Preview
MICK UNPLUGGED
Alberta Theatre Projects
playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays
Starring Kira Bradley, Stephen Sparks, Helen Taylor, David Trimble and Rob van Meenen
Written by Greg Nelson
Directed by Gina Wilkinson
Runs until March 5
Martha Cohen Theatre (Epcor Centre)
One of the reasons Greg Nelson writes comedies is that he enjoys watching them. He says playwrights generally try and write the type of play that they themselves would like to see in the theatre – but then he quickly admits that it’s easier said than done.
"Comedy tends to be a very structural genre. You really have to keep it moving and you have to stay ahead of your audience," says the Toronto-based writer. "And you have to be funny."
What?
"I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say," he agrees, "but it’s harder than it sounds.
"If you’re asking people to laugh, you have to come up with lots of fresh things as opposed to taking a single thing and exploring the depth of it, the various levels of it, which is what you might do in drama."
Nelson’s latest play, Mick Unplugged, is receiving its première production at Alberta Theatre Projects’ playRites festival this year. It’s a comedy that grew out of his affection for the album London Calling by The Clash.
"I rediscovered it when I bought it on CD. I couldn’t stop listening to it and it started to crack me up," he says. "Something about this guy who’s almost 40 getting slightly obsessed with this album that’s 20 years old was funny. And that led me into what ended up being kind of a midlife-crisis comedy. Not that I’m having a midlife crisis, but my character is."
That character’s name is Mitchell and he is the play’s slightly casual, yet intense driving force. Having recently left his wife, his job and his house in the suburbs, Mitchell – now in his 30s – tries to reclaim the vital energy and cool memories of his early 20s by reconnecting with a couple of close friends from his past. Ultimately a romantic comedy, Mick Unplugged finely balances warm wit with some physical comedy, resulting in a play that is both poignant and light. And the music is great. The scene transitions are accompanied by anthems from, of course, The Clash, as well as The Jam, Black Flag and Elvis Costello.
"There’s an incredible anarchic energy and a real sense of fun to the early punk music," says Nelson. "These guys had such a sense of humour. It’s really useful in writing a comedy."
There’s a contagious ease with which many of us can compare our younger selves, and where we thought we’d be, with where we actually are. It seems symptomatic of our generation, what with the current trend in film, TV and the theatre that finds characters in their 30s re-examining their lot, and wondering how they can best recapture their youth without having to relive it. The answer often seems to coincide with the soundtrack of our lives.
"When you’re in your early 20s you have an enormous amount of optimism, an enormous amount of potential, you’re very informed, you make very intense friendships, and music is often a big part of that," says Nelson. "So later in life, there is that kind of nostalgia thing happening. This play very much sits on that premise."
Nelson, as you can imagine, is as passionate about music as the main character of his play. It has led him to play bass in his own hobby cover band, called Jonas. "It’s me and a bunch of lawyers and a bond trader," he says. "In Toronto there’s this whole kind of community of bands made up of lawyers which I’ve kind of hitched on to – it’s hysterical. Some of them are really not that bad." |
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