{"id":1326,"date":"2014-02-21T12:38:36","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T20:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=1326"},"modified":"2014-05-03T13:50:31","modified_gmt":"2014-05-03T20:50:31","slug":"alon-nashmans-play-tells-the-story-of-director-john-hirsch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/02\/21\/alon-nashmans-play-tells-the-story-of-director-john-hirsch\/","title":{"rendered":"Alon Nashman\u2019s play tells story of director John Hirsch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alon Nashman as John Hirsch in Hirsch. (photo by Cylla von Tiedemann)<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When theatre and its creative engines become the main focus of a theatrical show, the results can be fascinating. An audience is always hungry for a glimpse behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

This is exactly the case with Hirsch,<\/i> which tells the story of the well-known Hungarian-born Canadian director John Hirsch. Premi\u00e8red at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 2012, it played in Edinburg and then Winnipeg, and it\u2019s been a smash hit in each location. It\u2019s coming to Vancouver\u2019s Firehall Arts Centre Feb. 25-March 1. Presented as part of the Chutzpah! Festival, it is co-produced by Touchstone Theatre.<\/p>\n

Created by Alon Nashman and Paul Thompson, Hirsch<\/i> is a solo show, directed by Thompson and performed by Nashman. In an interview with the Independent, Nashman described the show\u2019s origins: \u201cThis play was built from research, blossomed into improvisation, and then was recorded, refined and ordered,\u201d he said by phone from his home in Toronto. \u201cIt retains in performance something of the anarchic energy of improv.\u201d<\/p>\n

As do many theatre people, Nashman admires Hirsch, a legendary figure in Canadian theatre. Born in Hungary in 1930, Hirsch was the sole Holocaust survivor of his entire family. In 1947, he arrived in Winnipeg as a refugee. He didn\u2019t speak any English, but that didn\u2019t keep him from pursuing his passion, theatre. Eleven years later, he co-founded the Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC) with Tom Hendry. Afterwards, according to Thompson\u2019s research, the MTC audience doubled for seven years in a row \u2013 an outstanding achievement in the world of theatre. Later, Hirsch directed phenomenally popular shows in Canada and the United States and from 1974 to 1978 was the head of television drama at CBC. He died of AIDS in 1989.<\/p>\n

\u201cHirsch is a fantastic subject for a play,\u201d said Nashman. \u201cHe lived more than nine lives and was constantly reinventing himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nashman said that the main goal of this project is \u201cto convey the scope of his [Hirsch\u2019s] life and the power of his work. And our solution was to refract his life through his productions. So there\u2019s a back-and-forth between real-life segments and recreations of his rehearsals or performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think that, for theatre lovers, it provides a rare glance into the mind of a brilliant director. It is also the story of a man who faced great loss as a child and tried to put the pieces of his life back together through theatre.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hirsch<\/i> has received rave reviews as well as public acclaim, and Nashman attributed its success to the hero of his performance. \u201cI think that, for theatre lovers, it provides a rare glance into the mind of a brilliant director. It is also the story of a man who faced great loss as a child and tried to put the pieces of his life back together through theatre. And there is the immigrant experience of someone who championed Canadian culture and creativity more than the people born to it. For all these reasons, it transcends generations and ethnic boundaries to become an Everyman story.\u201d<\/p>\n

As co-creator of the show, an author as well as an actor, Nashman said he doesn\u2019t feel compelled to adhere too strictly to the text of the play. He wrote it, so he is free to improvise, to adapt to the pulse of the audience. As a result, every performance feels different, fresh. \u201cThe play-script does not convey the crackle of anything-could-happen, which fills the live auditorium,\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, my opening monologue changes each night in slight but significant ways, depending on the mood and people in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYes, I would love to play more Shakespeare and Chekhov. That\u2019s why I am doing Hirsch. I get to embody his productions of\u00a0Cherry Orchard<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0The Tempest<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0King Lear<\/i>, imitating some of the greatest actors in Canada.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The show not only forges a link between the stage and the audience but it also streamlines the history of Canadian theatre performance, from Shakespeare to contemporary works. Despite being a modern play, it allows the actor to experience classics the way Hirsch envisioned them. \u201cYes, I would love to play more Shakespeare and Chekhov,\u201d Nashman said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I am doing Hirsch. I get to embody his productions of Cherry Orchard<\/i> and The Tempest<\/i> and King Lear<\/i>, imitating some of the greatest actors in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, introducing multiple characters in one show is challenging, but Nashman doesn\u2019t shy from challenges, on stage or off. \u201cIdeally, every project is a scary challenge, and I actually look forward to the moment in rehearsal when I say to myself, \u2018this is impossible.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Nashman\u2019s creative road is studded with such moments of daring and triumph. In 1999, he founded Theaturtle, a company whose mission it is \u201cto create essential, ecstatic theatre that touches the earth and agitates the soul,\u201d according to Nashman\u2019s website. He serves as the artistic director and is the only constant member of the company, but Theaturtle has instigated many collaborations. One of these produced another Nashman solo show, Kafka and Son<\/i>. Initially developed more than a decade ago, it toured successfully across Europe and won the Outstanding Performance Award at the Prague Fringe in 2013. Based on his performance in the show, Nashman was selected Toronto\u2019s number one theatre artist of 2008 by NOW Magazine<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Nashman\u2019s love for theatre began in childhood. \u201cMy father was a summer camp director and had a flair for showbiz,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut my urge for theatre was self-generated and started when I was very young. It was so natural for me to perform that I had trouble considering it as a profession. Even now, when I\u2019m busy, I say: \u2018I have a lot of fun to do today.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin <\/b>is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alon Nashman as John Hirsch in Hirsch. (photo by Cylla von Tiedemann) When theatre and its creative engines become the main focus of a theatrical show, the results can be fascinating. An audience is always hungry for a glimpse behind the scenes. This is exactly the case with Hirsch, which tells the story of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[983,985,984,987,986],"class_list":["post-1326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-alon-nashman","tag-cbc","tag-john-hirsch","tag-manitoba-theatre-centre","tag-paul-thompson"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}