Claire Hesselgrave as D in Wide Awake Hearts. (photo by Eric Chad)
“I want love. I want only love,” confesses C, a playboy, amid a lengthy list of his shortcomings. A rare, vulnerable moment of honesty? Or is he merely reciting his lines in a movie scene?
Such is the nature of Wide Awake Hearts by Brendan Gall, now playing at Little Mountain Gallery. One is never certain of what is real, or personal, and what is being acted for public consumption.
Of course, being a play, everything is scripted and for entertainment, however, within Wide Awake Hearts are four characters whose professional and personal lives overlap to an indistinguishable degree. Apparently named according to when they first speak/appear, A (Sean Harris Oliver) is married to B (Genevieve Fleming) and he hires his best friend C (Robert Salvador) to perform opposite her in a new movie that he has written and is producing. By the time D (Claire Hesselgrave) arrives on the scene to replace a recently fired editor, the tensions are high, and the line between what is part of the film and what is “actually” happening between the characters is well and truly blurred.
Despite being an editor, part of whose job, as D states, is to make sense out of the senseless, D’s presence only adds to reality’s murkiness. First of all, editors can only work with what they are given, what’s been shot; they can’t create anything, she explains, they can only interpret. And she’s not an objective outsider, which makes her job that much more difficult. D has been in a long-running on-and-off-again relationship with C. Meanwhile, C is in love with B, and A is jealous of what he believes is happening between C and B. As D laments, “Sometimes, the mess wins.”
That mess is life, not Wide Awake Hearts, which is a sharply written, insightful play. Tempers and desires run hot and C’s confession is one of the few quiet, calm moments that, along with the occasional biting (funny) comment, break the tension. Each character has a monologue that also serves to narrow the focus, slowing the pace before it once again ramps up.
All four actors do an excellent job of working in the intimate space of Little Mountain Gallery, sometimes a foot or two away from the audience as they perform, for example, a raucous sex scene. Director Brian Cochrane and stage manager Breanne Jackson deserve kudos for that, too, as does Sabrina Evertt for her set and props, as well as for her costumes; sound designer Jay Clift’s work is only noticeable when it should be. For the most part, everything comes together such that being in the audience is like being a voyeur, part of the action yet removed from it.
The production team being so small, it would a shame not to mention Eric Chad (projection designer), whose talents could have been exploited more; assistant director Jamie King; and publicity and front of house, Angie Descalzi. This combined Hardline Productions and Twenty Something Theatre effort, in which everyone involved seems to be doing double or even triple duty, delivers as much or more than many larger, more flush productions.
Wide Awake Hearts is at Little Mountain Gallery, 195 East 26th Ave., until Dec. 20, Tues-Sat, 8 p.m. Tickets are $22 plus service charge from brownpapertickets.com, with $15 matinées Dec. 13, 14 and 20, 2 p.m. For more information about the production companies, visit hardlineproductions.ca and twentysomethingtheatre.com.
Left to right, Josh Drebit, Donna Soares, Allan Zinyk and James Long in Cinderella: An East Van Panto. (photo by Emily Cooper)
If Canada wants to be an energy super power, it’s going to have to run some pipelines through some plays. Well, some pantos. Starting with Cinderella: An East Van Panto, now on at the York Theatre until Dec. 28.
As with the inaugural East Van Panto last year, which took Jack & the Beanstalk to strange and hilarious new heights, this Cinderella is only loosely based on the fairy tale. In this version, Ella – Cinderella is only a mean nickname given to her by her wicked step-hipsters (not a typo) – loses her mother in a tragic food truck accident. Her father directs his grief to improving safety standards and is awarded for his efforts with the Mike Duffy Food Truck Safety Award, or something along those lines. He falls in love with the Government of Canada representative who presents him the medal. Marriage soon follows, the father is offered a senatorship, which takes him to Ottawa, leaving his beloved Ella – played wonderfully as the straight man to everyone else’s wackiness by Donna Soares – in the hands of her stepmother.
In true panto fashion, Ella’s new family is played by Allan Zinyk as the matriarch and Josh Drebit and James Long as her sisters. As they order Cinderella about, the audience gets to boo every meanness, and cheer Cinderella’s every win. While Jewish community member Drebit ably pulls off the fishnets, his comedic talents really shine as Feral Cat. Drebit, Long (as Rat) and Dawn Petten (as Old Crow) are about as far away from Disney cartoon birds and other forest animals as one can get, but “the other vermin,” three young actors as mice, are absolutely adorable – and, in a panto, the audience is allowed to “ooh and ahh” at their cuteness.
Zinyk also plays bad guy Ronald Grump, costumed in a business suit and an awful wig that’s only marginally worse than that worn by the character’s inspiration, Donald Trump. King Grump decides to hold a ball (there are lots of ball jokes, FYI) to celebrate the opening of Grump Towers (plural, even though there’s only one). At the ball, there will be a beauty pageant – a speed-dating marathon, actually – to find a wife for his son, played by Petten channeling Justin Bieber. (Petten also plays the hippy narrator/canvasser, Len Til, to perfection.)
And this brings us back to pipelines, and the spills that the suit-wearing, hard-hatted forewoman notes “only happen in movies and on the news.” As the chorus (pipe)line is passing through Cinderella’s family home, sadly, there is a spill – a spill that Cinderella must clean up before she can go to the ball. With the help of her vermin friends and, in one of the funniest scenarios to be conceived, a vacuum-harmonica-playing David Suzuki (played by Zinyk, you have to see it to believe it) and her B.C. Ferry Godmother, the belle gets to the ball.
But does she marry her prince? You’ll have to go to the panto for the answer – and for all the witty, weird, Vancouver-specific humor, the inventive costumes (Cinderella’s gown appears like magic), the charming music, the fitting choreography, the inspired sets and props, the bold and beautiful backdrops.
With Cinderella, the creative team of playwright Charles Demers, musician Veda Hille and director Amiel Gladstone have improved on what was already an intelligent, silly, energetic, crowd-pleasing formula. The lead actors in this year’s production are joined by the very talented chorus of Bailey Soleil Creed, Sean Sonier (who rocks a tutu) and Alexandra Wever, as well as the children who share the roles of the mice.
If you’re wondering what to give that person on your Chanukah list who has everything, at least 99 percent of non-Grumps would enjoy this show. For times and tickets, visit thecultch.com or call 604-251-1363.
Eugene Yelchin’s illustrations are an integral part of the storytelling in Arcady’s Goal.
