PLAYING DEAD
Play looks for humour in politics, aging and the after-effects of war
From the horrors of war to the perils of aging, Dead Metaphor tackles important issues with humour.
Dead Metaphor April 2-23 | The Firehall Arts Centre Tickets and info: from $23, firehallartscentre.ca
In George F. Walker’s Dead Metaphor, a former sniper returns home from Afghanistan. Tasked with taking care of his aging parents and a pregnant wife, the increasingly desperate Dean (Mike Gill) embarks on a job that may be even more harrowing than trying to survive in a war-torn country — working as an assistant to a right wing politician.
“The thing with George F. Walker plays that always gets me is his ability to use humour to address important issues,” director Chelsea Haberlin said of the Firehall Arts Centre production.
“This play talks about so much, but you’re laughing all the way through it.”
Walker is a prolific Toronto playwright whose first piece was produced in the early 1970s. Dead Metaphor premiered in San Francisco in 2013.
Besides politics and the aftereffects of war, Dead Metaphor also concerns aging — Dean’s father, Hank, suffers from dementia.
According to reviews of a 2014 Toronto run (which Walker directed), Hank is one of the play’s strongest characters. Alec Willows plays the part in Vancouver.
“He says outrageous things, and often the person who is most outrageous gets the most attention,” Haberlin said.
“Look at Trump, right? But there are so many other characters that serve different purposes. It’s about trying to find what makes each character integral to the story. Generally, my approach to characters like that, and any element in a play that is seemingly outrageous at first glance, is to not ham it up but focus on everything else.”
The cast also includes Carmela Sison as Jenny, Dean’s ex-wife; Meghan Gardiner as Helen, the politician; Jovanni Sy as Oliver, a job counsellor and Helen’s husband. And Firehall Artistic Producer Donna Spencer plays Frannie, Dean’s mother.
“I think she definitely is the straight man for Hank,” Spencer said of the character.
“She has some very funny things that she says, but her whole journey is about dealing with Hank and Hank’s dementia. She has to be believable otherwise he becomes too much of a caricature.”
Walker’s plays can be scabrously funny, but one danger is that, in the wrong hands, his characters — such as Helen, the politician — could come across as cartoonish.
“In this case, finding a way to ground the characters is really important,” Spencer said. “We may mock Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, but there’s a certain vulnerability and reality about them. You can’t just send them up. That’s what Chelsea is striving for.”
Spencer brought the play to the company and Dead Metaphor checks all the right boxes.
“For me, when I’m picking pieces, I look at, is this something people are interested in, talking about, ‘Is it relevant, and will it entertain people?’”
Asked if she’s confident that Dead Metaphor will deliver, she laughed.
“I think it will certainly make people talk. I hope they can laugh about it. Because some of the things it hits on are pretty bleak. Walker has a way of doing that, where all of a sudden you find yourself laughing at something that is actually quite sad.”