What: A Wonderheads Christmas Carol
Where: McPherson Playhouse, 3 Centennial Sq.
When: Saturday, Dec. 18, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $22-$38 from rmts.bc.ca or 250-386-6121
Note: A Wonderheads Christmas Carol also runs Dec. 20 at the Port Theatre (Nanaimo) and Dec. 21 at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre (Duncan)
Kate Braidwood and Andrew Phoenix spent two years away from the stage expanding their Wonderheads universe, adding more performers, masks, puppets and storylines to their signature creations.
The couple put their greatest effort into revising A Wonderheads Christmas Carol in preparation for a seasonal tour of soft-seat venues, which got underway Dec. 9 in Chilliwack. The run continued with a date Tuesday at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay and will stop Saturday for two performances at the McPherson Playhouse. Dates at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo (Dec. 20) and the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre in Duncan (Dec. 21) are also on the books.
After a pause brought about by pandemic-related restrictions placed on live performances, Wonderheads Theatre is back with a bigger and better version of the Charles Dickens favourite — one that is little easier on its co-creators, who are no longer required to perform as well as direct.
“When we did the show in 2019 with a cast of three, it worked but it was definitely a pretty intense undertaking,” Braidwood said. “Part of the idea was to share some of the tasks and roles.”
With a skeleton cast for previous productions, multi-tasking was the name of the game for Braidwood and Phoenix, who met as students at Northern California’s Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre. Though the performances are dialogue-free, they are physically demanding. The full-face larval masks cast members wear in all Wonderheads Theatre performances are made of papier-mâché, and the oversized accoutrements restrict movement and make breathing somewhat cumbersome.
The cast — Jessica Hickman, Joylyn Secunda, Pedro M. Siqueira and Sarah Robertson — is now four deep, up one member from previous productions. The extra body was desperately needed, Braidwood said, as more performers and characters means lighter lifting for all. “It’s a pretty big game-changer.”
The story is one aspect of the 2021 production that has not changed. Ebenezer Scrooge remains at the core of A Wonderheads Christmas Carol, but some production touches — such as fog, when a magic door opens — have been added to enhance the overall experience, according to Phoenix. “With time, and some funding, we’ve been able to add those moments. It’s quite liberating to fulfill our artistic vision. I don’t think any artists ever feels like they’ve fully gotten it, but we feel like we’re really close this time.”
After a successful run of performances across North America, Phoenix and Braidwood (who graduated from the University of Victoria) moved the company from Portland, Oregon, to Victoria five years ago. They haven’t looked back. A Wonderheads Christmas Carol is their biggest production to date, and will be an annual Western Canadian tradition once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted permanently in the years ahead.
“Now that A Christmas Carol is redeveloped and back up and running, I think we’ll also get back into that pattern of creating new work,” Braidwood said.
Wonderheads Theatre now has a stable of original productions under its umbrella — including The Wilds, Grim and Fischer, LOON and The Middle of Everywhere — they have enough work to last throughout the year. With key creative contributors also in place (such as puppetry and dramaturgy advisor Peter Balkwill and costume designers Hannah Case and Hannah Ockenden, among others) the company is positioned for a big breakout.
When Braidwood and Phoenix decided to hang up their masks and held auditions for new members of the troupe, more than 70 performers responded. Hickman is the only returnee, so there’s a new injection of energy as the year comes to a close, Phoenix said.
“We feel like they are able to take the show places we never could. It’s nice feeling like we can dig in and set down roots going forward.”
