An original piece of theatre written by award winning Newfoundland playwright Megan Gail Coles about the logging industry is making its way to Grand Falls-Windsor.
The show will be staged at the Gordon Pinsent Centre For the Arts Nov. 19.
The play is contextualized with Newfoundland history, exploring themes of the exploitation of natural and human resources over time. “Falling Trees” premiered in a sold out run of shows the Barbara Barrett Theatre in St. John’s in December 2015.
“Falling Trees” is Poverty Cove Theatre Company’s fourth and most ambitious production to date, a press release about the production stated.
Born on the Northern Peninsula in Savage Cove, Coles has won many highly sought after literary awards including the Winterset, ReLit and Arts and Letters.
She is also currently the Artist-In-Residence at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John’s and the Executive Director of Riddle Fence.
“I wanted to write an epic play cycle about the cod moratorium; about collapse, desperation and duty. I wanted to call it “Fish”,” she noted in the release. “But I wasn’t even capable of having any kind of rational debate with my own parents. All discussions ended with my father firmly pointing his finger accusingly and my arms spread wide in exasperation.”
“Writing about the fishery seemed slightly problematic given our level of sentimental attachment,” she added. “The industry is so tangled up with our identity that it does not allow for objectivity.
“So, I made a sideways move. I went in the woods. Because these are, in fact, the same people,” Coles said. “The woodsman is the fisherman is the sealer is the rigger.”
“The talk is constantly of our most valuable resources being exploited; a tangible, elemental, measurable thing. A thing,” she continued. “I would argue our young people are our most valuable resource. I would argue they are constantly being exploited. And I do. In the ‘Driftwood Trilogy’. ‘Falling Trees’ is part one of that debate.”
Directed by Emma Tibaldo, the play stars Greg Malone as Stewart Percy, Steve O’Connell as Commissioner Wish Heart, Brian Marler as Harold Jacobs, Darryl Hopkins as Albert Taylor, and Evan Mercer as Simeon Dredge.