Kate Braidwood loves being able to don a mask and morph into a feisty granny or a sad old man.
But she and her husband and co-conspirator in Wonderheads Theatre, Andrew Phoenix, enjoy exploring weighty universal matters with whimsical, wordless productions even more.
Theyre bringing their multi award-winning production Grim and Fischer to the Cultch, Jan. 3 to 13.
The Grim Reaper meets his match when he comes for Mrs. Fischer, a wily granny who loves to play pranks on her nurse. Using slapstick-laden physical theatre and oversized, full-faced character masks, the players confront a struggle well all face one day.
The show, essentially, is about death and facing death, Braidwood said. The cartoonish style was a way in to look at this difficult subject, it was just a different lens to look at it.
This native of Maple Ridge who completed a masters of fine arts in ensemble-based physical theatre from DellArte International School of Physical Theatre in the Redwood Forest in California where she discovered her passion for masks and met Phoenix.
She says because the oversized papier mache masks that she and Phoenix wear are out of proportion to their bodies like the big heads of toddlers, It kind of inspires this childlike wonder in people.
The characters can be a bit more innocent in their discoveries, Phoenix added. It helps us be a little less cynical.
The Portland-based pair created Grim and Fischer in 2009 and the show took off when they hit the Fringe Festival circuit in 2011.
Braidwood said festivalgoers were inspired to share their stories about loved ones living in retirement homes, those whove passed away and commented on the magic of the masks.
People being so surprised by how the mask seems to shift and change their expression, even though they cant, she said. And thats the goal, to find that magic, and people are so surprised and taken by that.
The run at the Cultch comes courtesy of Cultchivating the Fringe Award. Since 2009, the Cultch has picked one promising Fringe show a year to be staged the following season at the cultural centre near Commercial Drive.
Braidwood lauded David Jordan, executive director of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»International Fringe Festival, and Heather Redfern, executive director of the Cultch, for providing the opportunity.
This kind of opportunity that they give at the Fringe is so great and you actually dont see it at a lot of other Fringe Festivals, Braidwood said. They have a few awards that help companies take the next step beyond the Fringe and we love the Cultch.
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