(photo by David Poon)
Caryl Churchill's Cold Metaphors
by Gregory Bunker
Bad Dress’s take on esteemed British playwright Caryl Churchill’s Far Away is, indeed, so distant as to be indecipherable. Published in 2000, Far Away’s high-minded, postmodernist theme of pervasive fear in a world where everything – humans, deer, grass, trees, rivers, even weather – is at war, seems to require training in philosophy and dramaturgy to truly understand. Having an education in science, I can say that from this perspective it is ecologically daft. In a world where animals are constantly trading sides, how would ecosystems even function? Why would gravity care to get involved? And how would anyone even communicate with it? We are not provided with explanations for how we got into this dystopia or rules for how it works, and this is not ok. Simply put, the writing of this play is an intellectual exercise and not for a general audience.
A not-so-distant dystopian future
by Jessica Kostuck
A graduate of McGill University’s English Drama and Theatre Program, Jessica Kostuck is Artistic Director of Bad Dress Productions. Previous credits include Third Floor (Assistant Director, Thousand Islands Playhouse), 21 Days (Director, 2012 Toronto Fringe Festival, Patron’s Pick Award), The Vagina Monologues (Director, V-Day McGill) and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Director, Players’ Theatre).
What thrills me about Far Away is that it’s not – so many aspects of the play can be traced back to one's own reality. From our set to our costumes to our original score, everything is very familiar, but slightly different. It’s that feeling when you walk into your apartment and wonder – was someone else just here?
In Far Away, Joan’s world drastically changes when she witnesses a violent event. Years later, Joan gets a job as a hatmaker, and she and Todd unravel the threads of a political conspiracy. Joan realizes that everything in her life has been connected, has been leading up to her placement in this hat factory. As she gets more involved in the rebellion movement, Joan must examine if she’s the one in control of her destiny - if she’s the player or the pawn.
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