How interconnected are we?
In today’s society, social media can provide the threads that link us in ways we may never have thought of before. But can we boil down our relationships to geometry and logic?
That’s the premise facing seven characters in Long Division, the second production of Gateway Theatre’s new season that opens Nov. 17 in Studio B and runs until Nov. 26.
“It (Long Division) is a metaphor about how we are connected and how we’re grouped,” said Richard Wolfe, the show’s director, who brings the creation of playwright Peter Dickinson, a professor of English and School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University, to the stage for the very first time. “It’s about how the patterns of mathematics and beauty of pure math have parallels with what we look for in life in terms of making sense of the world.”
Played out in hyperlink cinema style that mixes multiple timelines, flashbacks and flash forwards, Long Division introduces the audience to seven characters who try to unravel how they are linked to each other when a tragic event occurs.
“They didn’t really know each other before and in the course of trying to reconcile themselves they become more familiar, while helping each other,” Wolfe said, not wanting to divulge too much before the curtain goes up on Thursday. “And ultimately they find that everyone is stronger when they are in a community.
“Essentially, no one has to shoulder a burden alone.”
The story is staged in non-realistic fashion, which is a good fit for Pi Theatre, the Vancouver theatre company that is presenting the show.
“Pi’s mission is to do intellectually alive and emotionally charged theatre,” Wolfe said. “We don’t do plays in living rooms,” Wolfe said. “We’re not concerned with strict naturalism. So, this fits in well with what we do.”
When Wolfe first read Dickinson’s script, it was hoped it could be presented as a workshop.
“But I found it very interesting and felt very fresh, other than a lot of stuff that comes across my desk,” Wolfe said. “So, we found a way to actually produce it, which was a real challenge for a small company like ours.”
It would have been impossible had it not been for Gateway’s support and by encouraging original, Canadian works to be showcased in Studio B, he added.
“It’s almost like a launching pad for new Canadian work to be seen before anywhere else. And that’s a great project and vision, because to birth these things, you do really need a high degree of support,” Wolfe said. “We don’t have the brand recognition of something like A Street Car Named Desire, or most of Sheakspeare’s works.”
What it does have, however, is the luxury of the play’s author in close proximity to watch it come to life, evolve and have a hand in that emerging process.
“We’ve had Peter sitting in on rehearsals very regularly and for a new play production, it’s been valuable because we have been able to literally change the lines on the spot,” Wolfe said.
Long Division runs at Studio B at Gateway Theatre until Nov. 26. For ticket information, visit online at GatewayTheatre.com.
