All the world’s a stage for Charlie Peters
“Fifteen hour day in the theatre. It says a lot that I’m happy as a clam right now!”
This was a Facebook post by local theatre artist Charlie Peters in June. Five years since graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the U of S, Peters is finding himself very busy.
That post was made while Peters was directing the Saskatoon Opera Society’s well-received La Boheme, which ran in June. At the same time, another play he directed, The Wild Dog Waits on the Concrete Path, was touring Saskatoon before heading to the Winnipeg Fringe in July. In July, Peters was off to Victoria’s Skampede to perform as a clown while August will see him travel to further his clown studies.
The next theatre season is just starting to take shape, Peters reports. “In October I’m doing lighting design for the Live Five show, Every Brilliant Thing.”
Peters, who also works as an artistic associate with Sum Theatre, is looking forward to bringing back its youth-oriented project called Youth on the Rise as well as its monthly production, Last Sunday. The latter sees performance and discussion mix as community playwrights, musicians and celebrity interviewees delve into the month’s top news stories and events.
While he’s hoping for some other work to “pan out,” Peters is anxiously anticipating performing in another Live Five show in February, Many Fires, which he also wrote. “I wanted to explore masculinity, how our society enforces it and how it affects international relations and environmental problems. It’s clown, spoken word poetry, monologue, projection and music, and comes together as a one man play.”
The play is half of a double bill with On the Rocks, written and performed by slam poet Danielle Altrogge, who debuts this month as the Saskatoon Fringe’s executive producer. “Danielle was one of my collaborators on Many Fires. On the Rocks has many overlapping themes so it made sense to us to run the two plays in repertoire.”
That seems like one packed year for Peters but he’s feeling there are some holes that could be filled. Which begs the questions, is it enough?
He says yes. “I’m making a living at it. I’m privileged in that two years ago, thanks to my position with Sum Theatre, I was able to quit my non-theatre jobs and concentrate on theatre. It’s not easy because there are ebbs and flow of income but I get to work in the theatre. There are days when it is really hard work but I love it.”
The 27-year old, who is producing, directing, writing, performing, creating and doing technical work, doesn’t feel the need to specialize. “Everything feeds everything else. I’m a better performer because of my directing work and a better director because of my performing, a better designer because of both of those. I like the divided focus and doing something different – I get to have multiple perspectives.”
Peters can’t say if this is the life he expected as an artist. “I didn’t have a very good idea of what the life was like because I went into university with an interest in politics and accidentally got a theatre degree. I became more and more invested in the theatre and by the end of university had switched to working towards a BFA. It just kind of happened.
“Once I chose theatre, I knew I wanted to work and work a lot. I’ve been doing projects forever it seems.”
Peters has had his name and creative stamp on several groups and has been presenting for more than half his life. There was an early sketch group, Three Guys and a Camera, a Fringe improv troupe, Saskitoon, a teen-run Shakespearean group, The Abridged City Players, and an independent film company, to name just a few. This was all before university.
He’s seen friends leave to pursue careers elsewhere but has no intention to do the same. “Some have left because they’re pursuing theatre but also pursuing film and television. I have to admit I don’t watch a lot of either so haven’t had that interest. Plus, I have so many connections here and know this community well. I feel grounded and invested in Saskatoon.”
Having said that, Peters does say he could be leaving for another reason – to hone his craft by enrolling in a Master of Fine Arts program. “It’s something I’m seriously considering for 2019-20. Right now, it’s a matter of finding the right fit for me. The Master program is appealing because I’d get to perfect my practice but would also be able to teach.
“But I’m also interested in learning the craft of running a company as well as in the dialogue of how we make the theatre. I’m very interested in exploring what stories we’re telling and why.”