What a special tribute to a parent. Eugene Yelchin’s most recent children’s book,
Arcady’s Goal, started with a 1945 photograph of the Red Army Soccer Club. One of fewer than a dozen photos of his family that “survived the turbulent history of the Soviet Union,” it includes the team’s captain, Arcady Yelchin, his father.
Historical fiction aimed at kids age 9 to 12, Arcady’s Goal (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2014) will hold the interest of older readers and elicit much discussion. Set in Soviet Russia during Stalin’s reign of terror, its main character, Arcady, is a feisty, self-confident 12-year-old who has lived in several children’s homes (“home” being euphemistic for camp or prison) since he was 3 years old and his parents were arrested on the charge of “participation in a terrorist organization. Preparing to overthrow Soviet power and the defeat of the USSR in a future war.”
Arcady has survived on his wits, his courage to stand up to those in authority and strength to deal with the consequences, and his incredible skill at soccer. Playing one-on-one soccer with other kids for rations, Arcady initially seems ruthless, but the act of it is revealed when he returns his winnings (“an eighth of bread, our daily ration”) to the boy he beats. And, when a group of inspectors comes to the compound, Arcady makes a deal with the director: Arcady will play whomever the director lines up and, for every win, the director will give him and the loser of the match two bread rations.
During the “games,” one of the inspectors seems especially interested in Arcady. While Arcady didn’t believe the director who, when trying to convince him to play, said there might be a soccer coach among the inspectors scouting for new talent, Arcady nonetheless starts thinking that this man is indeed a coach. When Ivan Ivanych returns to adopt Arcady, the boy thinks it’s because of his soccer talent – and that, if he fails to perform as expected, he’ll find himself back at the children’s home.
Without revealing what happens, the relationship between Arcady and Ivan is really touching. Reading how it develops, the hurdles they both have to overcome, the trust they both need to gain, the courage they both need to find, is inspiring, especially surrounded as they are by people who would do them ill out of fear or ambition – with two notable exceptions. Arcady’s Goal is a well-told story that respects its readers and doesn’t shy away from difficult material even while delivering a positive, hopeful message. The black and white illustrations by Yelchin communicate an additional depth of feeling and movement, or stillness.
The black and white illustrations by Eugene Yelchin communicate an additional depth of feeling and movement, or stillness in Arcady’s Goal.
Yelchin, who was born in Russia, left the former Soviet Union when he was 27. Arcady’s Goal is considered a companion novel to Breaking Stalin’s Nose (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2011). Also written and illustrated by Yelchin, the 2012 Newberry Honor book centres around 10-year-old Sasha Zaichik, who has wanted to be a Young Soviet Pioneer since he was 6 but when the time comes to join, “everything seems to go awry. Perhaps Sasha does not want to be a Young Soviet Pioneer after all. Is it possible that everything he knows about the Soviet government is a lie?”
In the author’s note that follows the story in Arcady’s Goal, Yelchin writes about an experience he had in the summer of 2013 when he was at Oakland University in Michigan to speak to students who were studying Breaking Stalin’s Nose. After his talk, he caught a cab to the airport. The driver had also come from St. Petersburg. When the reason for Yelchin’s trip came up in conversation, the driver fell silent, then revealed that his grandfather had died as a result of being sent to a hard labor camp for 10 years by Stalin. “I caught myself leaning in close to hear Yury,” writes Yelchin. “He was whispering.
“And so it goes. The terror inflicted upon the Russian people by Stalinism did not die with those who experienced it firsthand but continued on from one generation to the next. It is as if anyone born in the Soviet Union continued to suffer from a post-traumatic stress disorder that has never been treated.” The Communist Party, with its preemptive strikes against people who might disagree with them, “ensured that this trauma would live on even after the demise of communism. It did so by shattering families of the enemies of the people. Their family members were denied places to live, work, permits and food rations. Children suffered the most. Infants were separated from their mothers, placed into the security police-run orphanages and often given different surnames.” Yelchin notes that everything was taken away from these children, and that children could receive the death penalty at age 12. For these and other reasons, says Yelchin, even 60 years after Stalin’s death, a cab driver thousands of miles away from Russia whispered “as he shared the fate of his grandfather, an enemy of the people.”
There is a teacher’s guide for Arcady’s Goal that can be downloaded from eugeneyelchinbooks.com/arcadys-goal.php. It is quite intriguing in and of itself, and would be an excellent resource for non-teachers as well.
Men’s books. Normally, I don’t classify the novels I read along gender lines, though I have read and reviewed “chick lit.” Both Wiseman’s Wager by Dave Margoshes and Fun & Games by David Michael Slater are far removed from that genre – the sex is less romantic, the language more crude, the energy more confrontational or aggressive. My guess is that the former will appeal most to older male readers, the latter to younger.
Both novels feature main characters with whom readers can sympathize. Despite their faults, they are likable, and they have an energy that drives the narrative, even as it circles, as in Wiseman’s Wager, or spins out of control, as in Fun & Games.
In Wiseman’s Wager, Zan Wiseman, 82, has recently moved to Calgary from Las Vegas. His longtime partner, Myrna, has passed away and his only remaining sibling, Abe, lives in Calgary, where his wife, Dolly, lies in a coma. In the late 1980s, the “A to Z Brothers, together again after all these years.”
Zan grew up with his brothers in Winnipeg, participating in the labor movement through the General Strike in 1919. The family moved to Toronto for a short period after the strike but returned to Winnipeg. Zan himself moved to Toronto soon thereafter and lived there for many years, continuing his union and communist party involvement.
Early into his stay in Calgary, Zan, suffering from severe constipation, lands in hospital, where he makes a joke about killing himself. We mainly learn about his younger days, his one novel – The Wise Men of Chelm, published in 1932 with little fanfare because the publisher goes bankrupt (it was the Depression, after all) and republished some 30 years later to great acclaim – his many wives, his brothers’ escapades (arrest for robbery, going to war, etc.), his relationship with his parents and his feelings about religion, politics and love, through his government-imposed therapy sessions with the “Lady Doctor,” Zelda, on whom he develops a small crush. There are also journal entries, “duets” in which he and Abe exchange brief, rapid-fire repartee, and Abe’s one-sided conversations with Dolly.
Zan is opinionated, sarcastic and difficult at times, but he is also endearing. He has led (perhaps) a fascinating life in an historically fascinating time. The confessional of an elderly man, there is uncertainty as to what did and did not happen, but readers won’t struggle with that aspect. While probably realistic as to how such memories would unfold, the repetition impedes the flow of the story somewhat and, at times, the dialogue crosses into stereotype; two bickering old Jewish men (Zan and Abe) or a crotchety old grump (Zan with Zelda).
