THEATRE’S RANGE ON DISPLAY IN HIGH PERFORMANCE TRIO
Salt-Water Moon, Inner Elder and Empire of the Son show off diversity of Canadian art
Salt-Water Moon, Inner Elder and Empire of the Son, three shows debuting in Week Three of the 2018 High Performance, all proudly celebrate diversity.
In 2015, Toronto’s Factory Theatre asked Ravi Jain to direct a classic piece of Canadian theatre for what it called its Naked Season of six Canadian plays stripped to their barest essentials.
Jain chose David French’s 1984 romantic drama Salt-Water Moon, about young lovers given a second chance after separating years earlier.
“I had never seen or read David’s play, but had heard from so many people that it was a true Canadian classic. When I decided to direct it, I chose to do it featuring actors of colour who would not normally be cast in these roles,” says Jain, who insists Salt-Water Moon “is essentially about a relationship between two people under a starlit sky.
“It’s so beautifully romantic, human and poignant, whether it takes place in Newfoundland in 1926 or anywhere in Canada today. That’s what makes it timeless. That’s what makes it a classic.”
For the Calgary run of Salt-Water Moon, Jan. 17-20 at the DJD Dance Centre, Danny Ghantous, a Greek-born actor of Lebanese descent, takes on the role of Jacob Mercer, who moved to Toronto, abandoning his heritage, home and first love.
Bahareh Yaraghi, an actress of Iranian descent, plays Mary, who tried to rebuild her life and heart after Jacob abandoned her.
“Danny and Bahareh bring such richness and depth to these characters that it is easy for all of us to see ourselves in them because we’ve all experienced this kind of love that David French explores in Salt-Water Moon,” Jain said.
For his production, Jain added a third character, an onstage musician played by Ania Soul. She has written three original songs plus a background score for the show. She also speaks the stage directions “because they are as rich as the dialogue he wrote for his two young lovers.”
LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICES
Calgary Cree artist Michelle Thrush has heard how people are always trying to get in touch with their inner child. She says it’s about time those same people got in touch with their inner elder.
This is one reason she created her solo show, Inner Elder, about her own journey of self-awareness, redemption and transformation.
Thrush’s Inner Elder runs at Lunchbox Theatre Jan. 15-27, Mondays through Saturdays at noon, and Thursdays and Fridays at 6 p.m.
“I grew up in Calgary dealing with the challenges my parents had with alcoholism. It took me a long time to come to terms with the conditions of my youth, partly because I didn’t understand the impact the residential schools had on my grandparents and how that impacted my mother in particular.
“I know now that my parents did the best they could with the limited tools available to them,” says Thrush, who confesses she had a great deal of help.
"At a young age, these beautiful, special women would come to me. I knew them as the grandmothers. They sang to me. They spoke to me. They guided me and they still do.
“Whenever I am faced with a problem in my acting or my directing, I call upon them to help me. I hear them as clear as day.”
Thrust says New Agers might call her grandmothers “guardian angels.”
“It doesn’t matter what you call them as long as you listen to them.”
Thrush says she is happy society is at a point where people can speak openly about the spiritual influences in their lives.
“Getting in touch with one’s in- ner elder is an important part of our journey.
“It was through my grandmothers and with their guidance that I was able to change the cycle with my two daughters.”
Thrush says though Inner Elder deals honestly and candidly with her personal journey, it is very much a comedy.
“Humour was one of the most important tools in my life and it is with so many Native people. There is always a great deal of laughter in Native homes. It’s how we deal with adversity.”
She wanted humour to be reflected in her play so she asked Karen Hines to direct it.
“She is a master buffoon and together we strove to make Inner Elder warm, funny and accessible.”
WHEN FATHER DOESN’T KNOW BEST
Tetsuro Shigematsu admits he doesn’t get any points for originality with his solo show, Empire of the Son, which runs in the Martha Cohen Theatre Jan. 16-28.
From the Greeks on, actors, playwrights, novelists and poets have been struggling with the strained relationship that often exists between fathers and sons.
Shigematsu says when he began working on Empire of the Son, he believed his relationship with his emotionally remote father was “a cultural and generational thing because the Japanese culture values those stoic characteristics.
“There were so many times when my father was home physically but he was not really present ... He had an obsession with detail and a willingness to sacrifice social bonds.”
Shigematsu says he and his siblings have often surmised his father “was on the spectrum autistically.
“My nephew is on the spectrum and we recognize some of the attributes we saw in our father. That helps explain so much.”
He knows he’s not alone in “never having heard my parents say ‘I love you,’ which at the time I took to be a lesser form of parenting because I know our parents loved us.”
In Empire of the Son, Shigematsu uses a series of vignettes to chronicle his relationship with his father.
“It’s essentially a biography of my father. At 12 years old, he witnessed the aftermath of Hiroshima. He tried to distance himself as much as possible from Japan. He went to England and became an announcer on the BBC and essentially entered another culture that stresses emotional reserve.”
He eventually decided Canada was the best place to raise his five children so the show follows him here.
The irony does not escape Shigematsu that by becoming a media personality — hosting CBC Radio One’s afternoon show The Roundup — he was following in his father’s footsteps.
“During my teenage years, I vowed to be nothing like my father.
“My siblings are teachers, professors, writers and I had a brother who is a pastor. I’ve acted and I was a broadcaster but I consider myself primarily a writer.”
He says he pursued writing because “there is such a dearth of stories where Asians and other marginalized communities can see themselves on stage.
“I think it’s important to instil the possibility of such stories, especially in young actors and writers.”
When Shigematsu started writing his solo shows, he thought his stories would only appeal to his family and to members of the Asian community.
He was in for a big surprise. Every time he has mounted Empire of the Son in Vancouver it has sold out before its opening performance. And after every performance he has people tell him how much the show meant to them.
“They want to share their stories and to assure me I am not alone in my attempts to reconcile this difficult relationship.”
What is even more rewarding for Shigematsu are the times young writers and actors of colour have approached him.
“They tell me they never thought there would be a place for them or for their stories in Canadian theatre until they saw Empire of the Son.”
Empire of the Son is being presented at the High Performance Rodeo by Alberta Theatre Projects.
Tickets are available through both ATP and the Rodeo.
These beautiful, special women would come to me. I knew them as the grandmothers. They sang to me. They spoke to me.