FAREWELL, MY LOVELY
Vertigo Mystery Theatre opens with an adaptation of the novel by detective-fiction master Raymond Chandler
1 Life After Oil Raymond Chandler, who wrote the famous novel upon which Vertigo’s production is based, once worked as a vice-president of California’s Dabney Oil Syndicate. When, at the age of 44, he was fired for the unproductive trifecta of alcoholism, absenteeism and sleeping with his employees, he decided to become a writer of detective fiction.
2 Triple Billing Farewell, My Lovely was the second of Chandler’s novels to feature the iconic hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe. Stylistically speaking, the book is held up as a classic of its genre despite its disjointed plot—the result of Chandler having threaded together three of his short stories. A convoluted plot didn’t stop three studios from turning the story into a movie: in 1942 ( The Falcon Takes Over), 1944 ( Murder My Sweet) and 1975 ( Farewell, My Lovely).
3 Stage Fright Given the aforementioned confusing plot—Chandler freely admitted he was far less concerned about storylines fitting together than he was about writing style—it’s little wonder Farewell has never been performed onstage. Until now. As far as he knows, Vancouver-based playwright Aaron Bushkowsky has written the first stage adaptation ever of Farewell, My
Lovely; Vertigo’s production will mark its world premiere.
4 Adept at Adapting Bushkowsky faced a couple of major challenges in adapting Chandler’s work. The first, he says, was “distilling 42 characters into eight or nine—each with his or her own journey. We had to simplify.” The second challenge was trickier still. While Chandler’s novel may be a stylistic tour de force, it’s often racist as hell. Bushkowsky handily eliminated or flipped on their heads the novel’s African-American and aboriginal stereotypes. 5 Don’t Bogart the Stage, Man Humphrey Bogart, who played Philip Marlowe in the movie adaptation of Chandler’s The Big Sleep, is regarded as the quintessential noir detective. In Vertigo’s show, Marlowe will be played by seasoned Calgary actor Graham Percy. He’s got some big gumshoes to fill.