Playwright treads boards with students

Sharon Pollock is clearly an artist whose reputation precedes her. She's considered a major Canadian playwright, actor, producer and director. She's won the Governor General's Award twice and been nominated a third time. Her plays have been produced around the world and she has been awarded three honorary degrees.

So when she arrived at the U of A to act in a Studio Theatre production of her play, Moving Pictures, it's fair to say there was some initial intimidation factor to overcome among the cast. But it didn't take long to put that anxiety to rest, says BFA student Kelly Spilchak.

"She's very down to earth and incredibly approachable," said Spilchak. "On the first day when I came to the read I thought, 'Oh God, I hope she's not a diva,' and in fact she's the polar opposite.

"She's so open to a dialogue. She doesn't treat her work like this precious thing on a pedestal - she's open to what makes it work for the show, which is really lovely, because I was nervous about it. I mean, she's Sharon Pollock. I studied her in theatre history during my BA. It's bizarre that I'm working alongside of her."

For her part, Pollock welcomes the fresh perspective student actors provide. "I don't believe that talent and insight come with age and experience," she said. "Working with people at the beginning of their career is inspiring and helps overcome the terrible seed of cynicism you get as you grow older and look at the theatre scene."

Moving Pictures, which opened Dec. 2 and closes Dec. 11, is a fictional portrait of Canadian silent film star Nell Shipman, who defied the studio system to create her own independent film production company during the 1920s. The play interrogates the sacrifices Shipman makes, and the relationships she destroys, to remain true to her vision.

Shipman's internal conflict is embodied in characters representing three stages of her life - the youthful optimist, the thriving professional in mid-life who is blind to everything but her work, and the older woman facing the end of her life and asking if it was all worth it.

"I'm playing with the idea that we experience life and find meaning in it not by living it but by telling stories about it, and those stories change over various periods of our life," said Pollock, who plays the older Shipman.

"If you're an artist - in this case a movie maker - and nobody sees your films, were those sacrifices you made for nothing?"

During the 1920s, Shipman decided to go into independent production just as the studio system was beginning to consolidate.

"She refuses to compromise and is forced to go to independent distributors," Pollock said. "She creates her own company but doesn't operate well with her backers. At one point in the play she says, 'I'm an artist, not an accountant'… Her commitment to the work blinds her to everything else, and eventually that has disastrous consequences."

Pollock says reworking the play with Studio Theatre's cast was a vital part of the rehearsal process. Actors often interpret plays in ways she never thought of, she says, and that process only adds layers of richness and complexity.

For example, "Kelly's performance as Helen (the young Shipman) makes her a much more integral part of the play than in the initial production… It's partly the energy Kelly brings to it - the character she's created is just more present and fuller than I had seen her. That's interesting, and the same thing is true of the men."

After all she's seen of theatre business, however, Pollock admits she doesn't get excited about openings. She says that's just setting yourself up for disappointment.

"I never have expectations. I always think of the audience as the last character that enters the play, and you never know how that character will impact what you do."

Moving Pictures is directed by Heather Inglis, starring Pollock, Spilchak, Candice Woloshyn, Mark Jenkins, Stephen Kent and Owen Hamilton. Tickets are $8 for students, $10 for seniors and $15 for adults.