sam shepard Archives - Biz Books

The Biz Interview: Lesli Brownlee

Biz Books — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 21:12:50 +0000

As a tribute to the late, great Sam Shepard, Lesli Brownlee made it her personal mission to bring a production of Fool for Love to Vancouver.

Through her own group, ABB Collective, that goal has become a reality as Fool for Love – starring Lesli Brownlee, Alex Rose, Duncan Fraser, and Mike Gill and directed by Jamie King – opens today at The Shop Theatre for an exclusive 10-day run.

The setup: In a seedy motel on the edge of the Mojave desert, two transient lovers unearth secrets of their disturbing past. Reality and dreams collide in this explosive masterpiece, as Eddie and May fight for a love that they can’t live with, or without.

Lesli Brownlee took some time away from her very busy acting and producing schedule to talk to us about all things Fool for Love.

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Can you start by telling us about your involvement with Fool for Love?

I’m one of the producers and I’m playing May.

What drew you to be a part of this production?

When Sam Shepard died, I felt the need to do something to express this feeling of loss. I booked some space, applied for the rights to Fool for Love, and started emailing people to see who was interested. ABB Collective was created.

What draws me to this specific play is how emotionally honest the characters are. I mean usually, it’s all about the subtext. You hardly ever get to say what you mean. There are no higher stakes than being emotionally honest.

Can you share some of your creative process in preparing for your role – from the initial planning all the way to opening night?

This one has been a pretty wild ride.

I love to get things right. So,when I started prepping for Fool for Love, I started to read everything Shepard had ever wrote and everything everyone else had ever wrote about Shepard and was working so hard to get May right. Finally, I read something somewhere where somebody said that the thing about May and Eddie is that you can’t get them right. Which pulled the rug out from under me and was probably the best thing that could have happened. I had to let go of all my thoughts, and ideas, and plans, and readings, aka my security blanket.

Luckily, I recently took a class with Christiane Hirt who has this saying that you gotta “let the scene do you”. That concept was the key to cracking open Fool for Love. I don’t think I would have found the joy in doing a Shepard play without it. Now my preparation mainly consists of filling myself up with all that it means be in love and making sure I have the important moves down, the fight choreography for example, but other than that I just try and go out there play it for real.

I feel like I f***ed up a lot which is hard, but I think that it’s necessary if you want to be true to the spirit of Shepard. Like the other day in rehearsals, I fell out of my chair, I was humiliated but, you know, it can be humiliating to be in love so it was perfect. I found a ton of new stuff. Jamie King (the director) has been great. She’s allowed a ton of space for play. She’ll let us riff on stuff until we find something.

What should audiences expect from this show?

A painfully accurate expression of what it’s like to be in love. Theatre Wire had this meme on their Instagram the other day from a show that said that theatre is basically a bunch of people sitting around laughing about how f***ed up it is to be human. That’s our show.

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“Self-pity is boring and nothing is guaranteed.”

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What are the three most important ingredients for a successful stage production?

Every show is different. I think for this one, it’s head, heart, and balls. And by balls, I mean the willingness to take risks.

The Biz Interview: Chris Lam

Biz Books — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 01:32:04 +0000

It’s the season for holiday theatre and Pacific Theatre takes its inspiration from 1940s style live radio format for a unique spin on a holiday classic with A Christmas Carol: On the Air by Peter Church.

Opening on December 4th, this production is directed by Sarah Rodgers and features a cast that includes Peter Church, Matthew Simmons, Chris Lam, Diana Squires, Paul Griggs, and Kirsty Provan. We spoke with Chris Lam about his involvement in this production and what went into this incarnation of the Charles Dickens classic.

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What is your involvement with A Christmas Carol: On the Air and how did that get started?

This year I’m doing voices for multiple characters and musically directing all the musical sections of the piece. I was involved last year with Pacific Theatre’s It’s a Wonderful Life radio play primarily playing many voices and dancing in a sombrero. I was invited back to read for this version of A Christmas Carol as I’ve already established a working relationship with director, Sarah Rodgers and adapter, Peter Church and they were excited to see if I can fill the shoes of musical director and operating most of the Foley sounds.

