Interview: George F. Walker

The Burden of Being Walker
by Jim Murchison

George F. Walker has received nine Chalmers Awards, five Dora Awards, three Governor General's Awards (including a 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award) and the Order of Canada. In 1997 his six-play cycle Suburban Motel premiered at Factory Theatre (Toronto) and Rattlestick Productions (New York). Plays from the cycle have since had numerous productions in the US, the UK and Germany. Walker's latest play The Burden of Self Awareness is playing at Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa.

CharPo Ottawa Editor Jim Murchison spoke with Playwright George F. Walker about his career.

The interview started a little late and I was initially paranoid that I had the date wrong as there was no one around that seemed to know an interview had been set up. But then George Walker came walking up the stairs pointing at director Arthur Milner saying “his fault”, as Milner nodded in agreement and said, “My fault, my fault.” Walker said he relied on Milner to get him where he needed to be. Milner told Walker he had already told him to stop doing that. After a sound check, there was some sound bleeding from the downstairs lobby into the gallery and so we went around the corner and found some comfortable chairs in the entrance of the mens washroom. So that is where I interviewed one of Canada's and the world's most produced playwrights.

CHARPO: What fascinates me most about your career is the way it started, working odd jobs; finally as a taxi driver seeing a pamphlet for Factory Theatre Lab: You were obviously already writing, doing poems and stories I believe? I mean were you thinking when you did your first try at a play that this was going to be your career? 

WALKER:  Oh, Absolutely not. I just... wrote one.

CHARPO: (laughs)  

WALKER: I'd only seen one live play. I saw Henry... I don't know Henry something, at the Royal Alex. 

Review: (Ottawa) The Burden of Self Awareness

(photo by Andrew Alexander)

Money or Nothing
by Jim Murchison

Martin Conboy’s set is uncluttered. Spare furnishings and three columns that rotate to reveal a wine rack when it’s a restaurant, a bookshelf when it’s an apartment and other times, like when they are outdoors it is just three columns. Conboy’s lighting is also supportive and illuminates the actors with no hoopla or effects. It is simple and doesn’t detract from the words or the actors. The conversation is the central point of The Burden of Self Awareness, George F Walker’s often very funny look at the darker side of the widening economic gulf between the wealthy and the dwindling middle class.

The play is directed by former GCTC artistic director Arthur Milner and his respect for Walker and the material allows him to confidently let the cast deliver the story effectively. They certainly do with a quirky blend of pathos, humour and realism. A lot of people may not use real as an adjective to describe Walker’s characters, but the edge of madness is something that is very real in society and I feel that the play reflects that actuality. While the events in the story are certainly concentrated and often comedic, I really think it packs a punch that isn’t overly exaggerated.