The issues raised during the novel, however, are extremely engaging. Zan’s involvement with the Communist Party in Canada; his views on religion, particularly Judaism, of course; the losses we incur as we age; the different paths that members of the same family take; the way in which we fall in and out of love. There is much to recommend this novel, but it just didn’t hold my attention from start to finish. As Zan’s mind wandered, so did mine. A more exacting editor would have helped.
As for Fun & Games, it is much more focused and is also very well written, but it takes many trips to Crazy Town. It is a very stylistic novel that will appeal to many with its dark humor and intelligent take on various aspects of life, but the plot was a little over-the-top unrealistic, though the characters felt real enough.
The expression is, “It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.” And, sometimes tacked on to the end of that is, “Then it’s hilarious.” Well, there is much that is funny in this book but it didn’t reach hilarity for me, despite, not to ruin any surprises, the fact that many, many people get hurt (i.e. die) – I don’t know how high a body count there is for most coming-of-age tales but if there were a list, Fun & Games would be pretty high up on it.
We meet Jon Schwartz, his three main buddies, his parents and two sisters, as well as his grandparents, when he is in Grade 9. It is the late 1980s. Not surprisingly, sex – or, more accurately, curiosity about it – is a prominent part of Jon’s life. He and his friends discuss it a lot, experiment with it a little, and fall victim to Jon’s sisters’ use of it to manipulate them.
Religion and Judaism feature prominently in Fun & Games. Jon’s grandmother is constantly making discomforting “jokes” about Jews, Israelis and the Holocaust – she and her husband are survivors – and his father is an avowed atheist and a respected scholar and author on the topic. One of Jon’s friends covets the rabbi’s daughter, and the rabbi is apparently one of the few people able to argue with his father about religion to any effect.
Jon, who more than one character remarks, “handle[s] everything so well,” handles a lot from Grade 9 to his first semester at university, where Fun & Games leaves us. If you can suspend your disbelief to the full extent, you will enjoy the fast-paced exhilarating ride that is Fun & Games. And it’s not an empty ride. I can still feel the thrill that came for me from the more philosophical parts, the ideas Slater’s presents amid the contrived chaos, and the reflections on family, friendship, loss and life.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. (photo by Dani Machlis)
Approximately 2,000 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev students served during Operation Protective Edge, and another almost 1,000 remained in Beersheva to volunteer in the community. Between July 8 and Aug. 26, all activities, classes and exams were canceled. It was the third time and the longest period that the university has had to close its campus because of rockets from Gaza.
“Tragically, four members of the BGU family fell in battle. Their deaths are the latest permanent and heartbreaking reminder of the enormous price we continue to pay for an independent Jewish state,” wrote Prof. Rivka Carmi, MD, president of BGU, in her Sept. 14 e-message.
Prof. Rivka Carmi is in her third term as president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. (photo by Dani Machlis)
“Other members of the university family, more than I believe we will ever know, served their country, their neighborhoods, their communities and their families by devoting time and energy to helping others endure the more than 50 days of what seemed like never-ending sirens, explosions and the awful anticipation of the next one,” continued the message.
“For many of those affected by the war, the plans they had to work and earn the money needed to cover the costs of tuition and living expenses never came to fruition.”
To help, Carmi asked BGU’s associates organizations to raise $1 million, which they did. As of that message, Canadian Associates of BGU had raised more than $125,000 “for scholarships, with more expected to be donated.” As well, “approximately $120,000 … [was] received to purchase a 3-D electrocardiograph to be used with the wounded soldiers in Soroka hospital.” In August, American lawyer and philanthropist Murray H. Shusterman had pledged $1 million to improve campus safety against rocket attacks.
“We are worrying about our students so that they won’t suffer from the consequences of the university being closed and from the impact of having done extended military duty, while outlining how we need to be prepared for the possibility of more rockets in the future,” Carmi told the Jewish Independent in an email interview. “Basically, we reopened immediately on Aug. 26th to minimize loss of time, so that we wouldn’t have to delay the start of the fall semester. We have also had to institute a number of budget cuts to cover the many unexpected costs of the summer’s closure.”
While the university’s “annual operating budget comes from the government (primarily for salaries) through the Council for Higher Education in Israel, all growth and development comes through fundraising,” she explained. “Growth – in both physical infrastructure and human capacity – are made possible through amazing philanthropists who share our vision.” She voiced appreciation for the Canadian Jewish community’s support.
Carmi is the first woman to have served as president of an Israeli university, and the first as dean of a health sciences faculty. Elected for her first term as BGU president in 2006, she was confirmed for her third term this past May.
“I am sorry to say it is still an accomplishment to be the first woman and, though the situation is improving, it isn’t happening fast enough for me,” she said when asked about how women’s involvement at these levels had changed in the past 15 years or so. “There is a real problem still today to encourage girls to pursue their studies in the sciences. BGU operates a number of programs to encourage girls to expand their horizons through our Access to Higher Education program.”
One of her favorites is Inbal, which was spearheaded by Prof. Hugo Guterman. According to the blurb that accompanies the YouTube video of a group of program participants, “‘Only three to five percent of students in the department of electrical and computer engineering are women. In general engineering, it’s about 25 percent,’ he notes. Three years ago, he, along with BGU and the Beersheva municipality, began a course in robotics for female middle school and high school pupils. Beginning with less than 15 girls participating, this year [2012] nearly 120 girls took part in the course.”
With similar intent – to get more women into higher education – Carmi co-founded with Fatma Kassim the nongovernmental organization Alnuhud, the Association for the Promotion of Bedouin Women’s Education in the Negev. “It was the first such an organization … in the community,” said Carmi. “We realized then that an educated woman has a huge impact on the community and her family. The goal was to ensure that girls can compete on their own level to enter into university. At the same time, the university created what has turned into a very successful medical cadet program, launched by Prof. Riad Agbaria, to find promising Bedouin high school students and help them prepare for university studies in the health sciences.
“People like Shira Herzog (z”l) and the Kahnaoff Foundation have put us in a position to be able to offer scholarships to Bedouin women. When you are out in the Negev, you really feel the difference. There are now many Bedouin women out there making a difference in their communities.”
Two years ago, Carmi led a national committee examining the barriers and possible solutions to the situation. “The findings were conclusive,” reads BGU’s President’s Report 2014, “while Israel graduates a large number of female PhDs, it has far fewer women in the ranks of senior faculty than other European countries.
