Sunday Feature: Paul Van Dyck on adapting Oronooko

(photo credit:
Camille McQuat)

Adaptation and Inspiration

On Africa, malaria, Aphra Behn and her legacy: Oroonoko

by Paul Van Dyck

I once spent several months living in a 17th century German slave trading fortress on the coast of Ghana. I was travelling across Africa at the time, a zigzagging adventure from Morocco to Egypt, and happened to meet a documentary filmmaker looking for a camera operator. I had recently finished a degree in film studies and offered my services. The next day, I was bumping up and down in the back of a tro-tro jeep through dense jungle on a muddy and treacherous road towards the sea. The journey was well worth it. On a hill overlooking a warm turquoise ocean, flanked by an endless white sand beach on one side and a vibrant little village known as Prince’s Town on the other, rested this ancient and ominous fortress.

I fell in love with the place; with the happy villagers, the gorgeous surroundings, and the tranquility it offered to a weary traveller. It was a kind of paradise. My room was the highest turret of the fortress. In the mornings, before I set off to film the idyllic surroundings, I would go down to the beach where some of the village boys were eager to show off their skills of scrambling up palm trees to fetch me fresh coconuts. They nicknamed me “Prince Paul”. A title I quickly became accustomed to.

The Sunday Read: First-Person - Paul Van Dyck on The Harvester (Atlantic Fringe)

(photo credit:
Camille McOuat)

The Growth of The Harvester

I feel that when you write, direct, and produce a play, you are showing your community a piece of your self, your soul, and your dreams. 

By Paul Van Dyck

Sometimes I wonder why I do what I do. Make theatre, that is. And I often answer myself with: Because it’s the only thing I’m good at. And then I wonder if I’m actually that good at it. All I have to go on is what people tell me. Sometimes people tell me I’m good at making theatre. Sometimes they tell me I’m not. And sometimes, the worst times, they tell me I’m “mediocre”. 

Having recently mounted my latest theatrical creation, The Harvester, at the Montreal Fringe Festival, I was grateful to never hear the word “mediocre” thrown about concerning this play. However, ambivalent opinions abounded from audiences and critics alike. In fact, I discovered there was quite a debate amongst theatregoers concerning the merits of the piece. Some loved it and some hated it. Sure, they all loved the magnificent costumes by Melanie Michaud, or the magical props by Vladimir Cara, or the spooky lighting of Jody Burkholder, or the stellar performances by Eric Davis and Melissa Carter, but the story itself seemed to be the point of contention in this theatrical chain.  

Blog: Paradise Lost's Journey to Atlantic Fringe (Part IV)