“Did you hear? There’s a body in the greenhouse?”
Concord Floral, a show by award-winning Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill, is making its return to Canadian Stage, after its initial developmental run there four years ago. Just before a rehearsal for the upcoming teenage thriller was about to start, I joined in to meet the cast and chat with directors Erin Brubacher and Cara Spooner to learn all about the production.
The play, based off the medieval story The Decameron, explores the story of a group of teenagers who discover a gruesome secret in an abandoned greenhouse in the suburbs of Toronto. I was very intrigued as to how the 15th century tale inspired this modern-day look into the lives and struggles of teenagers in today’s world, so I decided to dig into just how this play was developed.
“It was an impulse from Jordan [Tannahill] to echo that allegory in a modern way, looking at what a modern day play might be and how teens today find refuge in different places,” Spooner explained. “The three of us developed the work together. Jordan wrote the script and there were several iterations as we went on with different groups of kids.”
Over the course of several years, the play has transformed through multiple iterations since it first premiered at Canadian Stage in 2012, and has been performed in theatres from Ottawa to Whitehorse. “One of the things that’s exciting for us about doing this show more than once is doing it in really different contexts,” Brubacher added.
However, one thing that has stayed consistent since the creation of the show has been the age of the cast, who are all teenagers. “Working strictly with teenage actors is integral to this show,” Spooner said. “And what an opportunity for these young people to be on stage and to be a part of this process and to learn from us and also from each other.”
“It’s a bit radical in our culture to give youth a platform in a context that’s not theatre for all audiences,” Brubacher stated in agreement.
At the centerpiece of this play is a horror that plagues these teenagers, but the show is also about reconciliation whilst they come together to understand and work through their collective responsibilities, they explained.
“It’s very much a story about teenage lives, but to another degree it’s about humans and how we treat each other.”
Not wanting to keep them from rehearsing any longer, I asked the show’s directors one last question: what makes this show so special?
At its heart, they said, is its cast.
“There’s something really beautiful about a true ensemble that you can see their togetherness and that you can perceive the ensemble they have built offstage, onstage,” said Brubacher.
Concord Floral is a production written by Jordan Tannahill, and is playing at Canadian Stage from September 27 to October 16, 2016.
Written by Andrew Sturrock
