“February” Talkback, Sunday Sept 23

The Sept 23 Sunday matinee performance of February was followed by a well-attended Talkback session, for which the cast was joined onstage by director Michelle Alexander and first-time playwright Lisa Moore.  Producer Tabitha Keast (whose bio in the program notes that she is also “producing a small child whose title is still TBA”) fielded audience questions, and asked a few that people likely wanted to, but were too shy to ask.

The script which was performed is slightly different from the one originally submitted to Alumnae Theatre.  It has developed significantly since a workshop in Newfoundland last year.  For example, Lisa told the audience that it was Michelle’s idea to include a wonderful speech for the character of Cal, about the wave that sinks the Ocean Ranger oil rig and drowns him and all the other men on board.

Lavetta Griffin as Helen in “February”. Photo by Dahlia Katz

Tabitha asked Lisa about the differences between the first read-through [which was on July 27 – see post at http://alumnaetheatre.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/first-read-through-of-february-early-magic/] and the final performance.  Lisa said she was “blown away” by the commitment of the actors and the nuances they brought to their roles.  She didn’t realize that so much development and even small changes from show to show are inherent in theatre, and credits the enthusiasm and vision of Michelle and assistant director Darwin Lyons for bringing her novel from the page to 3-D life on the stage.  Lisa didn’t know what to expect on opening night, and described it as “such a thrill”!

Tabitha asked Michelle what the process was like, working on a new script.  “New play development can be tough,” Michelle responded.  “When problems come up in rehearsal, you have to ask ‘Is it a script thing?’ ‘Is it an actor thing?’  So you try everything!  This was very easy script development – Lisa was very open, and the actors were so willing to try, and they committed to choices.”

Tabitha asked the audience if there was anything in the novel that they didn’t see on stage (and wanted to).  One audience member responded that reading is a “solitary experience” and the reader can go at his own pace – he found the beginning of the play too fast.  Another audience member commented that he was struck in the novel by how the community rallied in support of Helen (and the other Ocean Ranger widows).  For example, there is a scene in the novel when a taxi driver takes Helen, who’s in labour, to the hospital.  Michelle and Lisa exchanged grins: it turns out that Michelle wanted more scenes with Louise, Helen’s sister.  So in the play, it’s a frantic Louise (instead of a taxi driver) who takes Helen to the hospital.  Lisa shared that she often wrote two versions of scenes to be tried out, side by side.

SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE NOVEL:  Another audience member commented that his favourite part of the novel is when Helen gets a phone call from her son John telling her that his baby daughter is born.  This is not in the play [Editorial comment:  not anymore!  But it was in the version I heard at the July read-through].

Yes, the ending of the play has changed since the read-through.  (AND HERE COMES ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT…)  What did we think of it?  Does it work?

An audience member responded that she liked very much the mirroring of two separate conversations (Helen and Barry; John and Jane) and thought the new ending worked very well.

An audience member asked about the foreshadowing of the Ocean Ranger disaster in the novel (but not the play), when Cal’s shipmates play a trick on him by holding his door shut and putting water on the floor.  Lisa noted that this was an actual occurrence – the poorly-trained men knew they were in danger on the rigs, and humour was their way of dealing with the constant fear.

Tabitha then asked the actors about their experience with this play.  Kathleen Jackson Allamby (Louise) said that she really enjoyed watching everyone bring their characters to life.  Lavetta Griffin(Helen) raved: “I’m in love with Helen!”

10-year old John (Justin Skye Conley) is comforted by his mother Helen (Lavetta Griffin) in “February”.
Photo by Dahlia Katz. http://www.dahliakatz.com

Justin Skye Conley (Helen and Cal’s son John) relished the challenge of finding “playable moments” from the novel to bring to his stage portrayal.  “Michelle didn’t make it gloomy and dour,” he remarked.  Victoria Fuller (waitress in bar/ John’s former flame Jane), who like Lavetta is a genuine Newfoundlander, commented that “the East Coast sensibility really comes through.  It’s part of the fibre.”

So what’s the next step for February the play?  Lisa has found this premiere extremely helpful, and hopes the actors and directors will give her feedback as she works on it some more.  She’s seen three performances, and is amazed that even small changes in pacing or an expression can make it different every time – “Theatre is ephemeral.”  Lisa’s publisher, Sarah MacLachlan [no, not the singer] of House of Anansi Press, spoke up:  “Lisa can’t work on the play right now, because she’s got a novel due at the end of September!”   Yep, deadlines.  Anansi will publish the novel in June 2013.

Helen (Lavetta Griffin) and Cal (John Fray) on their honeymoon.
Photo: Dahlia Katz.

An audience member commented that when reading the novel, “I couldn’t put it down!”  and congratulated  Lisa for making the adaptation from book to stage work so beautifully – flashbacks, changes of emotion, pacing and all.

Another audience member remarked that when his own father passed away, his mother would hear him in the room, and speak to him as Helen does to Cal’s ghost in the play.  Also noticed the well-done parallel between John, who in his training session essentially re-lives his father Cal’s death.

The Talkback concluded with congratulations from a woman who grew up next door to Lisa in St. John’s!  This former neighbour had brought her family to see the play – “we’re so proud of her.”

Oh, and if you’re planning on coming to see the show before it closes on Oct 6,  House of Anansi Press is selling Lisa Moore’s gorgeous novel February as well as short story collections in the lobby.  http://www.houseofanansi.com/Search.aspx?k=lisa%20moore

Alumnae Theatre Company proudly presents the world premiere of “February”

The world premiere of February will happen on September 21, at Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre.  Playwright Lisa Moore, who adapted her own novel, will be in attendance.  She’s staying in town for the weekend, so will also be there for the Talkback following Sunday’s matinee on Sept 23.

If you can’t score a ticket for opening night, despair not.  The show runs until October 6, with performances Wed – Sat at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm.  To make a reservation, phone 416-364-4170 box 1 or e-mail reservations@alumnaetheatre.com.  It’s cash only at the Box Office, but if you wish to purchase online, please visit www.totix.ca   Note:  Tickets are NOT available online for opening night, or for any Wednesday or Sunday.

 Alumnae Theatre Company is very proud to present

the WORLD PREMIERE of

February

by Lisa Moore

Directed by Michelle Alexander

Lisa Moore’s second novel February was described as “luminous” and “soaring” when it was published in 2009, and it was nominated for several prestigious literary awards, including the Man Booker Prize. The New Yorker raved that Moore’s book “evok[es] memory and grief in pitch-perfect detail.”  The literary festival Winterset in Summer in Moore’s home province of Newfoundland commissioned her to write a stage adaptation, and a longtime member of Alumnae Theatre Company happened to see a staged reading there while on vacation in summer 2011.  She brought it to the attention of Alumnae’s Programming Committee, and just over a year later, we proudly present the world premiere of Moore’s beautiful new play.

February is the time-shifting story of Helen, left a young widow with four children when her husband is killed in the sinking of the oil rig Ocean Ranger in February of 1982.  Twenty-seven years later, Helen still struggles to escape the memories and move forward with her life, and past and present are interwoven as her now-adult son John deals with a dilemma of his own.

Director Michelle Alexander was impressed by the heart and humour in the script.  “This is the essence of what drew me to the piece,” she says.  “In rehearsal, we are constantly asking ourselves ‘where is the humour in this scene? Where is the light in this scene? What and where is the point of tension?’.  Given the gravity of this type of tragedy, it would have been easy to have written and directed a play purely based on sadness and despair – but real people are more complex than that.  Grief has as many colours as the people dealing with it.  Lisa Moore’s script is so compelling because it doesn’t shy away from all of these colours with all their complexities.  Rather, it asks the question: how do those complexities that come with losing a loved one, change and shape who we are and who we can become?”

The design team completes the vision:   set designer Karen Elizabeth McMichael imagined the set with a tower or pile to represent “the edifice of memory.  Something with straight lines, sharp angles, imposing and human.”   Gabriel Cropley useslight to delineate the present vs. the past.  Megan Benjafield’s sound design blends concrete and abstract sounds to mirror the sense of immediacy and memory in the script. Costume designer Peter DeFreitas took inspiration from Newfoundland’s wild seas, its landscapes, and fishermen in red & black plaid.

