Julian Legere had just returned home from the Women’s March in Vancouver in January and was fired up by the experience.
Thoughts he had had for years – about equality and diversity in the theatre world, about the underrepresentation of women and non-white actors – were coalescing into a bigger-picture view about the need to take action to counteract the world’s new reality: a reality in which Donald Trump had defeated Hillary Clinton for the U.S. presidency, and the spectre of misogyny and racism loomed larger than ever.
Legere sat down and starting writing what he calls a “manifesto” about this new and ugly face of the world and the ways in which he wanted to use theatre to change it.
The result? Bread is Not Enough, a new theatre company founded by Legere and fellow New Westminster resident Michelle Cyr to help channel the rise of social protest into what they call a “creative revolution.”
The company’s mission is to tell female-centred stories and to provide employment opportunities for women and, in particular, diverse women – both on and off stage.
“Our number one priority is supporting women, diverse women,” Legere says. “Within that, we want to make really great theatre.”
Great theatre, of course, starts with a great script – and those aren’t always in abundance if you’re looking for powerful, female-centred stories.
“We got to talking, and we realized there’s typically a distinct lack of women’s roles on stage on TV, and when there are it’s often the catty – for lack of a better word, bitchy – kind of roles,” Cyr says. “There are very few meaty roles.”
They’re changing that right out of the gate with their first show, A Piece of My Heart, onstage at the PAL Studio Theatre in Vancouver, Nov. 1 to 12.
The drama by Shirley Lauro tells the stories of a group of female Vietnam War veterans.
“It focuses on women in a context, the military, that’s traditionally dominated by men,” Legere notes. “We all know the narratives of the war. … We wanted people to be able to see this was not a male-specific issue.”
Cyr, who first discovered the play during her studies at the New Image College of Fine Arts, appreciates the fact that the drama doesn’t dwell on the kinds of stories so often told in female-focused productions – such as, for instance, two women fighting over the same guy’s attentions.
“I can’t really identify any stereotypical quote-unquote ‘female’ interactions,” she says.
“I think that’s the power of it,” agrees Legere, “seeing these non-clichéd things.”
Cyr notes the script also pays respect to men’s stories – in this production, one actor plays all the male characters who support the female leads.
“It doesn’t ignore the fact that men were involved. It’s far more supportive than that,” she says.
But there’s no question that women are at the heart of the story – and of the entire production team. Aside from Legere and the one male actor, all actors and crew are female.
It’s important to Legere to keep it that way.
“Growing up queer, I’ve always had camaraderie with women,” he says. In part, he says, that’s based on shared experiences and understanding of the world. “I know what it’s like to fear for my safety in a room full of men.”
Legere hates the fact that so many women he knows have stories of being groped by a customer or harassed by an employer.
“Being talked about as if it was just a normal part of the day … that just frustrates me so much,” he says, adding he gets angry when he hears men downplay those stories. “For me, it’s the opportunity to become a leader for men; to recognize this, to acknowledge this.”
Another key component of their mission is what Cyr terms “no whitewashing” – that is, to ensure that performers of colour are always included.
“We’ve made a commitment to cast whoever works,” Cyr says. “We don’t want to have an all-white cast, ever.”
Legere notes that the whiteness and maleness of the theatre world is starting to change in Vancouver – citing Arts Club Theatre’s recent hiring of Ashlie Corcoran as artistic director, and Bard on the Beach’s commitment to ethnically diverse casting. He’s hoping that the trickle-down effect will be felt with smaller companies as well, and he notes that everyone he’s told about his own project has embraced the idea enthusiastically.
Not that he’s suggesting it’s easy.
Being a small, independent company means both Legere and Cyr have innumerable tasks to carry out to bring the show to fruition - Cyr jokes that they should each get five separate hats that they can put on and take off depending which job they’re going at any given moment.
Legere directs and produces, while Cyr is performing, producing and serving as assistant director.
It means it’s a constant challenge to balance the administrative necessities – like marketing and selling tickets so that the show can earn money – with the creative aspects of producing good theatre. (They're running a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the production; see more here.)
Legere says it’s a challenging play to stage, with fast scene changes and character shifts, and much information bombarding the audience in what he describes as an “overwhelming sensory experience.”
“It’s a kind of rough-and-tumble aesthetic,” he says. “It’s just kind of flying at you very fast.”
Both he and Cyr say it’s been possible to embrace the play’s challenges because of the dedication of all the actors.
“It’s a very courageous group of artists,” Legere says, noting the play deals with extremely difficult and uncomfortable subject matter.
“Nobody shies away,” agrees Cyr. “Everybody’s just so engaged all the time. … I’m enamoured with our cast. They’re just so kind as human beings. Rehearsals have been really special; everybody is so supportive of one another.”
Ultimately, Legere and Cyr would like to see their theatre company become part of something bigger.
Legere would love to see the company take up residence in a shared space with a group devoted to social activism.
“I want this to be just as much about on-the-ground activism as theatre,” he says.
Cyr loves the idea of using theatre to effect social change – for instance, offering participatory theatre programs for people who have faced trauma.
“Theatre, the medium, is a really great outlet for that,” she says. “I think our company is really more part of a movement than just putting plays on.”
Realizing that they’re doing something to make a difference is what gives them the motivation to keep on trying to do it all.
“I’ll wake up and there’s this huge to-do list,” Legere says. “Knowing that there’s really something I believe in gives me the energy to put in that extra couple of hours.”
Cyr agrees. “There is legit nowhere else I would rather be.”
CHECK IT OUT
What: A Piece of My Heart, a drama by Shirley Lauro presented by Bread is Not Enough theatre company
Who: Directed by Julian Legere, featuring Katherine Alpen, Jessie Chan, Christina Cyr, Michelle Cyr, Nina Dosdall, Roberto Lanzas and Dominique Wakeland. Stage management by Kayla Janelle Tellier.
Where: PAL Studio Theatre, 581 Cardero St. (eighth floor), Vancouver
When: Nov. 1 preview, 7:30 p.m.; show runs Nov. 2, 4, 9, 10, 11 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 4, 11 and 12 at 3:30 p.m., and Nov. 3 at 11 a.m.
Tickets: $20, $25 and $28, buy through www.eventbrite.ca or directly to www.tinyurl.com/PieceOfMyHearttix.
Info: See www.facebook.com/BreadIsXEnough for more about the company.
