Gibsons performer Anne-Marie Lindell is appearing at the popular Vancouver 2005 Fringe Festival at a venue on Granville Island in her one woman play Maya's Song. Written and performed by Lindell, the play was presented in a version entitled In Spite of the Booze at the Heritage Playhouse last spring to the fascination of local audiences.
The play weaves theatre, dance, music and film sequences to tell the story of Karen, a young woman faced with an unplanned pregnancy who must come to terms with her fragmented life. The humour is bitter but no less funny; the story is one of self-discovery. Karen takes a journey into her past by beginning an e-mail correspondence with her alcoholic father. The choices she makes around her unplanned pregnancy parallel her father's choices about facing his addiction and recovery.
The play has been reworked since its 2004 debut in Gibsons, says Lindell. For one thing, she has taken to heart much of the feedback from the original version. Also, she must account for the Fringe Festival's lack of an intermission that does not allow time for costume changes. For those who saw the original, the red dress woman will still inflame the audience but now she will switch persona to the white dress woman with the aid of an on stage mannequin.
Lindell sings, dances, acts and blossoms in the spotlight. Her character shape shifts from victim to villain to singer and dancer throughout the play, tapping into Lindell's greatest strengths, her versatility in all disciplines.
The Fringe Festival is a kind of a potluck event; the audience never knows if they will see something brilliant or deathly dull, but it always manages to turn up several new faces and works. The public's favourites from the Fringe are produced again during the Pick of the Fringe at a later date. Lindell almost decided to cancel this show, especially considering that as the performer and author she must arrange her own venue, lighting, seating, costumes and support staff, but then her young son reminded her that Vancouver had not yet seen the play, and "that's what it's all about, to get it out there."
Maya's Song appears at the Carousel Theatre, Rehearsal Hall, on Granville Island in Vancouver tonight (Sept. 9) and 16 at 9:45 p.m., on Saturday, Sept. 10 and 17 at 2 and 9:45 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 at 2 and 6 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the door for $10 or through the festival box office at 1-888-777-0366. You must purchase a festival membership for $5. The entire Fringe schedule can be found at www.vancouverfringe.com.
