Tom Wilson’s memoir ‘Beautiful Scars’ from page to stage
Director Mary Francis Moore tells how to make it happen
Making Tom Wilson’s moving, sometimes excoriating story of his search for identity come alive on stage requires theatrical imagination.
A frequently dark story, set primarily in Hamilton, it turns on fragmented memories, corrosive humour and emotional moments of contemporary poetry.
“It’s about passion and forgiveness and a desperate search,” says Mary Francis Moore. Dramaturge and director of the Tom WilsonShaun Smyth musical, she’s charged with making it come alive on the Theatre Aquarius stage.
Inspired by Wilson’s bestselling 2017 memoir, “Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home,” the book itself is a terrific read.
It’s also rangy and episodic as it follows a rock and roll legend, poet, artist and larger-than-life celebrity and icon in Wilson.
“I wanted to direct this one from the moment I first heard about it,” Moore says. “But it was in someone else’s hands and set to run at another theatre. Too bad. But when all that changed, I grabbed it with both hands.”
Moore admits there was some thought as to whether a non-Indigenous director should be at the helm of this story about Wilson finding his rightful place as a Mohawk man.
Balderdash I say. Moore is a director of extraordinary sensitivity. So, why would any such naïve limitations apply? Closed thinking should never be an issue in a world where diversity is demanded in the arts.
“Tom is very mindful of how people will see his story,” Moore says. “And so am I.”
Moore knows full well “Beautiful Scars” is a risk. All new musicals are.
There’s a reason so many of them fail. They require collaboration, yet need a director’s firm vision.
And this is such a Hamilton story. Read the book and you’re transported to local restaurants, concert venues, back street rooming houses and a world that resonates for those of us with Hamilton in our soul.
“The thing is Tom’s life was built on a house of cards. And he’s very mindful of how people will see his journey. And so am I.”
Staging a musical as rangy as this one requires savvy direction. Moore knows she must create a theatrical idiom for the events that happen.
She knows she must fuse the legacy of Wilson’s music with the sweep of his story. It can’t just be scenes followed by songs. It can’t be built on the usual concept of musical numbers sharing a narrative.
“I think, if you know Wilson’s songs you’ll see them here in a different context. Some had a shelflife before, but now they seem to have expanded. Everything just fits and belongs.”
Moore first read Wilson’s book when her brother gave her a copy some years ago.
“It spoke to me so clearly about an artist searching for truth, knowing something in his life was missing. I mean, he’s such a rock star and music is who he is. Yet, he had big questions. And there’s the whole bad boy thing. You know it’s that bad boy world of musicians that fascinates us.’’
Moore knows Wilson and coplaywright
Smyth, didn’t try to put the whole book on the stage.
“It’s about Tom looking back at memories. It’s about him finding forgiveness and compassion. When he learns he is Indigenous he needs permission to accept his identity. And he realizes that in his songs he’s been writing about his actual mother and father pretty much all along. He’s been searching for the truth.’’
Moore’s concept for the staging goes beyond reality.
“I wanted to create a playground for the action. It’s a kind of culture crack. We have on stage the Mercier Bridge connecting Lazare Quebec with the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake. And there are the steel mills of Hamilton. There are musicians’ travelling cases and instruments littered about reminding us of a kind of rootless life. We’re looking back through the filter of memory. And I love that this is a real-life story that’s still happening in real time.’’
Moore smiles and nods her head. “I just want audiences to leave the theatre celebrating these characters and their journey. Know what I mean?”