It's set in a time more than 30 years ago — but a new offering coming to the Douglas College stage promises to be timely for the current geopolitical climate.
The college's department of theatre, together with the department of stagecraft and event technology, is offering up Mad Forest. The play runs Nov. 10 to 14 at the Laura C. Muir Theatre for the Performing Arts on the New Westminster campus — and the college is promising "rebellion, romance and political intrigue."
Caryl Churchill's play is a political commentary on the Romanian Revolution of 1989, as two families grapple with life in Community Romania, the revolution and its aftermath. A college press release notes it blends multiple conventions and modes of storytelling — naturalism and surrealism, fictional and documentary — to provide a layered analysis of what people experience amid oppression, war and upheaval.
Guest director Kathleen Duborg notes Mad Forest reflects current world events — such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S., Iran and China.
"I watched this play as a young acting student, and I found it very moving," she said in the release. "The reason I find it necessary to mount now is how pertinent the topics are here in 2022."
Duborg said she hopes the play will remind people of the dangers of staying complacent in the face of repressive government action.
"This play showcases, through very real events and feelings, what can happen when those with power lord over large swathes of people," she said.
The cast includes Pay Kedar (New Westminster), Kalie Panzenboeck (Surrey), Irene Lozano-Garcia (Maple Ridge), Kiyomi Hoover (Coquitlam), Henry King (Surrey), Zach Stubley (Squamish), Sarah Hosta (North Delta), Blaze Roper (Burnaby), Sean Whittaker (Maple Ridge) and Isaac Leung (Burnaby), as well as guest actor Jonathan Klassen (Vancouver).
Performances of Mad Forest run at the New Westminster Campus’s Laura C. Muir Theatre for the Performing Arts, on the fourth floor north at the college's New West campus, 700 Royal Ave. You can catch it onstage Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
The show is not recommended for children under the age of 13, due to mature content, violence and potentially loud or disturbing sounds.
Tickets start at $11.62. Buy online through Eventbrite.
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca
