Between Breaths brings the story of 'the whale man' to the stage
A new play by Newfoundland playwright Robert Chafe opens this week at the LSPU Hall in St. John's, eight years after the death of the dogged scientist whose decades-long work with stranded whales caught the world's eye.
Between Breaths tells the story of Jon Lien, a Memorial University professor known for pioneering techniques to help rescue whales that had become entangled fishing nets.
Lien died in 2010, after a battle with a long-term illness that marked his later years with disability and dementia.
Chafe — a Governor General's Award-winner for plays that include Afterimage, Tempting Providence and Oil and Water — said the idea for the play came while he was watching a performance that made reference to "the whale man" a few years ago.
"I was actually at the Rising Tide Festival in Trinity and in the middle of This Marvellous Terrible Place … an actor walked on stage and said, 'The thing about the humpback whale is,' and I just burst into tears," he told CBC Radio's On the Go.
"I sat there thinking, why am I crying about Jon Lien? And at intermission I said to my friend, I think I have to write a play about this guy."
The play that resulted was Between Breaths, which was workshopped in the summer of 2016, and has its official premiere on Thursday.
Chafe worked with frequent collaborator Jillian Keiley for their company, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. Keiley, the artistic director of the National Arts Centre's English Theatre in Ottawa, returned to St. John's to collaborate on the production.
The play stars Steve O'Connell — who may be best-known to audiences for his role of Sgt. Daniel Hood on CBC's Republic of Doyle — as Lien.
It also features original music by The Once, performed by musicians Steve Maloney, Brianna Gosse and Kevin Woolridge.
Starts at the end
In a twist, the play starts near Lien's death and then works its way backwards.
Chafe said the narrative was set to unfold in a linear fashion, but then his dramaturge Iris Turcott — who died from lung cancer during production of the play — suggested he change it.
He felt it didn't seem right to end with Lien at his lowest point.
"It would end with him in this wheelchair moments before his death and that was just so wrong," he said.
"So Iris just kind of proclaimed one day, very boldly, 'You have to do backwards,' like it was the most easy thing in the world to do."
Chafe believes the new play stacks up among the best he's ever written, and he's hopeful the run of shows — from July 19-29 at the LSPU Hall, in downtown St. John's — will be the start of a very long run.
There are plans to tour it across Newfoundland and Labrador and on the mainland too.
"I really don't say this lightly, but it feels like it lands solidly among our best work, if not our very very best work," said Chafe.
"And I'm deeply proud of it. I can't wait for people to see it."
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