The Segal Centre for Performing Arts presents the
Tableau D’Hôte Theatre (TDH) production of A LINE IN THE SAND, written by Guillermo Verdecchia and Marcus Youssef, the award-winning creators of The Adventures of Ali and Ali and the Axes of Evil.
The Canada Council-funded Montreal premiere is directed by TDH’s Artistic Director, Mike Payette and plays at the Segal Centre Studio from March 8 to 21.
Set in the desert just outside of Doha, Qatar in the Persian Gulf, the three-hander is the story of Mercer, a troubled Canadian soldier and Sadiq, a teenage Palestinian black marketeer, who meet in the fall of 1990 during Operation Desert Shield. Overlooking vast cultural differences against a backdrop of global conflict, the two develop a secret friendship that is violently severed by the torture and murder of the 16-year-old Palestinian boy inside the Canadian base. Mercer was, at the very least, a witness to the
atrocity, perhaps even a willing participant in his friend’s death, and the Colonel is determined to unearth the truth.
Influenced by the killing of a teen in Somalia in the early 90s and by the Albert Camus classic, The Stranger, the play challenges Canada's self-image that it is a nation of diplomats. Twenty years later, with a prorogued government attempting to defuse the
Afghan detainee issue, the timeliness of the play is distressing. While Payette examines the political issues of the play he also adopts innovative methods to explore subtler aspects of the story.
“The playwrights’ use of seemingly ordinary encounters between Sadiq and Mercer gradually blurs the line between ‘us and them’ for the audience. Our differences are boiled down until all that remains are our commonalities. What connects us is what interests me.” Payette continues, “The dramatic curve of the play, ending with the climactic scene between Mercer and the Colonel blew me away. The emotional gymnastics, the slow tightening of the noose: a scene like this is why we do live theatre.”
The characters are gem roles for actors and Payette managed to draw three of Montreal’s finest to the production. Glenda Braganza is the young Palestinian boy, selling dirty photos to make enough money to go to America. Mike Hughes (recently in TDH’s Suburban Motel series) is the newly arrived soldier, trying to adjust to his alien environment and Chip Chuipka is the stalwart colonel investigating the incident. About
the unconventional casting, Payette says, "Even though the play was written for three male actors, the lack of female connection in both these boys' lives is extremely present.
Casting a female to play a boy allows us to explore some interesting themes addressed in the script, and it reminds us that in spite of the tense subject matter there can be moments of wonderfully heightened theatre."
Payette is assisted in direction by Catherine Lemieux, with set and props designed by Lara Kaluza. Noémi Poulin returns to create costumes as well as to design lighting.
Véronique Gaudreau choreographs, as movement is a key element that Payette has added to the production, and Rob Denton is the sound designer with the aid of Alycia
O’Keefe. Paul Brian Imperial stage manages with assistance from May Tyrell.
A Line in the Sand was first produced in 1995 in Vancouver at the New Play Centre and was directed by Guillermo Verdecchia. It was then revised and presented in Toronto at Tarragon Theatre in 1996 with Verdecchia at the helm once again.
Venue
Segal Centre Studio
5170, ch. de la Côte-Ste-Catherine
Box Office
(514) 848 - 9696
www.cshow.ca
Web Sites
www.tableaudhotetheatre.ca
www.segalcentre.org
