Kaleidoscope Theatre is gearing up to mount the Canadian stage premiere of The Giver. Based on the dystopian novel of the same name by Lois Lowry, it centres around Jonas, a young boy assigned with holding the memories and secrets of his community. The book is incredibly dark and disturbing; however, that’s part of what makes it so exciting and relevant to mount, according to director Roderick Glanville.
“For me, the story is so compelling, it’s compassionate, it’s hard-hitting, and it says a lot about the world and where we’re going,” says Glanville. “I think this is the kind of messaging we need to send to our youth to encourage dialogue as to what’s happening in this world, which, as we know, is pretty darn chaotic right now; it’s getting out of anything that’s totally understandable. But I think that The Giver gives us a different insight into the world that we’re potentially facing and the results of our acquiescence—or our lack of involvement or change of that, or even discussing it.”
That being said, Glanville acknowledges there is risk involved in taking the graphic imagery and shock value of the book and putting it on stage for children.
“My job as the artistic director for a theatre-for-young-audiences company is to not back off on the truth of those [elements], but it’s not to push the shock value of those,” says Glanville. “So, since it’s set in future society, when it comes to, for example, when the memories of war are given to Jonas, we don’t have to be so literal with the sound of that. You can stylize the sound of war [so] that the adults will understand what it’s saying. The kids will go, ‘Something’s odd there,’ but we don’t need to give them literal machine gun fires and exploding bombs. We can create a slightly softer sound design so we don’t terrify the children. Kids these days, they’re smart, but they’re also sensitive, so I need to make sure I don’t shock them.”
With the mounting of this production come waves of nostalgia for Glanville, reminding him why he got involved with theatre for young people in the first place.
“I have to turn back the hands of time here to a young 14-year-old in high school in Burlington, Ontario,” says Glanville. “I had already, by the time I was in Grade 3, hooked on performance, because it was a place where I felt I was in community, and where I was with likeminded people. And there was no competition; they were just complementing each other. I was the tiniest guy in high school, the tiniest guy everywhere, and so it was hard for me to find a place to fit in. Theatre is where that happened for me.”
Glanville says his world was transformed by a school touring organization who performed The Exception and the Rule by Bertolt Brecht.
“I just felt this is exactly what I want to do with my life,” says Glanville. “And I saw these people actually making it happen.”
This transformation is part of why Glanville decided to mount this particular production.
“Here is a play that is dealing with community, but it’s a muted community,” says Glanville. “But, where we have choice—in this story, of course, they don’t have choice. And so, as a young person in this world, I think it’s important that we take a look at the questions that are pressing in our communities now. I care about kids because I’m ‘that kid.’ I am the kid in the audience. Every single show I direct or create, I am its audience.”
The Giver
2 pm Saturday, February 23 and 2 pm Sunday, February 24
$12 to $22, McPherson Playhouse
kaleidoscope.bc.ca