Markham
Little Theatre breaks new ground with Seven Stories
article
and photos by Grant Weaver, GuidingStar.ca
Abbas Hussain
(The Man) and Kerry Harman (Lillian)
 (Sept.
3/09) Markham
Little Theatre is going out on a limb ... or rather, a ledge,
with their season-opening Seven Stories by renowned Canadian
playwright Morris Panych. The
production runs September 16-19 at Markham Theatre For Performing
Arts.
This is a brilliantly written work and Director Zachary
McKendrick has assembled a marvelous cast that is definitely up to
the task.
Up to the task in more ways than one.
Abbas Hussain, in the role The Man, spends the entire
play on the ledge of a seventh floor building, intending to commit
suicide but constantly interrupted, and puzzled, by a succession of
strange characters so engrossed in themselves that they don’t even
ask what he is doing out there! In
the end he encounters on her balcony the aged and demented Lillian who
is the only one who really listens to him.
So, does he jump? You
didn’t really expect me to give that away, did you!
It seems that every actor or director who has worked on a
production of Seven Stories falls in love with the play.
In his high school days in Pickering, Zachary McKendrick played
The Man and, while at the University of Windsor, attended that
school’s production of the play.
“So, when the opportunity came up to direct it, I jumped on
it,” he told us on August 30 when GuidingStar.ca dropped in to
MLT’s BackStage rehearsal venue and enjoyed the opportunity to chat
with Zachary and several members of the cast and crew.
This is Zachary’s first production with Markham Little
Theatre. He encouraged a
number of actors he has worked with to audition for this show and MLT
is delighted with the new blood he has brought in.
One of his recruits is Abbas Hussain.
Born and raised in Scarborough, Abbas graduated in theatre from
the University of Toronto and is now a theatre teacher at J.S.
Woodsworth Middle School in Scarborough.
Most recently, he appeared this Spring in the Scarborough
Players’ production of Romeo and Juliet, acting alongside
Zachary McKendrick and Deva Neely, another member of the current Seven
Stories cast.
The role of The Man is a challenge he
enjoys.
“It’s being on stage the entire time,” he said.
“You don’t have entrances or exits.
I’m never not on. And
when you are only on a short span of ledge, and that’s the whole
stage, it’s binding.”
Although The Man seems the most normal of all the characters in
the play, he is the one who is contemplating suicide.
“He is someone who has come to a crossroads,” Abbas
continued. “But seeing
all these different characters interact with him, he realizes that
perhaps he is not as crazy as he thinks he is.”
Abbas is going to be pretty busy over the next while, with
classes resuming after Labour Day and the show having its run less
than two weeks later!
Another actor who starred in the Scarborough Players’s Romeo
and Juliet was Damien Gulde.
Damien appeared in a production of Seven Stories during
his student days at Agincourt Collegiate in Scarborough, performing
the role of Leonard, and has become passionate about it.
When he heard that Zachary would be directing an MLT production
of the same play, he also jumped at the chance to be in it again.
He auditioned and got a role.
In fact, he got four.
One
could even say he plays five characters since one of his roles,
Marshall, is a persona that the character Michael Merchant created for
himself, having, in a sense, committed identity suicide.
His encounter with Marshall leads The Man to ask the telling
question: You are making a mockery of your own existence.
Doesn’t your life mean anything to you?
An
interesting question coming from the man who is out on the ledge.
Another of Damien’s characters is Rodney.
“Rodney, by day, is the boring uptight stick-in-the-mud
lawyer,” he explains. “He
lets loose with his mistress, Charlotte, by night.
They play games ... and get to this point where they seem to
really hate each other, but they need that from each other.
It really excites them and gets them going.”
And then there is Damien’s third character, Percy.
Percy has 940 friends.
Although that may sound like somebody’s Facebook profile,
this play was written before online social networking existed.
“He doesn’t really know these people,” said Damien.
“He’s far too superficial.”
Damien returns at the end of the play in his fourth guise, that
of a random “normal” person. But
let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Jaime Morgan is also new to Markham Little Theatre.
She grew up in Pickering and Whitby and now lives in Port
Credit, having appeared in Mississauga Players’ production of Arthur
Miller’s The Crucible.
