She can bake a Perfect Pie
Esther Purves-Smith on Judith Thompson’s latest play
PREVIEW
PERFECT PIE
Alberta Theatre Projects
March 27 to April 14
Martha Cohen Theatre (PAC)
There’s something about playwright Judith Thompson that inspires extreme reactions.
"Some people love her, some people hate her," says actor Esther Purves-Smith. "I haven’t run into many people who go, ‘Oh yeah, Judith Thompson, she’s alright.’"
The actor would know – she won a Betty Mitchell award for her performance in Sage Theatre’s production of Thompson’s Lion in the Streets a few seasons ago, and she’s appearing now in Alberta Theatre Projects’ staging of the playwright’s latest work, Perfect Pie.
"The beautiful thing about Judith Thompson is that she writes, I think, amazing text," Purves-Smith says. "She’s exploring some things that people can relate to and respond to. I tend to respond to her stuff instinctively and emotionally as opposed to intellectually."
There is certainly evidence that the text has a power all its own, according to Valerie Planche, who also appears in the play. She recalls the reaction when the actors first came together to look at the script.
"We had a read-through, where all of us hadn’t ever heard our voices together before, and most of the staff were sniffling, if not bawling at the end of it," she says. "And so you know that’s (Thompson’s) words – that’s not what we’re doing."
The story in the play involves two women re-establishing a lifelong friendship after several years apart. Planche plays Patsy, and Purves-Smith plays Patsy’s adolescent self.
"In many people’s lives, there are these defining moments that happen, that you either can deal with directly right away, and they help you grow as a person, and then you go on with your life, or you don’t deal with them right away, and you carry them with you," Planche describes. "You either deal with them now or later, but at some point you have to deal."
The diminutive Purves-Smith is growing accustomed to being one of those actors about town who plays the perennial teenager.
"I kind of joke about it," she admits. "I had a couple of new head shots done this fall in Vancouver, and one of them people have said looks a little older, and I said ‘Well, that’s the one that I’m sending out to theatres.... To let them know that I’m now 30!’"
She certainly doesn’t mind the constant supply of theatre roles, though, no matter how old the characters are. If playwrights like Thompson insist on writing great parts for teenagers, Purves-Smith will be there to play them.
"It’s great to be working on those words – I just love her text, so no, it doesn’t really bother me," she says. "I joke about it, and there’s a bit of teasing about it, but man, I’ll milk that cow for as long as I can."
Planche points out that what’s important in the end is the quality of the performance.
"It happens conversely, because I’ve been in the same boat of auditioning for parts that are 10 and 15 and 20 years too old for me," she says. "If you fully believe something, if you’re committed to it on stage, an audience will buy it." |