“This year, there were 216 women among the faculty, not including clinical medical staff, representing 27 percent of the total. The higher one ascends the ladder of seniority, the lower the percentage of women. Today, 40 percent of lecturers, 35 percent of senior lecturers, 19 percent of associate professors and only 16 percent of full professors are women. Of the 38 new faculty members recruited this year, one third are women.
“The average age for a woman completing a doctorate in Israel is relatively high: 37.3 years old. Israeli women also tend to have more children than similarly educated women around the world. The result is that potential candidates for international fellowships are older, with more children and less flexibility than their peers.”
“One of the key stumbling blocks, the report found, is the postdoctoral fellowship, generally done abroad. The average age for a woman completing a doctorate in Israel is relatively high: 37.3 years old. Israeli women also tend to have more children than similarly educated women around the world. The result is that potential candidates for international fellowships are older, with more children and less flexibility than their peers.”
The report listed a few initiatives that had been implemented based on the findings, but it is a continuing process. Just last month, said Carmi, “we organized a national conference to encourage women to a pursue an academic career. More than 350 young academics – men and women – came to Beersheva for the event that included hands-on advice and a panel of young female researchers who have ‘made it’ talking about their experiences. The responses we received from the participants have been overwhelmingly supportive.”
Carmi herself is a renowned researcher, and there is even a medical condition named after her. “During my work as a neonatal physician, I treated babies who were born without skin and with other severe birth defectives,” she explained about how the Carmi syndrome came to be named. “I was highly motivated to find the cause for this horrible condition. The problems we observed had never been seen before so it was decided to name this horrible disease after me. Twenty-five years later, I was fortunate enough to identify the gene mutation that causes it!”
For Carmi, genetics has been a long-held passion. “When I was in school,” she said, “I fell in love with the whole idea of research. My curiosity was captured by genetics and how it all shapes our lives. I decided very early on to become a genetics researcher. I realized that the best way to do this and help people at the same time was to study medicine and combine it with scientific research.”
While time no longer permits Carmi to be actively involved in research, she said, “It was my life, but I am happy in my new career that allows me to make a difference. I moved to the Negev in 1975. Watching it change and grow is very satisfying.”
“We are overcoming budget shortages and the incredible competition with universities around the world to attract the best and brightest young researchers through a special presidential fund…. I have funded researchers in fields that range from Yiddish to cognitive brain sciences.”
One of Carmi’s missions when she became BGU president was to “inject scientific content and research” into the university. On the progress of that mission, she said, “We are overcoming budget shortages and the incredible competition with universities around the world to attract the best and brightest young researchers through a special presidential fund. This allows BGU to offer competitive packages to researchers who might otherwise go elsewhere and opens up new positions as part of a wider agenda to stop Israel’s brain drain. I have funded researchers in fields that range from Yiddish to cognitive brain sciences.”
Carmi has received many honors over her career, including from Canadian organizations, and there have been several collaborations between BGU and Canadian science/academia.
“As a researcher, I had no Canadian contacts, but when I became dean of the faculty of health sciences, I became involved with the Canada International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO), which honored me in 2002 for my work. Now, our students participate regularly in their programs,” Carmi told the Independent.
“Over the past few years,” she added, “we have created a number of cooperative agreements with Canadian universities, the most noteworthy is with Dalhousie,” from which she received an honorary doctorate last year. The BGU-Dalhousie memorandum of understanding involves joint research projects, among other cooperative ventures, including the development of an Ocean Studies Centre in Eilat.
“We have had a significant increase in the number of Canadian academics coming to the Negev. The result has been a number of agreements for students and cooperative projects,” said Carmi, who was among those participating in a late-October conference in Ottawa on innovation that “focused on the Canadian-Israeli connection. It was fascinating,” she said, “and is sure to result in further partnerships.”
For more information about BGU, visit bengurion.ca.
On Dec. 5, Lenka Lichtenberg will perform traditional and original songs at the Rothstein Theatre, self-accompanied on piano, guitar, harmonium and percussion. (photo from lenkalichtenberg.com)
Three new CDs in three years made in three different regions of the world, garnering at least as many awards and even more nominations. Toronto-based Lenka Lichtenberg has been on creative fire. She sent the Independent greetings from Prague earlier this month, as she was preparing for a concert there, and early next month, she will be in Vancouver.
The group Art Without Borders is bringing Lichtenberg here for a Dec. 5 solo performance at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre.
According to its website, the nonprofit organization has two missions: “it strives to promote an understanding and appreciation for Czech culture through the arts both within and without the Czech community” and “it endeavors to cultivate dialogue between Canada and Central Europe.”
Lichtenberg’s work certainly forms cultural connections, and it greatly expands upon the dialogue. Consider only her most recent recordings, all of which bring together top-notch musicians from around the world to create music that blends multiple languages, cultures, melodies and rhythms: Songs for the Breathing Walls (2012) with the help of many international artists, Embrace (2013) with Canadian world-music group Fray and Lullabies from Exile (2014) with Israel’s Yair Dalal.
In addition, on her website, Lichtenberg has a virtual museum that displays some of what she has discovered about her family. Born in Prague, she didn’t find out she was Jewish until she was 9 or 10 years old. “It took me awhile to learn about my roots, as my mother did not say much about it; she did not know herself,” writes Lichtenberg. “My mother, while 100 percent Jewish, was brought up a Catholic by her family who left Judaism one by one. My great-grandmother described herself as ‘without faith’ already in 1919, and my grandmother and grandfather left Judaism some three to four years later. There were no signs of Jewish roots in the households, Christmas was celebrated. Not a completely atypical Czech Jewish urban family, I believe; assimilation was widespread. Then, the Holocaust … and my family was murdered. As an adult, I began learning.
“The activities of the past 25 years of my life, since my first trip to Masada, have largely been an attempt to learn about, and honor, my heritage in ways available to me: as a Yiddish singer (picking up Yiddish as an adult) and musician, composer of music built in one way or another on Jewish traditions, and a singer of beautiful liturgy. My 2010-2012 project Songs for the Breathing Walls was the most determined milestone in my quest to honor and connect with the past – via the history of the wider Jewish community of Czech and Moravian lands.”
