Claret & Amber - A Fictional Conversation
I walked into the darkish theatre of the Culture Lab (at the The Cultch in East Vancouver) about ten minutes early and I was slightly peckish. Five o’clock shows can do that to you when you’re just arriving from your place of employment and it can leave you lean and ready to review.
“Don’t lie to me, just give me the straight goods,” I wanted to say to the few people littered about the audience. “I want to learn something and be entertaining about it!”
I shook off the short hunger pangs and got into character. I was there to see theatre, darn it, and I was going to be critical about it. I checked into my usual fifth row seat, on the right side, a few seats in from the aisle. I noted the stage was quite pretty. It had flowers here and there while centre stage was a table, flanked by two chairs. A couple of wooden benches sat near the wings.
“What was I about to see?” I thought to myself.
I did recall a moment where I had scanned the synopsis in the Vancouver Fringe’s program but, sitting there in the theatre with minutes to spare, I couldn’t remember the title. Wine & Licorice? Feathers & Noble?
“Did it matter?” I asked my mental landscape.
A booming, echoing voice replied over the windswept landscape. “No, you’re here to see theatre. There will be popcorn afterwards.”
“But what about the booze, will there be booze discussed? And since when did The Cultch start selling popcorn?” I wanted to know.
My brain replied “Look, Shane, you’re here to witness a play. That is all you need to know.” My mind was now somewhat irritated that I was unable to access my own memory banks.
“I’ve been busy, brain,” My brain becoming a bit perturbed at my ability to have a conversation with it and it not having a chance to respond.
The lights went down and the play began. Here is what I saw.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (Sue Newman), the Canadian author of more than 20 books (including the Anne of Green Gables series) is relaxing in a Canadian Pacific Hotel garden, sipping on a glass of claret. She is attending a book convention in Port Arthur (the future Thunder Bay) and will be speaking alongside other famous artists. She is greeted by the waiter (Geoff Noble) and they strike up a brief conversation about when Emily Carr (Susan Shillingford) may be arriving. A few moments later, Emily walks in through the follow draped gate and two Canadian artists are introduced to one another.
What follows is a conversation between two passion-controlled people who both fight against and embrace their creativity. This struggle turns outward where relationships, reality, and the dullness of social existence collide with artistic sensibilities.
I have often wondered what sorts of conversations famous people would have should they ever have a chance meet. Like the fictional conversation I had with my brain at the beginning of this review, I have even gone so far as to have those conversations (with myself playing both roles, of course). It also begs the question are we “Montgomery people” or “Carr people”. The show attempts to draw a faint line regarding differences between the type of art the characters practice. But, in the end, we all know who we are, don’t we?