with director Jamie Dunsdon and actors Mark Bellamy and Tyrell Crews to talk about weapons of choice and Vertigo Theatre’s production of Deathtrap.
Barbara Gates Wilson as Myra Bruhl and Mark Bellamy as Sidney Bruhl in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanna Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Citrus Photo.
JAMES HUTCHISON
I’m going to start off with a hypothetical question. If you had to commit a murder – not saying that you would – what would be your weapon of choice?
MARK BELLAMY (Without hesitation)
Poison.
JAMES
Poison?
MARK
I have mine all planned out.
JAMES
Who’s the victim?
MARK
Oh, I can’t tell you that.
TYRELL CREWS
You’re looking at him.
JAMIE DUNSDON
It’s been a rough week. (Everyone laughs)
MARK
After running this company for ten years, you just amass so much knowledge that I actually figured out how I would do it. There’s a plant. I’m not going to say what the plant is, but you can grow it. It’s very common and there are different varieties of it. You can grow it in your garden and if you take the root and you soak it in vodka it makes it a tasteless, odourless, and almost untraceable poison that mimics a heart attack.
JAMES
It’s kind of disturbing that you’ve given this so much thought.
MARK
There’s even more. I figured out how I was going to use that poison.
No, no, no – just never accept a cup of coffee from me – that’s the deal!
JAMES
Tyrell?
TYRELL
You know I haven’t given it as much thought as Mark.
MARK
Who has a detailed plan.
TYRELL
Well, like you said you lived in this building. I don’t know how I’d do it but what I will tell you is that last night I dreamt that I actually killed somebody with my bare hands – strangling – which was not even the major part of the dream. The major part of the dream was covering it up. There was a cell phone involved and I had to destroy the cell phone and the sim card itself and make sure the sim card was absolutely disintegrated because that’s the only thing that would have traced that individual to me.
MARK
This is exactly our characters.
JAMES
Good casting.
TYRELL
The violent one.
MARK
And the plotty one.
JAMES
Jamie, do you have a weapon of choice?
JAMIE
I do, but it’s for a very specific person. I would use peanuts.
MARK – TYRELL – JAMES
Ahhhh.
JAMIE
Yeah, I’d take them for a walk out in the mountains. Somewhere far away from their EpiPen and then I’d throw some trail mix their way. I would make it really pedestrian. Very every day.
Mark Bellamy as Sidney Bruhl, Barbara Gates Wilson as Myra Bruhl, and Tyrell Crews as Clifford Anderson in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanne Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Citrus Photo
JAMES
So, then let’s talk about the play. Deathtrap is one part thriller, one part comedy, and one part mystery and I’m wondering how do you balance all those elements so that we’re laughing where we’re supposed to and we’re screaming where we’re supposed to?
JAMIE
I think the script does most of it for us. The script is very well constructed, and it’s tried and tested. The playwright doesn’t drop in laughs except to break the tension and I think we just follow that lead for the most part. As far as the mystery and the thriller aspects go that’s more of a balancing act and we’re still working on that in rehearsal. It’s all about who knows what and when and then when do we want the audience to know what and when? So that’s the work – the final stage of rehearsal – we know what we’re doing but now we’re shaping the experience for the audience.
JAMES
And making sure you don’t telegraph to the audience at the wrong time what’s going on.
MARK
That’s the hardest part, I think.
TYRELL
Yeah, I think, it’s about playing these moments honestly and what’s on the page in that specific situation. I think Jamie’s done an amazing job in knowing when those secrets or the scheming are supposed to bubble up to the surface and peak through.
JAMIE
That’s right, it’s entirely volume control because we know this play so well now that – once you’re inside it – it’s hard to get back outside.
MARK
It’s super hard from the inside.
JAMES
Because you know everything.
MARK
I know everything and I think the previews will be really neat because I’m sure there’s going to be one night where we go way too far one way and then way too far the other. It’s about finding where the sweet spot is. And it’s really finite, isn’t it? It’s really particular.
JAMIE
There’s a narrow band that we need to live within and so that’s the work we’ve been doing the last couple of days and it’s a little bit subjective, right? It’s a little bit here’s how much I think we need to turn it up but I’m kind of the audience surrogate so I do my best to gage that but we could have audience members who are smarter than me and pick up on things earlier.
Karen Johnson-Diamond as Helga Ten Dorp in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanne Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Citrus Photo.
JAMES
And you’ve got a great cast you’re working with on this show.
JAMIE
We have a room that already understands the mystery genre because everybody in this show has worked with Vertigo multiple times which is fantastic. I’m leaning on their expertise as well, so for example, Mark caught something in rehearsal the other day that was very forensic. So, we have a room full of experts and fantastic people at the top of their craft and they’re also funny which is nice.
TYRELL
I think any hall that I have found success in is one where there’s the willingness to collaborate. It’s knowing that we’re all on the same playing field. Of course, Jamie has the final say but it’s the willingness to play and experiment which is supremely helpful for this type of play – auditioning every choice and volume level that we can.
JAMES
Now, Mark, you directed Deathtrap previously, haven’t you?
MARK
A long time ago. Sixteen or seventeen years ago. It was in 2002, I think.
JAMES
So, I’m kind of curious – you were the director and now you get to be the actor in it. Does having directed a show and now having had the chance to have aged into a part give you any additional insights?
MARK (Laughs)
It certainly gave me a familiarity with it. And when I directed it Stephen Hair was in it and Stephen was the former Artistic Director of the Pleiades.
JAMIE
And he had also directed it.
MARK
He had directed it! So there’s this weird little legacy.
JAMES
So, Jamie does that mean you’re going to be doing a female version of Deathtrap at some point?
JAMIE (Laughs)
Yes, I’m the next Sidney Bruhl.
JAMES
Mark, when you were directing it did you imagine that’s a part I want to play in twenty years?
MARK
I probably did. I fell in love with this play when I was in University. I saw the movie first and I’ve always been a fan of Deathtrap, but I don’t think back then my twenty-year-old self imagined my fifty-five-year-old self being Sidney Bruhl. I think I probably saw myself as a Clifford at some point when I was young, but that never happened.
JAMES
Tyrell, are there any particular parts that you want to play one day?
TYRELL
Hamlet is one of them. I’m a big Shakespeare guy so playing Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing with the Shakespeare Company last year was another one.
Tyrell Crews as Clifford Anderson and Mark Bellamy as Sidney Bruhl in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanna Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Citrus Photo.
JAMES
Is Sidney in your future?
TYRELL
Ahhh, I love this play. I love this part, but it will be a very very long time before I get Mark Bellamy out of my head.
MARK
Oh dear. Oh dear. I’ve affected you.
TYRELL
In a good way.
MARK
Well, there are two moments in the show where I channel Stephen Hair. I’m not going to say where they are. I don’t channel. I homage. I homage – like I remember what Stephen did. There’s only two though.
Mark Bellamy as Sidney Bruhl and Kevin Corey as attorney Porter Milgram in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanne Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Citrus Photo.
JAMES
So, murder mysteries look at the darker side of humanity and there’s always an element of desperation to the characters contemplating murder – why do you think audiences enjoy watching desperate characters making morally questionable decisions?
JAMIE
Probably because we do it in real life. We don’t go as far down that path so, it’s delightful to see someone have that impulse and actually follow it through. There’s something a little bit cathartic in that.
TYRELL
And they’re relatable. You like these people and you’re invited into their home and you meet them and they’re very charming and you kind of fall in love with them.
MARK
And they’re funny.
TYRELL
And I think the way the plays mapped out you can see the decision making that goes into the escalation and so you can understand that decision making.
JAMIE
It’s a character-driven thriller – which you can probably speak to that more Mark because I’m not sure how common those are. This is a thriller that’s plot-heavy and it’s plot driven but the characters are all grounded.
MARK
What characterizes a thriller as opposed to a who done it is the thriller is more about the people and what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it and not what they’ve done. A who done it is for us to figure out. A thriller is more like what are they going to do now?
Mark Bellamy as Sidney Bruhl and Karen Johnson Diamond as Helga Ten Dorp in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanna Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Citrus Photo.
JAMES
So, we’re telling people about this wonderful play and if somebody were to ask you what you’re in and you say you’re in Deathtrap – and they say well why should come I see that? What would your sales pitch be?
MARK
Directed by Jamie Dunsdon
JAMES
That’s a good reason.
JAMIE
Stars Mark Bellamy.
MARK (Laughs)
I would say that it is probably the epitome of the American thriller. Deathtrap, to me, is the American thriller version of what the Mouse Trap is to the who done it. And it’s fun. It’s funny. It will scare you. You’ll jump out of your seat and if you can stay ahead of these characters then you’re a genius.