Jaime learned of the auditions for Seven Stories on the
website of the Association of Community Theatres-Central Ontario and
came to MLT not knowing anyone in the company. All that quickly changed.
“It’s been such a pleasure,” she told us.
“Markham Little Theatre is very professional and the
rehearsal space is just amazing, so I feel very spoiled.”
Jaime has her work cut out for her in this play---she plays a
woman, and a man!
“Charlotte is a lot of fun to play,” she said.
“I like where the character goes.
I like the sauciness that’s in there, but she is also a bit
of a sad character.”
Charlotte and Rodney get a kick out of pretending to murder
each other! Charlotte,
however, finds meaning in
these weird games, and that is an eye-opener for the suicidal The Man.
Charlotte has a great line: “We hate each other, but at least
that’s something. There
is a certain zeal in it.”
Jaime has to make several very quick changes behind the scenes,
as she also plays the paranoid psychiatrist, Leonard!
Joely McEwen is in her first production with MLT since
she appeared in Les Belles Soeurs fourteen years ago.
Markham-born and raised, Joely attended Unionville High School
where she studied in the Arts York Drama program and then pursued a
degree in English at the University of Western Ontario.
She
has worked in marketing and is now a stay-at-home Mom, with two boys,
one year and three years of age.
“I
think that is the most acting I do all day,” she laughed.
 Joely
plays the rather vacant Jennifer who is obsessed with communicating
with people on her Blackberry, and the flamboyant Joan who is in a
tense relationship with her husband Michael.
“They
can’t get along,” she said, “yet they can’t get along without
each other either.”
We
missed the chance to meet the two other members of the cast. Deva
Neely, who also appeared in Scarborough Players’ Romeo and
Juliet, takes on the roles of Lillian’s nurse Wilson and also of
Rachel. Adrian Benson
will appear as Al and as Joan’s husband Michael.
 This
parade of absurd characters culminates in the appearance of Lillian,
played by MLT veteran Kerry Harman.
Kerry’s list of credits is long indeed, so let me just remind
our readers, and fans of Markham Little Theatre, of Kerry’s splendid
performance in The Odd Couple (Female Version) in 2007.
Lillian, although suffering from
dementia, is the only one who actually listens to The Man.
She is the only one who offers him advice, and wisdom.
“The
challenge of being Lillian,” Kerry laughs, “is to pretend you have
full-blown dementia, and remember your lines!”
 Lillian,
Kerry explained, is a wonderful character with vivid memories of her
past.
“All
the others are trapped, and she is the only one who talks about
freedom.”
What
impact does she have on The Man?
Learning
the answer to that question is alone worth a ticket to this great
production.
Another
treat for the audience is going to be the spectacular set.
 “The
set in and of itself is a character in the play,” said Director
Zachary McKendrick. “I
am a physical actor, which means I am also a physical director.
So, I wanted a lot of depth.
But how do I get depth with a flat wall?”
A lot
of discussion, debate and compromise went into the final result.
Set designer Wil Pialagitis has produced a building
facade that is the entire width of the Markham Theatre stage, seven
windows and one balcony wide, with a ledge five feet above the stage
level. There will be
facades painted above and below the level that the actors perform on,
representing the floor below and above, thus creating a set that is
almost twenty feet high.
During
our visit, the actors were starting to
rehearse in front of the first completed segment of the facade.
It’s going to be very exciting to see it when it is fully
constructed at Markham Theatre.
 At
our visit we also said hello to some familiar faces who are
contributing behind the scenes this time. Award-winning actress,
director, and many-time MLT board member Michčle Browne is
working on set painting and set dressing.
Judy Heffernan is props manager.
Ann Davison is co-Producer along with Peggy Wyatt.
Seven Stories is
one of Morris Panych’s most demanding, and most loved, plays.
“The
play is so funny and vibrant,” Joely McEwen said, “and I think it
really holds something for everyone who would attend live theatre.
It has got it all, in terms of comedy, drama, a little twist of
suspense, and lots of interesting characters.”
I would add to that: great acting by a very talented cast that
will feature some exciting new faces.
Grant Weaver
For complete show details, click
here.
To learn more about Markham Little Theatre, visit
www.markhamlittletheatre.com.
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