The album Songs for the Breathing Walls connects that past with the future, preserving traditional Hebrew liturgy and poems in contemporary arrangements that were performed live in 12 different synagogues, or buildings that were once synagogues or used as such (nine Czech and three in Moravia). The recordings were made from July 2010 through July 2011. “The journey ended in Terezin, where my mother’s family was incarcerated; for the first time, I walked in the halls of the building where my mother had lived for two and a half years,” writes Lichtenberg in the liner notes. Appropriately, the memorial prayer El Maleh Rachamim was recorded there. Several of the recordings are prayers from the Yizkor service, but they mix with an Adon Olam based by Dalal on a melody of Babylonian Jews, an Avinu Malkeinu arranged by Lichtenberg and other holiday or weekday prayers.
Mourning and hope, sadness and joy cohabitate easily in this beautiful, moving and meaningful recording, the idea for which came to Lichtenberg in 2009. Performing on consecutive days in synagogues in Plzen and in Liberec, she noticed a difference in sound, ambience and feeling, “a unique character stemming from something deeper than mere acoustics … perhaps something left behind by those who built these structures and filled them with their lives.” Her hope is that, in listening to Songs for the Breathing Walls, people “will be able to hear the ‘breathing walls’ as well, embracing those who lived among them, love, suffered, prayed for peace. Perhaps then, their memory will live on….”
In all of Lichtenberg’s music, the memory and traditions of those who have lived before can be heard – they are celebrated, and merge with the memories, traditions and passions of Lichtenberg and the artists with whom she collaborates. A completely different mood infuses Embrace than Songs for the Breathing Walls, yet it too crosses temporal, cultural and geographic borders. Recorded in Toronto with Fray, co-led by percussionist Alan Hetherington, Embrace features lyrics inspired by religious texts, folk tales, poems, family and friends, with melodies rooted in the Middle East, North America, South America and India.
Lichtenberg is at home in many languages and musical styles, and every release highlights her talents, and those of the musicians with which she works, Lullabies from Exile being another example. It is one of the most distinctive collections of lullabies you’ll ever hear. With songs recorded in Israel, Canada and Czech Republic, it brings together Babylonian and Yiddish music, songs sung to Dalal and Lichtenberg by their mothers, literally intertwining them in eight medleys, each arranged from a song from each of their traditions.
As explained on Dalal’s website, the collaboration on this CD “was born before a joint concert in Kosice, Slovakia, when Lichtenberg played the album’s opening lullaby, ‘Yankele,’ for Dalal to see if he could accompany her on oud. Soon, Dalal was playing an Iraqi lullaby from his childhood [‘Wien Ya Galub’] that connected to Lichtenberg’s Yiddish song with a remarkably natural intuition…. While most of these lullabies are in Judeo-Iraqi Arabic and Yiddish, the concept grew to include songs in Czech, Slovak and Hebrew in order to reflect the artists’ personal histories, as well as English, to acknowledge the experience of the English-speaking Diaspora.” The CD also includes two non-medleys.
When the Jewish Independent first interviewed Lichtenberg (“Eclectic Jewish music,” Dec. 15, 2006), it was about her third CD, Pashtes/Simplicity, a collaboration with Brian Katz, in which she set the Yiddish poetry of Simcha Simchovitch to Jewish, jazz, Brazilian and other melodies. Having performed previously “in lounges, bars, in a rock band, more bars, and a cruise line,” she explained what she realized in Israel: “… I needed to change my direction and truly embrace my roots, my identity, which at that time was barely visible. I decided to ‘do Jewish.’ Being a musician, it meant dropping the kind of music I made my living with up to then in Canada and starting from scratch as a Jewish singer…. I concentrated on Yiddish, as I felt it would be closer to my true identity than Hebrew, even though my family, my mom and grandma, Holocaust survivors, didn’t speak a word of Yiddish. [They were] totally assimilated, as [were] most Czech Jews.” Lichtenberg, who had also been studying cantorial music for several years by 2006, described her experience with Jewish music as being “a growing process.”
While it is tempting, having listened to these latest recordings, to say that Lichtenberg’s Jewish music is all grown up, so to speak, written and performed with a confidence and skill that is remarkable, she seems like someone who will continually push herself to keep growing, experimenting in each new project. And, of course, she has several on the go. For more information about Lichtenberg, visit lenkalichtenberg.com. For tickets to her Dec. 5, 8 p.m., solo concert at the Rothstein Theatre, visit arwibo.org ($25) or the theatre box office at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver ($28).
More than 30 authors are featured in this year’s Cherie Smith JCCGV Book Festival, from the time it opens on Saturday night, Nov. 22, with Israeli author Zeruya Shalev (The Remains of Love) till it closes on Thursday night, Nov. 27, with Toronto emergency physician and CBC Radio host Dr. Brian Goldman (The Secret Language of Doctors). Here’s a taste of what to expect each literary day.
Sunday: Fact Meets Fiction
Speaking twice on Sunday is writer, editor and activist Nora Gold. Her late-afternoon talk will be about jewishfiction.net, an online journal that she founded and edits. In the evening, her novel Fields of Exile will be the focus. In it, the main character, Judith, faces antisemitism in the guise of anti-Israelism on the fictional campus of Dunhill University, where she is taking a master’s in social work. Gold’s opinion on the subject comes out clearly and the novel will make many Jews who have had to endure Apartheid Weeks and anti-Israel propaganda on campus feel less alone; the frustration and fear that Judith experiences will be familiar.
Judith is a knowledgeable and critical supporter of Israel, she has lived in the country, worked for peace and on human rights projects there, and only returns to Canada because her father becomes ill. Nevertheless, with few exceptions, her opinions on Israel are discounted and dismissed by professors and students alike. Ultimately, the anti-Israel words and images turn into violence because they are never put in check by the university, each professor having their own reasons for ignoring, or not speaking out, against antisemitism.
Monday: Focus on Hungarian Jewry
Joseph Kertes shares his session with Ayelet Waldman (Love and Treasure), hosted by Janos Maté. Kertes’ The Afterlife of Stars follows the Beck family’s flight from Budapest to Paris as Russia invades Hungary in 1956. The terrifying reality of the period, the human and material losses, are tempered by the story being told by 9.8-year-old Robert Beck, whose class is in the process of reviewing decimal points when the book begins. Robert and his 13.7-year-old brother Atilla don’t necessarily understand what is happening, though Atilla is wise beyond his years, always asking questions, philosophizing, taking Robert on dangerous (though they don’t usually realize it) journeys, to see a movie, to see some statues, various adventures without their parents’ knowledge.
The wonder of the brothers and their relationship provides the energy of the story, which slows and becomes pedantic in places where historical or background information is explained, especially once the family reaches Paris. Overall, though, The Afterlife of Stars is mostly a charming tale with moments of sadness and beauty, written from a unique perspective.
