Prolific director takes on ‘quirky’ Goldfish
When Janet Munsil read Morris Panych’s Governor-General Award-winning play Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, she knew right away why Langham Court Theatre asked her to direct it.
“I think the word I hear most used is ‘quirky,’ ” she said about how she’s described. “Maybe it’s the plays I’ve directed or my involvement in the alternative theatre world.”
The play is set in the 1960s and tells the story of 10-year-old Iris, who recounts what she calls the last days of her childhood. Her goldfish goes missing, her mother leaves and the Cuban Missile Crisis starts. At the same time, a mysterious man appears who Iris believes is her goldfish reincarnated and can bring her family together again.
“On the surface, the lead character is this hyper-articulate kid, but the play is really about communication,” Munsil said. “The dialogue is really fascinating. As a playwright, I keep thinking, ‘How did [Panych] do it?’ ”
As well as a prolific local theatre director and producer, Munsil is a celebrated playwright.
She spent 25 years with Intrepid Theatre before stepping down as artistic director in 2016. But life has not slowed down since. Munsil directed Born Yesterday for Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre and Love’s Labour’s Lost for the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival this summer.
“At one point, all the rehearsal schedules overlapped,” said Munsil, who is also working on a master’s degree in playwriting at the University of Victoria.
She said this is the first play she’s directed at Langham Court Theatre in about 15 years. The biggest difference between community and professional theatre productions is the rehearsal schedules, she said.
“Rehearsing about 10 hours a week in the evenings over a longer period of time, the actors absorb in a different way,” she said. Professional productions usually have two to three weeks of all-day rehearsing to mount a show.
Munsil said she doesn’t approach the work or actors any differently, opting always to “get a sense of what the cast brings.”
Munsil said she was especially impressed with Lianne Coates, the adult actor who plays Iris, and attended the Victoria Academy of Dramatic Arts. “This is Lianne’s first play. She’s wonderful, a great lead,” said Munsil. “It’s exciting to work with someone who is experiencing so many parts of this for the first time.”
Roger Carr is the production co-chair at Langham Court, charged with helping to choose what plays are staged. He said this season’s productions all have an element of fun.
“Each of the six plays have comedy, but in different ways,” said Carr, who will direct the company’s January production of the musical Urinetown. The season also features the Canadian classic Les Belles Soeurs, a satirical adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, the surreal comedy The Clean House and A Chorus of Disapproval.
Carr said the process of choosing the community theatre’s lineup involves going to the audience for suggestions. A list of more than 100 plays was whittled down by a committee and the season’s final shows were selected on the basis of local talent, interest and relevance. This year, they chose two Canadian plays in honour of the country’s 150th birthday celebrations.
“We try to choose plays that are not just entertaining but good theatre that asks important questions,” Carr said.