Men’s mental health is Western Edge Theatre’s theme for the whole season, and appropriately, the first play takes place almost entirely inside the protagonist’s mind. A Baker’s Dozen, written by Ward Norcutt and directed by Jonathan Greenway, will be presented at Nanaimo’s OV Arts Centre from Nov. 21-30. The play has a single setting in one sense, with the protagonist alone in a hotel room, but he shares the stage at all times with family members acting out his memories. “While the hotel room is the physical setting, we do see these glimpses into the memories of his childhood, of his upbringing, of his young adulthood, of his life progressing through these vignettes of memory that pop up in different dramatizations,” Greenway said. A lot of writing is personal on some level, but Norcutt said with A Baker’s Dozen, “it couldn’t be more personal than this play.” Serious issues such as suicide, abuse and addiction come up as Norcutt’s protagonist tries to understand and work through intergenerational trauma. “It’s basically a fictional telling of a true story,” the playwright said. “I’ve based it very much off my own life and it’s been a cathartic, healing-process journey for me.” Norcutt said he didn’t want to direct the play and never meant to star in it, so taking on the lead role “makes it doubly flayed open.” “I guess it’s very easy to relate to the character, but hard in that it’s been an exhausting process,” he said. “But it’s a really good process and I hope it’s a really good play.” The surreal settings of the mind and memories appeal to Greenway, who said the theatre is the perfect place for audiences to suspend disbelief and be transported, through lighting, music and other techniques, into the protagonist’s thoughts. The director is working with a dream cast, he said, and rehearsals are going well, if a little emotional. “There’s often tears shed by one of the cast members or myself or the crew just watching the rehearsal process, which is cathartic all around,” he said. “I think there’s something in this piece that everyone can relate to in terms of their own mental health whether it’s good or bad.” Greenway is also Western Edge’s artistic director and chose men’s mental health as this season’s theme because it’s important to him, and also because it’s an “undiscussed topic” that still carries stigma. A Baker’s Dozen, the first of four productions this season, and is taking on the theme head-on. “It’s important, I think, for people – especially men – to understand that we need to own our own lives and try to work through our sadness, our anger, all the things that we hold onto so dearly, because we were taught to. I know I was,” Norcutt said. “Hopefully a play like this will help people realize that they can do that too and not have to run away from it, or hide from it, or mask it.” WHAT’S ON … Western Edge Theatre’s A Baker’s Dozen will be shown at the OV Arts Centre from Nov. 21-30. For tickets and more information, visit the Western Edge Theatre website. [https://westernedge.org/]
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