Duncan Fraser is excited at the prospect.
Audience members taking in a performance of All That Fall, a Samuel Beckett radio play making its Canadian premiere by Blackbird Theatre this month, will each be rewarded with an entirely unique experience.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 radio, you get to come and paint your own play,鈥� says Fraser, who directs the production, which runs until Jan. 24 at the Cultch, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this season.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be several hundred people every evening go out of this theatre, each one with a different image of the characters and a different idea about what happened,鈥� he says.
In today鈥檚 world where screen-focused entertainment reigns supreme and radio dramas are, for the most part, a medium of the past, chances to play a role in creating a work for oneself are all too rare.
鈥淣ow we are provided with someone else鈥檚 view of almost everything,鈥� says Fraser, explaining film and television have made their own choices regarding aspects like a character鈥檚 appearance, leaving little to audience members鈥� imaginations.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not inventing anything visually for yourself anymore, it鈥檚 all given to you. It seems a shame. This is an opportunity for an audience to come and invent their own images through their own imagination and colour them from their own life experience, and prejudices, and quirks, and how their mother and father saw them, and so on. So a really personal way of viewing the world rather than being given everything from someone else,鈥� he says.
All That Fall marks the Blackbird Theatre鈥檚 12th major production since its 2005 launch. Fraser describes the work as a sort of comedic who-dunnit that differs greatly from the playwright鈥檚 well-known works.
鈥淭his is Beckett as you鈥檝e never seen him before. It鈥檚 comical and easily digestible. It鈥檚 sort of Beckett-light,鈥� he says.
All That Fall sat unperformed for more than 50 years. The one-act radio play was initially written for the BBC in 1956. After it was broadcast a year later, Beckett received many requests from prominent theatre producers, Sir Laurence Olivier included, who were interested in producing the work as a stage play. All such requests were refused by the playwright.
鈥淗e absolutely refused anything but it to be a radio play. 鈥榁oices coming out of the dark鈥� is how he said it should be done,鈥� says Fraser.
After Beckett鈥檚 passing, his estate maintained his stance and it wasn鈥檛 until 2012 that English theatre, film and television director Trevor Nunn鈥檚 request was approved. Beckett鈥檚 estate granted the script to be staged as a radio play and All That Fall was mounted in London in 2012, followed by New York in 2013.
鈥淎nd now we are next, so terrific,鈥� says Fraser.
Blackbird is no stranger to Beckett, mounting Waiting for Godot in its 2011/2012 season.
鈥淭he estate of Samuel Beckett were so pleased with their previous production of Waiting for Godot that they allowed Blackbird to have the Canadian premiere of鈥� All That Fall. They were very lucky to get it,鈥� says Fraser, who has long been attracted to Blackbird鈥檚 mission of producing classic theatre.
鈥淧eople are hungry for this stuff. They are the greatest plays ever written. Once in a lifetime you might get a chance to see one of them,鈥� he says.
Fraser has been previously involved with the company as an actor, serving as a cast member of The Birthday Party, Uncle Vanya and Mary Stuart.
All That Fall is of particular interest to Fraser as he is also a seasoned radio actor, mainly for PEMC and the CBC.
鈥淯ntil 15 to 20 years ago, you could earn a living doing radio drama here in town,鈥� he says.
In those days, it was possible to get a radio drama gig a couple of times a month and productions ranged from fiction to historical drama, often steeped in Canadiana.
鈥淚t was great fun. I enjoyed it more than any other medium actually because it was like a playground going in there. You got to answer telephones and slam doors and run along gravel paths... For an actor it was great exercise because you鈥檝e only got one way to get across what you鈥檙e trying to convey,鈥� he says.
Actors of the stage or screen have a number of tools at their disposal, like movement and facial expressions.
鈥淥n the radio of course you鈥檙e denied everything but the noises,鈥� he says.
This makes the medium great practice for any actor, challenging them to get across how they鈥檙e feeling purely through the use of their voice alone.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pity that many young actors don鈥檛 get to do that [today] because it鈥檚 useful and it sharpens you as an actor for the rest of your life,鈥� says Fraser.
The Blackbird Theatre production of All That Fall features five veteran CBC radio artists: Leanna Brodie, Adam Henderson, Lee Van Paassen, Gerard Plunkett and William Samples, playing 11 roles.
To stay true to the work鈥檚 radio drama form, the actors are at microphones for the duration of the play, and lit in various dramatic ways.
Audiences will enjoy witnessing how the actors make various sound effects. 鈥淭o find out how some of this stuff is generated is very curious,鈥� says Fraser.
All That Fall will appeal to audiences whether they鈥檙e fans of Beckett or not. Fans will enjoy the work鈥檚 portrayal of the artist鈥檚 macabre sense of humour and his playfulness. It鈥檚 less 鈥渉igh-brow鈥� and 鈥渟erious鈥� than what audiences are used to. All That Fall also offers insight into Beckett鈥檚 youth, as the content is largely a reminiscence of people he knew as a young boy.
鈥淗e was a very secretive man you know, he never let on, never talked to anybody about anything, wouldn鈥檛 discuss his work or anything, so we find out a little bit about him in this play and what his youth was like,鈥� says Fraser.
Those unfamiliar with Beckett will enjoy themselves all the same due to the content as well as the form itself, says Fraser. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this new medium that they鈥檙e not used to, so it鈥檚 going to be quite titillating,鈥� he says.
All That Fall runs until Jan. 24 at the Cultch. Details at .
