>>PREVIEW
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
Workshop Theatre
Adapted for the stage by John Lahr
Directed by George Ross
Runs November 18 to 26
Pumphouse Theatres
An iconic tale of conspiracy and control, The Manchurian Candidate weaves its way through different realities and many layers of memory as it probes the minds of troubled American soldiers back from the Korean War.
Originally written as a novel by Richard Condon, it was turned into a classic 1962 film, directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, then remade and updated in 2004 by Jonathan Demme, with Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep. And now the story has moved into a third medium – the theatre.
Workshop Theatre, Calgary’s oldest community theatre group, is set to present a version tailored for the stage by American playwright-scholar John Lahr, which was originally produced in London in 1991.
Director George Ross has no trouble seeing the story’s continued relevance despite its age. In fact, there might be the temptation to use it to make a statement about war, politics and morality today.
"You’ve got political corruption, murder and assassination, incest, racism and any number of elements that are central to the story we have to present to the audience," says Ross. "And it’s easy, I think, when you take that kind of material, to have a reaction to it and direct it the way you think it should be, as opposed to what I tried to do, which is present it honestly."
This production is Workshop’s – and Ross’s – most technically ambitious to date. When Ross read the script, he decided that incorporating multimedia elements would help bring the story across to modern audiences. While those elements can sometimes take away from a smaller-scale stage production, the director assures that everything is under control.
"We’re not going over the top," he says. "It’s not like we have robots onstage reading lines or anything. But it is a challenge to blend the audio and visual with the live acting and try to make it a good storytelling experience that affects people."
While Ross has seen both screen versions of The Manchurian Candidate, he has tried not to be influenced by them. "I think those films are made for a reason – a certain audience – and that’s not necessarily my audience. I tried very hard with this production to be sensitive to the people who are going to come and see it over the next couple of weeks and present it from a point of view that’s going to be relevant to them."
Ross, who admits he’s more comfortable directing comedies and musicals, has also managed to find humour in the script. As he points out, all good comedy is rooted in tragedy – and there is tragedy aplenty in this play.
"I am trying to find ways for the audience to enjoy the idiosyncrasies of each of my characters because each of them, whether hero or villain, have redeeming qualities," he says. "I certainly didn’t want to put something onstage that would be a rivetting frown-fest from start to finish." |
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