ON STAGE
What: Whiskey Fugue and Requiem
When: Wednesday to Dec. 16, 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. shows
Where: Theatre Inconnu, 1923 Fernwood Rd.
Tickets: $14/$10
More information:
When David MacPherson was approached by Theatre Inconnu about remounting his 1990s Fringe hit Whiskey Fugue and Requiem, he got a tad nervous.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 even sure I could find the script. I think I wrote it on one of those early IBMs,鈥� said MacPherson, a Shawnigan Lake-based actor, playwright and artistic director of Story Theatre 鈥� an educational children鈥檚 theatre touring company.
鈥淎nd when I did, reworking it was challenging because it鈥檚 such a collaborative physical piece,鈥� MacPherson said at the Cornerstone Caf茅 beside the theatre. He wore a T-shirt with a quote from African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass: 鈥淚t is easier to build strong children than repair broken men.鈥�
MacPherson鈥檚 two-person play opens this week at the Fernwood theatre.
It tells the story of John (Cariboo) Cameron, a prolific gold miner in the 1860s who wanted to fulfil his wife鈥檚 dying wish of being buried in her home province of Ontario.
He carried her body in a whiskey-filled casket for 700 kilometres, with several funerals along the way.
MacPherson had just graduated from the Phoenix Theatre program at the University of Victoria and started a small theatre company with friends when he took to the library for inspiration for the historical play.
鈥淎t that time, the theatre scene in town was great. A lot of companies started up and people were coming to Victoria,鈥� said MacPherson.
This was before the days of high-speed internet access for research and social-media promotion.
鈥淚t was all pretty much hard-copy stuff 鈥� when posters mattered, and flyers and sandwich boards.鈥�
MacPherson used the experimental concept of physical movement and 鈥減oor theatre鈥� developed by Polish director Jerzy Grotowski to develop the script for Whiskey Fugue and Requiem.
That meant creating a play using minimal text, without a fancy set or costumes.
The actors follow a concept, such as travel, and explore physical gestures in exercises called plastiques, interspersed with text.
An example: 鈥淚magine the right side of your body doesn鈥檛 want to move, but the left side needs to get away,鈥� MacPherson said.
鈥淎 gesture might come out of that and I鈥檇 have the actor pick at that more 鈥� the movement ends up being more scripted than the dialogue.鈥�
He started reworking the play in early October with the two actors, Melissa Blank (his wife) and Alex Judd.
鈥淓ach actor brings their own element and the play is quite different this time,鈥� MacPherson said. 鈥淏ecause the script is non-linear, we had to find our own throughline.鈥�
There is one star from the original production making a reprise 鈥� one that has appeared in other local plays over the years, as well.
鈥淲e鈥檙e using the original coffin,鈥� said MacPherson, who built it himself after consulting Sands Funeral Home many years ago.
He said in the old days, caskets came in a standard size.
If the funeral was open-casket, a tall person鈥檚 feet might be cut off.
If it was closed-casket, the head would be cut off and placed under their arm.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why they are wide in the middle,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e toured with it on the roof of our VW van and raised a lot of eyebrows 鈥� especially at the U.S. border.鈥�
MacPherson said he鈥檚 happy to see his play come to life again and thankful for Theatre Inconnu鈥檚 support of experimental and diverse theatre.
鈥淚t allows talented people in Victoria to explore beyond what they鈥檇 get to do anywhere else,鈥� he said.
