TONIGHT, I HUNT: Myth and reality fuse in powerful Redpatch
Early in World War 1, the British High Command had difficulties in distinguishing the Canucks (considered inferior) from the Brits in the ranks.
So, at the Battle of The Somme, a single red patch was attached to the Canadians’ uniforms. Some of those soldiers were First Nation and Metis. In fact, some 4,000 volunteered to fight for King and Country despite the limited rights accorded to them, and the racial attitudes of the time. For instance, many travelled to sign up in Ottawa on the top of trains because they were not allowed in the cars – and then when they returned from the war, they were denied benefits because they had given up their “native rights.”
The Citadel’s new production of Redpatch – a co-production with Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre and Hardline Productions playing until Nov. 11 on the Maclab Stage – follows the life of a young mixed-blood First Nations volunteer named Half-Blood (Raes Calvert, also co-playwright). It traces his journey from his home on Vancouver Island and his painful stay in a residential school – which included a furtive adolescent expedition with his best friend onto the ocean to harpoon a whale, and loose the warrior within. This youthful adventure will resonate in all that that comes later. We follow Half-Blood through his squad’s tough training, and then deep into the blood-soaked chaos of World War 1. The young solider fights ferociously through Ypres, The Somme and Vimy Ridge.
That basic plot outline does little to capture the immersive theatrical experience of Redpatch. It is a work very much in keeping with Citadel Artistic Director Daryl Cloran’s vision to push at the edges of how we define theatre. Half-Blood becomes a warrior in the classic sense. Looking out over “no man’s land” he breathes, “Tonight, by the light of the moon – I hunt.” He becomes a fearsome force between the trenches. His death count goes up and up – 45-55-65. His Sergeant (Odessa Shuquaya) demands that he invoke the savage within by commanding, “I need you to go out there again tonight.” Brandishing a shovel he has shaped into the harpoon of his youth, Half-Blood becomes known as “the Ghost.” In three years, he kills 94. As his childhood best friend Jonathon (Joel D. Montgrand) notes, “You have respect. The whites have never shown that to us before.”
Half-Blood is conflicted, tormented. He faces racism from his fellows, and is haunted by the ever-increasing number of bodies he has left on the field. Recurring memories from his youth creep into his dreams. He is visited in the fog (and deadly mustard gas) by the Raven – the trickster (Shuquaya). He is desperate to go home to his loving grandmother (Shuquaya again), but when he tells this to his friend, he is assailed for being a coward. The forces pressuring Half-Blood come boiling to the surface at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
The all-native cast is forceful throughout. As the lead, Calvert is a shape shifter, skilfully portraying his character through a long and pain-filled life. His change from frightened boy to fearful warrior is impressive. The rest of the cast go far beyond the men-in-war stereotype to create dimensional characters.
Sean Harris Oliver’s direction expertly balances the gritty reality of trench warfare with the ethereal qualities of friendship, belief and the power of ancient stories. Pam Johnson’s simple but evocative set is composed of four large rocks on wheels, a few sandbags and some sticks. Brad Trenaman’s lighting demonstrates that an ornate set is not necessary – he uses the audience’s imagination to fill in vistas of sea, land and all the geography needed to carry the tale. Using a lot of drumming, James Coomber’s sound and music underlines and illuminates the production.
This play is the result of much research by the Vancouver company Hardline Productions. It turns out to be anything but a straight-ahead tale of heroism by sublimating into an inventive dream-like (and often nightmare-driven) theatrical odyssey of self-discovery. The end is an unexpected and moving reveal where fact and fantasy, myth and reality, modern warfare and ancient legend fuse.
If Redpatch doesn’t quite attain the dramatic heights it’s reaching for, its premise is always intriguing, inventively staged and highly satisfying.
Photos by Ian Jackson