What drew you to be a part of this production?

Initially, there was talk of remounting It’s a Wonderful Life, because it had been very successful and the idea was to remount with the original cast. The radio play conceit is one that doesn’t get done often in Vancouver, however, Pacific Theatre ended up going with an adaptation with Christmas Carol which is in some sense the original version of Wonderful Life. But it will be great to work with Sarah Rodgers and Peter Church again and working at PT, which is just a like second creative home for me.

The Biz Interview: Fringe Spotlight – “Eurydice”

Biz Books — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 22:44:01 +0000

The 2015 Vancouver Fringe Festival launches today, so we’re continuing our spotlight on a few of the productions happening as part of this year’s festival!

Eurydice is Sarah Ruhl’s retelling of the Greek myth, “Orpheus and the Underworld”. Featuring seven Vancouver actors, led by Ovation award nominee for “Outstanding Female Newcomer” Julie Casselman, Eurydice is directed by Eleanor Felton and runs on selected dates at Pacific Theatre.

We spoke with Julie Casselman and co-stars Brandon Bate and Joel R. Butler to find out more about Eurydice.

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What is your involvement with Eurydice and how did that get started?

Julie Casselman: I am playing the role of impulsive and curious Eurydice. I was asked to be a part of the show by Eleanor Felton and Brandon Bate, who I did my theatre training with at Trinity Western University and who I’ve had the pleasure of working with before!

Brandon Bate: I’m co-producing with Eleanor Felton, and I’m playing Orpheus. Eleanor Felton and I have been working together for the last 5 years onstage and off. We decided to set our sights on the Vancouver Fringe Festival while we were working as apprentices at Pacific Theatre last year. That was the birthplace of our company, Plan Z Theatre.

Joel R. Butler: I play the role of The Nasty Interesting Man/ Child!

Can you share some of your creative process in preparing for the role – from the initial planning of the production all the way through to opening night?

Julie Casselman: Sometimes I’ll read a bunch of material related to the production before I get into the rehearsal hall, but I actually kind of distanced myself from any of that this time. I even had the chance to see another production of Eurydice while I was out at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, but decided I kind of wanted to come to rehearsal on day one with a fresh perspective and nothing “decided” ahead of time. Making discoveries in the moment and having to find more of my own impulsive side actually aligns with Eurydice’s nature, which I think has been helpful for me. And scary.

Brandon Bate: I knew I wanted to play Orpheus from the moment I read his line “My music sounds better in my head than it does in the world”.

I am constantly immersed in music and the worlds it can create just on a day-to-day basis. So getting to play Orpheus seemed perfect. I have enjoyed finding his passion and intensity, as well as the lightness and humanity in this myth of a character.

Joel R. Butler: Given the nature of the character(s) it has been quite different from my usual process. Getting to play these different roles has been a ton of fun, being able to explore the different nuances I can bring to each one, so my character homework has basically been me messing around with playing a seemingly sophisticated gentleman and then flipping it around and playing a child. It’s been a trip!

What should audiences expect from this show?

Julie Casselman: Expect to laugh at some pretty unexpected things, and to have random lines floating through your head late at night. The script has a strange way of saying beautiful things in jarring ways. And jarring things in beautiful ways.

Brandon Bate: Expect the unexpected in Eurydice. Sarah Ruhl has written some very quirky characters and bizarre turns in this play. The mythical story of “Orpheus and the Underworld” isn’t as cut and dry as it may seem. Especially when it’s told from the perspective of Orpheus’ beloved wife. Also expect to ask yourself questions about what is worth holding onto. Especially once you are dead.

Joel R. Butler: This show has a lot of beautiful language and imagery and is so fun, but it carries with it this deep overtone of sadness that will definitely have you feeling bittersweet at the end!