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April 12, 2013
New take on an old classic
James Gill plays the lead in Tony Harrison’s The Prince’s Play.
TOVA G. KORNFELD
Community member and local thespian James Gill is an interesting man. Born, raised and bar mitzvahed in Montreal, he studied mathematics and law in New Brunswick before embarking upon an eight-year odyssey with the foreign service as an immigration officer, with postings to Hong Kong and New York. He currently works for the federal government as a First Nations treaty negotiator. While he makes his living as a civil servant, his passion is acting.
Gill was bit by the acting bug at the age of six when, at Montreal Children’s Theatre School, he performed in Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. He had intensive dance training at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and was involved in drama throughout his schooling at Lower Canada College and with the Montreal West Operatic Society.
Even when posted overseas, he found time to act with an English ex-pat theatre group. Since his return to Vancouver, he has tread the boards mostly with United Players at the Jericho Arts Centre. This month, Gill will play the lead in United Players’ North American première of The Prince’s Play, a Tony Harrison (Britain’s leading theatre poet) adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Le Roi s’Amuse (The King’s Fool).
The original play focused on the sexual escapades of Francis I and was banned in France after one performance. The ban remained in effect for more than 50 years. However, the play resurfaced when Italian opera composer Verdi used it for his iconic Rigoletto, in which the action was moved to Mantua, Italy. Harrison’s adaptation, written in rhyming couplets, is set in Victorian England, with HRH the Prince of Wales as protagonist and Gill as his hunchbacked jester, Scotty Scott. University of British Columbia classics professor C.W. (Toph) Marshall is at the helm of this production.
In The Prince’s Play, the Prince of Wales is a womanizing cad who keeps the adoring and encouraging Scott by his side for his amusement while he bed hops his way through life. Unknown to the court, Scott has a pure and lovely 16-year-old daughter, Becky, whom he keeps hidden away in a London flat. When Becky falls victim to the prince’s charm, Scott sets out on a course of paternal revenge with tragic consequences.
Gill’s character repertoire has run the gamut from the flamboyant portrayal of Oscar Wilde in Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love to the nude swim scene as Mr. Beebe in E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View. He has a penchant for period pieces and has appeared in such light classics as The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere’s Fan and Emma. Gill has also explored the dark side, however, in works like Jane Eyre and Our Class, a Holocaust story and now, in this adaptation. The Vancouver Courier theatre critic praised his recent performance in Molière’s The Misanthrope, describing him as “the always splendid James Gill. No matter what the play or the period Gill always looks like he was born for the role.”
Gill took time from his hectic tech-week schedule to talk to the Jewish Independent in the Jericho Arts Centre green room (which is really blue). “I am very excited about this play,” he said. “It is well written and, of course, it is very Victor Hugo thematically, with a hidden daughter, like Cosette in Les Misérables, and a deformed jester, like Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hugo used physical deformity to distinguish his characters from the world around them.”
Gill said he can relate to Scott, even though there are obvious differences between them. “He is this lonely, physically deformed man hiding a deep secret from the world. I know what it means to keep a secret as I too carried one around with me before coming out as a teenager,” Gill explained. “As a Jew, I also relate to the concept of his differentness. Unfortunately, in the end, Scott’s secret destroys him.”
Gill added, “This is my first lead role. It is a very intense and dialogue heavy as well as being a challenge from a physical perspective. I have to keep myself in shape by watching my diet and getting regular exercise to keep my energy levels up. The text is very emotional and it has been a journey for me to learn how to express the sentiments of Scott – but I am loving every minute of it.”
Gill noted that in preparing for the production most of the cast went to see the recent live high-definition broadcast of Rigoletto from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. “It was funny because we all went to see it at different locations and we all came back to rehearsal very excited and tremendously inspired. It was set in 1960s Las Vegas and that different setting makes you see the story in a new light and really appreciate the nuances of the script.”
Vancouver audiences will be treated to a unique production, he said. “It is not often that you have the opportunity to see a play performed in verse, which is a platform for making the story larger than life. It will be a unique experience for the audience. I have appeared in many shows here at Jericho and, as far as I am concerned, this is one of the best ever produced.”
The Prince’s Play runs until April 20, 8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinée on April 21. For tickets, call 604-224-8007, ext. 2, or visit unitedplayers.com.
Tova G. Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.
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