It was a good year for the Driftwood Players. At their annual general meeting a week ago, outgoing president Trish Atkinson spoke about the popularity of two comedies, Lend Me a Tenor, which went on a road trip to Whistler for a brief appearance, and local playwright Jasing Louvel's Novel Attractions that opened during the Heritage Playhouse's fundraising showcase last summer. It's obvious that comedy appeals to audiences on the Coast.
In addition to signing up 20 new members, the meeting had a chance to hear from the next production's playwright, Kico Gonzalez-Risso, speaking about his play Wonderville. The play, a farce, will be produced in Gibsons in March and the cast has already been selected. It includes some new names and some experienced actors such as Atkinson, Todd Alain, Dave Hurtubise, John Smith and Susan Rule. It will be directed by Barb McColl, who brought her years of stage experience to Lend Me a Tenor.
Wonderville is not Gonzalez-Risso's first play, but it is the one he would like to see performed across Canada. He created three very Canadian plays for summer theatre at White Rock in response to the Canada Council's urging for more Canadian content. Three scripts came out of this grant rationale, Inspector Fly's Second to Last Case, Art Attack and Wonderville, for which he is grateful.
Years ago, the playwright's family moved to Ocean Falls from Chile. While working in the paper mill, Gonzalez-Risso stayed at one of town's few hotels. Every morning, he was awakened by what sounded like the staff of an organization arguing furiously during a boardroom conference. It wasn't until the end of his stay that he learned that all the argumentative voices had been produced by one eccentric man imitating the roles of his imaginary staff. From this odd incident, Gonzalez-Risso drew the inspiration for Wonderville.
The play is about masks, says McColl, about the faces we present to the world. She is familiar with Gonzalez-Risso's approach because the two worked together on a production of Paper Flowers back in the days when he ran the Kitsilano Theatre where he produced many plays from third world countries and Europe. Later, as a guest director at Western Washington University, Gonzalez-Risso was drawn into another branch of theatre when he was asked to translate the opera, The Magic Flute.
"I didn't read music and I didn't speak German, but in the theatre you learn to say 'yes' to everything," he laughed. Using previous translations, a dictionary and a lot of sweat, he became good at it.
His sense of humour pervades his work and is revealed in his understanding of farce. "I love classical farce," Gonzalez-Risso told the Driftwood audience. "Most people think it's sitcom, but it isn't." He explained how it's the most challenging type of comedy to perform since the action must go at breakneck speed. Consequently, it's hard to find theatre troupes who will attempt it and can rise to its physical nature. The plot is often lacking; it's all about complications. The audience will tend to notice mistakes and miscues more quickly, so the actors must stay one step ahead.
"If you slow farce down, it becomes tragic," he said. "If you stop and think about why that lover is hiding in the closet when the husband arrives home, you realize it's really quite ugly."
His advice to aspiring playwrights? "Learn to direct. You learn the craft that way."
Wonderville plays March 15 to 31 on weekends with a matinée on the second Saturday and a preview night on Wednesday, March 14.