Alumnae Theatre Company’s world premiere of February  features Lavetta Griffin as Helen; John Fray as Helen’s husband Cal;  Justin Skye Conley as their son John;  Kathleen Jackson Allamby as Helen’s sister Louise; Trevor Cartlidge playing multiple roles, including Cal’s bereaved father; Victoria Fuller as John’s former love interest; and Steve Switzman as a lovable carpenter renovating Helen’s house.

“February” rehearsal photos

So I asked the cast and crew of February to send me blog/Twitter/Facebook content, and we’ve already heard from costume and set designers.  Now actor Kathleen Jackson Allambyhas sent a contribution: a couple of  rehearsal  shots!

“February” rehearsal photo, taken August 2012 by Kathleen Allamby. From left, Trevor Cartlidge (who plays various characters), director Michelle Alexander,
and Lavetta Griffin (as Helen).

February is the story of Helen,  widowed young when her husband is killed in the sinking of the oil rig Ocean Ranger off the coast of Newfoundland in February 1982.  Kathleen plays Helen’s no-nonsense sister Louise, who helps her recover from the tragedy.

“February” rehearsal photo, taken August 2012 by Kathleen Allamby. From left, director Michelle Alexander, Justin Skye Conley (as Helen’s son John) and Lavetta Griffin (as Helen).

 

“February” costume design inspirations

A few days ago, I asked the director (Michelle Alexander) and designers of set, lighting, sound and costumes for  February to tell me something about their inspiration or process.  Here’s what costume designer Peter DeFreitas (you’ve seen his wonderful work onstage in Alumnae productions such as The Trojan Women and Closer)   had to say:

before i started with the costume selection i created a binder to house the script, some notes and sketches.  i created this collage based on a conversation with michelle before really delving into the work – just as images that would inspire something…like a reference point.  it now has become the cover of the binder.

“February” costume designer Peter DeFreitas’ inspirations.

Remember,  February  opens on Friday, Sept 21.  Did we mention that it’s a world premiere?  And that the playwright, Lisa Moore, will be there?  Oh, yes she will!  Wanna ask her a question?  Come to the matinee on Sept 23 and stay for the Talkback.  Book tickets now (for all performances) at reservations@alumnaetheatre.com, or 416-364-4170, box 1.

 

“February” audition, July 26 – one male actor needed

Most roles in Alumnae Theatre Company’s world premiere of Lisa Moore’s February have now been cast, but we just lost one actor due to scheduling conflicts.  So we need one non-union male actor (late 40s – mid 50s) to play the role of Barry, a carpenter.  The audition date is Thur July 26, starting at 6pm.  Note that the actor cast in this  role MUST be available for the first read-through on Friday July 27th at 6pm.

“February”, by Lisa Moore.

Based on Lisa Moore’s acclaimed novel, February  is the story of Helen, a Newfoundlander whose husband, Cal, perished in the 1982 sinking of an oil rig. She raises their four children alone, but never quite gets over the shock of losing her husband. The play begins in the present, when Helen’s children are all grown up and her eldest son, John, is almost constantly on the road. John suddenly calls Helen from Singapore to announce that he’s about to become a father. The play cuts back and forth over more than 30 years,  interweaving John’s crisis and the questions it raises about his own life with Helen’s attempt to move forward with hers.

February runs Sept 21 – Oct 6, 2012, and is directed by Michelle Alexander.

AUDITION PREPARATION:   Please bring your photo and résumé and prepare a short (2 – 3 min) monologue.   You will also be asked to read from the script. Copies of the script are available at the Toronto Reference Library, 5^th floor, Performing Arts Desk; at Theatre Ontario; and also electronically by request.

TO BOOK AUDITION TIME or REQUEST SCRIPT:  Email  GoAlumnae@gmail.com

LOCATION:  Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street (SW corner of Berkeley and Adelaide St. East.  – Berkeley is east of Sherbourne).

This is a non Equity/ACTRA and non-paying engagement.