By STEVEN HOWELL
MONTREAL — Home schooling while traveling about Italy sounds great on paper.
Playwright Michael Mackenzie explores the notions of social class otherwise in his play "Geometry in Venice," which opens this week at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts.
The work, set in Italy at the end of the 19th century, is inspired by the Henry James novella "The Pupil," first published in 1891.
James often drew upon his own social contacts and experiences when building characters, Mackenzie said.
"It was very clear that this story was probably based on people that he met in Europe."
"The Pupil" follows an aristocratic British family drifting around the continent.
"But they're barely making it financially," Mackenzie said. "They're keeping up appearances."
Although money is tight, the family nevertheless hires a young Canadian writer to tutor their bright but sickly son.
"I'm a big Henry James fan," Mackenzie said. "But I thought he was very unfair to the family he was writing about."
To give James a dose of his own social-graces medicine, Mackenzie wrote the author into the play.
"I introduce James as a character," Mackenzie said. "James now has to deal with his own characters that he created."
TIMELY AS EVER
James penned his works at a time when there was a big change in the winds of Victorian England, said the playwright.
"There was a crack in the sensibility in terms of how you can write and portray issues such as sex and divorce," Mackenzie said. "These issues are beginning to surface in literature but in a very repressed, suppressed way."
And so he wanted to explore these topics with a contemporary cast when he wrote "Geometry in Venice" 20 years ago.
"I wanted to create a modern cast with the allowance of a modern perspective and let those issues enter the story."
Mackenzie, a U.K. native who has lived in Montreal for the past 30 years, also drew upon his own experiences as a teacher when writing the play.
"To be a successful teacher, you have to be a bit of a performer," he said. "You have to allow your passion to surface and put yourself out there in a performance kind of way. But the students appreciate that."
The play, he added, is as timely as ever with a subject everyone can relate to — these good folks, once well off, suddenly find themselves in a bit of a personal financial mess.
"It's intensely relevant at the moment," Mackenzie said. "One of its strong themes explores what happens to people in periods of economic upheaval."
FREE LECTURE
The Segal Centre production, indeed, marks the 20th anniversary of the work. The play has been seen in Toronto, England and enjoyed a very successful run in French in Montreal. As a playwright, Mackenzie is thrilled that the work has taken on a life of its own.
"With each production, it's important that people reinvent the play in some new way and find new things in there."
It's also important to find people you trust to take on the task, Mackenzie added. And he's thrilled to be working with accomplished director Chris Abraham, who's no stranger to Segal productions.
"A script is just a prayer for something. It doesn't really turn into anything until it is performed," he said. "And it's okay to say, 'You go with it guys — it's all yours.'"
"Geometry in Venice" runs this Sunday through Feb. 14
Mackenzie offers a free lecture about the play at this week's Sundays @ the Segal lecture series at 11:30 a.m., immediately preceding the matinee performance.
The Segal Centre for Performing Arts is at 5170 cote St. Catherine. Evening and matinee show times vary. Tickets cost $31 to $44 for adults and $29 to $36 for seniors depending on day and time of performance. Tickets cost $22 for students at all times. Call the box office at (514) 739-7944 or visit www.segalcentre.org.
Directions: Take Autoroute 15 North (I-87 after the border) and continue over the Champlain Bridge. Take exit 66, Cote St. Luc/Queen Mary and continue on the Decarie Expressway service road for about five minutes. Turn right on Cote Ste. Catherine. The Segal Centre is two blocks on your right.
