Staging, directing 52 Pickup ‘an incredibly fun challenge’
Beware of anyone asking if you’d like to play a card game of 52 pickup. That means they’ll throw the cards into the air and tell you to pick them up.
This little trick hardly seems a suitable structure for a play, but that’s precisely what prolific Vancouver playwright TJ Dawe created with Rita Bozi as a vehicle to tour the Canadian fringe circuit.
It’s the story of a relationship that is never told the same way twice. The 52 scene titles are written on a deck of cards which is thrown into the air at the beginning of each performance. The actors pick up the cards one by one then read the title and enact the short scene.
Chris Stockton, who is the emerging director for the current Lunchbox Theatre season, has chosen 52 Pickup as his directing showcase and it runs May 8-12 at Lunchbox.
“I saw 52 Pickup a long time ago at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival. It was such an interesting concept and production that it stuck with me,” says Stockton.
“When I was trying to find a play to direct for my Lunchbox showcase, I started going through my box of old programs because I needed a play with a small cast that ran 60 minutes and that’s what fringe shows adhere to.”
When he found the program for 52 Pickup, he knew “it would be an incredibly fun challenge.”
“The play is not written chronologically and it is not performed chronologically, which means people can come to all six of our Lunchbox performances and see a different show each time.”
Stockton admits that when he sat down with Ayla Stephen and Christopher Duthie, the first thing they did was create an order for the card titles which gave them a basic chronological story, and from there they began deconstructing that order and that story.
“Our rehearsals consisted of throwing the cards in the air and telling each new story just as will happen at each performance of 52 Pickup.”
This little play is one of the most produced at fringe festivals throughout North America.
Stockton feels that’s because “audiences are looking for new and unique ways of storytelling. Theatre Calgary’s musical The Secret Garden is fractured storytelling which is part of its appeal and that kind of storytelling will certainly be the appeal of our show.”
He says he had specific reasons for choosing Stephen and Duthie to help him work on his showcase.
“Because the play has such abrupt shifts I wanted someone with an improv background and Ayla has that. I knew the structure would not throw her.
“Christopher is a playwright so I felt he was an ideal partner for Ayla given his understanding of structure and the way playwrights can play with it.
“Working on this play with those two incredible minds in the room was a pleasure. I think Lunchbox audiences are going to have great fun with the show and it will give them plenty to talk about, especially with someone who has seen a different performance,” says Stockton who points out no matter which order the cards are played there are always three possible endings.
Performances of 52 Pickup are at noon each day May 8-12 with an added 6 p.m. show on May 11.
I saw 52 Pick Up a long time ago. … It was such an interesting concept and production that it stuck with me.