>>PREVIEW
THE SYRINGA TREE
Alberta Theatre Projects
Starring Meg Roe
Written by Pamela Gien
Runs until November 5
Martha Cohen Theatre (Epcor Centre)
Following close on the heels of its lively opener, Amadeus, Alberta Theatre Projects tackles an equally ambitious but very different play for the second show of its season.
Set during the height of apartheid in the 1960s, South African playwright Pamela Gien’s multi-award-winning play, The Syringa Tree, is the story of Elizabeth, who as an adult must reluctantly leave South Africa after her family is thrown into turmoil. The play begins with six-year-old Lizzie, perched in the syringa tree, introducing her family and telling the tale of their life during complex times.
Calgary actor Meg Roe portrays all 23 characters in ATP’s version of this one-woman play that originally started out as an exercise in an acting class Gien was taking.
"It’s a memory play," says Roe, who was last seen onstage at ATP’s Martha Cohen Theatre in The Shape of Things in 2004. In the play, Elizabeth takes the audience on a journey back in time as she investigates her role within her family and within the racially segregated society she grew up in. "We follow Elizabeth as she’s trying to find her way back to South Africa," says Roe.
It sounds simple enough, but playing 23 characters, often in conversation with one another, is a major undertaking. "I’ve done a one-woman show before, as a monologue," says Roe, but The Syringa Tree presented her with a whole new challenge. "It was me just sort of throwing stuff at myself, imagining how I’d react to it," she says with a laugh, adding that it was daunting having to come up with new stuff every day in rehearsal.
She also found the choreography involved in constantly switching characters was tricky. "OK, this person’s short, so look up. This person’s tall, so look down," she says by way of explanation. She adds that it was hard to know how far to go with her character changes, and that finding the balance between challenging herself and making sure that the audience would know what was happening onstage took some time. Add to that all the accents and voices required by the different characters, and you might have an idea of how much work went into this production.
To prepare for her performance, Roe, who recently visited South Africa for three weeks, did a lot of research to familiarize herself with the play. "I worked for about two months before we began (rehearsals)," she says. "On the first day (of rehearsals) I just stood up and did it. With Vanessa’s help," she adds, referring to director Vanessa Porteous, "I could just jump in."
Being able to work with Porteous was an added bonus. "I’ve worked with Vanessa before, on Proof (produced by ATP in 2002), and we’ve remained really good friends since then," says Roe. "I can’t say enough about her as far as her intuition and creativity… she’s a real strength in the community."
Roe says The Syringa Tree, which has already proved a hit with audiences and critics internationally, provides audiences with an incredible opportunity to use their imaginations. "They imagine the sets, the props, the other people in the conversation – sometimes as many as six." And for audiences old enough to remember apartheid, she says, "it’s a great opportunity to get into the political spectrum of South Africa without being told how they should feel about it." Elizabeth, she says, presents the information, and audiences can draw their own conclusions.
For all its challenges, the world of Gien’s play has been a joy to re-create, says Roe. "It really is like playing, more than any other play I’ve been in." |
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