Stories in disaster play have spiritual connection to current health crisis
In 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a tsunami that claimed over a quarter of a million lives, devastating coastal communities in a dozen different countries
David Yee’s Carried Away on a Crest of Wave collects nine disparate and fictionalized stories of people directly and indirectly affected by the disaster. Based on interviews and accounts from survivors, the play won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and the 2013 Carol Bolt Award from the Playwrights Guild of Canada.
For the Arts Club production, Sarah Garton Stanley is directing. As the associate artistic director at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, she came into early contact with the Toronto-based playwright’s piece. But she didn’t think she’d ever direct the play, especially in Vancouver.
“It wasn’t something I was anticipating being able to do,” she said. “It was a huge gift to be able to come out and work with this company and this group of actors.”
Stories in Carried Away include two brothers who are jettisoning family mementoes from their home as it sinks into the ocean; a Muslim engineer sent to Tamil Nadu by the Vatican to investigate a miracle at the basilica where 2,000 people sought refuge and were spared from the flooding; and a grieving husband who travels to the spot where he lost his wife to have sex with a prostitute. The tales range in tone from family drama to absurdist comedy.
Many scenes feature coincidences between the characters, but otherwise, the disaster is the only commonality among the stories — at least on the face of it. This is a challenge, says Stanley.
“It’s what makes it such a compelling piece for actors and designers and myself to dig into because there’s so much mystery and spirituality to investigate about how we are connected. Water and the event are the actual connective tissue, and yet there are so many moments of serendipity and recognition and repetition of lines and or movements or awakenings that echo throughout the piece. If we hit it right, I think we offer the audience a real sense of lightness and hope among some really horrible moments.”
The Vancouver-based cast is set to include Craig Erickson, Nicco Lorenzo Garcia, Chirag Naik, Mana Nakamura, Zahf Paroo, Agnes Tong, and Raugi Yu.
Some of the cast members play more than one character, as in previous productions. “I love that choice,” Stanley said. “I’ve got an amazing company of actors. You get to see them show up and show up and show up sometimes in four different scenes. It also acts as a through-line to see how connected we are, that we are all in this together.”
In light of the ongoing worldwide pandemic, the idea of an event with far-reaching implications seems particularly timely.
“It’s definitely something that we’ve talked about in the rehearsal hall,” she said.
“It seems impossible to imagine that there could be hope following an event such as the tsunami and yet the play really provides a space to revel in the ways in which we can help and love and care for one another.
That’s heightened our sense as a company of how we can bring that forward in light of the coronavirus, how we can care for one another and lean into one another as opposed to just protecting ourselves. It doesn’t change the way we’re telling the story, but we’re aware our audience will be receiving it in light of that. And we hope this offers a real sense of possibility in light of the tragedies we come up against from being human.”
Carried Away On the Crest of a Wave was scheduled to run March 19-April 19, but has been postponed until summer 2020 due to the novel coronavirus.