World premier of David Fennario’s steampunk review Fessenden’s Follies
Fun fact. Townshipper Reginald Aubrey Fessenden invented the radio. Fessenden was born in Austin, in a portion of the Eastern Townships often referred to as the Lost Nation. It’s an isolated area where people speak with a distinct dialect. Back in the 1980s, playwright David Fennario discovered Fessenden’s accomplishment when he came across a plaque honouring the inventor during a walk in the Austin back woods. The discovery eventually resulted in a play called Fessenden Follies. Director Glen Robinson has turned Fessenden Follies into a steampunk revue and the Clock Master Production has its world première at the Hudson Village Theatre, Thursday. Although Guglielmo Marconi is widely credited with inventing the radio, it was Fessenden who first succeeded in transmitting speech by radio in 1900. “Can you imagine. He was born into an environment like that, with all those hicks, yet he was the first to transmit the voice on radio,” Fennario said. Fennario doesn’t mince words. “I originally wrote the story for radio,” he said. “My friend Alec McLeod had a radio gig out there. I did my first reading of the play on his show. They laughed at all the wrong parts. But I only got two death threats, so I figure I got off easy.” Fennario presented Robinson with the play following the director’s award-winning reboot of the playwright’s signature play Balconville in 2017. When Robinson saw the title, he immediately thought of the extravagant Ziegfeld Follies of yore. Then steampunk came to mind. In brief: the world of steampunk is at once futuristic and steeped in the past, drawing on Victorian sensibilities while harnessing bold industrial references. Since Fessenden’s radio invention was tucked into the Victorian time frame, Robinson deemed steampunk a logical fit. He immediately approached musician JP Vialard and choreographer Kerwin Barrington. Vialard wrote original music and set songs included in the script to music. Robinson said the play ’s approach to the use of music and movement is not typical. “Sometimes music plays over spoken word or dialogue,” Robinson said. “Sometimes they dance to poetry.” Award-winning visual and textile artist Tina Struthers created the steampunk sets and costumes.
“Steampunk theatre is about the re-telling of history,” Robinson said. “It employs time warps, moving in and out of the past. Yeah, maybe (the production) is a bit ‘out there’, but it’s exciting. And it’s a great story.” Robinson said that when he approached Fennario with his retro-futuristic vision of the play, Fennario said “I think I’m retro-futuristic.”
Fennario told a reporter that when he hears the term steampunk, he thinks of high-school drop outs. “But high school drop outs are the funniest people around,” he said. “I’m a high school drop out. Actually, they kicked me out, but that’s a story for another time. The play is a fun piece, but I call it my dead-serious comedy. Fessenden invented the things he did to make the world better, but some of his inventions went on to be used for guided missiles. I make that point in the play.” Clock Master Productions presents Fessenden Follies at the Hudson Village Theatre, 28 Wharf Rd., Nov. 8-11 and Nov. 15-17 at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinées Nov. 10-11 and Nov. 17-18. Tickets cost $26, including service fee, and are available at the box office, 450458-5361 or online, visit www. villagetheatre.ca. For more information about Fessenden Follies, visit clockmaster.ca.