Meet the Playwrights! Now for the Out-of-Towners!
Read time: Under 6 minutes
In early September, Alberta Theatre Projects announced the 2020-21 Playwrights Unit, continuing the company’s longstanding commitment to the development of new Canadian plays. Four of the playwrights are local, and four hail from other parts of the country.
Read on to learn more about two of these exceptional out-of-town playwrights!.
MEET THE PLAYWRIGHTS
Andrea Scott is an actor, writer, and producer originally from London, Ontario. She is the author of Eating Pomegranates Naked, Better Angels: A Parable, Don’t Talk to Me Like I’m Your Wife, Every Day She Rose (co-written with Nick Green), and Controlled Damage. Recipient of the Magee Diverse Screenwriters Award (2019), Andrea wrote 13 episodes of My Paranormal Nightmare for Sharon Lewis at Our House Media last year. She was the artist in residence at bcurrent performing arts and will be the Writer-in-Residence at MiratecArts on the Pico Islands in June 2021. She is currently the Playwright-in-Residence at Tarragon Theatre. You can catch Better Angels: A Parable on CBC’s PlayMe podcast. Better Angels: A Parable, Eating Pomegranates Naked, and Controlled Damage (Fall 2020) are published by Scirocco Drama.
What made you want to be a playwright?
I worked as an actor for many years and was bored of the roles for which I was auditioning in Toronto. I loved performing and touring around the US and Canada (Calgary was definitely a favourite stop, even though I did get frostbite on a -51 day in January) but I believed I could create more rich, three-dimensional, interesting roles for Black women. I was right and I’ve never looked back.
What is your most memorable arts experience?
I hate to be a cliché, but a friend surprised me with a ticket to Hamilton this year and they were front row seats. It was such an incredible theatre experience and I treasure it because it was two weeks before the world shut down this year.
What play would you recommend that any theatre lover should see at some point in their lives?
I’m choosing two because there’s just too many great plays in the world: Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad and Lungs by Duncan Macmillan because it’s a perfect, beautiful two-hander.
What’s your favourite place to eat?
I live in Toronto, so I’m going to say Lalibela, a fantastic Ethiopian restaurant at Ossington and Bloor. The Goden Tibs, injera, spinach, washed down with Hakim Stout… *chef’s kiss*
You have 2 hours of chill time, where are you hanging out and what are you doing?
I’m sitting in my massive backyard, listening to the birds, watching the squirrels, drinking a negroni, and being present.
Mark Crawford is a playwright and actor. He is the author of Stag and Doe; Bed and Breakfast; The Birds and the Bees; Boys, Girls, and Other Mythological Creatures; and The New Canadian Curling Club, which was produced at Alberta Theatre Projects in 2019. His plays have been performed across Canada and internationally, and are published by Scirocco Drama. Mark most recently appeared on stage in The Outsider at Stage West Calgary.
What made you want to be a playwright?
I was bitten by the theatre bug pretty young. While I always loved writing, I started my career as an actor. I think what made me want to be a playwright is my love for story-telling, for the exchange of ideas, and for entertaining an audience. It can feel like a slog when I'm rewriting a scene for the fourth time to make it work, but I have to remind myself that I love the opportunity to take a little tiny idea of something I want to explore and turning it into a whole play.
What is your most memorable arts experience?
Most memorable? That's hard! One arts experience that will stick with me was at the National Gallery of Canada. There's a sound installation called Forty-Part Motet by Janet Cardiff set up inside the Rideau Chapel, which is this gorgeous 19th century chapel reconstructed inside the gallery. There are forty speakers, each one playing the track of an individual voice singing this epic piece of music arranged for a forty-person choir. You can walk around and pick up different singers, or stand in the middle and get blasted with beautiful voices from all sides. It's hard to describe, but it blew my mind--exhilarating, surprising, and unexpectedly moving. If you're ever in Ottawa, go check it out!
What play would you recommend that any theatre lover should see at some point in their lives?
The play I come back to again and again is Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Some people find it a bit old-fashioned, but for me, it's an extraordinary piece of writing. The play is deceptively simple, profound in its observations about humanity, and ohhh man, that third act makes me cry.
What’s your favourite place to eat?
I live in Ontario (don't hold it against me!) but I've been lucky to spend time in Calgary. I was working at Stage West when the pandemic shut 'er all down. My fave place I ate this winter was Lulu Bar on 17th Ave. I was also making my way through the nacho menu at Madison's 1212 in Inglewood. And I have a hard time saying no to any croissant, but the ones from Butter Block in the Devenish Building on 17th are exceptional.
You have 2 hours of chill time, where are you hanging out and what are you doing?
These days, I might just be in my garden. I've been puttering around the yard for the past few years, but this pandemic has turned me into a full-blown plant nerd. It's been nice to get my hands dirty, watch things grow, and even experience a few garden fails. For chill time, I like to drink a beer, cook something on my barbeque, and look at my flowers.
