Stage fright
Editor's Note
When I mention in an email to This Magazine contributing editor and former playwright Jason Sherman that we are planning to do a theatre issue, his response is unequivocal, “Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!” We plan to meet, so he can intervene before it’s too late.
I’m sure Sherman had his reasons for wanting to remove me from this path. And, I did have some hesitation of my own. Watching stories brought to life on stage can be a wonderful thing to experience, but it’s not necessarily the sexiest of discussion topics. Before we started work on this issue, I would have counted myself among those who, if confronted by a theatre-themed magazine, would have kept on walking. But that would be a mistake.
Each year at this time, we do an issue devoted to exploring a theme in arts and culture. In the past we’ve done film, media and music—among others. But theatre is not a subject that ordinarily gets much play on these pages. Maybe it’s because it traditionally falls on the upper end of that old high art/low art divide (or because of the “low” side—oh hello there, Lion King), that it seems a funny fit for This. But there are a lot of amazing, innovative and political things happening on the stage, and the stories are worth paying attention to.
When I first told Sherman we were considering a theatre issue, I didn’t realize he had abandoned the stage to write for the more lucrative small screen. It was a shock to learn that even a prolific, critically acclaimed and Governor General’s Award winning playwright can’t make a living in theatre—partly because his plays are too political to produce.
Canadians like to think we are supportive of the arts, but Sherman’s contribution to this issue, “Scenes From My Last Play,”shows the degree to which that’s not so. (Just in case the phrase “selling out” jumps to mind, remember—you can’t blame a guy for moving on when two of the five figures on his annual royalty cheque fall after the decimal.)
So as not to become too depressed about the state of this country’s theatre, the other features in this issue show the many ways the stage is being used as a force for good.
Carrie-May Siggins documents the rise of verbatim theatre in Canada, a form that has been popular in the U.K. for a decade, involving stories woven from word-forword transcripts. Verbatim has been compared to journalism for its commitment to portraying real events, and has come up against similar critiques for its tendency to claim objectivity. Criticism aside, verbatim is one more avenue through which stories of injustice and struggle are brought to life, allowing audiences unique insight into social issues.
Author and journalism instructor Shawn Thompson, an expert in prison issues, tells another tale of theatre as a force for positive change—this time as a method of therapy and rehabilitation for prisoners. He brings us inside the William Head penitentiary on Vancouver Island, which has a 26-year history of bringing audiences inside to witness what prisoners can do when allowed to organize themselves.
And, what would a theatre issue be without political puppets? We’re all accustomed to the giant ones at protests, but they live outside demos, too. Jennifer O’Connor lets us know what those troublemakers are up to.
Not everything in the issue is related to theatre; we have lots of great off-theme content, including the winning entries from our 11th annual Great Canadian Literary Hunt, which appear in a special supplement. Congratulations to all the winners.
Jessica Johnston editor[at]thismagazine[dot]ca
