Opera has the ability to dramatize the most emotional events in our lives. The opera Stickboy comes out of a place of suffering – a boy who is bullied at school from the age of 10 eventually turns bully himself.
The true story, based on the experience of spoken word poet Shane Koyczan, has been turned into an emotionally charged production by Vancouver Opera and has been directed and adapted by Rachel Peake to be performed in the schools. On Feb. 9, students at Chatelech Secondary watched the 60-minute live version now on tour, brought to Sechelt with the sponsorship of the Coast Recital Society and introduced by student members of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), a group that promotes safety in schools.
The opera opens with a larger than life size video image of Koyczan, who delivers some of the verbal narrative in the show. The cool visuals, running across the scenery throughout, were designed and animated by Giant Ant, the producers of Koyczan’s viral video To This Day that emphasizes the lasting effects of bullying.
Koyczan’s words are combined with the music of composer Neil Weisensel and performed in song by the Stickboy cast. For the Chatelech performance, the part of the bullied one, the Stickboy, was played by Spencer Britten, understudy for Sunny Shams. He is repeatedly beaten and shamed while in school with no support forthcoming from his teachers or principal. In fact, it is the victim who apologizes to the school janitor who is trying to erase the words “fat ass” off his locker.
“You must bottle everything inside and keep it there,” Stickboy thinks.
In the story, it is Stickboy’s grandmother, played by Allyson Hop, who offers support and encourages him to stand up for himself, but only after he changes schools. Stickboy learns to become the aggressor, bullying others and cutting himself. The title comes in part from the monster he imagines is inside him, one made of sticks of dynamite that are ready to explode.
In the end, there is no easy resolution. Love is stronger than hate as the boy and his grandmother discover, but the relentless process of abusing and being abused has derailed Stickboy’s life.
As Koyczan tells the audience: we might be mistaken about the genre of this story; it is not drama, it is horror.