JAMIE
I always tell people the same thing I have written in my director’s notes for the show. I was working for Craig, the artistic director of Vertigo Theatre, a couple of years ago and he had me look through something like fifty plays from the genre in a matter of months and there was some great stuff there but there was also some not so great stuff and when I read Deathtrap in the first hour of reading it I was already gasping and doing little ahahs with my cats and so if you can get that out of a read then think how good it would be on stage.
JAMES
And because you are directing this Jamie, I was wondering how significant and important do you feel getting a chance to stage Deathtrap at Vertigo is in terms of your career development?
Tyrell Crews & Mark Bellamy in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Directed by Jamie Dunsdon, costumes by Hanne Loosen, set by David Fraser, Photo by Diane + Mike Photography
JAMIE
It’s huge for me, but that’s half my battle right now is to not get too worried about that. I just have to applaud Craig because there’s not a lot of artistic directors who give young female directors a chance and he did and so I’m so grateful for that opportunity and really grateful for him as a mentor in my life and I’m just now trying to focus on the work and not on the monumental career step in it for me.
JAMES
Well speaking of next steps what have you got coming up?
JAMIE
Nothing I can talk about. I’m in workshops for things that are coming up at Verb and I’m in the early stages of some stuff…like early design phase of some things that haven’t been announced yet so I can’t talk about them.
JAMES
Tyrell, you’re part of a new theatre company called Black Radish and I see you’ve got a production of Waiting for Godot coming up in April. Tell me a little bit about the creation of the company and the production.
TYRELL
It’s a passion project. A huge passion project for us all. Myself, Duval Lang, Chris Hunt and Andy Curtis have been meeting and reading and discussing the play for the last three maybe four years. We shopped it around a little bit but it wasn’t a good fit with any existing company in the city so we decided to bite the bullet and give it a crack ourselves and now Denise Clarke is directing it so we have a chance to work in the Flanagan Theatre at The Grand and they want to open their doors and invite the community in and have a fresh start and that’s a big push for me as an artist and an individual with our little company.
JAMES
Mark, you’ve got a show coming up later in the year at Stage West?
MARK
I’m directing A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. It’s a Broadway musical that won the Tony Award in 2014. It’s very funny and it’s based on the film Kind Hearts and Coronets with Alec Guinness and it’s about a guy who thinks he is very poor but he discovers that he is actually the ninth in line to become Earl of Highhurst so he goes about murdering all of his relatives who are ahead of him and the great conceit in the show is that all of his family – all of the eight relatives – are played by one actor. It’s superbly funny and has really great music.
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Deathtrap by Ira Levin and directed by Jamie Dunsdon and starring Mark Bellamy, Tyrell Crews, Barabara Gates Wilson, Karen Johnson-Diamond and Kevin Corey runs at the Vertigo Mystery Theatre from January 26th to February 24th. Tickets start at just $29.00 and are available online at Vertigo Theatre or from the box office by calling (403) 221-3708.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Last edited on August 29, 2019.
Haysam Kadri Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Company
Haysam Kadri Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Company talks about Hamlet, theatre, and just how the Shakespeare Company’s Madness in Great Ones season came about. Hamlet will be haunting several Calgary stages over the coming year as The Shakespeare Company along with Hit & Myth Productions have partnered with Vertigo Theatre, The High Performance Rodeo, and Alberta Theatre Projects, to bring Calgary audiences four different tellings of the melancholy Dane’s tragic tale. It’s a full season of Hamlet!
JAMES HUTCHISON
I was wondering as the Shakespeare Company what are some of the challenges you face mounting a large cast show with a really short rehearsal period?
HAYSAM KADRI ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
We have the best mandate and the worst mandate at the same time because we always have to populate the stage with ten to fifteen people which always has its challenges. Anytime anybody does Shakespeare you never have enough time, but what the Shakespeare Company has found out is that brevity is the soul of wit. When you trim some of the fat that Shakespeare gives you we find it makes the plays more accessible to an audience and we find that it’s better for the process technically of rehearsing and putting up a play. Because it’s not a kitchen sink drama. There are a lot of things going on. There are supernatural elements. There’s war. There’s fight scenes. There’s these extraordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances.
JAMES
These are big stories.
HAYSAM
They are big stories. It’s never easy to put them up in three and a half weeks let alone five weeks or six weeks. When it comes down to it it’s about money and ultimately you have to be lean and mean which is our company motto and as efficient as possible.
JAMES
When you’re mounting a play you’ve done before and you’re familiar with it as an actor or director does getting a second or third chance at it make it easier to mount?
HAYSAM
The first time we remounted a play was when we put on The Scottish Play with Vertigo Theatre. The Vertigo patrons just loved it and so what happened was they snatched up a lot of the tickets and then our patrons came on board and the run was already sold out. So, it was incumbent upon the Shakespeare Company and myself to reprogram it for the following season. Number one because there were a lot of our patrons that didn’t get a chance to see it and number two as a company for efficiency. The sets were already built. The production is in hand. The rehearsal process is shortened. And so it was a no-brainer and you know it’s been the most successful show in the history of the company.
Anna Cummer as Lady Macbeth and Haysam Kadri as Macbeth in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Macbeth. Directed by Craig Hall. A Coproduction of Vertigo Theatre, The Shakespeare Company and Hit & Myth Productions. Photograph Benjamin Laird
JAMES
You took over the company in 2012. How have the last six years gone in terms of what you wanted to do with the Shakespeare Company and where you’re at now?
HAYSAM
You know when I took over the company in 2012 I had never run a company before, so I had a clean slate and I was able to start building the culture that I wanted. I really wanted to build and increase the skill set of the performers and the performances. So, I felt it was really important to start developing a strong core of equity actors to comprise half the company. That’s a very expensive initiative but I felt it was really important.
The other important thing was to make Shakespeare much more accessible to a larger audience. All our Shakespeare plays are two hours with a fifteen-minute intermission and since I took over we’ve increased our audience by four-hundred and fifty percent and we’ve extended all our runs to three weeks and we hire on average six equity actors per show and we’ve developed and built a core audience.
We really wanted to key in on those young students in high school that get a bad taste in their mouth for Shakespeare because they think it’s three hours long and it’s boring and it’s in a foreign language and so we’ve done everything we can to make it really accessible. And you know that’s one of the benefits of being in the studio theatre. You see the blood on the Scottish King’s face and it’s visceral and it’s present and it’s intimate and so we benefit from a small space even though we’d love to expand to a bigger space which we will be doing for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
And as our high school contingent has grown into young professionals or gone on to university they’ve been coming on their own. They’re not coming in school groups anymore they’re single ticket buyers and they’ve become part of the fabric of our patronage. So, our 18 to 25 demographics are unreal and amazing and has been our biggest success.
Cast members in Alberta Theatre Projects’ presentation of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. A Shakespeare Company and Hit & Myth Production. Photo: Benjamin Laird. (Set: Scott Reid. Lights: David Fraser. Costumes: Hanne Loosen)
JAMES
So, let’s talk about the new season since you mentioned Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and that’s the first play of your season focused on Hamlet. Where did the idea for Madness in Great Ones originate?
HAYSAM
I’ll confess, I didn’t think I was going to do an all Hamlet season, it wasn’t an epiphany that I had. What happened was I was in talks with Craig Hall the Artistic Director at Vertigo Theatre and we wanted to collaborate again because Mackers was such a big success and we would be totally remise if we did not entertain another partnership. And Craig and I had always wanted to do Hamlet because Hamlet is a ghost story and Vertigo Theatre is a mystery theatre and so we started with Hamlet and Vertigo.
HAYSAM
And then I talked to David Fraser the production manager over at ATP and I said, “Hey, what would it take for us to be in your space?” And David and I just started talking and then he talked to the artistic team and the artistic team came back to me and they said give us a couple of proposals for plays. And I’ve always wanted to do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and I thought well we could always have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Hamlet in the same season so I pitched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead to the artistic team at ATP and they thought it was great programming for Alberta Theatre Projects.
JAMES
A good fit.
HAYSAM
Yeah, and for us.
JAMES
Let’s talk a little bit about that one because it’s coming up right away here and interestingly enough it’s being directed by the same director you worked with on The Virgin Trial and The Last Wife.
HAYSAM
Yes, Glynis Leyshon.
JAMES
So that’s exciting and you’ve got quite the cast lined up.
HAYSAM
It’s pretty stellar.
Myla Southward, Christopher Hunt, and Julie Orton in Alberta Theatre Projects’ presentation of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. A Shakespeare Company and Hit & Myth Production. Photo: Benjamin Laird. (Set: Scott Reid. Lights: David Fraser. Costumes: Hanne Loosen)
JAMES
You’ve got Julie Orton and Myla Southward and I see Mark Bellamy in there as well…
HAYSAM
…Christopher Hunt…
JAMES
…and Tenaj Williams is going to be Hamlet.
