Praxis Theatre

Life of Galileo: thanking Tracy Wright

A reading of Birgit Schreyer Duarte and Jacob Zimmer’s new translation of Life of Galileo at the Festival of Ideas and Creation presented last week by Canadian Stage.

by Leora Morris

I don’t think the text is the only thing that will make the public reading of Life of Galileo on Sunday night clear, funny, and moving.  It’s also the spirit of the project, the impetus for the coming together.  In the past week I have witnessed the preparation of a remarkable cast, meeting with the dual focus of reading this new translation of Life of Galileo and thanking a fellow artist.

Part of the impetus for the event was to hear Tracy Wright, a pioneer in the Canadian independent theatre scene, read the character of Galileo among an all-star cast of friends and colleagues.  This has shifted slightly in the last few days: Tracy is currently recovering from surgery and so the reading is now in thanks to her. We are aiming to Skype the live performance to her.

A thank you in the form of a Brecht play.

I enjoy this concept because – although we celebrate and thank people all the time with awards ceremonies, money, booze, love poetry, pictures, and song dedications – we don’t often gift people with theatre. A staged reading feels somehow more fitting as a “thank you” than a full production: it is both an incredibly high-calibre professional performance AND a reminder of why it is happening in the first place.

My favourite moment of our read through recently at Canadian Stage was in the middle of Scene 6, when Daniel MacIvor (as Cardinal Barberini) poked Fiona Highet (as Galileo Galilei) in the side and they broke out into laughter.  What a treat to see both the characters at work and the old friends at play underneath them.  In fact, that is where the thank you is located, in watching all these actors (many of whom Tracy has inspired) take pleasure in each other and the script.

I suspect this layering works because readings permit a certain amount of personal style that isn’t necessarily valued in a fully staged production (when I prefer to watch a person be subsumed by their character, no trace of them in sight).  Brecht would have liked it too, I think.

Join Small Wooden Shoe, and a huge cast of performers in giving thanks to Tracy Wright at Convocation Hall at University of Toronto on Sunday May 30^th at 7pm. All proceeds from this evening of community theatre by professionals goes to The Actors’ Fund of Canada.  Details here.

Leora Morris is Associate Producer on the project.