To start off this year’s season at the Motyer-Fancy Theatre (MFT), Mt. A’s Drama Department presents Never Swim Alone this October 23–26. First produced in 1991, this classic of Canadian theatre by Daniel MacIvor remains relevant even to this day, commented Professor Valmai Goggin, director of the show and lecturer in Mt. A’s Drama Department. “If someone told you that the script was written five years ago, you would have believed that,” she says.
This sharp-edged comedy deals with topics of competition, guilt, nostalgia, gender roles and toxic masculinity. Besides bringing serious topics to the stage, the play is “funny, interesting and enjoyable to watch,” commented fourth-year commerce and classics major Jacob Farrell. The audience will follow the story of Bill, played by Farrell, and Frank, played by third-year English and drama major Dawson Cormier, fighting for the favor of the audience and the Referee, played by third-year English major Ella Boudreau.
Only three actors are on stage during this 50-minute one-act play, which has been a challenge for the actors of the show. “There is a lot more responsibility to convey the message […] but we have more time and space to develop our characters,” Farrell says. “In a larger play, it is easy to think of yourself as one part whereas here we are all equal partners,” he adds.
For Cormier, who performed in the MFT’s production of The Juliet Project last winter, one of the challenges is being on stage from beginning to end of the show. “If you mess up, you mess up and you have to go with it, but it has been a lot of fun playing in this continuous stream,” Cormier says.
Bourdeau compares her experience to being in high school theatre: “This is my first ‘big girl’ show, so this is all I really know but it is definitely a huge jump.”
Working on the show has been a learning curve for everyone, including Goggin. She points out that the script is written in a way that allows “the show to easily exist on a surface level.” The story happening on stage between the two male characters is intense and interesting to watch, but it is also important to recognize that the characters are people and to understand their past experiences that they are bringing to the stage. For Goggin, they are more than just “cardboard cutout villains, they are people.”
Never Swim Alone is a show that encompasses many themes, some of which perhaps were early for its time and society has only been finding language for in recent years. It portrays gender roles and toxic masculinity in an exaggerated, mocking way. Boudreau thinks that “each audience member is going to [walk] away with specific points in the show that hit them,” gifting the audience an “opportunity to see different things and open up a wide door of discussion.”
The play will be premiering at the Motyer-Fancy Theatre on Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. and runs until October 26. Additionally, there will be a post-show talkback on Thursday, October 24 for anyone interested in chatting with the people who worked on the piece. You can get your tickets early through the QR code or visiting @dramamta Instagram page. For more information or any questions, email [email protected]. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
