Two casts, same play, two perspectives on gender and relationships

Third-year Thorneloe University theatre student Brooke Piper is getting ready to take the stage as Evelyn, an art student who meets a love interest, who she pushes to transform. She's one of the leads in the Sudbury university's production of the play The Shape of Things.

Samantha Aucoin is also getting ready to take on the role of Evelyn. The two student actors are playing the same role, in the same play, one week apart. Except Piper will share the stage with Alexandre Fishbein-Ouimette, in the role of Adam, while Aucoin will star alongside Nina Cochrane, in the role of Alex, a transgender woman, and a re-imagined version of Evelyn's love interest. 

The 2001 play, written by Neil Labute, has often been gender-swapped, with the lead male and female roles reversed. But the Thorneloe production is taking the swap a step further, staging a "straight up" version of the play, with traditional casting, followed by a "pansexual perspective" the following week.

"Everyone's identity of sexuality becomes fluid in the queer version . And I think that brings about a lot of questions, but also a lot of opportunities for understanding, in 2020, our view of sexuality and the openness of our society," said director Lorne Pardy. 

Inspired by students

When Pardy first set out to stage the play on campus, he originally intended to put on just the one version, with the original characters. But when he put out the casting call, he said he "was overwhelmed by the response." 

He said the idea to put on two versions of the play was inspired by the students. 

"Within the young people who auditioned, I had individuals who identified as straight, others as gay, others as bisexual, and others as transgender," Pardy said. 

"I realized that I had an opportunity," he said, both to re-imagine the play in a way that was relevant to the students, and also to give more performers a chance to be in the four-person cast.

"So that was the start of the process of me reimagining the play, and thinking how do the sexual dynamics work in the straight version, and how can they work from a queer perspective?" 

Same core message

For Cochrane, herself a trans woman, Pardy's proposal to cast her in the newly imagined role of Alex was unexpected. She had originally auditioned for the roles of Evelyn, or another character, Jenny.

"I was initially surprised, this wasn't something I had thought of. But when he approached me with it, I thought that this was a fantastic idea, and I latched onto it really quickly," Cochrane said.

While the gender identity and sexual orientations represented may be different, Cochrane said the main messages of the play are the same. Fishbein-Ouimette, who plays the corresponding role in the first version of the play, agrees. 

While different actors will interpret characters in different ways, he said, "our intentions are very similar, the motives of course are very similar."

'Important to have that representation'

Scene-for-scene, the plays are nearly the same, with just a few lines changed to reflect the different genders.

While Cochrane believes anyone can relate to either version of the play, she hopes the pansexual version may offer LGBTQ audience members a chance to relate to the characters on a more personal level.

"It's not often that you'll see in media, ever, like a trans woman and a cis woman dating," Cochrane said. "It's very important to have that representation. And I appreciate that Lorne's going the extra mile to have that happen."

The "Straight Up" version of the play runs March 5 to 7 at the Ernie Checkeris Theatre, with the "Pansexual Perspective" version running March 12 to 14. 

"I'm curious to see, audiences who come to see it, do they choose to come one particular version because that's all they're interested in? Or do they maybe come back and see both versions to compare?" Pardy said. 

"I think that would be the most fun, really."