Cast of Little Red River
DETAILS
Theatre Junction Grand
Friday, February 29 - Saturday, March 15
More in: Theatre
Find It...
Steve Turner leans forward on a couch in the basement of the Grand Theatre, his hands wrapped around a coffee mug, and recounts a story from an Edmonton gallery showing of his sculptures. "I came by after this group had viewed my sculptures, and I just hung back and listened to them have these intellectual conversations about my work,” he says. “Meanwhile, these little kids were going right up to the sculptures, touching them and running their hands over them. You know, the kids were the only ones who really got it. They were experiencing the art."
An "experiencing of art" seems an appropriate description for what Theatre Junction is attempting to do with its upcoming production, Little Red River. Described as the "open stage of the memory of Harry Smith," it explores the concepts of memory, reality, truth and how one's point of view alters them. The multi-disciplinary offering includes music, movement and visual art.
"We're not trying to force specific emotions and perspectives on an audience. Rather, we just want to get emotions out there," Turner (who embodies Harry Smith in the production) says. "If there are 200 people in the theatre, then there could be up to 200 different versions of what is seen that night. We're putting more onus on the audience to take what we put out there and respond to it," he says.
The narrative thread running through the production involves metalsmith and sculptor Harry Smith, who is in search of a lost memory. Something happened to him in 1971 that "changed everything," but he can't remember what that "something" was, and he's trying to find out.
Mark Lawes, founding artistic director of Theatre Junction and Little Red River director, describes memory as "a fictionalization of our lives. We remember something, but sometimes we aren't sure if it's even true or not," he says.
This exploration of memory — and the memory hole of 1971 — is what the production revolves around. Harry's mother, who escaped Poland in 1939, and acts her way across Canada in a vaudeville troupe, is also part of the tale, as is Rose, a girl who collects butterflies.
Creating Little Red River was a collaborative process. Each company member presented a piece of autobiographical fiction to the group, an episode from his or her life that is part truth, part fiction. "All these different little pieces of us make the story," says Lawes. "There's an actor from France, a dancer from Poland, an actor from Calgary, a designer from Toronto. All these different viewpoints come together to create this show. It's really a metaphor of our society, of Calgary now, at this place and time.”
Theatre Junction company member Raphaele Thiriet moved to Calgary from France last August. From her comes the perspective of a new immigrant to this city. "Everything is so new here. Nature is so strong. It's a bit disturbing for someone from Europe to not feel the past and your ancestors around you. But, it's also like a blank page — all is open to create and imagine," she says.
Turner's sculptures form a key component of the production. One interpretation sees them as a metaphor for memory. "What remains from memory can appear in a sculpture. Sculptures are there, they look solid, but also change over time as the metal interacts with the air around it. Older sculptures change as new works lead to new interpretations of all the works that have come before," he says. "With sculpture, as with memory, you can have the same piece, and the same situation, and two people can have two very different interpretations of the same thing.”
Turner and Thiriet say they are looking forward to audience reaction to Little Red River. "The audience is really a continuation of the art," says Thiriet. "Once they experience it and reflect on it, they're a part of the creative process."