HAYSAM
Julie and Myla are a dynamic duo together on stage and they’re a perfect fit for the characters. And Glyniss Lyshom is a big Tom Stoppard fan and a great mentor of mine and a great director and someone that I trust implicitly with everything especially with text and the classical works and I had her in mind before we knew it was going to be an ATP coproduction. I really wanted to bring her on board and it just worked out perfectly. It’s a really exciting cast and I just think this play is ridiculously brilliant and funny.
JAMES
So, now you’ve got these two plays in place – then what happened?
HAYSAM
Well, then I was talking to the High Performance Rodeo because I wanted to partner with the Rodeo and I’ve always wanted to do Drunk Shakespeare. Negotiating Shakespeare sober is a challenge in itself but adding another element to it, I think, is really exciting. So, we’re going to create Hammered Hamlet and if I do Hammered Hamlet I can’t just stop there I have to go full throttle on this and so I thought of creating a season based on Hamlet where you see four different interpretations of a story.
HAYSAM KADRI Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Company
Then I got this idea to do a movement piece and I phoned Denise Clarke who is a genius and a Canadian legend and truly a gem in our city and I just pitched the idea. I said Denise, I love your Radioheaded series they’re fresh and innovative and I want to see if you can transplant that into Shakespeare’s Hamlet. And her eyes and ears and everything just lit up and we went back and forth on it and we decided we wanted to do Hamlet Frequency which is an ensemble piece and a reimagining of Shakespeare’s story choreographed and staged by one of Canada’s greatest choreographers.
So, it’s a bold season and I think it’s exciting and I’m really curious to see how it’s going to unfold and I think a lot of people are really excited about the idea of doing four different interpretations of the same play.
JAMES
What are some of the things the Shakespeare Company has done marketing wise to sell tickets?
HAYSAM
Well, we’re constantly trying to find more ways to be creative with social media and to get people in the door. The other thing – partnerships – partnerships are the way of the future because if you cross-pollinate your audience you maximize your resources because you’re collaborating – there are many benefits to being partners with other organizations.
JAMES
One of the companies that you partner with is Hit and Myth productions how did that partnership evolve?
HAYSAM
Joel Cochrane who is the Artistic Director of Hit and Myth productions is passionate about theatre and particularly Shakespeare and so he’s been an amazing partner and supporter of our company and he’s been a huge part of the success of our organization. Joel has a strong business background and so you know as an Artistic Producer you have to balance the left and the right brain. You’re not just worrying about the art you’re worrying about how you make the art happen and so a guy like Joel who has a strong – business acumen I value because I’ve learned so much from him and many other companies.
JAMES
And he’s a pretty good actor too.
HAYSAM
Yeah, he’s a great actor. He’s really cut his teeth over the last ten years – now he’s a force on stage, and I really like watching him and working with him.
Joel Cochrane as Don Pedro in The Shakespeare Company with Hit & Myth Productions Production of Much Ado About Nothing – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
So, is Hamlet mad or is he playing mad? What is your own personal take on the madness of Hamlet?
HAYSAM
I think Hamlet is thrown into an extraordinary situation. Just imagine yourself in a situation where you find out that your dad was poisoned by your uncle and now your uncle is married to your mom and you’re a prince and you live in a castle and the tabloids are all around. So, to me, I can’t help but not think that there is a touch of madness that permeates his being because he’s faced with the task of taking action and revenging his father’s death. And to me, Hamlet’s a bookworm. He’s doing his Ph.D. over at Wittenberg University and he’s a head case – literally, he’s in his head. He’s cerebral and then he’s asked to use his body, his heart, and his soul.
JAMES
He’s asked to put down the pen, and pick up the sword.
HAYSAM
Put down the pen and pick up the sword and therein lies the great conflict and the exciting dramatic action where he takes all his time to get the courage to do something that other people would have done the second they heard.
JAMES
One of the brilliant things about Shakespeare is when you look at different forms of storytelling – the novels great strength is that it can go into the mind of its character right – often we say a play is dialogue driven but by using monologues Shakespeare is able to let the audience in on the mind of the character. He uses the device of novels in stage plays.
HAYSAM
I think that’s why when the Richard the thirds and the Iagos of this world turn to the audience and they go, “I’m a complete asshole now watch me do this.” audience members walk away going, “Oh my God, I loved Richard the third!” But how could I love a guy who is hell-bent to kill and murder, but it’s because you’re complicit – because he invites you in – because he shares his plot with you – and so you become a part of that story as you watch it unfold. That’s why you connect with these characters because of this device. And it’s exciting to explore those types of characters. Characters who explore the darker sides of their humanity. Those are fun characters to play.
Glenn Davis as Othello and Haysam Kadri as Iago in the Shakespeare Company production of Othello by William Shakespeare. Directed by Ron Jenkins. Photograph Benjamin Laird.
JAMES
Well, look at Walter White in Breaking Bad.
HAYSAM
Walter White is the perfect parallel.
JAMES
It’s not his good side that we’re fascinated by it’s that evil bit that nasty bit. Or Dexter
HAYSAM
The serial killer who kills serial killers.
JAMES
These are interesting guys.
HAYSAM
And that’s the Richard the third that we were talking about. You watch this underdog character navigate his way through the world in a very unconventional way. Those are interesting people to me.
Haysam Kadri Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Company’s Madness in Great One’s Season of Plays
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead By Tom Stoppard – October 9 – 21, 2018
Up first and in partnership with Alberta Theatre Projects is the Tony Award Winning comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. It’s the story of Hamlet as seen through the eyes of Hamlet’s ill-fated university friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The show is running in the Martha Cohen Theatre and ATP has a pay what you can preview plus that $10.00 ticket thing for students. Regular tickets start at just $30.00 and can be purchased online at the ATP website or by calling the box office at 403.294.7402.
Julie Orton and Myla Southward in Alberta Theatre Projects’ presentation of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. A Shakespeare Company and Hit & Myth Production. Photo: Benjamin Laird. (Set: Scott Reid. Lights: David Fraser. Costumes: Hanne Loosen)
CAST: Julie Orton as Guildenstern, Myla Southward as Rosencrantz, Mark Bellamy as Polonius/Ensemble, Daniel Fong as Alfred/Ensemble, Natascha Girgis as Gertrude/Ensemble, Braden Griffiths as Horatio/Ensemble, Christopher Hunt as The Player, Robert Klein as Claudius/Ensemble, Natasha Strickey as Ophelia/Ensemble, and Tenaj Williams as Hamlet
CREATIVE TEAM: Glynis Leyshon – Director, Scott Reid – Set & Properties Designer, David Fraser – Lighting Designer, Hanne Loosen – Costume Designer, Allison Lynch – Musical Director, Composer & Sound Designer, Haysam Kadri – Fight Director, Jane MacFarlane – Text & Vocal Coach, Ailsa Birne – Stage Manager, Ian Lane – Assistant Stage Manager, Derek Paulich – Production Manager
Hammered Hamlet January 23 – 26, 2019
Then the fun continues at this year’s High Performance Rodeo with Hammered Hamlet – in the tradition of the John Barrymore school of acting actors will try to navigate the tricky plot and intricate text of Shakespeare while consuming enough shots to trip up even the most well-trained tongue. Tickets will go on sale in November.
Hamlet: A Ghost Story Adapted by Anna Cummer – March 20 – April 13, 2019
Then Vertigo Theatre and the Shakespeare Company reimagine one of the Bard’s greatest works by presenting Hamlet as a ghost story, a detective story and a revenge story all rolled into one classic plot. Agatha Christie would be proud. Brought to you by the same creative team that created the chilling and supernatural Macbeth. Hamlet: A Ghost Story is a macabre reimagining of one of the Bard’s greatest works. Tickets are just $35.00 and available online at the Vertigo Theatre website or by calling the box office at 403.221.3708.
The Hamlet Frequency Directed and Choreographed by Denise Clarke – May 16 – 25, 2019
For the final show of the season you’ll meet Hamlet and the rest of the murderous and murdered ghosts of Elsinore as they wander and haunt the halls of the theatres that play them and stagger to their feet on an electromagnetic wave, ready to start all over again only this time they will grieve, plot and rage through the music of their minds in this reimagining of Shakespeare’s story, choreographed and staged by Denise Clarke with One Yellow Rabbit’s education troupe beautifulyoungartists. Tickets are just $35.00 for adults and $25.00 for students and are available through the Shakespeare Company website.
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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. Since 1995, we have 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. Alongside our mainstage productions, we have two community initiatives: Page to Stage Outreach Program and DiVerseCity.
