{"id":46649,"date":"2025-05-09T01:45:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T08:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=46649"},"modified":"2025-05-08T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T00:49:15","slug":"a-funny-look-at-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/05\/09\/a-funny-look-at-death\/","title":{"rendered":"A funny look at death"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Bloom, left, and Richard Newman share two different roles in Western Gold Theatre\u2019s production of Caryl Churchill\u2019s Here We Go, which is at PAL Studio Theatre until May 25. (photo by Colleen Bayati)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI love<\/i> Caryl Churchill \u2013 she is quirky,\u201d actor Rosy Frier-Dryden told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cShe makes you think, makes you work. You can\u2019t just rely on lines! You have to bring her lines to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frier-Dryden co-stars in Western Gold Theatre\u2019s production of Churchill\u2019s Here We Go<\/i>, which centres around a funeral. Director Kathryn Bracht describes the work as \u201ca deceptively simple, 45-minute exploration on death and dying that is a surrealist meditation wrapped up in her crafty, clever dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the run at PAL Studio Theatre, which goes to May 25, Frier-Dryden is joined by fellow Jewish community members David Bloom and Richard Newman in the cast, which is rounded out by Bernard Cuffling, Kate Robbins and Peihwen J. Tai.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout giving all of the storyline away, the general structure of the play is that it\u2019s in three parts: a funeral scene; a monologue scene, where the deceased speaks; and a final scene without words,\u201d explained Newman.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did our first runs today, and it\u2019s quite remarkable how the three scenes build on each other to explore relationships with aging and death,\u201d added Bloom. \u201cIt\u2019s startlingly funny and weirdly moving.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bloom and Newman share roles, as do the other actors: Frier-Dryden with Robbins, and Cuffling with Tai.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn half of the shows, I am on stage in the first third playing one of five people attending a funeral,\u201d said Newman. \u201cIn the other half of the shows, I play the subject of the funeral, the guy who died, who has a lengthy monologue \u2013 six pages of script, to be precise. This monologue is brilliantly written \u2013 emotional, scary and, always, funny. Quite a challenge, but such a great scene to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of Churchill\u2019s writing and Kathryn Bracht\u2019s direction, each actor has a lot of leeway to interpret their lines and define their characters. Like me, David will have his own interpretation of both roles, and we\u2019ve agreed not to watch each other, so we\u2019ll not be influenced by the other \u2013 we\u2019re developing our characters independently. Each of us rehearses alone in the room with the director.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frier-Dryden also spoke enthusiastically about the latitude the actors have in this play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most marvellous thing is, you are allowed to create your own character, based on what Caryl Churchill writes and the freedom she gives you,\u201d said Frier-Dryden. \u201cIn the first scene, I am playing a character that is older and a big personality. She is a Londoner, upper class, and lives in Eaton Square with a vast array of friends. She had an affair with the guy whose funeral we are attending. In the final scene, she is ill, has dementia and she is slipping away. She and her husband have come to terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Rosy Frier-Dryden\u2019s character in Here We Go had an affair with the man whose funeral the characters have come to attend. (photo by Colleen Bayati)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCaryl Churchill is quite simply a remarkable playwright,\u201d said Western Gold Theatre artistic director Tanja Dixon-Warren. \u201cShe has an extraordinary command of language and deep understanding of human nature. Her work is very reminiscent of Pinter and Beckett, in that the text is pared down to its absolute essentials. There is nothing extraneous or gratuitous.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has a distinctive, truly singular approach to writing,\u201d Dixon-Warren continued. \u201cVery often there is no punctuation, and lines are not assigned to specific characters, thus allowing the director and actors to find multiple stories and characters within the piece \u2013 knowing that they will bring their life experience to the work. This requires that the director, actors, designers really dig into the play, to find all the nuances and be very, very specific about what they are saying. Her material is, essentially, just the beginning of the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It certainly has the actors thinking beyond the play and about their own lives: Bloom is 65, Newman is 78 and Frier-Dryden is 90.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find myself being grateful for being alive and still being able to move around under my own power,\u201d said Bloom, who commented that the monologue \u201cis both a marathon and a sprint\u201d in which he immerses himself every bus journey, so he\u2019s physically and emotionally exhausted at the end of each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about my parents a lot,\u201d he added, \u201cbecause the play reminds me of their last years and the different ways they faced bodily decline and death. There\u2019s a scene I\u2019m not in that brings up heartbreaking memories of my father\u2019s last years. But, mostly, I\u2019m so delighted to be working on such a beautiful piece of writing with a group of wonderful people, many of whom are even older than I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou start to think about what\u2019s really important, what I want to do with whatever is left of my life,\u201d said Newman, who has lost many friends in the last year-and-a-half or so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat strikes me most strongly is that I am enjoying being here and am looking forward to sticking around to enjoy life as best as I can, as long as I can,\u201d he said. \u201cI consider myself fortunate \u2013 I run, work at keeping my body as healthy as I can \u2013 and believe my mind will follow\u2026. This play kind of dovetails with my life and the issues and experiences that arise, the things I\u2019m doing and how I\u2019m dealing with life at this age. It\u2019s a kind of serendipity to be in this play.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day,\u201d said Newman, \u201cI\u2019m reminded that life is a gift, a miracle. I have my work, friends both young and old, family. I\u2019m blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here We Go<\/i> also resonates with Frier-Dryden, who recently lost a family member.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lived through the deaths of many, especially recently, and I think of this play and its themes \u2026 all the time,\u201d she said. \u201cI am not just going to rehearse \u2013 I am going with the knowledge that someone dear has died, and I can send them off and honour them. I love that every day I think of the person I loved, and he is gone, but not gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere We Go<\/i> features some of the best actors in Vancouver,\u201d concluded Newman. \u201cThis will be unlike anything you\u2019re liable to see in the Vancouver theatre season! I hope people will come to the show to watch our performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets to Here We G<\/i>o, visit westerngoldtheatre.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Bloom, left, and Richard Newman share two different roles in Western Gold Theatre\u2019s production of Caryl Churchill\u2019s Here We Go, which is at PAL Studio Theatre until May 25. (photo by Colleen Bayati) \u201cI love Caryl Churchill \u2013 she is quirky,\u201d actor Rosy Frier-Dryden told the Independent. \u201cShe makes you think, makes you work. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[2219,24032,1069,5810,8236,24030,4503,442,24031,6208,21857],"class_list":["post-46649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-aging","tag-caryl-churchill","tag-david-bloom","tag-death","tag-dying","tag-here-we-go","tag-mortality","tag-richard-newman","tag-rosy-frier-dryden","tag-theatre","tag-western-gold-theatre"],"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\/46649","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=46649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}