At the volunteer orientation for Gormenghast, actress Michelle Chowns was told the first rule is not to fall in love with a prisoner.
“This hasn’t happened this season,” says Chowns, “but it has happened in the past.”
Chowns is one of three local women performing with nine inmates in the new production at the William Head Institution in Metchosin.
The play is based on a series of books written by Mervyn Peake and is the fourth production Ian Case has directed for William Head on Stage (WhoS), an organization that has staged 50 performances at the prison over the last 30 years.
Case read Peake’s trilogy years ago and immediately saw potential for adaptation to the stage. When he discovered a John Constable adaptation had already been penned he asked a friend to pick him up a copy while on vacation in England.
Prison life may be a foreign experience for most of us, but Case has grown familiar with the venue and its unique characteristics, like the strict schedules, armed guards, and razor wire.
“After a while the impact starts to fade,” he says.
A few years ago, Case had difficulty casting a prison production of Waiting for Godot, which only has four parts. Fortunately, he was able to find nine inmates to fill all of the male roles in the Gormenghast, while local actresses play all of the female roles.
Performer Ingrid Hansen, who’s been involved with WHoS productions for a number of years, says audiences coming into contact with the inmates usually consider it an eye-opening experience.
“The separation dissolves,” says Hansen, who recently directed Chalk! at the prison. “That idea of somebody somewhere locked away for doing something bad… they actually become a real person when you actually get to meet them. Not just a statistic.”
A few of the inmates who performed in Chalk! are also returning, and their experience is a benefit. “They already have a shorthand with Ingrid,” says Case, “and a willingness to be physical.”
The play tells the story of a castle where entrenched rules and rituals have been followed for thousands of years. “The show is very physical, there are lots of fight scenes,” says Hansen. “It’s got a bit of an Edward Gorey, Roald Dahl type of feel.”
And the subject matter is appropriate for the setting, according to Chowns. “We’re working with the binary of freedom and ritual,” she says, “which is very suited to this particular cast.”
Gormenghast
7:30pm, October 14-15, 21-22, 28-29, November 3-5, 10-12
William Head Institute
$20
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