ON STAGE
What: That Elusive Spark
Where: Langham Court Theatre, 805 Langham Ct.
When: Tonight (8 p.m.) through March 16
Tickets: $23 (adults), $21 (seniors) and $17 (students) from , by phone at聽250-384-2142 or in person at the theatre box office
Mercedes B谩tiz-Ben茅t is the perfect choice to direct Langham Court Theatre鈥檚 production of That Elusive Spark.
Not only is the artistic director of Puente Theatre a well-established local talent, with a wide range of technical, intricate shows on her r茅sum茅, That Elusive Spark was written by playwright Janet Munsil, her former instructor at the University of Victoria.
Munsil taught B谩tiz-Ben茅t for one semester at UVic, and the two have remained friends in the years since. The university has been a thread intertwining the lives of the two artists: That Elusive Spark was commissioned by the university鈥檚 theatre department in 2005, and B谩tiz-Ben茅t was given the Distinguished Alumni Award by the school鈥檚 faculty of fine arts in 2015. 鈥淲e鈥檝e become really good friends,鈥� B谩tiz-Ben茅t said of Munsil. 鈥淪he鈥檚 amazing.鈥�
That Elusive Spark was a finalist for the Governor General鈥檚 Award for Literature in 2014, and is being mounted at Langham Court Theatre through March 16.
The play is based on the real-life story of Phineas Gage, a 19th-century medical marvel who survived after a聽large iron rod was driven through his聽skull, damaging much of his brain. That he lived to tell about it, albeit with a dramatic shift in personality, has been the subject of many medical studies in聽the decades since.
The play branches into several other storylines. With a cast of eight, it masterfully weaves Hamlet into the story of Helen Harlow, a neuropsychologist played by Kassianni Austin. The young college professor is a descendant of Dr.聽John Harlow (Michael Romano), the聽doctor tasked with treating Gage in聽1848 following his remarkable accident, and clearly has some difficulty with her past.
Where the real-world story ends and聽Shakespeare begins was the subject of much focus by B谩tiz-Ben茅t during pre-production.
鈥淗amlet is the companion piece to this play,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ach character has a relationship to Hamlet 鈥� a very different relationship. I told the cast to read it from their own perspective and from their characters鈥� perspective. It completely informs everything that is happening in this play.鈥�
Many in the cast have dual roles in different eras. Trevor Hinton has the difficult task of playing both Hamlet and Gage, the two characters around which the story is centred. 鈥淚n a way, there鈥檚 many journeys they are taking as actors,鈥� B谩tiz-Ben茅t said. 鈥淎nd Janet has meant for it to be like that. It has brought an immense depth to not only the play, but to each relationship within the play.鈥�
Helen Harlow鈥檚 father has killed himself, which parallels the pervading theme of death in Shakespeare鈥檚 tragedy. While several characters in That Elusive Spark are fictional (Harlow did not have children in real life), Munsil made Harlow鈥檚 father a Hamlet scholar, adding to the ongoing real-life mystery of those caught in Cage鈥檚 orbit.
The storyline in That Elusive Spark catches up with Gage shortly after his accident in 1848, more than a decade before his death in 1860 and long before the revelation of much of what would become known about how his brain worked.
鈥淚鈥檓 interested in individual consciousness and our feelings of being ourselves,鈥� Munsil said of her script. 鈥� 鈥楬ow do we wake up in the morning and know who we are?鈥� At the time I was writing the play, my big questions were about seeing beyond the nature/nuture arguments. How did we become who we are and what experiences and genetic factors play into that? 鈥�
B谩tiz-Ben茅t did not flinch at the time-shifting tone of the material, or the Shakespearean element, which would have scared off some directors. 鈥淲hen I read Hamlet in high school, I聽fell in love with theatre,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o revisit Hamlet through this piece has been a wonderful experience for me.鈥�
Born and raised in Mexico, she has a聽rich background in the arts, from poetry and drama to film. Several of her theatre productions with Puente Theatre, Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre and the Old Trout Puppet Workshop (including El Jinete鈥擜 Mariachi Opera, Cruel Tears/L谩grimas Crueles and The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan) won raves, and the former film student served as one of the photographers/cinematographers on 2010鈥檚 Look at What the Light Did Now, an award-winning documentary about 91原创 singer-songwriter Feist.
She was up to the task of tackling one of Munsil鈥檚 most notable works.
鈥淭he more you know, the more you have in your arsenal to tell a story. It really depends on the character and it depends on the story you are trying to communicate to an audience that decides what medium is going to help you in telling that story. I鈥檓 very visual 鈥� whenever I鈥檓 reading a play, I immediately start playing it like a movie in my head.鈥�
