Leaving Wonderland
Exploring the journey from grief to joy, Leaving Wonderland is set against the backdrop of
a small Nova Scotia college town beset with student drinking and partying. Recently
we spoke with playwright Shelley Thompson about the
production, which runs from September 24 to October 4 at the Neptune Studio
Theatre in Halifax.
What are
your own roots?
I was
born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, but left when I was 19 to go to RADA
(Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in the UK after a year of teaching piano to
raise the money. I'd always been an anglophile: travelled there with my choir
when I was 14 and 17, obsessed with Shakespeare, in love with the literary
history of that country. I still am. I came to Nova Scotia on holiday in
1991, fell in love with it, and when I had my child while still living in
London, decided with my husband (Ed Thomason, AD at Festival Antigonish) that
we wanted a chance to bring him up in a rural Canadian town. That was Wolfville
- one of the loveliest towns in the country, I think. I live in Dartmouth
now, surrounded by artist friends. Although I love Nova Scotia, I'll
always be torn.
How
inspired you to become a writer?
I've always
written. Well - always. I remember writing my first poems when I was about
8 years old. I still have - somewhere- a letter from the folks at Chatelaine
magazine, to whom I'd sent a copy of my poem CLOUDS. I still remember the
poem. The letter was very kind, very encouraging, but of course, they
weren't about to publish a poem from an 8 year old about giants, clowns, and
lambs in clouds. Like many folks I had a couple very good teachers who
encouraged me - in junior high, particularly. And one I'll never
forget- Val Tompkins - Grade 5. She told me she'd be watching the Oscars for
me. I think of her every time I sit down to write. I wonder where she
is. I also had one very BAD English teacher, who didn't believe I'd written a
particular piece. I was so determined to prove to him I had, that I wrote and
wrote and wrote - crazy output that year!!!
Are they
the same reasons you do it today?
Ummmmm
Maybe. Certainly there's still a bit of "I can do this" proving
going on. Mostly though, I feel surrounded by stories that I think are so
interesting and complex I want to try and capture them. I'm upset by our world,
I'm anxious, I'm curious - I need to process what's happening around me and I
still do that by creating characters who feel what I do, or question what I'm
questioning.
What
inspired Leaving Wonderland?
I've been
living in a university town - actually I've lived in two different, but similar
sized rural university towns - that's struggled with various student-substance
issues. My home in both situations was really impacted by students, and I often
felt overwhelmed by the issue. News stories out of Nova Scotia about team
hazing, and student casualties affected me. But grief, and how we cope,
forgiveness and how we find it are very central to this story. Both are issues
I've dealt with - as everyone has, I think. So I hope the story will
resonate on all kinds of levels.
What are
the challenges involved in mounting this particular production?
I'm away
from the rehearsal process - as I'm in Toronto for six months, so I have only
been able to be marginally involved - which I'm sure from Martha (Irving's)
point of view will be a good thing!!! But the style of play presents
challenges: it's very fluid, and that means the design and direction have to
allow a certain space and movement, which needs to be imaginatively dealt
with. From everything I've seen, Martha and her team are more than meeting
the challenge.
What can
audiences expect during the run?
I hope
they'll get a compelling story of real people, struggling with things we'll all
cope with loss, forgiveness, anger, searching. I'm very aware of how a middle
aged woman can feel invisible once she hits a certain age, in our society, and
how a double standard exists in terms of women's relationships with younger men
- compared to men's relationships with younger women. There is a relationship
that grows in this story which I think folks will have to adjust to.
What
makes a good play?
Characters
you invest in, emotionally. You need to care what happens to them, wonder about
their choices, want them to be OK. Crises that reveal not only the characters
of the play, but make us reflect on ourselves and our choices. Stories
that, while they might not be our experience, connect directly with our
emotional truths, and send us out of the theatre with some new thought, and, in
an ideal world, with a perfect play, a new resolve, or action. Do plays do that
anymore? I don't know. But when Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, and that door
slammed around Europe, it created it new awareness of women's value in society.
A good play makes us re-assess, re-define, re-imagine our world. I really
believe it moves our society forward. Or should, somehow.
What are
your thoughts on current the state of theatre in Canada?
I'm not a
great person on that topic - my experience just isn't broad enough at
present. I feel Canadians are still undersold, and undersell themselves to
the rest of the world. I don't think we always have a real grasp on what
makes the best theatre: but frankly, if anyone does, can you give them my
number?
What's
next on your creative agenda?
I'm
presently at the Canadian Film Centre - one of five screenwriters in the CFC's
Cineplex Film Program which has five writers, five directors, five producers
and four editors working together over six months to hone their screen
skills. So I'm writing and re-writing stuff there - including a screenplay
version of Leaving Wonderland - and thickening my skin – which, frankly, is the
hardest part. I thought I'd developed quite a hide as an actor, but as a writer
it's another world, and you need an objectivity and sunny disposition that
really has to be cultivated. That's my latest project: SUNNY DISPOSITION!
Leaving Wonderland
Sept 24 –
Oct 4
Neptune
Studio Theatre, Halifax
www.neptunetheatre.com