ON STAGE
What: Being Here: The Refugee Project
Where:
When: March 16鈥�21
Tickets: $25 by phone at 250-385-6815 or online at
While some directors prep their actors with a book, music or newspaper article 鈥� anything creative that might lead to a better understanding of their characters 鈥� Michael Shamata held almost everything back from his actors for the latest Belfry Theatre production.
Everything his actors needed for Being Here: The Refugee Project was right there on the page.
Cast members were tasked with finding nuance within the 鈥渧erbatim鈥� play, based on interviews with refugees who have come to Canada. But they were asked to perform it as is, no exceptions. 鈥淚 told the actors they could not make 鈥榓ctor鈥� choices here,鈥� Shumata said. 鈥淭hey had to be a vessel for the words.鈥�
The Belfry, which has produced a filmed version for streaming, will celebrate the world premi猫re of Being Here with six streaming performances starting next week. Though it was shot and edited several weeks ago, the impact lingers.
Shamata was particularly moved by the experience, which differed from performance of a standard piece of fiction. For example, he never let actors Ghazal Azarbad, Austin Eckert, Evan Frayne, Kayvon Khoshkam, Adrian Neblett, Monice Peter and Celine Stubel hear the voices of the people whose stories are being told, even though the taped interviews likely would have helped them.
Shamata did not want any mischaracterizations, so the script by creator Joel Bernbaum was deemed sacred.
鈥淲hat the [actors] got was a transcription of the interviews that included every kind of 鈥榚r鈥� and 鈥榰m鈥� and pause, sniff or cough,鈥� Shamata said. 鈥淚t was like forensic directing. At times, I would say to the actor: 鈥楩orgive me, but there鈥檚 a comma here.鈥� But that comma can say a whole bunch about somebody who is pausing before they say an important word. It can significantly alter the way the actor delivers it.鈥�
Bernbaum, who lives in Saskatchewan, is one of the country鈥檚 more inventive playwrights, and is quickly becoming an expert in the field of documentary-style storytelling. His previous efforts include Reasonable Doubt, which wove court transcripts from the real-life Gerald Stanley murder trial into an exploration of relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and Home Is A Beautiful Word, a verbatim play about homelessness in Victoria that was staged by The Belfry in 2014.
Being Here took its inspiration from Canada鈥檚 response to the conflict in Syria, which led to a wider look at the refugee experience.
Bernbaum travelled across Canada 鈥� including stops in Victoria and Qualicum on the Island 鈥� to interview refugees and their 91原创 sponsors. In some cases, refugees were fleeing life and death situations, according to Shamata.
The sponsors also tell their stories. 鈥淭he other side of it is these 91原创s who, for all sorts of different reasons, have decided to help.鈥�
Shamata and actor Kayvon Khoshkam stop short of referring to the refugees as 鈥渃haracters鈥� in the play, as they would with a fictional creation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 obviously a piece of theatre,鈥� Shamata said. 鈥淏ut what we lost from the wonderful joy of traditional theatre, the floating of ideas from the stage to the audience, we gained in the intimacy of the camera.
鈥淔or one of the stories, we had the actor wear a burka 鈥� all you see is her eyes, up close. It鈥檚 very powerful.鈥�
When the script is based on personal testimonies and not a playwright鈥檚 creative vision, 鈥測ou have to respect it,鈥� Khoshkam said. Deviating from the page was deemed anathema, and for good reason: In verbatim theatre, the dialogue is meant to be exact.
Khoshkam said his skills as an ad-libber, honed over years of Shakespeare performances in 91原创, were given a welcome reprieve during the process. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most ego-less acting I鈥檝e encountered,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou really have to try and strip yourself out of the way, and embrace it. Those meaty bits you鈥檙e excited about stepping into as an actor, this is a process where you鈥檙e denying that as much as possible.鈥�
Khoshkam, who has been part of the workshop process for this piece for a couple of years, likes how the play 鈥� written and designed to be performed on stage 鈥� was transitioned to the film format.
The process was a new one for Khoshkam, who worked with Bernbaum on Home Is A Beautiful Word, among other projects (the pair of 91原创 College of Performing Arts grads co-wrote My Rabbi, a dramatic play about the relationship between a Jew and a Muslim that was staged by The Belfry in 2014).
But the format complemented the stark nature of the stories, which, not unlike soliloquies or monologues, give the play serious emotional heft.
鈥淚 invent with a character, I make decisions with a character,鈥� Khoshkam said. 鈥淭here are things an actor invents, and that is often welcome.
鈥淏ut that would be insulting [on Being Here]. To pre-suppose would be to disrespect the human being. The best you could do is to reflect the words as transparently as possible.
鈥淟et them speak their words through you.鈥�
