Editor’s note: This story appeared in the November edition of the South Cowichan Connector. The Connector is a publication for and about the South Cowichan Valley. Look for our December edition.
Charlie Kaufman once said: “There’s theatre in life, obviously, and there’s life in theatre.”
This is a sentiment that the current 100 members of the Shawnigan Players most likely share. The theatre group’s inception was in 1977 under the leadership of original Shawnigan Player Kent Steele when he decided to put on the radio play Under Milk Wood written by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, done in the style of reader’s theatre. Since, there has been at least one performance every year.
“Kent was from Britain, and there was no local theatre in Shawnigan Lake at that time, but several were interested in it,” said longtime member Alex Gallacher. “Some of the actors from Under Milk Wood are still involved with the players today.”
Gallacher, who had never acted before, first caught the bug nearly a decade later in 1986 when he was approached to audition for The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams.
“I had never been involved in theatre before but was always curious about it,” said Gallacher. “I had studied literature in university so I was really excited to hear that a local group was doing Tennessee Williams. To both my shock and fear, I was cast in the lead as minister Shannon. I was so taken with the supportive family atmosphere, how the group operated, and the focus they put in the work.”
Gallacher’s enthusiasm grew tenfold when he discovered a new passion and had his directorial debut in 1988 with a play written by his brother Pete Marlowe. This was also the first piece that current Shawnigan Players president Bill Levity ever acted in.
“My brother had written a one act play about three down-and-outers sitting around a table in a rooming house in Victoria,” said Gallacher. “It was funny and sad, and I thought it was a great piece. Somebody suggested I direct it, and it was something I had never considered because I didn’t think it was in my wheelhouse. I remember Bill coming to see The Night of the Iguana and us talking about it afterwards, then two years later I asked him to be in this play. It was such a fantastic experience and I realized how much I loved directing even more than acting with being able to be involved right from the beginning.”
Levity, who has done much for the Players over the years, was most recently seen portraying the comical clown in All’s Well That Ends Well and will be donning his director hat again for their upcoming pantomimes — a British tradition that the Shawingan Players have been doing at least every other year since 2005. They are performed between Christmas and New Year’s and the hero is always depicted by a young woman, which will also be the case for this year’s Robin Hood.
“It’s usually a spoof on a fairy tale that is intended to appeal to both young children and adults,” said Gallacher. “The heart of the fairy tale is still there for the younger children, but is complimented with adult humour.”
The Shawnigan Players is known for encouraging their actors to become first time directors, as everyone needs to start somewhere. Out of the 20-plus pieces that Gallacher has directed to date, one that stands out for him was the first Shakespeare play that he took on: King Lear in 1991. With a cast of 30 it was performed at the old Shawnigan Lake Community Hall.
“The actors were incredible, and it really stunned the audience it was such an incredible piece,” said Gallacher. “We did it in the community hall and hung mill felt from the ceiling, and enclosed the actors and the audience, so it was a very intense experience. We actually took that play to the South Island Theatre Festival BC that year and won the entire festival. We were awarded best production, best director, and best supporting actress. Then we took the play to the provincials in Nelson where the winners from all the different zones competed against one another. Jan Ovens who played one of the sisters won best supporting actress for the whole province, so it was a truly great thing for us.”
Being nominated for best director is something Gallacher never expected when he took on Shakespeare for the first time. Since, has had much enjoyment and success directing many of old Will’s plays as a part the Cowichan Shakespeare Festival, which celebrated 12 years this past summer with his take on All’s Well That Ends Well. With a cast of 40, it was also a family affair for Gallacher, whose wife Breann designed and created 50 of the costumes, while his children Josephine and William, who was named after the Bard, played their parts. In the original play, the heroine is pregnant at the end but Gallacher thought it would be more compelling if she had just given birth.
READ MORE: Cowichan Shakespeare Festival celebrates 12 years with ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’
“When Josephine, who was only two months old at the time came on and it was such an emotional moment for both the audience and us,” said Gallacher. “The hero and the heroine of this play can often be misinterpreted as unpleasant characters until the audience discovers why they make the choices they do, and understand their humanity. As we saw this year, our audiences celebrated the couple coming together at the end because they cared about the characters. I think we really worked hard with that production to make the characters sympathetic. I knew that was going to be our main challenge this year.”
One of the other challenges the Shawnigan Players continually face is not having a set rehearsal space. Locations will vary depending on the production, and season. Past spaces have included the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre, The Hub, and the Clements Centre, but come spring Gallacher would like to bring his outdoor rehearsals to the pavilion where they hold their first Shakespeare performance each year.
“We have made it a tradition to preview our Shakespeare plays at the pavilion in Shawnigan,” said Gallacher. “We invite the community to attend for free and bring their lawn chairs. It’s great because it allows the actors to try out what they have for the very first time in front of an audience, and for us to be able to have that first performance in the heart of Shawnigan is a special thing for sure.”
Before COVID, the Shawnigan Players began putting on two Shakespeare plays per summer which have always been performed on a bare stage at Gem O’ The Isle Farm. In 2019, the players performed Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure on alternate nights. This year director Laura Faulkner, who is in the final days of directing her first-ever Shakespeare play with Hamlet, wanted to mix it up.
“Laura’s vision of Hamlet was to do it inside in a smaller, intimate venue, which was great,” said Gallacher. “She chose to do it at the Showroom where we have done lots of plays in the past, and it’s been great to work with Long John over the years. We did The Crucible there this time last year, and it was a wonderful space for that play.”
It is the hope that over the next few years there may be a new space to enjoy live theatre in the Cowichan Valley. Gallacher says that discussions are currently in the works between the Cowichan Musical Society, the Mercury Players, Adage Studio, and a few other groups to propose a 350-seat theatre that would be a space for local groups to perform with a second small space in the complex that would act as a ‘Black Box Theatre.’ Gallacher says they are still in the preliminary stages with talks about a possible location, and fundraising initiatives.
Upcoming showings to look forward to will include A Look Back In Anger directed by Mary Gallagher, then come February auditions will be held for the 2024 Cowichan Shakespeare Festival, with Gallacher mulling over both The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Henry 4 Part 1 for his next project. Auditions are always well publicized, and open to all who want to attend. Gallacher has seen firsthand over the years what an impact the Shawnigan Players has had on theatre lovers in the community with the high quality and meaningful scripts they continue to turn out.
“I would love for audiences to still be thinking about one of our productions a week or a month later,” said Gallacher. “I often hear that about the plays we do, that it’s just not something you go and see and applaud, but there is always a lot of food for thought, and gives people something to think about in their own lives.”