A collaborative theatrical project that’s been two years in the making is taking to the stage this fall in Neubergthal, Morden, and Winnipeg.
Theatre Projects Manitoba is presenting the premiere of The Martian and the Mound by One Trunk Theatre of Winnipeg in collaboration with the Candlewick Players and cast and crew from across southern Manitoba, including especially Altona and Morden.
“It’s great to be able to rub shoulders with some other professionals and some actors,” said Richard Klassen of Candlewick, which is based in Morden. “You’re collaborating with actors and artists and musicians from all over southern Manitoba. We’re meeting each other for the first time and working with each other for the first time.”
The Martian and The Mound is a time-bending, prairie-rooted theatrical romp that follows Dr. Phoenix Albright, an archaeologist from Mars, as they investigate a mysterious ‘pull’ beneath a Manitoba mound.
Guided by ghosts, memories and extinct animals, Albright travels through pivotal moments in the region’s past, from the tall grass prairie to the future’s last sunset. The play blends myth, memory and local voices in asking, in the eyes of history, what makes a moment worth remembering?
Commissioned and developed as part of Theatre Projects Manitoba’s live art trade route initiative, its aim was to generate stories and music about the land and the people to weave together into a full length play performed by community and professional artists from across the region.
Klassen recalled the genesis of the idea going back close to two years ago when One Trunk Theatre was doing some drama workshops across southern Manitoba.
“Part of that workshop was just thinking of ideas … things about the local communities and history,” he said.
“They had done that in Altona and Neubergthal … then they called us back to say they would like to have a secondary workshop with some of our adult actors again to look at a partial script they had written based on all of these ideas they had accumulated from all of these communities, and then from there they continued working at it.”
They then found themselves in a position to move ahead with a production that grew from the process.
“We started talking through some ideas this last spring and co-ordinating some scheduling, and now in the fall here we started to put this collaborative thing together.”
Theatre Projects Manitoba is co-ordinating the overall effort, while the production itself is written and spearheaded by One Trunk Theatre, but it is drawing on talent from across southern Manitoba.
“What’s also cool is we’ve got Devin Lowry, who is from the Darlingford area,” shared Klassen. “I used to teach him in high school, and he went off to university to take theatre, and he’s been on Rainbow Stage, and he’s touring with the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and now he gets to come back home and I get to work with him again.
“It’s a brand new piece. It’s cool. It’s very multi-faceted,” he said. “We’ve got acting on the stage and lights and music and sound effects and some puppetry, and there are some video visuals … so it is a multi-sensory experience.”
The Martian and the Mound debuts Oct. 17-19 at the Krahn Barn in Neubergthal before moving to the Kenmore Theatre in Morden Nov. 1-2 and then the Gas Station Theatre in Winnipeg Nov. 14-16. Tickets for the Neubergthal and Morden shows are available by calling 204-822-7469.