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Haysam KadriArtistic Director has been with The Shakespeare Company since 2012 and has worked to elevate its main stage productions and outreach programs in Calgary. A graduate of the Birmingham Conservatory for classical training at the Stratford Festival, Haysam spent six seasons as a company member with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. He has worked extensively as a Theatre Arts instructor with Red Deer College, Mount Royal University, and the University of Calgary. Haysam is an Actor, Director, Fight Choreographer, and Teacher. Since 2012, The Shakespeare Company has enjoyed countless nominations and rewards under his leadership.
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Hit and 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 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.
This interview with Haysam Kadri Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Company has been edited for length and clarity. Last revised August 20, 2022.
“We’re also a night where everybody in the theatre community comes together to celebrate the work which we’ve done throughout the year. And whether they’re nominated for a Betty or not – whether they win a Betty or not – we are all there to celebrate the outstanding work that has been done throughout the theatre season, because it’s a hard thing to create theatre. It’s a hard thing to create art. They are a celebration that we have a community and that we are a group of four hundred to five hundred people who have come together and decided that this is our life’s work – hence the professional thing – this is our life’s work, this is what I chose to do for a life and the gift of my art is something that has value.” – Braden Griffiths
Kathryn Kerbes as Mrs. Hudson, Braden Griffiths as Sherlock Holmes and Curt McKinstry as Dr. Watson in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Sherlock Holmes and the American Problem by R. Hamilton Wright. Photo by Tim Nguyen
On Monday, June 25th the Calgary Theatre community came together to celebrate the Twenty-first annual Betty Mitchell Awards. I sat down with actor, playwright, and current President of the Betty Mitchell Board Braden Griffiths, who was just finishing his run as Sherlock Holmes in the Vertigo Theatre production of Sherlock Holmes and the American Problem, to talk about the awards and theatre in Calgary.
JAMES HUTCHISON
What is the purpose of the Bettys?
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
The awards were started by Grant Linneberg , Johanne Deleeuw, Mark Bellamy, Donna Belleville and Doug McKeag those five, and Diane Goodman might have been there as well. One of them joined in the second year. They started it as a way to recognize the excellence that they saw happening in this community and as a way to earmark that excellence in a more official way so that the Calgary theatre community could be a bigger player in Canadian Theatre either by exporting that excellence or by becoming a destination for excellence to be imported into Calgary.
Kate Dion-Richard as Helen Schmuck, Gili Roskies as Marm (Margaret) Schmuck, Katie Ryerson as Hilda Ranscombe, and Morgan Yamada as Nellie Ranscombe in the Alberta Theatre Projects in Association with Western Canada Theatre production of GLORY by Tracey Power. Photo by Barbara Zimonick
JAMES
There’s a lot of recognition across the various companies in this year’s nominations.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
We’ve considered splitting the second-tier and the first-tier theatres into separate categories, but there is something beautiful about having smaller theatre companies like Handsome Alice nominated or Verb Theatre recognized in the best production category this year alongside the artistic output from larger theatre companies like Theatre Calgary and ATP because I think when we boil all this down, all we’re trying to do in theatre is illuminate something about this messy existence we lead as human beings. We’re trying to illuminate something about what it means to be human and that can happen anywhere and you can be affected just as profoundly in the Motel Theatre as you can in any of the big theatres in Calgary. And so, I love how the Bettys safeguard this idea that we are a community of artists, and we all have the same goals regardless of whether we are working at TC or whether we are working at Handsome Alice or Sage or one of the smaller companies in town. We all have this same goal to tell a story and hopefully illuminate something about what it means to be human.
Camille Pavlenko as Una and Curt McKinstry as Ray in Verb Theatre’s production of Blackbird by David Harrower. Photo by Rob Galbraith/Little Guy Media.
JAMES
What do you think the awards mean to the local theatre community?
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
The value of a Betty, at this point I think, is a thumbs up that you’re creating something that did affect somebody in some way. And then beyond that we hope that a Betty Mitchell award matters on a grant proposal let’s say, or we hope that a Betty Mitchell award nomination might help somebody get into an audition room that maybe they weren’t able to get into before, or maybe it helps a playwright to get a commission. It gives that one little extra push to get that commission that maybe they wouldn’t have been considered for before.
And I don’t think the Bettys are the only benchmark we have for excellence in theatre in this community, because there are a lot of people who aren’t on that list who did outstanding work this year, but I think every artist wants to be recognized in some way for what they do as an artist, and this is a nice official way that you can do that and put it down on a ledger and say, I was nominated for a Betty.
Joel Cochrane as Don Pedro in The Shakespeare Company with Hit & Myth Productions Production of Much Ado About Nothing – Photo by Tim Nguyen
JAMES
And it means something now because we’re twenty-one years in. So, there is a history and a legacy to the Bettys that didn’t exist that first year. And the nice thing is, it does offer a certain record to the performance history of Calgary.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
Without a doubt. I was going through all the past nominations and there were productions in 1998 when I would have been in grade ten, I believe, and I can remember going to at least two productions that were nominated for Bettys on that list. And it was a bit of a time capsule for me, so the Bettys end up being a marking of our history. It’s saying, we were here. And there are people who are nominated whose names I don’t recognize, which is shocking to me, because we are a fairly small community, so I do wonder what happened to them, but that person was an important part of our theatre community at some point. And they made a difference
JAMES
They’re remembered, in a way. Their work is acknowledged. And that’s not insignificant.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
It’s not. There’s a tradition in masonry of masons – when they build a big building or whatever out of stone – they’ll leave a little card with their name on it and the year that the building was built, and that card may never be found but its a little statement of I was here. And if theatre is about building a bridge between the artist and the audience then these artists who were nominated for their work but might not be here anymore are still an important stone in the bridge that the Calgary theatre community has been building to the audience of Calgary.
The cast of Sage Theatre’s production of Legislating Love: The Everett Klippert Story by Natalie Meisner. Matt McKinney as Everett Klippert, Jenn Forgie as Tonya, Kathy Zaborsky as Maxine, and Mark Bellamy as Handsome. Photo by Jason Mehmel
JAMES
When the awards started in ninety-eight the world population was 5.9 billion. Jean Chrétien was Prime Minister. Bill Clinton was President. The Tony Award for best musical was The Lion King. And on September 4th, 1998 Google was founded. Here are the type of plays that Calgary was producing at the time. A Delicate Balance, Glengarry Glen Ross, Assassins, Fiddler on the Roof, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)…
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
…which I’ve done four times…
JAMES
…and A Christmas Carol.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
There you go.
JAMES
Let’s jump twenty-one years. The world population is now 7.6 billion. Almost two billion more in twenty-one years.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
Holy moly.
JAMES
Justin Trudeau is Prime Minister. Donald Trump is President.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
Oh, man.
JAMES
The Tony Award for best musical – just decided – The Bands Visit. Google’s Brand value is 120.9 billion. They’re behind Apple and Amazon. And so here are the plays we’re seeing this year. We saw The Humans, The Last Wife, Inner Elder, Much Ado About Nothing, Blackbird, The 39 Steps, and A Christmas Carol.
BRADEN (Laughs)
Christmas Carol, our one big constant.
Stephen Hair as Ebenezer Scrooge, Jamie Konchak as Mrs. Cratchit, Tia Rose Woodruff as Tiny Tim, Eleanor Braitenbach as Belinda Cratchit, Graham Percy as the Spirit of Christmas Present, Karl H. Sine as Bob Cratchit and Evan Andersen Sterns as Peter Cratchit in the Theatre Calgary Production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted for the Stage by Dennis Garnhum. Photo by Trudie Lee
JAMES
So, how do you think the plays we’re producing at a particular time reflect the times we live in?
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
I’m always mystified by how Christmas Carol just sells out every year, but at its core, Christmas Carol, is a simple message about man’s ability to change and so there is still a desire for that simple hope. So, Christmas Carol or shows of that ilk and ilk sounds like a negative word but it’s not, I love Christmas Carol. I adore it. I wouldn’t have done it for seven years if I didn’t. But there is still a desire, and I think there always will be a desire, for that simple human message of hope. And yet theatre is starting to change. We are starting to be a more interactive society because of platforms like YouTube and Twitter where you can send a Tweet to Brad Pitt and he might respond to that Tweet.
Ron Pederson as Man 2, Tyrell Crews as Richard Hannay, Andy Curtis as Man 1, and Anna Cummer as Annabella/Margaret/Pamela in the Veritgo Theatre Production of The 39 Steps adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan from the movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Photo by Tim Nguyen
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
And so, there’s a desire for more interactivity in the art or the media that we indulge in. I think to a certain degree, the magic of a play like The 39 Steps is that we’re all in on the joke. That this is just two ladders and a bunch of crates on a stage and yet those things will become a plane chasing someone through a field, or the crates will become the boxcars in a train or whatever it is, and so we’re all in on the joke and so there’s a greater sense of interactivity. Which is why I think 39 Steps, even though it’s an old play now, has great relevance because the audience is involved in creating that joke.
