麻豆传媒映画

When quadriplegic drummer Dave Symington was asked to play a quadriplegic character in an intimate one-person play, his initial response was 鈥渘o f***ing way.鈥�

鈥淣ot a chance,鈥� said Symington, who was more comfortable as a background performer. 鈥淣ot a chance. But I really knew that I wanted to be able to say yes.鈥�

So he memorized a paragraph from his longtime friend鈥檚 play.

鈥淭he then-director said, 鈥業 think I see something,鈥欌�� which was enough for Symington to commit.

It was a disability awareness play written by award-winning playwright, poet and performer Lucas Foss, which was performed for students, faculty and staff at post-secondary institutions around the province.

The award-winning Realwheels Theatre, which creates and produces performances that deepen audiences鈥� understanding of the disability experience, caught a show in early 2014 and moved to further develop the work.

Now Symington will perform the play, Re-Calculating, at CBC Studio 700, Jan. 22 to 24.

Re-Calculating takes audiences on character Jonathan Bishop鈥檚 personal journey as he wrestles with identity and relationships, his drum kit his constant companion.

Dramaturge Liesl Lafferty (Canary, A Town Called Hockey), who co-wrote this rendering of Re-Calculating with Foss, says the story is anchored on the death of Jonathan鈥檚 father.

鈥淚t鈥檚 basically just your standard coming to terms with who you are,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o a lesser extent, in this particular production, the injury is very important in that he didn鈥檛 use to have a disability and he has grown to be a different person with that, as well as just growing up.鈥�

Jonathan鈥檚 various struggles resonated with Symington.

Symington鈥檚 mother had recently died when Foss asked him to tackle the role of Jonathan. The loss of his mother had provoked an identity crisis, panic attacks and intensified friction within his family.

鈥淲hat I relate to is the journey, parts of his experience with disability and his awareness of, gee, you know, I鈥檝e got a disability and I don鈥檛 treat other people with disabilities the way I want to be treated,鈥� Symington said.

Like Symington, Jonathan is nearing age 50. But Jonathan was injured at 35, whereas Symington became quadriplegic as the result of a diving accident at age 19.

Symington is a longtime disability advocate and co-founded VAMS, the 麻豆传媒映画Adapted Music Society, which supports and promotes musicians with physical disabilities in Metro Vancouver. He plays electronic drums and designed a Velcro glove to hold his sticks. Symington played in the poppy 鈥�80s-style synth band Spinal Cord, which featured future mayor Sam Sullivan, and drums around town with other musicians, including Rolf Kempf, who wrote a song that Alice Cooper covered.

Symington hopes Re-Calculating will prompt audience members to reconsider stale beliefs.

Before he was quadriplegic, Symington thought he鈥檇 rather be dead than live with such a disability.

鈥淵ou have these extreme opinions about things, but you realize it鈥檚 got no possible bearing on the quality of your life,鈥� Symington said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had just as many struggles before I had a disability as I did after... There鈥檙e still these core issues we deal with as humans and so sometimes these kinds of stories help to awaken some other deeper understanding.鈥�

But Re-Calculating, directed by Jeffrey Renn, interim co-artistic director of Realwheels, is no therapy session.

Music helps tell the story, and for all its probing, Re-Calculating is a comedy.

鈥淵ou get the message but you鈥檙e entertained,鈥� said Lafferty.

Re-Calculating has become a reason for Symington to get out of bed in the morning. He鈥檚 pondering what challenge he鈥檒l undertake next.

鈥淟ike memorizing famous poetry or something,鈥� he said. 鈥淟earn a second language.鈥�

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