>>PREVIEW
THE CHAIRS
Maple Salsa Theatre and The University of Calgary Department of Drama
Runs until September 9
Reeve Theatre (University of Calgary)
"It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to learn in my life!" actor Joyce Doolittle exclaims when I inquire about the challenges of staging Eugene Ionesco’s The Chairs.
"If you just look at the page, you’ll know," she adds, handing me a random part of her highlighted script. When I look over Ionesco’s words, they feel beautiful, disjointed, and simple, but intimidating to read aloud. Doolittle claims that while she found her experience in The Chairs intellectually, physically and emotionally demanding, the late Romanian playwright’s script is what she wants to work with as an actor. "It’s what every actor dreams of," she says.
"I must say, on paper (this play) looks really short and somewhat simple," director Javier Vilalta admits of the play, which was first performed in 1952. "But putting it together, I think it almost reads like a musical score. You need to hit the right notes or it shows."
On the page, the script for The Chairs doesn’t appear to read sequentially – which is fitting as it is an absurdist play. According to Vilalta, that is part of the beauty of it. The writing sets the fantasy for the characters in the script.
"One of the reasons why he wrote it is because he felt that with his plays – and absurdist plays – even if people showed up to see them, they were not taking them in," Vilalta says. "They were there physically, but they were not present. They were not connected in the same way that he was. And his belief was that a lot of people around that time were just not connected, not present in that way – in the culture, but this also applies in politics and religion, too. The absence of people, the absence of God."
This staging of The Chairs marks a co-production between Maple Salsa Theatre (of which Vilalta is artistic director) and the University of Calgary Department of Drama. This is a special event, as it also marks the 40th anniversary of the university. Doolittle (who helped create the Department in 1964), co-star Brian Gromoff and director Vilalta represent various generations that have gone through the department.
"The group that we have working together is very interesting," Vilalta says. "Because this production celebrates the University and the department as well, to see what the journey has been from the beginning."
On the surface, The Chairs seems simple – an elderly couple, who live in isolation from the rest of the world, prepare to give an important message to it. Vilalta maintains that while you don’t have to be an existentialist to enjoy The Chairs, the play is full of ambiguity and dark parts left open to interpretation. "We don’t want to scare people," he smiles. "But it’s a very, very deep, complex play."
According to Doolittle, it is the characters that make The Chairs accessible and enjoyable to audiences.
"On one level – on a realistic level – it’s an old couple who’ve been married for a long time. And there are a lot of lines and situations that to me – since I’ve been married for 57 years to the same person – sound very familiar. What’s different about them is that they’re isolated on an island, so they’ve got to be very ingenious in amusing themselves."
"At one point, the old man reveals to his wife that he has a very important message to deliver to the world, and he has to get it to all these really important people," Gromoff adds. "And when the doorbell rings and the people arrive, we (as the audience) cannot see them: they’re invisible guests. And each of them are brought a chair to sit on…."
"And there are many, many, many chairs… but not a big cast," Doolittle says. (And according to Vilalta, she is the one moving most of the chairs).
"They don’t have television, those two. This is their way of amusing themselves and enjoying each other’s company on an emotional level," Gromoff adds. "But then it probably goes beyond that as they get more and more into it. The husband is the one who motivates that: he says, ‘I’ve been telling you this story for 75 years, and it starts the same but never ends the same.’"
"And this time it goes really out of control," Doolittle adds. |
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