Fiercely Canadian

TORONTO'S FACTORY THEATRE TURNS 50

BY LOUISE NUNN

Twin sisters, Sugar and Grace Ducharme, sit in their house in the northernmost reaches of British Columbia on their 30th birthday. All had been well in their remote two-person world until today when an unusual man arrives at their doorstep. Is he a potential murderer or a love interest? The sisters aren’t certain. Surely, nothing will go wrong if they invite him in to share in the celebrations.

Sounds odd, intriguing and alternative? This is the classic Canadian gothic play, Trout Stanley, which will be performed at Factory Theatre as part of its upcoming 2019/20 season. This season marks the “Big 5-0” for the Factory Theatre, and to mark the occasion, the season’s lineup features reimagined classics from across the company’s past, coupled with some innovative new works from contemporary Canadian playwrights, all tied together under the banner, “50 Seasons and Still Fiercely Canadian.”

Created in 1970, Ken Gass and Frank Trotz founded the Factory Theatre Lab in response to a need to feature the real Canada in an otherwise Euro-centric theatre scene. Back then, the overarching story told by theatre productions was of Canada’s colonial roots. While glimmers of original content did surface earlier in French Canada, with Félix-Gabriel Marchand’s production about the lives of Quebecers, Toronto’s theatre scene didn’t catch on until Canada’s 100th anniversary, and the feverish patriotism that surrounding it. In the five decades since it began theatre productions, Factory’s reputation has been coloured by financial troubles and controversy — but the textured and important work of its renowned artistic directors, playwrights and actors have helped ensure its longstanding resilience. Along the way, Factory has experienced some record highs with Canadian classics such as George F. Walker’s Suburban Motel series, and a successful rebranding after a 2011-2012 boycott of the theatre following the dismissal of then Artistic Director Ken Gass.

For the 50th anniversary season, Nina Lee Aquino, Factory Theatre’s current Artistic Director, seems to be laying out the company’s legacy, along with her own fierce convictions. This means that the form, content, and casting of all six plays will intrinsically reflect the Canada of today, whether that play is a Canadian classic or a new work — something that Aquino, Factory’s first Artistic Director of colour, considers a no-brainer. “I do believe that if we’re going to do theatre here in Canada, and with Factory being one of the few theatre companies dedicated to enriching the Canadian voice, then we have to tell it like it is, and not just reflect how the country looks demographic-wise. We have to push and we have to put on our stages what we want Canada to be. That’s what I’m always striving towards.”

Nina Lee Aquino, Factory Theatre Artistic Director

Photo by Cesar Ghisilieri

Aquino, in paying tribute to the legacy of previous Artistic Directors, chose Claudia Dey’s Trout Stanley, which premiered in the early 2000s by A.D. Ken Gass, and House, first mounted in 1992 by A.D. Jackie Maxwell and writer Daniel McIvor’s touring company. Aquino noted that each of these classics reflect the very best of the Gass and Maxwell eras at Factory. McIvor’s House, a solo play about a man named Victor on the verge of a nervous breakdown, will be directed by Aquino herself, who will look at the play from her own new perspective.

Three other plays in the lineup — Broken Tailbone, Between Breaths, and One — come from Factory’s CrossCurrents Canada presentation series. A Factory initiative, CrossCurrents Canada creates playwriting opportunities for Canadians of colour from across the country, seeking to level the playing field for visible minority artists in the Toronto theatre industry. “The theatre making here in Canada [is] still lagging behind when it comes to racial inclusion and diversity,” Aquino observes. “It’s still quite predominantly white... and Factory is changing that one production at a time.”

between breaths | photo by ritche perez.

Broken Tailbone is Carmen Aguirre’s Latinx salsa lesson/story-telling hybrid, and combines a workshop feel with an intercultural learning experience of Latin American culture, politics and Carmen’s personal journey. Carmen and director Brian Quirt each have their own histories with Factory — one as a former playwright, the other as company director — and their return after so many years is a testament to Nina’s interest in collaboration. Between Breaths comes to Toronto from Newfoundland. It has ties to Factory through partner and theatre creator Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. Between Breaths tells the story of the “Whale Man” from the time when he freed roughly 500 whales from fishing nets off Newfoundland’s coast, to his battle with dementia later in life.

Between Breaths

Photo by Ritche Perez

The final installment of CrossCurrents is Jason Carnew and Ghost River Theatre’s innovative production, One. Having first seen it during a 2011 SummerWorks performance, Aquino says she was blown away by its ingenuity and is excited for this to be the production that pays tribute to the company’s building itself. One returns to Factory during the second half of the 50th season in 2020.

One

Photo by Zachary Ayotte

30 | the COLLECTION

While the coming season is designed to celebrate the past 50 years at Factory, it also aims to look ahead to the next 50, all under a distinctly ‘Aquino’ influence. Ultimately, Aquino hopes that the multicultural, Canadian lens she pushes will continue long after her tenure is finished. She says of the 50th celebration, “For me it was really about redefining — as we’re evolving as Canadians — what the Canadian experience is. Hopefully, the next A.D. that comes after me will do the same, and examine what Canada and being Canadian means again.”

With that in mind, perhaps the ultimate summation of Aquino’s 2019/20 season is Lady Sunrise, by award-winning playwright and close friend Marjorie Chan, which will make its world premiere on February 15th, 2020. Lady Sunrise, an unapologetic commentary on the harsh reality of the wealthiest and poorest Asian Canadians in Vancouver, is “theatre with grit” and “fiercely Canadian” — where Canadian means, of course, all ethnicities, colours and backgrounds. Here, Factory will find itself firmly in its sweet spot, as the theatre once again provides a platform for taboo and controversial questions - this time about equality, capitalism, and the underbelly of one of Canada’s most cosmopolitan cities.

Factory Theatre’s 2019/20 Season premieres on October 2nd with Broken Tailbone and runs until May 24th, 2020. For more information, visit factorytheatre.ca.