THE PLUM TREE
Alberta Theatre Projects
Directed by Sarah Stanley
Written by Mitch Miyagawa
Starring Darcy Dunlop, Hiro Kanagawa and Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull
Runs until March 2
Martha Cohen Theatre (CPA)
Alberta Theatre Projects playRites Festival
Director Sarah Stanley is no stranger to Canadian theatre – she seems to have explored every corner of Canada since our last interview 10 years ago in her native Montreal – but only recently has her awe of the West fully bloomed ("the forces of nature are full-blown," she muses).
In Calgary to direct Mitch Miyagawa’s The Plum Tree for Alberta Theatre Projects’ playRites festival, the award-winning director has also been absorbing a great deal of Western Canadian history. A recent visit to Mission, B.C., where the play is set, furthered her understanding of a dark time in Canada's past that is central to the play.
The drama in The Plum Tree unfolds in 1989, following the federal government's apology to Japanese-Canadians for their internment in Canadian camps during the Second World War. George (Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull) is a third-generation Japanese-Canadian returning to Mission. There he forms an adversarial bond with Frieda (Darcy Dunlop), a German-Canadian widow who arrived in Canada early in the relocation of Japanese-Canadians in B.C.’s lower mainland. Both characters struggle to reconcile their difficult pasts until their own family histories collide.
"It’s structured as a pretty straightforward play. Sweet and charming, in the best way," Stanley says. "The writer is a really authentic, third-generation voice, with distance, wisdom and an incredible storytelling charm.
"It deals with loss, mourning, love and betrayal. There is a bonding, mostly out of loneliness, but at a price. It sort of informs us without being a history lesson, and asks, 'How do you come to a spot of grace, in the face of major transgressions, and move forward?'"
Although Stanley admits the story of Japanese internment was new to her, she shies away from calling it a shameful part of Canadian history.
"At this point in our country’s history, this story’s something I, for one, didn’t know enough about, growing up in Montreal. But shame is a loaded word," Stanley says. "I think it’s more an anger at our own ignorance, and I wonder whether or not it stops us from exploring."
A risk-taking director with an often physical approach, Stanley is usually found working on large-cast productions. This time around, she maintains her devotion to the playwright, playRites and her other love – storytelling.
"There are many ways to approach text – psychologically, spiritually and then the body in space itself," she says. "You’re dealing with actors, their landscape and their language through physicality. Yet at the end of the day, there is a story that needs to be told clearly, and that clarity has been the most important thing."
Stanley does take some risks with Kevin McGugan’s soundscape, underscoring each scene with haunting music. Without giving away too much, the director mentions there’s a mysteriously important third character in the play named Mas (Hiro Kanagawa), as well as the tree that serves as the play’s title.
"It’s set by the tracks in Mission, across the road from the river," Stanley says. "What was important was a feel of busyness, nature, rain and overgrowth – the environment for that part of British Columbia. And the soundscape really adds to the verdant, wet landscape."
Besides a successful career as freelance director, Stanley has been wearing the artistic director’s cap in one capacity or another for decades with Ontario mainstay theatre groups like Die in Debt, Buddies In Bad Times, the Factory and Nightwood Theatres. Now in Vancouver, her most recent venture is assisting with the inauguration of Ottawa’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival this June, a showcase of English-Canadian work.
"It’s a good way to raise consciousness of the kind of work we’ve been doing as Canadians," says Stanley.
The festival will also tour Canada every couple of years, and Stanley is excited about showcasing new work in cities like Calgary.
"I’ve been really overwhelmed by the talent in this city and the writing in general," says Stanley. "This is one province where I don’t really know a lot of people, so for me, it’s a whole new land." |
