SceneChanges.com, January 2005
Spotlight: In Good Company
By: Jeniva Berger
The inauguration of a new theatre company is a bold move at the best of times. You might say that the artists behind the launch of the upcoming The Company Theatre are in well, good company. Not only do they have a great play from which to launch their enterprise but a great director and cast to help them with the lift-off.
The Canadian premiere of James Murphy's 1961 play A Whistle in the Dark (see Preview) is a coup. Not only is Murphy one of Ireland's most respected and prolific playwrights with Ireland's National Theatre presenting a season of his work at the Dublin Theatre Festival a few seasons ago, but A Whistle in the Dark itself has persevered as one of the most important Irish plays of the last 40 years. Founding Company Theatre co-artistic director and actor Allan Hawco, who is one of the 8-member cast, had an enlightening introduction to Murphy through renowned theatre director Ben Barnes, a staff director for Dublin's Abbey Theatre. Hawco was doing a play in Montreal, The Cripple of Innishman, at Montreal's Centaur Theatre under Barnes' direction when he recommended Murphy's play.
"I read it and it blew me away," says Hawco, who along with co-artistic director Philip Riccio, artistic producer Monica Esteves and producer Diane Mugford, are the backbone of The Company Theatre. "We've formed a pretty tight unit. It's been a massive challenge. Our budget is large and so is the cast, it's a bit crazy."
The Company's artistic vision, however, is solidly rooted in Canadian sensibilities. "Whatever play we do," he says, "has to be connected to its cultural roots." How does A Whistle in the Dark, a play about the division of loyalties and prejudice fit into The Company's mission."I'm from a small town in Newfoundland," comes the answer. "I've met this family who are trying to fit in as strangers in a foreign land."
It's not surprising that a play with such dark and powerful statements to make about the violent aftermath that occurs when two Irishmen go to England to live with their brother and his British wife, would have an "edgy" director to guide the rough passage. Hawco says they have it with Jason Byrne, a radical director in Ireland and Artistic Director of the Loose Canon Theatre. "He brings in a new approach. " says Hawco. "We want to cross international borders and do works within our own national borders. We want to learn from other cultures. We want to search for those experiences."