And then you have things like Inner Elder by Michelle Thrush which talks about what it means to be a first nations member of the Canadian Zeitgeist. What it means socially to be a first nations member. And to actually hear that story told by the person who should be telling that story. The first nation’s experience is not my lived experience. Their lived experience informs my lived experience, and it may not shine the most desirable light on my lived experience, but I need to know as a person who’s a six-foot-tall white male, and I live with such great privilege that it’s insane, but that is my lived experience, and sometimes I can’t see it. And so, if theatre is holding a mirror up to nature then by watching Inner Elder I learn something about what it means to be Braden by watching and hearing the story of someone who is living with much, much, much, less privilege than I. And then hopefully, if I’m open to that…if my ears are open to that…and if the theatre companies are providing a platform for those stories to be told then I will become a more complete human, and a I will become a better community member, and by community, I mean the community of the world by understanding the stories of those who are around me and understanding something greater about myself.
Inner Elder created and performed by Michelle Thrush and presented by Lunchbox Theatre and One Yellow Rabbit as part of The High Performance Rodeo. Photo by Benjamin Laird.
JAMES
Well that’s what art does, doesn’t it? It makes us look in the mirror. It reflects who we are as a people, culture and society and it looks at both the good and the bad.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
Hopefully. I was doing, Alls Well That Ends Well, with Peter Hinton at The Shakespeare Company two years ago, and this isn’t a name drop, I just want to give credit where credit is due. He said, at some point in that rehearsal process, “There’s not a lot of plays out there where two people sit on a bench both enjoying their own sandwiches, and then they go home. There’s a lot of plays out there where two people are sitting on a bench where one person has a sandwich and the other person is starving. There aren’t a lot of plays out there where we see mankind at peace. We’re always meeting these people in these stories at a time of crisis. At a life-defining moment.”
Elinor Holt as Deirdre Blake, Shekhar Paleja as Richard Saad, Lili Beadoin as Brigid Blake, Ric Reid as Erik Blake, and Ayla Stephen as Aimee Blake in the Theatre Calgary Production of The Humans by Stephen Karam. Photo by Trudie Lee
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
And I feel that’s a really apt quote because, speaking personally, I’ve always much preferred playing the very flawed individual, because we spend so much time in our lives hiding those flaws that we have from the rest of society because that’s the social agreement that we make. We all have our own shit and everybody’s life is complicated, but if you and I are not best friends we’re not going to throw our complications at the other person or that’s the hope of the social agreement we make every day.
And so, the flaws are where the real meat of storytelling and theatre happens. Sherlock Holmes, for example, who is a superhero in terms of his mental acuity is also a morphine addict and a cocaine addict. That I think is where theatre becomes accessible – it’s in the flaws. So, if theatre is holding a mirror up then we can see something of those things we are struggling with in these people on stage. Braden Griffiths as Sherlock Holmes is not dealing with the same things that Sherlock Holmes is, but I become a conduit to talk about those flaws, and I think that’s why theatre is valuable, because it provides a safe space for us to look at the worst and then to ruminate on the worst and know that at the end of the night we’re all going to get in our car and we’ll all safely drive home.
JAMES
What are your ambitions for the Bettys?
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
The board is always trying to safeguard the most unbiased process possible. That’s really what the guidelines are there for. So that we can award these 18 to 20 statues and it is representative of the twelve voices on the jury as opposed to one single voice. It’s a big thing to try and create a list of twelve that has a range of ages, that has a range of sexuality, and has a range of artistic niche. We try to have actors, directors, playwrights, educators, technicians and designers. We want that twelve ideally to be representative of the whole community so that it can be the most unbiased it possibly can be. That’s always going to be, for the board, at the top of the list.
Eric Wigston, Tenaj Williams, Madeleine Suddaby, and Selina Wong in Touch Me: Songs for a (Dis)connected Age by Forte Musical Theatre. Presented by Theatre Calgary. Photo by Trudie Lee
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
There’s also a responsibility for the Bettys to be as inclusive as possible as production models change and as the equity guidelines change to include different types of theatre being created. There are different contracting forms now that weren’t available seven or eight years ago where theatre companies can gather an ensemble of seven and create a show and be protected by equity and be considered a professional show. And so, there is a responsibility for the Bettys to foster a growth in the community by being as inclusive as possible so that those smaller companies that are trying to make their name in the theatre community are included within the professional theatre community. The more inclusive we can be, I think, the greater array of theatre production we’re going to see in this town.
A Chitenge Story created and performed by Makambe K. Simamba. A Handsome Alice Theatre Production. Photo by Tim Nguyen, Citrus Photography.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
We’re also a night where everybody in the theatre community comes together to celebrate the work which we’ve done throughout the year. And to a certain degree that is sacred as well, because as we’ve seen unofficial community meeting places like the Auburn disappear building that sense of community has become more difficult in some ways, and so the Bettys are a night that’s guaranteed to happen every year where two hundred or so of our theatre community will come together. And whether they’re nominated for a Betty or not – whether they win a Betty or not – we are all there to celebrate the outstanding work that has been done throughout the theatre season, because it’s a hard thing to create theatre. It’s a hard thing to create art. They are a celebration that we have a community and that we are a group of four hundred to five hundred people who have come together and decided that this is our life’s work – hence the professional thing – this is our life’s work, this is what I chose to do for a life and the gift of my art is something that has value.
Back Left to Right: Lee-Anne Galloway, Rachel Delduca, Bracken Burns as Elle Woods, Kyla Musselman, Laura Tremblay, Victoria Whistance-Smith Front Left to Right: Amber Bissonnette & Sash Striga in the Stage West Theatre production of Legally Blonde The Musical, Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin, Book By Heather Hach based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the MGM Motion Picture. Photo by John Watson Photography
JAMES
That’s what the Bettys are doing for the artist but what about the Bettys in terms of their ability to be an ambassador to the city for our arts community.
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
Well, I don’t know that the community at large knows what the Bettys are. And I think the work of the Bettys in the future is, how can we as the awarding body in town support those producing companies in town over the course of the season as opposed to just on that one night? That’s a conversation that needs to happen between us and the producing companies.
Gregory Dahl as Scarpia and Ambur Braid as Tosca in the Calgary Opera production of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini. Photo by Trudie Lee.
JAMES
So, one of the challenges is how do we get new audiences in there. How do we foster that? How do we reach these people?
BRADEN GRIFFITHS
I think people are more liable to go see themselves, and so I think part of the reason we see a lot of white middle-class, upper-middle-class human beings in theatres is partially because it requires a certain amount of disposable income to go to theatre and partially because those are the stories that for a very – very long time were being told. And so, when we talk about Inner Elder I think it’s more likely that someone of first nations decent might go and see Inner Elder because they see something very specifically that is their story being told in a theatre. And once somebody has seen something in a theatre that has affected them profoundly it’s far more likely that they’re going to go to the next show that may not tell a story that specifically speaks to their lived existence, but like I said earlier, me seeing Inner Elder speaks to my existence whether it speaks to it specifically or not. I think we need to do a better job of telling a wider array of stories in the theatre and if we’re producing Shakespeare we need to start casting artists that come from different lived experiences. And I think the fact that we’re seeing Michelle Thrush direct Honor Beat by Tara Beagan as the first show of the season at Theatre Calgary means we’re moving in the right direction, but we need to continue to do the hard work of providing those opportunities so that we can create a theatre community that is representative of the greater community and the Bettys is a part of that, I think.