Tuesday: For Book Clubs and Book Lovers
Steven Galloway’s most recent novel, The Confabulist, is, in a word: fun. This tale of Houdini, as told by Houdini and Martin Strauss, the man who killed him (twice), is perfect vacation/relaxation fare. Galloway explains some of Houdini’s greatest illusions, regales with tales of Houdini working with the secret service as a spy and captivates with Houdini’s efforts to expose spiritualists for the frauds they were perpetrating – on some very powerful and influential people. Out of all the threats facing Houdini, it was an unexpected punch in a bar that killed him … or was it?
The entertainment value of The Confabulist is enriched with ponderings on the role and purpose of magic in our lives; the fallibility and malleability of memory. Both Houdini and Strauss contemplate how they have lived and what they have accomplished, and perhaps their observations will prompt readers to think about their own pleasures and regrets. Or maybe they’ll just enjoy the show.
Wednesday: The Power to Triumph
Susan Wener has had several serious health issues in her life, including two bouts of cancer. In Resilience: A Story of Courage and Triumph in the Face of Recurrent Cancer, she matter-of-factly takes readers through her experiences and how she handled them. Already a health-care system veteran when she was first diagnosed with cancer at age 36, when her children were young, Wener hoped to live long enough to see them to adulthood – she now has several grandchildren.
There are many life lessons from such a memoir, of course. One of the most powerful in this one is that it’s OK to be angry, to breakdown, to react how you react. You are not in charge of the disease but you are in charge of everything else, what tests and treatments you undergo, what therapies you try, who you ask for help, how you live your life.
Wener writes without bravado. She kept getting up every day, but she wasn’t always a fighter or optimistic. Her illnesses, especially the last serious one – years of pain and horrible treatments before being diagnosed with a functional obstruction in the colon – pushed her to the limit, as the title of that chapter openly admits. But she did push through, she took the tests, did the research, underwent the surgeries, made the decisions.
Wener shares her thoughts about and discussions with her husband and daughters, and these moments are incredibly emotional. Readers will readily imagine such conversations with their own family and friends and, despite the lack of sentimentality with which Wener writes – or perhaps because of it – most readers will not be able to get through this memoir without getting a little choked up and teary-eyed at times.
Thursday: Fix Your Diet
In the penultimate event of the festival, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff speaks about The Diet Fix: Why Diets Fail and How to Make Yours Work, a clear, concise book that outlines the main weaknesses and myths surrounding dieting, and offers a detailed program that Freedhoff believes can result in success – i.e. long-term weight loss.
It is not a difficult program, but neither is it for the faint of heart. Be prepared to diarize, measure, goal-set and cook. And to be patient, both with the length of time it might take to lose the weight but also with yourself if you break your diet or exercise routine.
According to Freedhoff, most diets suffer from “seven deadly sins,” such as the constant need to battle hunger or resist temptation, and these sins traumatize many people, leading to depression, binge eating and other problems. His solution begins with a “10-day reset.” He does not promise you will lose a pant size or two, but, rather, the reset “is about lifting the guilt, the fear and the traumas of the past off your shoulders and giving you a brand-new relationship with your body, your weight and your health.”
The reset he lays out and the discussion of how it can be applied to any diet and in your broader life seems pragmatic. Freedhoff includes advice for people on medication that leads to weight gain, and for parents on how they can help with their children’s weight. Throughout the book, Freedhoff offers advice that makes it seem like his plan has a better chance than most of working. For example, he summarizes in the epilogue 10 points to remember, including, “If you can’t happily eat any less, you’re not going to eat any less,” and “If you can’t use food both for comfort and celebration, then you’re on a diet that you’re ultimately going to quit.”
The book ends with recipes for snacks and meals, as well as suggested reading and other resources, including smartphone apps.
From Nov. 12-15, Rumble Theatre’s Tremors presents three different plays – Trainspotting by Harry Gibson, The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide by Sean Graney and This is War by Hannah Moscovitch. They will take place simultaneously in different parts of the Russian Hall. After each night’s performances, the entertainment will continue, with an after-party to which everyone is invited.
Part of Rumble Theatre’s mission is to foster “meaningful interactions between emerging and established artists,” and Tremors does just that. From start to finish, each of the plays is mounted by a group of relative newcomers to the professional theatre world. Knowing Rumble Theatre either directly or indirectly through colleagues, both Andrew Cohen and Naomi Vogt leapt at the opportunity to be involved when the call for artists went out.
Andrew Cohen is doing sound design for Trainspotting. (photo from Rumble Theatre)
“I have been interested in music composition and sound design for a long time,” said Cohen. “When I watch – or hear – a show, the moments I can connect to most are the ones where the sound is used to mirror the action onstage. I’m excited to have started exploring and establishing myself as a composer and designer in addition to performing.”
Cohen will be in charge of sound design for Trainspotting. “I submitted to Stephen Drover, artistic director of Rumble Theatre not knowing which plays were being mounted,” he said. “When we all submitted, we were asked which types of shows we were interested in working on and why. They paired all the designers and directors with their respective shows based on similar theatrical esthetics and tastes.”
Rumble’s mandate to mentor newcomers means that “all Tremors artists are assigned mentors, who are helping us to navigate this challenging material,” said Vogt, who was a student ambassador for the organization in her final year of theatre school.
“I promoted Rumble Theatre’s work, especially their phenomenal show Penelope, and co-produced a 48-hour play-building experiment called The Crockpot, which featured one representative from Vancouver’s theatre training facilities: UBC, Studio 58, Douglas, Capilano, Trinity Western and SFU. The goal of the project was to inspire students at these schools to connect with each other. There’s a tendency among theatre students to work only with their peers, even after graduation. It’s important to maintain those contacts from school, but it’s also important to expand into the larger community of Vancouver artists.”
Vogt will be acting in The 4th Graders, which “is about a class of fourth-grade students who honor their classmate Johnny with a play he wrote, following his suicide,” she explained. “The play details Johnny’s version of the series of events that led to his suicide. I play Rachel, an unpopular 10-year-old who is bullied for being overweight. Rachel and Johnny were ‘boyfriend/girlfriend,’ but Rachel ends the relationship because she believes she’s not deserving of Johnny’s love. The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide is dark, but it’s so hilarious, too. It explores serious themes of love, betrayal and revenge, but through the lens of a 9-year-old, which I hope resonates with audience members of all ages.
Her past experience should help in her portrayal.
