Preview
CAMPY X-RAY
Produced by Ghost River Theatre
Starring Peter Balkwill, Kira Bradley, David van Belle and Darcy Dunlop
Directed by Doug Curtis
May 12 - 17
New Dance Theatre
Almost a year-and-a-half after the World Trade Centre fell, an undetermined number of Taliban "warriors" remain interned in American prison camps at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Prisoners of the so-called Camp X-Ray are given chemical wash-downs, orange jumpsuits and ankle shackles for transport, along with three meals a day under some Islamic guidelines. Their interrogation is limitless.
Under the Geneva Accord, some would consider these "enemy combatants" to be prisoners of war, yet the rights that come with that status have not been implemented. Some American military personnel face charges of inhumane treatment, while rumours circulate that certain captured prisoners may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Welcome to the world of Ghost River Theatre’s latest work-in-progress, Camp X-Ray, where terrorism has replaced communism and seven words murmur like an aftershock: The world changed forever on September 11, 2001.
"People keep saying ‘it was such a beautiful day and then it all changed,’" reflects director Doug Curtis. "I think it depends on your perspective."
Camp X-Ray begins on September 11 and then embarks on a chronological tour of post-9/11 life up to the war on Iraq. The show has been percolating in Curtis’s mind since the 9/11 attacks, and finally melded into a collective musical creation three weeks ago with help from David Rhymer, the musical mastermind behind the company's earlier production of Eye for an Eye and One Yellow Rabbit's lauded Dream Machine.
"As artists, we were just as shocked as anyone about 9/11, with the same sadness and sense of horror," says Curtis. "But after everything we’ve gone through, we still haven’t found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and bin Laden is nowhere to be seen. There’s so many unanswered questions."
If one can expect anything from Ghost River, it’s that they’re not afraid to hold up life’s political mirrors as artists. Camp X-Ray covers most of those unanswered questions, including the implications of the U.S. Patriot Act, U.S. responsibilities to the United Nations and the whole ideology behind pre-emptive strikes.
"We wanted to get people talking about the importance of democracy, and how a country that created the Independence Act has come to a place of complete concern" says Curtis. "What is the price of freedom, if it means the suspension of civil liberties?"
In preparing a reading for its first public performance, Ghost River has been trying to keep viewpoints balanced. Each topical issue has been raked through a pile of the collective’s own research, while the cast (Peter Balkwill, Kira Bradley, David van Belle and Darcy Dunlop) has created a broad spectrum of characters. They include a "cross between Cruella d’Vill and Condoleeza Rice," a Ramblin’ Jack-style hipster and an anti-American grad student who shifts his views to those of the Americans.
The audience will also be invited to share their views by participating in a question and answer period each night after the reading.
"We’re going to see how things progress with it," says Curtis. "We’re hoping it will generate some interest in the larger theatres for future productions. There’s a timeliness to it, and the challenge is to find a timelessness for it to grow."
In a world of paranoia and a seemingly endless war on terrorism, it’s not easy to be sympathetic toward what Curtis describes as "men who fly planes into towers." Camp X-Ray doesn’t feign to have all the answers, leaning instead towards asking important questions. Given Ghost River’s creative reputation, the play’s strong cast and Rhymer’s sensual, evocative music, they’ve undoubtedly got more than good timing on their hands.
"Ideally, as artists we should be holding the mirror up right now," says Curtis. "This emphasizes our fears about the new security reality in America. I think we’re concerned about where we live, but this is also a story with a lot of angles, and that’s where theatre can thrive." |
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