Standing in front of a number people in the theatre industry, Andrew Barrett picked up three envelopes which would be the basis for his new play.
The Victoria resident was participating in Intrepid Theatre’s Theatre Under the Gun workshop, in which groups of theatre makers are tasked with coming up with a new 10-minute play in just 48 hours, based on a number of items.
When it was Barrett’s turn, he chose envelopes — known as inspiration packages — one that had a picture, and another that had text written on it. They were also supplied a candle.
Those three things were Barrett and his team’s inspiration for the latest play at Impulse Theatre called the dream collector(s).
It is a multidiscipinary theatre performance that follows the story of three creatures who have been collecting dreams from humanity for centuries. When they inadvertendly unleash their collection of dreams upon reality, they become stuck in a dream world.
The performance, which has been a year-and-a-half in the making, includes theatre, dance and design. The idea of putting together a performance based on a collective dream was appealling to Barrett and the team.
“There’s so much literature about why do we dream? It’s a great container for making shows that are really abstract and the audience can trust us with the weird stuff, because they’re like ‘it’s a dream’ and they can make their own assumptions or feel what they want,” said Barrett, show’s the artistic director.
“That’s the really exciting part of exploring dreams is because we can all acknowledge that they’re weird and that they make sense, but we don’t know how they make sense. If we wake up in the morning after having an angry dream, we’re still really angry for no reason.”
Impulse Theatre’s performance of the dream collector(s),which features Tony Adams, Randi Edmundson, Kathleen Greenfield and Jess Amy Shead, comes to life at the Intrepid Theatre Club (1609 Blanshard St.) April 19 to 22. Tickets are $15 for students and seniors and $20 for regular admission.
The production is one of many kicking off next week. Langham Court Theatre’s production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Gothic tale with a new twist, runs from April 21 to May 6.
The Belfry Theatre is putting on a production of Alice Munro Stories, in which the cast will perform two of the Nobel-prize-winning author’s stories — Differently and Save the Reaper — in a theatrical format word-for-word. Alice Munro Stories runs April 19 to May 14.
kendra.wong@vicnews.com