“I started performing in elementary school,” she explained, “when I was given special permission to dramatize Shel Silverstein poems during ‘reading hour’ with a friend. We weren’t popular girls, but our classmates thought our skits were funny – plus, we got out of reading hour! We kept going, eventually developing a sketch series of Oprah Winfrey Show parodies, which we’d perform almost daily to our Grade 4 classmates. I, an overgrown poofy-haired 8-year-old, played Oprah. My friend Allison, a tiny bespectacled thing, played our various idols: Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain and others. We were a hit.”
Naomi Vogt plays Rachel The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide. (photo from Rumble Theatre)
It was then that Vogt knew she wanted to be an actor. “It offered some respect and acknowledgment I otherwise didn’t receive in the social arena,” she said. “I knew it was a job grown-ups had, so I thought, ‘Perfect, got that whole what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up business sorted. I’m going to take acting classes, hang up some Destiny’s Child posters and things are going to fall into place for me.’ Obviously, a career in the arts is different than my fourth-grade mind dreamed it would be. I’ve only just transitioned into the professional world, and things are difficult sometimes, but my grade school dream is still alive!”
Flourishing, actually. Vogt just completed the bachelor of fine arts acting program at the University of British Columbia, where she won the Evelyn Harden Award. “It’s an award that the UBC theatre faculty gives to a graduating theatre student and, happily, it accompanies a cheque,” she explained. “It’s made available annually through the generosity of Dr. Evelyn Harden. I was so grateful to be the recipient among my class and it helped me make it through my final year.”
Vogt also expressed gratitude for her connection to the Jewish community. “Like theatre,” she said, “my affiliation with Judaism gave me a cultural anchor. In the rocky seas of adolescence, I knew I was a Jewish theatre nerd and, whenever I felt lame, ostracized or unusual, I could feel confident about those two things. It’s still a big part of my life, and so it features pretty largely in my improv and sketch comedy. I often find myself muttering broken Hebrew prayers or referencing Jewish holidays or practices onstage.”
Describing herself as a “‘character’ type within a pool of ingénues,” Vogt said she “often played one of the following roles: old women, very old women, and men. And, I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m unusual, so I get to play interesting people. For example, in my final show at UBC, I had the fantastic opportunity to play the murderous king Pere Ubu in an all-female version of Alfred Jarry’s masterpiece Ubu Roi, and I couldn’t have asked for a weirder, bigger, more joyful undertaking.”
Cohen, who has been featured in the Jewish Independent on more than one occasion, is also engaged in several interesting and meaningful undertakings. He was in the JI just a few months ago, when he was interviewed about his involvement as part of the faculty of Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this past summer.
Over the last couple of years, Cohen said he has spent most of his time out of Vancouver, performing in plays and musicals in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Halifax.
“I spent several months traveling around the Americas to work with the Broadway organization Artists Striving to End Poverty. They commissioned me to direct and musically arrange an international music video featuring some of the students from their schools around the world, and some of their celebrity teachers (like cast members from Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, HBO’s Looking, Wicked’s Kristin Chenoweth and others).
“Most recently, I have been working on re-imagining and rearranging the Joni Mitchell canon for a new show co-created with my beautiful, talented fiancé Anna Kuman. Our show, Circle Game, for the Untitled Theatre Company, was developed as part of the inaugural residency with Capilano University. Anna and I are excited to have been granted another development residence, this time with a professional theatre company in the city. We are also very excited to have New York and Stratford director Robert McQueen helm our next workshop.”
Cohen is part of the tech team for Firehall Arts Centre’s presentation of Urinetown, which runs until Nov. 29. This month, he also “will be workshopping a new musical with Axis Theatre that tours around Western Canada in the new year. Following that will be the next development phase of my show Circle Game…. And then, next summer, I will be playing Judas in the Arts Club Theatre’s production of Godspell. After that, I’ve booked the biggest, most exciting gig of my life: marrying the incredible Anna Kuman!”
As for Vogt, she said about her future plans, “It’s scary to be released out of the safety of theatre school, but it’s exciting to work in the professional community, too. I’m teaching with the Vancouver Youth Theatre right now, which is especially fun because I took their classes as a child. I’m also experimenting with physical theatre and puppetry and, right now, I’m taking a clowning class with the remarkable Gina Bastone. Traveling is a big part of my immediate plans, too – I’m hoping to go to Israel in the spring. But, until then, feel free to hire me!”
Tickets for Tremors ($15 for each play) can be purchased via rumble.org. Since the plays take place simultaneously, it is only possible to see one play per night.
In The Remains of Love, her latest novel to be translated into English, Zeruya Shalev once again explores (and crosses) intimate emotional boundaries. In this novel, however, she also overtly explores territory that she has actively resisted – Israel, where she was born and still lives.
“In my previous works, I avoided relating to the Israeli reality in a straightforward way,” Shalev told the Independent in an email interview. “The readers could have sensed it only indirectly – through the reckless pace, the intensity and perhaps even the pessimism. In this book, however, I felt an urge to open more windows to the Israeli reality – such as the history of the kibbutz and the burning issues of human rights. Each book has its own needs. Many issues that did not fit right in the previous books with the previous protagonists found themselves fitting perfectly into this one and its characters; this is because the Israeli reality affects them in a deeper and a more profound manner. And yet, still I am wrestling with the dominance of this reality, and try not to let it take over my books – it’s enough that it controls my life.”
Shalev included a winking emoticon after this last comment, indicating that the remark should be taken with a grain of salt, or at least not as seriously as it reads. She has an engaging manner and a sense of humor, which comes through in her writing (amid the serious, emotional and provocative material) and especially in interviews (there are several available on YouTube). In addition to her talent as a writer – her novels are critically acclaimed and have garnered various awards – Shalev is a thoughtful, friendly and relaxed interviewee. She is a great choice to launch this year’s Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival on Nov. 22.
The Remains of Love (Bloomsbury, 2013) centres around a dying woman, Hemda Horovitz, and her two adult children, who each have families, foibles and problems of their own. Her favorite, Avner, is a human rights lawyer; he is questioning everything about his life, whether he has made a dent in the inequality and injustice in the world, as well as his relationship with his wife and sons. Hemda’s daughter, Dina, has devoted herself to her own daughter, Nitzan – giving her the love she never received from Hemda – but, like most teenagers, Nitzan is pulling away, so Dina looks to adopting a child to fill the void, even though her husband and daughter are against it.
The focus on three protagonists required a change in style for Shalev.