Glory – Alberta Theatre Projects, in association with Western Canada Theatre
The Humans – Theatre Calgary
inVISIBLE – Handsome Alice Theatre
Touch Me: Songs for a (Dis)connected Age – Forte Musical Theatre Guild, presented by Theatre Calgary
Undercover – Vertigo Theatre & Tarragon Theatre
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kathryn Kerbes – Sherlock Holmes & the American Problem – Vertigo Theatre
Helen Knight – The Last Wife – Alberta Theatre Projects
Chantelle Han – Ai Yah! Sweet & Sour Secrets – Lunchbox Theatre
Esther Purves- Smith – Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery – Stage West
OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN (Tie)
T. Erin Gruber – Easter Island – Verb Theatre
Jessie Paynter – Extremophiles – Downstage
Anton de Groot – Nine Dragons – Vertigo Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre & Gateway Theatre
Narda McCarroll – To the Light – Alberta Theatre Projects
Bonnie Beecher – The Secret Garden – Theatre Calgary
OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop – Twelfth Night – Theatre Calgary
David Fraser – Sherlock Holmes & the American Problem – Vertigo Theatre
Scott Reid – Nine Dragons – Vertigo Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre & Gateway Theatre
David Fraser – Constellations – Alberta Theatre Projects
Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett – Extremophiles – Downstage
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Trevor Rueger – Much Ado About Nothing – The Shakespeare Company with Hit & Myth Productions
Mark Bellamy – Legislating Love: The Everett Klippert Story – Sage Theatre
Stafford Perry – The Lonely Diner – Vertigo Theatre
Kevin Rothery – Sherlock Holmes & The American Problem – Vertigo Theatre
Nathan Schmidt – Sherlock Holmes & The American Problem – Vertigo Theatre
OUTSTANDING PROJECTION OR VIDEO DESIGN
Jamie Nesbitt – Nine Dragons – Vertigo Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre & Gateway Theatre
Remy Siu – Empire of the Son – Alberta Theatre Projects, part of the 32nd Annual High Performance Rodeo, a Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre Production
T. Erin Gruber – Easter Island – Verb Theatre
Corwin Ferguson – Julius Caesar – The Shakespeare Company, Ground Zero Theatre, and Hit & Myth Productions
Amelia Scott – To the Light – Alberta Theatre Projects
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop – Twelfth Night – Theatre Calgary
Heather Moore – The Last Wife – Alberta Theatre Projects
Cory Sincennes – The Secret Garden – Theatre Calgary
Cindy Wiebe – Glory – Alberta Theatre Projects, in association with Western Canada Theatre
Mérédith Caron – Sisters: The Belles Soeurs Musical – A Copa de Oro Production Ltd. And Segal Centre for Performing Arts production, presented by Theatre Calgary
OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN OR COMPOSITION
Steve Charles – Glory – Alberta Theatre Projects, in association with Western Canada Theatre
Peter Moller – The 39 Steps – Vertigo Theatre
Andrew Blizzard – Nine Dragons – Vertigo Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre & Gateway Theatre
Andrew Blizzard – Sherlock Holmes & The American Problem – Vertigo Theatre
Bryce Kulak – To The Light – Alberta Theatre Projects
OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY OR FIGHT DIRECTION
Tracey Power – Glory – Alberta Theatre Projects, in association with Western Canada Theatre
Phil Nero – Legally Blonde: The Musical – Stage West
John Knight – Julius Caesar – The Shakespeare Company, Ground Zero Theatre, and Hit & Myth Productions
Laryssa Yanchuk – Sherlock Holmes & the American Problem – Vertigo Theatre
Linda Garneau – Sisters: The Belles Soeurs Musical – A Copa de Oro Production Ltd. And Segal Centre for Performing Arts production, presented by Theatre Calgary
OUTSTANDING MUSICAL DIRECTION
David Terriault – Sisters: The Belles Soeurs Musical – A Copa de Oro Production Ltd. And Segal Centre for Performing Arts production, presented by Theatre Calgary
Jacques Lacombe – Tosca – Calgary Opera
Konrad Pluta – Legally Blonde: The Musical – Stage West
Joe Slabe – Touch Me: songs for a (Dis)Connected Age – Forte Musical Theatre Guild, presented by Theatre Calgary
Don Horsburgh – The Secret Garden – Theatre Calgary
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jamie Konchak – Miss Caledonia – Lunchbox Theatre
Myla Southward – Much Ado About Nothing – The Shakespeare Company with Hit & Myth Productions
Anna Cummer – Twelfth Night – Theatre Calgary
Anna Cummer – The 39 Steps – Vertigo Theatre
Bracken Burns – Legally Blonde: The Musical – Stage West
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Tyrell Crews – The 39 Steps – Vertigo Theatre
Tyrell Crews – Much Ado About Nothing – The Shakespeare Company with Hit & Myth Productions
Devon Dubnyk – The Santaland Diaries – Lunchbox Theatre
Christopher Hunt – Twelfth Night – Theatre Calgary
Eric Wigston – The Secret Garden – Theatre Calgary
OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY
Glory – Tracey Power
Nine Dragons – Jovanni Sy
Flight Risk – Meg Braem
Inner Elder – Michelle Thrush
Legislating Love: The Everett Klippert Story – Natalie Meisner
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Michelle Thrush – Inner Elder – Lunchbox Theatre
Myla Southward – The Last Wife – Alberta Theatre Projects
Camille Pavlenko – Blackbird – Verb Theatre
Makambe K. Simamba – A Chitenge Story – Handsome Alice Theatre
Jamie Konchak – Constellations – Alberta Theatre Projects
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Christopher Hunt – Flight Risk – Lunchbox Theatre
Stephen Hair – Blow Wind High Water – Theatre Calgary
Curt McKinstry – Blackbird – Verb Theatre
Braden Griffiths – Julius Caesar – The Shakespeare Company, Ground Zero Theatre, and Hit & Myth Productions
Michael Tan – Constellations – Alberta Theatre Projects
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION
Jillian Keiley – Twelfth Night – Theatre Calgary
Ron Jenkins – The 39 Steps – Vertigo Theatre
James MacDonald – Glory – Alberta Theatre Projects, in association with Western Canada Theatre
Glynis Leyshon – The Last Wife – Alberta Theatre Projects
Vanessa Porteous – The Humans –Theatre Calgary
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Sisters: The Belles Soeurs Musical – A Copa de Oro Production Ltd. And Segal Centre for Performing Arts production, presented by Theatre Calgary
Legally Blonde: The Musical – Stage West
Touch Me: Songs for a (Dis)connected Age – Forte Musical Theatre Guild, presented by Theatre Calgary
Tosca – Calgary Opera
Murder for Two – Stage West
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
Glory – Alberta Theatre Projects, in association with Western Canada Theatre
Inner Elder – Lunchbox Theatre and One Yellow Rabbit
Birnton Theatricals: Producing theatre that will entertain and show the world from a different view.
Calgary Opera: Our BOLD new 2018-19 season starts with Roméo & Juliette, followed by the Canadian premiere of Everest, and ends with Rigoletto.
Downstage: Canadian theatre that creates meaningful conversation around social issues.
Forte Musical Theatre Guild: A Canadian not-for-profit company dedicated to the professional development and production of new musical theatre works.
Green Fools Theatre: Not-for-profit Theatre specializing in masks, puppets, stilts.
Handsome Alice Theatre Company: Devoted to unleashing the female voice through the development, creation, and production of inclusive, curious, and rebellious theatre works.
Lunchbox Theatre: One of the most successful noon hour theatre companies in the world.
Stage West Theatre Restaurants: We bring you the greatest entertainers from the stage, the screen and the music world along with our 120-item gourmet buffet! Play With Your Dinner!
Theatre Calgary: Our 2018-19 season includes Honour Beat, Mary and Max – A New Musical, A Christmas Carol, BOOM X, The Scarlet Letter and Billy Elliot The Musical
Vertigo Theatre: The only professional theatre in Canada producing a series of plays based on the mystery genre.
***
BETTY MITCHELL: After working for ten years in Calgary schools, the University of Alberta graduate moved to Western Canada High School in 1934. Drama was introduced into the curriculum in 1936 and the former biology teacher found herself Director of the Drama Department. Betty had discovered the great love of her life.
She received the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1942, an M.A. from the State University of Iowa in 1944, followed by a National Research Fellowship from the Cleveland Playhouse. That same year, Betty and her students founded their infamous Workshop 14 which would go on to win nine Dominion Drama Awards and become a training ground for future theatre professionals.
Throughout the fifties and sixties, Betty was a force behind MAC 14 (after a merger of Workshop 14 and the Musicians’ and Actors’ Club), which eventually became Theatre Calgary. As producer, director, and teacher, Betty helped to build a vibrant stage community in Calgary and became sought after as an adjudicator and speaker across Canada.
As achievements mounted, so too did awards, including a City of Calgary citation for her contribution to culture and art. She received an Honourary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Alberta in 1958 for her achievements in amateur theatre, the only such doctorate awarded in Canada. Anyone for whom theatre is a passion owes a huge debt of gratitude to Calgary’s first lady of theatre.
Braden Griffiths as Sherlock Holmes in the Vertigo Theatre Production of Sherlock Holmes and the American Problem by R. Hamilton Wright. Photo by Tim Nguyen
BRADEN GRIFFITHS: Braden Griffiths has been an actor and playwright in Calgary for 14 years. He has performed in over 60 professional productions predominantly in Calgary but also, on various stages in Western Canada and occasionally, when he’s very fortunate, in Asia and Australia. His play My Family and Other Endangered Species, written with Ellen Close, was published by Playwright’s Canada Press. He has multiple Betty Mitchell Award Nominations for both acting and playwriting, taking home the Betty in 2015 for his performance in The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. This is his 11th year on the Betty Mitchell Awards Board.
