A Q&A with director Alisa Palmer
Director Alisa Palmer
Now that CLOUD 9 is up and running, director extraordinaire Alisa Palmer is finally able to sit back and take a breath. So we took the opportunity to ask her a few questions about some of the more unconventional aspects of CLOUD 9 and her fondness for Caryl Churchill’s work.
A hundred years pass between Act 1 and Act 2, but the characters age only 25 years. Why do you think (playwright) Caryl Churchill wrote it that way?
In an essay about the play Churchill says that while creating the play, she and the actors turned to their own lives for inspiration and discovered that many of them were raised with social and sexual values that were so out of date they might have come from another century. Churchill shows how antiquated the values are that shape us, and she makes an old-fashioned Victorian comedy from the family dynamics in the play.
Why do the actors play different roles in each act? For example, in Act 1 Betty is played by Evan Buliung. In Act 2, Betty is played by Ann-Marie MacDonald – who played Edward in Act 1. It’s fun, but it’s confusing too.
All these choices are quite provocative and I think they’re meant to make you aware of your own assumptions. A man plays Betty in Act 1 as a way to put her ultra-patriarchal behaviour in relief. It also trades on the tradition of men playing women in British theatre. In Act 2 Betty is played by a woman, because now the character is more in touch with herself and her own gender. A woman plays a boy in Act 1 to highlight his effeminacy – and how behavior that is so appropriate in one body is not at all acceptable in another.
Talk a bit about your cast and how you chose them. These are challenging roles and some of these actors are playing parts unlike anything they’ve done before.
I chose these actors quite simply because I love their work and their talents. I’ve worked with almost all of them before, and those I haven’t worked with I’ve admired and had on my list to cast as soon as I had a project to put them in.
When I cast them, I was very aware of putting them in roles that would really stretch them, in roles they may never have another opportunity to play.
You’ve directed quite a few Caryl Churchill plays. What do you find so appealing about her work?
I like her insights into how people communicate. People in her plays always say what they mean, but they rarely know that what they mean isn’t always clear in their words. There’s always a deep hidden river of emotions running beneath what seems at first to be pedestrian language. And I love the way she jettisons the viewer into very intense moments of people’s lives with little warning.
She also cares about how power and abuse are passed from one person to another and she is perceptive about what the chain or power is in society. She is one of the only writers of theatre who sees how women and children are caught in a society that is working against them, but she never sees them as powerless.
And she seems to love theatre as passionately as I do. I could go on….
Why, in your opinion, is the play is called CLOUD 9?
Cloud 9 refers to a state of utopia, a kind of nirvana or heavenly feeling. And everyone in the play is looking for that feeling. But clouds are quite elusive and illusory… just like happiness.
Complete the sentence “I’m on Cloud 9 when…”
I’m on Cloud 9 when I’m watching the show with an audience. I’m on Cloud 9 when I’m eating supper with my children. And I also do like a nice full-bodied red. That can put me on Cloud 9 too.
My Question is for all the actors. What is it like to perform at festivals like the Stratford and Shaw festivals? Do you prefer to perform there or here in Toronto? What are the differences from performing at the festivals and then in Toronto? It was an amazing Show and I am glad I saw it. Hope to see it again.
Hello, Brent -
I’m glad you enjoyed the play!
I find the biggest difference between performing here in Toronto and at a Festival is simply the schedule. At a Festival one might be doing two or three shows in rep, meaning you do one show only three or four times in a week. Here in Toronto, we do the same show eight times a week. The run is usually longer at a festival, too – though there may be only four shows a week, the length of the run means you might do more than a hundred performances of that play in a season.
Personally for me, I enjoy working in Toronto because it’s only a ten minute walk to work!
We attended your presentation of Cloud 9 last night and were thoroughly entertained. The actors, familiar to us from the ‘3 S’s’, gave depth to their roles and to the play.
Get Stuff!
Fantastic!!!! Thank you so much for putting this on stage and casting actors that rose to these most challenging roles. The questions put to the director were fascinating as were her answers. I am studying acting and I can only hope one day to come close to what these actors shared with me. If I could ask a question? As actors, how do you transition so seamlessly from character to character? I am studying acting and I would appreciate your perspective. Thank you.
We asked Megan to answer Eric’s question. Here’s her response:
“I don’t think of it as transitioning from character to character. I experience my characters as three very distinct people, each with their own voice. The challenge and fun comes from committing to the voice of the character. By voice, I mean essence, which Churchill has drawn very specifically. So for me it’s jumping into them. They became clearer to me through the rehearsal process and then, clearer still when performing. To be honest there is no time to think.”
Megan,
You are an amazing actress. My best friend and I loved you in Anne of Green Gables 1,2 and 3. We’ve seen you in about everything, live here in Toronto. We missed you last year. My question for you is how do you choose your characters to play. We hope to see you every year in plays.
I have been a fan of Megan Follows for years but I think Cloud 9 provided such a special opportunity to see many facets of Megan’s truly great abilities.
As with the characters you portrayed in this play, Megan… you’ve come a long way!