“In my previous novels, I concentrated on one protagonist, and followed her stream of consciousness in the first person, which creates immediate intimacy,” she explained. “The first person traps the readers in the inner world of the character, and even when he or she depicts other characters, they often seem like a projection of his or her own qualities. In this book, I wandered between three minds, three streams of consciousness, and the third person enables me much space and flexibility. At first, I was afraid that the third person might hurt the intimacy of the voice, but in retrospect it seems (or at least I hope) it didn’t. The first person is completely monogamous, and the third person gives you more freedom, which I and my protagonists needed for this book.”
The literal translation of the novel’s title is “the shards of life.” In the French version – and perhaps in other languages, too – chayyim is translated as “life.” However, Philip Simpson, who does a skilled job of translating the book’s content, style and emotion, chooses the word “love.”
“The French title of the book is more loyal to the original title in Hebrew (The Remains of Life) than the English one,” acknowledged Shalev. “Yet my English publisher (in the U.K. and U.S.A.) turned to me and explained that this name does not possess enough beauty and lyric in English; I therefore agreed to change it. We tried together to find a new title that would fit the themes in the book, and also be of poetic value, and this is how we got to this name. It is indeed interesting to realize how easily one can substitute the word ‘life’ for the word ‘love.’ All three protagonists of this book are indeed longing for love, all are experiencing it as a drug-of-life, each in their own unique way. Life without love seems to them tasteless, and they are all willing to go a long way to find it; not only in the footsteps of romantic love, but the love for a child, a brother, for life itself.”
Shalev’s Vancouver visit is part of a tour that begins in Houston and which also stops in Detroit, New York and Chicago.
“Unlike the dozens of tours I have done in Europe, I haven’t had many professional visits in the U.S. and Canada,” she said. “I am very much looking forward, especially to seeing Vancouver, which I heard is amazingly beautiful. As someone who has lived her entire life in a warm and desert land, I admire the cold weather, the mountains and lakes.”
Hopefully, she also likes rain.
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The Sol & Shirley Kort Author Series will feature Zeruya Shalev in conversation with the Globe’s Marsha Lederman on Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m., in the Rothstein Theatre. Tickets ($20) are available from ticketpeak.com/jccgv or the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, in person or by calling 604-257-5111. For the full Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival lineup, visit jewishbookfestival.ca.
In Late Company, Kerry Sandomirsky and Michael Kopsa are a couple who has lost a son to bullying. (photo by David Cooper)
“One year after a tragedy, two couples sit down to dinner. Far from finding the closure they seek, the dinner strips bare their good intentions to reveal layers of parental, sexual and political hypocrisy.”
So begins the promotional material for the award-winning play Late Company, being presented by Touchstone Theatre later this month. It continues, “Loosely based on the true story of the son of a Tory politician who killed himself after being extensively bullied, Late Company imagines what a restorative justice dinner held a year later might have looked like between the parents of a dead gay son, his chief tormentor and that boy’s parents.”
Kerry Sandomirsky takes on the role of the grieving mother. She spoke with the Jewish Independent about the part – and other topics – via email.
JI: The subject matter – and small cast – of Late Company combine to make what seems like a very heavy, intense role. How do you prepare for such roles in general and this one in particular, especially as a mother yourself?
KS: I put my attention on the things that are important to the character, and the world starts to inform you via synchronicity. I was riding on a bus to Kerrisdale and I saw an ad above me for the Josh Platzer Society. It’s for teen suicide prevention and awareness. I contacted them and I’m now communicating with a mother who lost her son. I am also using their recommended reading list for research.
At the same time, my character is a sculptor so I’m reading a biography of Barbara Hepworth.
Earlier this year, I did a similar maternal role in Clybourne Park for the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. When it comes to intense parts, your nervous system doesn’t know that the grief on stage isn’t real, so there’s a cost. Your adrenal system gets depleted. Being a mom, you have to guard against the play contaminating your life.
I got through Clybourne Park by exercising every day and not drinking any wine. Maybe for this one I’ll have to do the opposite.
JI: The last time the JI spoke with you was in 2011, before The Philanderer. At that time, you were returning to the stage after a two-plus-year hiatus to recover from a head injury. In what ways did that period of being away from theatre change your work/life?
KS: I became a teacher at Studio 58, I accepted an offer to direct, and I decided to take more holidays! I also gave myself permission to be a writer. I turned down playing Cleopatra for Bard on the Beach and instead attended SFU Writers Studio to work with Ivan E. Coyote. After that, I was chosen to go to the Banff Playwrights Colony to work on my one-woman play called Wobble.
JI: Your directorial debut (… didn’t see that coming) was a Pick of the Fringe this year. What were some of the highlights and challenges of directing? Can you see yourself doing more directing?
KS: It was a delight to direct one of my favorite people on the planet, Beverley Elliott, and we had Bill Costin doing our music. So, it was a privilege being in the same room with that much talent for almost a month. I’d definitely do it again. I loved not having to learn all those lines.
JI: When I met you at a recent Museum of Vancouver event, you mentioned having just filmed with Denys Arcand. Is there anything about that you can share?
KS: When you work with someone that gifted, there’s no fear on the set. There’s no ego. There’s just creative collaboration. Denys Arcand and the director Adad Hannah both welcomed input from their actors. Denys is quick to laugh. He was a joy to be around.
JI: What are some of the projects on which you’re currently working?
KS: I want to finish writing Wobble. And, of course, doing another new Canadian play is always fulfilling. I dream of collaborating with Crystal Pite. I’m not a dancer, but I did a workshop with her anyway. I was a troll among the whippets. And I’m hoping to work with Jovanni Sy, the new artistic director of Gateway Theatre. I met him at the Playwrights Colony. He’s a great addition to our Vancouver theatre community.
JI: In what part of the process from idea to stage is Wobble?
KS: Katrina Dunn, the director of Late Company, came to Banff and helped me workshop it. We’ve got a solid first draft. I value her intelligence, her feminism and her compassion. As the artistic director of Touchstone Theatre, she champions new Canadian work. The playwright for Late Company, Jordan Tannahill, just got nominated for a Governor General’s Award, but Katrina chose do a play by him long before that. Her instincts are superb. This will be our fifth production together. It’s a treat to be directed by her.
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Late Company is at the Cultch, Vancity Culture Lab, 1895 Venables St., from Nov. 21-30, 8 p.m. (Tuesdays to Sundays), plus Nov. 22, 29 and 30, 2 p.m. There is a two-for-one preview Nov. 20, 8 p.m. Tickets ($27/$22) are available from the Cultch, 604-251-1363 or tickets.thecultch.com.