THE BETTY MITCHELL AWARDS: The Betty’s were founded by Grant Linneberg, Mark Bellamy, Donna Belleville, Johanne Deleeuw and Dianne Goodman. Named after one of the great arts educators and a pivotal member of the community of artists that founded Theatre Calgary (just over 50 years ago) the Betty Mitchell Awards were started in order to celebrate the excellence of Calgary’s theatre community 21 years ago. Many aspects of the Betty Mitchell Awards have remained constant over the years: the Board (formerly called the Steering Committee) has always been peopled by volunteers from within the community; the Nominating Committee has always been comprised of a group of twelve individuals and that jury changes every year; the guidelines have remained remarkably intact from the first year of the Betty’s (the semantics have evolved but, their spirit remains the same) and (until this year) the Awards have always been disseminated in August. However, as the Calgary Theatre Community continues to change and grow so too have the Betty’s: multiple Awards have been added over the years (most recently Outstanding Projection Design and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble); the Awards venue has recently moved away from it perennial home at Stage West and they are now presented in the Vertigo Playhouse; since the closing of the Auburn, the after party has officially become a part of the Betty’s Board planning and arrangements for the night. As much as the Bettys (the statues themselves) are a professional theatre Award, the Bettys (the evening of the awards) have become the one night a year where the community comes together to celebrate all that we have been, all that we are and all that we hope to become.
***
This interview with Braden Griffiths has been edited and condensed for clarity.
This article has been updated to include the winners in each category. The opening has been rewritten slightly to reflect that the awards happened. The initial article was written before the awards and linked to tickets for the event.
“It’s been my goal to have a play at Lunchbox Theatre since 1978. I was in grade twelve when the Stage One program first started, and I don’t even know how I ended up going to all the Stage One readings but I did, and I made a mental note to myself that someday I would like to have a play at Lunchbox.” – Dale Lee Kwong
One of the things I love about Lunchbox Theatre is that many of the productions you see on their stage feature local playwrights whose work was developed through the Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work. This season alone features several plays that were developed through the festival including Book Club II: The Next Chapter by Meredith Taylor-Parry,Flight Risk by Meg Braem, and the upcoming and very funny Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets written by Dale Lee Kwong.
Dale not only writes plays but also writes poetry, essays, and creative non-fiction. Her essays have been published in Somebody’s Child: Stories of Adoption, A Family By Any Other Name: Exploring Queer Relationships, and the Malahat Review. Her poetry has appeared in Canadian Literature,Modern Morsels, and The Calgary Project: A City Map in Verse and Visual. Dale often performs at local literary events and sometimes speaks at inclusive churches and organizations like PechaKucha, TALES and The Coming Out Monologues.
I spoke to Dale about her dream of having a play performed at Lunchbox and the journey her play, Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets, took to go from page to stage.
Jamie Matchullis as Jennifer, Chantelle Han as Lilly, Ben Wong as Charlie, and Kelsey Verzotti as Jade in the Lunchbox Theatre production of Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets – Photograph by Benjamin Laird
JAMES HUTCHISON
When did you get into writing?
DALE LEE KWONG
I’ve always been a writer. I have poems framed in cardboard and typed on Manila paper from 1971 that I gave to my family at Christmas. I wrote a community column for about ten years when I lived in Crescent Heights that was told from the point of view of my dog, Magoo. And in my family I’m always the one that gets called upon to do the toast to the bride or the speech. But my real writing career started about fourteen years ago at the end of a relationship. I went to a writing workshop in Edmonton called Women Who Write and took some introductory writing classes. Classes which didn’t actually critique your material so much as just read it back to you and say what struck them.
JAMES
So, it’s a workshop to encourage the writing process?
DALE
Yes, it’s very much for emerging writers. And I realized I had things I wanted to say and so, the first year after my break up I started enrolling in creative writing courses at the University of Calgary. I took three poetry classes with Tom Wayman, and he’s an awesome professor. During that time I won the CBC Poetry Face Off in Calgary, and that got recorded and aired nationwide, and that got voted on by listeners, where it placed third.
JAMES
What a fabulous boost for the ego.
DALE
It was. At the same time Alberta Theatre Projects and the Alberta Playwrights’ Network ran a 24-hour playwriting competition. I entered, and my first play, which was really just a scene, was called – Is Normie Kwong Your Uncle? And it won a special merit award which gave me a free dramaturgical session with Ken Cameron at the Alberta Playwrights’ Network.
I wasn’t even sure what APN was, but after I met with Ken I sent a proposal for an as-of-yet unwritten play to Rona Waddington at Lunchbox Theatre and she commissioned the play in the fall of 2005. I wrote notes and outlines, but I didn’t actually write the play until February 2006 in another 24-hour playwriting competition, which is so well suited to me because I worked in television as a news editor. In television we don’t start cutting the news for the six o’clock show until around three in the afternoon. And then from three to six you hit the ground running, and it’s intense, and that’s the kind of scenario I love. So my writing is always last minute and rushed. I’ve tried to change that, but it’s just part of my process.
JAMES
So, was that the play that became the play being produced at Lunchbox this season?
Dale Lee Kwong, Steve Gin, Brenda Finley, Michelle Wong, Francine Wong, Pat Mac, Nicola Zylstra – at the Glenbow Museum for the Alberta Playwrights’ Network Discovery Prize workshop and reading, November 2006
DALE
Yes, this play has been in development since it was first commissioned in the fall of 2005 and written in February 2006. It’s taken twelve years to get to the stage. And some people think it’s autobiographical, but it’s actually not. There are elements of truth in it, and there are true stories in it.
JAMES
So, what you’ve done is taken personal experience as an inspiration and then created the play out of that. What are some of your thoughts about this twelve-year journey?
DALE
Well, when I started I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I’d never written a play before. But one thing that worked to my benefit as a playwright was my day job as a news editor. A news editor takes the raw material that a reporter shoots with her photog (cameraman) and helps it become a better product. And one of the things that entails is taking interviews that are five to twenty minutes long and pulling out 20-second sound bites. So in a sense – I’ve been working with dialogue for twenty-six years.
I’d also taken a writing workshop at the Banff Centre from Fred Wah about a form of Japanese poetry called Utanikki. In Utanikki you take two pieces of text and chop them up and then you put them back together in some form, and just by taking two completely different subjects – for example, a recipe for making scrambled eggs and a piece about coming out to your family and mashing them together a relationship is created between these two topics that didn’t previously exist. Many of my writings employ this method. Two types of writing blended together. I have poems where there’s haiku blended with free form.
Jamie Matchullis as Jennifer and Kelsey Verzotti as Jade in the Lunchbox Theatre production of Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets By Dale Lee Kwong – Photograph by Benjamin Laird
In the play I had this story about a lesbian and her girlfriend, and eventually they decide to move to Vancouver to get away from her family. But in between those scenes I had another entire play. It was a reality game show like Survivor where the lesbian girlfriend was being forced to come out to her family through a competition. There was a character like Jeff Probst, and there was this ancient Chinese sage character named Connie-fucius who would spout out fortune cookie lines.
Over the years I worked with a lot of different directors and dramaturges who encouraged me to remove the Survivor scenes from the play, but it was honestly my favourite part. I loved it! And I loved the character of Connie-fucius.
Lunchbox Theatre – The Early Days – Bow Valley Square
Rona Waddington never scheduled it for a production, and after she left Lunchbox I resubmitted it to Pamela Halstead when she was artistic director, and she was really interested in it, but by then she had already submitted her own resignation. So she set up a meeting between me and Glenda Stirling who was the incoming artistic director. Glenda had already programmed her first season, but she was interested in it for the following year, but then Glenda left. So I’d submitted the play to three different artistic directors and it had fallen through the cracks each time.
The other thing you need to know is that it’s been my goal to have a play at Lunchbox Theatre since 1978. I was in grade twelve when the Stage One program first started, and I don’t even know how I ended up going to all the Stage One readings but I did, and I made a mental note to myself that someday I would like to have a play at Lunchbox.
JAMES
But isn’t that fascinating – that there’s that connection from thirty years ago – no forty years ago.
DALE
78, 88, 98, 2008 – oh my God, forty years!
JAMES
Four decades.
DALE
That makes me tear up thinking about that. That’s why this play is so special to me. Lunchbox is my favourite theatre company, and I make no bones about saying that. I’ve been donating to them for years, and I’ve been volunteering there, and I think they’re one of the best treasures in Calgary.
Chantelle Han as Lilly and Ben Wong as Charlie in the Lunchbox Theatre production of Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets by Dale Lee Kwong – Photograph by Benjamin Laird
JAMES
So what happened next?
