Hawksley’s reckless experiment
The God That Comes Theatre: 2b theatre company Created by: Hawksley Workman and Christian Barry Directed by: Christian Barry Starring: Hawksley Workman Where: The Club, Citadel Theatre Running: Wednesday through Jan. 25 Tickets: 780-425-1820, citadeltheatre.com
Playing the Greco-Roman god of wine and ecstasy has its privileges.
As the star of The God That Comes, folk-rock chameleon Hawksley Workman gets to drink on the job. Before, too.
“I sort of have a winedrinking regime,” he says over the phone from his rural Ontario hideout. “I like to be in a certain spot when I hit the stage. There’s a certain buzz where the character kind of lives.”
(His preference? Amarone, an appropriately decadent wine that starts at $50 a bottle. Hint, hint.)
Also armed with a boa, megaphone, guitar and synths, Workman recounts the tale of Bacchus, the mortals who worship him and the king who doesn’t. The production, which debuted last year in Calgary, is more like a rock concert than a play — with Workman giving a quick rundown of the plot, then performing songs from the perspective of various characters, including Ukelady Boy as the fun-lovin’ god and The Dress Makes The Man as the cranky king who tries to best Bacchus and loses his head in the process.
“I didn’t want to be singing dialogue,” he says. “There’s so much baggage in musicals. Nobody likes them, really. Only a handful of people like them, I think. Your average person doesn’t buy the fact that your character will break out into song — and then it’s a grocery list. So these songs had to be able to stand on their own. The language is just descriptive enough to create the cadence of the story, but I don’t blatantly tell a story.
“Other than I get onstage and the first thing I do is tell the whole story before I start the show. It’s important that the story is established so that you do get to enjoy the songs and then understand, ‘Oh yeah, we’re at this point where the s--- is really starting to hit the fan.”
The God That Comes is a loose retelling of a Greek tragedy, The Bacchae by Euripides, as seen through the eyes
“It’s been a very empowering experience. It’s a really risky show, just the nuts and bolts of it. When theatre people see it, they go ‘Wow! Theatre needs more of this!’ It is reckless.”...
Hawksley Workman
and ears of Christian Barry, the artistic director of Halifax’s 2b theatre company, and Workman.
“As we were writing the play, there were a lot of images of super righteous leaders on TV, pointing their fingers and saying ‘You’re wrong, I’m right’,” says Workman.
“They seemed super-entrenched in our society, but these days, they look like their power is starting to unravel rather quickly. It’s nifty to watch it all fall apart; it feels good.”
The Juno-winning musician wasn’t particularly itching to make the leap to theatre — his concerts are usually overthe-top extravaganzas — but Workman knew he needed a change. Even though he’s one of Canada’s musical gods — with more than 10 albums in 15 years and hits such as Striptease and Jealous of Your Cigarette — he was feeling self-conscious about his advancing years in a young man’s business. (A ridiculous fear, considering he’ll only be 39 in March.)
“I also felt sick of myself, and I figured, ‘Everyone must me sick of me because I’m sure sick of me’,” he confides.
“So (The God That Comes) was borne out of this malaise and anger. Christian and I had batted around an idea loosely for years. He had approached me about 10 years ago, wanting to do a musical with me, but this was the right time in my life, when I was just a little hesitant about going in to make my own record. I didn’t know what I should be doing, but I knew I should be doing something because I have a hard time sitting still.”
Since Workman premièred The God That Comes at Calgary’s playRITES Fest last March, he has performed the piece in Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Whitehorse. Not only is the show getting rave reviews, it won two Calgary theatre awards — known as Bettys — for Outstanding Production Of A Musical and Outstanding Sound Design Or Composition.
“It’s been a very empowering experience. It’s a really risky show, just the nuts and bolts of it. When theatre people see it, they go ‘Wow! Theatre needs more of this!’ It is reckless. But all I really feel I did was take For Him and the Girls/Delicious Wolves-era me” — his first two albums — “and put it into a story. If you were paying attention to me back then, it looks exactly the same.”
Returning to his roots has helped Workman feel much more content with himself as a person, and as a musician. A few weeks before Christmas, he finally started working on another solo album. (Not to be mistaken for the soundtrack, Songs From The God That Comes, due March 11 via maplemusic.com.) His last effort, Full Moon Eleven, was released in 2011.
“I’m enjoying age, actually, these days. Our businesses (newspapers and music) are both flailing, trying to figure out how to survive and go into the future. But I sort of feel a sense of stability in 15 years. While everyone else says ‘We’re going to come up with this web scheme! We’re going to do this! We’re going to get online,’ you know what I’m going to do? Write another good song, try to put on a really good concert and hope people keep coming back. If I keep doing my job well, maybe it will keep happening.”
His happiness can also be attributed to writing some good songs with his new and “mega unexpected” supergroup, Mounties. On a whim, Workman flew to Vancouver to work with vocalist Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat) and guitarist Ryan Dahle (Limblifter, Age of Electric). The three wrote Headphones, a breezy scribble of an indierock tune, which became one of last year’s sleeper radio hits. That led to a record deal with Vancouver’s Light Organ Records, founded by Nickelback’s lawyer, Jonathan Simkin. Mounties are about to release their debut, Thrash Rock Legacy, on Tuesday, March 4, then tour across Canada — with a stop at The Starlite Room on Thursday, March 27. (Tickets available at ticketfly.com.)
“It’s renewed my love of music in every capacity,” Workman gushes. “I’m a drummer, first and foremost. In Mounties, I’m the drummer, so in some way, I get to be the kid again who practised six hours a day, who dreamed of being a worldclass drummer for hire, picking up a call from Paul Simon and doing an eastern-European run.
“You know, I’ve probably played drums on 50 records. You take on characters as a drummer, like when I played on Kathleen Edwards’ record, Voyageur, the character needed to have a spartan approach. With Mounties, I just go out and play like me, which is basically someone who worshipped John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and then fusion-jazz in the ’80s.
It’s perfect. It’s perfect.”