DALE
After Glenda left, in comes Mark Bellamy. I knew Mark vaguely from Vertigo Theatre – and you’d think I’d show him my script right away, but I was gun shy having experienced several disappointments. So, I got to know Mark better, and he got to know me better, and I finally said to Mark, “You know, I’ve got this script that was workshopped here, and it kind of fell through the cracks.” He asked me what it was about and after I told him he said, “Send it to me.” So then I had this opportunity to send it to him, and do you think I sent it to him? No, because by that time it had been workshopped so much I didn’t know where I was at, and I thought I should get him a clean version. So, it took me a year to revise it and send it to him and he got back to me within a month, and gave me a workshop.
At the workshop Mark gave me the choice of a couple of directors and I chose Trevor Reuger from APN whom I had prior dealings with. He had helped me with another script I had started. I told Trevor my creative process and how I’m late with everything and not to worry because I was a news editor, and I’m used to tight deadlines, but before we started the workshop, Trevor suggested, that for the sake of time, we leave the Survivor bits out for now and he said, “If you can show me how they advance the storyline then we’ll start putting them back in.” I was sort of reluctant to do that.
JAMES
Sounds like a clever strategy from your dramaturge.
DALE
Yeah, so the first day we missed two Survivor scenes, and they were funny, and I was like – how can I justify getting them in?
JAMES
So, for the whole workshop you were trying to push them back in?
DALE
Well by Thursday I knew Survivor wasn’t coming back. The play had changed. Everything was fluid. I was doing rewrites every day. But there was this fight scene between Jade and her mother which I’d always struggled with because I didn’t have that fight with my mother in real life when I came out.
Ben Wong as Charlie, Jamie Matchullis as Jennifer, Kelsey Verzotti as Jade and Chantelle Han as Lilly in the Lunchbox Theatre production of Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets – Photograph by Benjamin Laird
DALE
When I first came out it was in ’93, and I wrote the play twelve years later. I came out before Ellen Degeneres came out, and that was big news. She came out on the cover of TIME magazine. I came out to my family – all in one day – at my mom’s house. I told my cousins first, and at dinner I told everybody’s parents. The ones who had the most trouble with it were the cousins in the 50 to 70 year range, but everyone over 70 was fine with it. In my experience of coming out – senior citizens don’t care that much – you know – life’s too short – do what you want. I had one relative who was ecstatic to finally have a lesbian in the family – that was surprising too.
So, anyway, I had written the play forward to the fight scene and written the play backwards from the fight, but I couldn’t actually write the fight scene. There was just a blank page.
And we got to Friday, before the public reading, and we were reading the script, like we did every morning, and the actor basically went from the last line before the blank page to the first line after the blank page and I went, “No wait. There’s a fight scene there.” And they all went, “What?” And I said, “Well that’s what the blank space is.” And Trevor said, “Where are the words?”
And I said, “I was hoping we could workshop this and get something out.” And Trevor said, “Dale, there’s an audience coming in an hour and a half to see your play. You have to have some words there.” And I said, “Well yeah, but I’ve struggled all the way forward and all the way back – I just need some help.”
Finally Chantelle Han who was playing the mother said, “I think I would ask them to leave, but I need to say something first.” Then the actor playing Jennifer or Jade said, “Well maybe such and such could happen.” And that gave me a little bit. And I think we all worked it out together. I was scratching out lines and adding lines and telling them things. I have no idea what that page looked like on their scripts, and when they actually read it at the reading it wasn’t typed. It was just hand written notes. That script literally got written an hour before it was read.
JAMES
But the audience didn’t know that, and I saw that reading, and it was a lot of fun. There were a lot of laughs. People loved the play, and I remember mentioning to you how much clarity had come into the play from when I had read it probably a year and a half to two years before that if not more. So now that the play is being produced are you excited about going into the rehearsal process?
DALE
Even though I’m not as much of a green horn as I was twelve years ago I’m still a newbie. This is my first big production. So, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but I’m really lucky because one of my mentors in the theatre community is Sharon Pollock whom I’ve known since 2006, and over the last few years we’ve become really good friends because we walk our dogs together.
Jamie Matchullis, Kelsey Verzotti, Ben Wong, and Chantelle Han rehearse a scene from Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets
Sharon is wonderful. Last year she had her own new play Blow Wind High Water at Theatre Calgary and she had a revision happening on another play at Stratford and I was going through stuff on my end and so I could ask her questions like, “Should I go to the rehearsals?” And Sharon was the first to say, “It’s your right to go to the rehearsal. Not all playwrights do. In fact, most directors would probably discourage it, but you’re emerging – you’re a rookie – you should go to them all.” She said, “Just take a book, and be there if they need you, and listen once in a while, and see what things they struggle with, and you’ll learn.”
You know I always say to emerging artists, particularly artists in their 20s, I say, “You have age on your side. You can plead complete ignorance. You can say, I don’t know. I’ve never been to a dress rehearsal? Can I come to your dress rehearsal? I’ve never been to a first read. Can I come to your first read?”
Ben Wong as Charlie, Jamie Matchullis as Jennifer, Kelsey Verzotti as Jade, and Chantelle Han as Lilly in the Lunchbox Theatre production of Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets – Photograph by Benjamin Laird
DALE
The other thing you can do if you’re an emerging writer or artist is volunteer. I have been ushering at Calgary theatres for more than ten years. Almost every theatre company in the city uses ushers, and if you usher you get to see the play for free, and you meet the people behind the scenes. So there are all these people that I’ve met along the way, and I’ve been supporting them for ten years, and I finally have something they can come to.
JAMES
Dale Lee Kwong at the Lunchbox Theatre 2017/18 Season Announcement with former Lunchbox Artistic Producer Mark Bellamy Photograph by Carol F. Poon
And genuine friends are happy for you.
DALE
Yes, I get that. I feel the love. At the official season announcement last February I just burst into tears. My best friend got a picture of it, and it’s one of my favourite pictures. Like you say it was a forty year journey. I didn’t even do the math. I’m bad at math. I’m not a good Asian.
JAMES
You can say that joke, I can’t.
DALE
You can credit it to me.
***
Dale also wanted to take this opportunity to thank the many people who have contributed to the development of her play over the years. Here is a list of the actors, directors, and dramaturges who have offered their time, talent and support in the creation of Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets.
Lunchbox Theatre – Stage One workshop, May 2006
TV Host/Charlie Wong – Steve Gin
Lillian Wong/Connie-fucius – Jacey Ma
Jade Wong – Elyn Quan
Jennifer Smith – Karen Johnson Diamond
Dramaturg/Director – Ken Cameron
Alberta Playwrights’ Network – Writing in the Works excerpt, Oct 2006
TV Host – Grant Lunnenburg
Lillian Wong/Connie-fucius – Sharon Pollock
Jade Wong – Laura Parken
Jennifer Smith – Francine Wong
Director – Sharon Pollock
Alberta Playwrights’ Network – Discovery Prize workshop and reading, Nov 2006
TV Host/Charlie Wong – Steve Gin
Lillian Wong/Connie-fucius – Michelle Wong
Jade Wong – Francine Wong
Jennifer Smith – Nicole Zylstra
TV Host/Stage Manager – Patrick MacEachern
Dramaturg/Director – Brenda Finley
filling Station Magazine – flywheel reading for Chinese New Year, Feb 2008
Charlie Wong– Ben Tsui
Lillian Wong– Jasmin Poon
Jade Wong – Francine Wong
Jennifer Smith – Elan Pratt
Connie-fucius – Jade Cooper
TV Host – Emiko Muraki
Director – Dale Lee Kwong
Lunchbox Theatre – Stage One workshop, June 2016
Charlie Wong – Mike Tan
Lillian Wong – Chantelle Han
Jade Wong – Ali DeRegt
Jennifer Smith – Julie Orton
Dramaturg/Director – Trevor Rueger
Dale Lee Kwong writes poetry, plays, and creative non-fiction. Third-generation Chinese-Canadian, her work explores Chinese-Canadian history, diversity & inclusion, adoption, and LGBTQ issues. Dale is passionate about the importance of Chinatowns across North America, and the fight to save them from gentrification. Dale plans to keep writing about the past and present, in hopes of shaping the future!
Lunchbox Theatre is one of the most successful noon-hour theatre companies in the world and produces one-act plays that provide patrons with an engaging and entertaining theatre experience. Lunchbox produces seven plays per season, as well as the Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work where many of the plays produced by the company are developed. Lunchbox is one of Calgary’s longest-running professional theatre companies and is located in downtown Calgary at the base of the Calgary Tower.
Tung Bui is a Calgary photographer and videographer that is passionate about visual storytelling. He loves the challenge of trying to shoot outside the lines of the viewfinder. So if you’re looking to capture your memories in a unique way…let his imagination work for your vision.
This interview has been edited for length and condensed for clarity.
