THREE IMPOSSIBLE PLAYS
Over ten years, theatre creators David van Belle and Eric Rose worked with teams of talented artists to develop a body of unique plays using multi-phased devised creation processes. Three of these plays are printed in Three Impossible Plays for the first time—ephemeral, ‘impossible’ works partially documented in text and image. The three plays, The Highest Step in the World, The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, and GIANT, were created and produced through Ghost River Theatre, a Calgary theatre creation company with a 30-year history of daring new work.
ABOUT THE PLAYS
THE HIGHEST STEP IN THE WORLD. A contemporary mythology about the necessity of risk, The Highest Step in the World weaves together three storylines—the true story of Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger, who skydived to earth from the edge of space on August 16, 1960, the true story of Vesna Vulovic, the Serbian airline stewardess who fell 33,000 and survived after the plane she was on was bombed, and the mythical story of Icarus and his loving father Daedalus. You know how that one goes. Oh yeah, and it’s all told with video projection and a single actor in a flying harness.
THE LAST VOYAGE OF DONALD CROWHURST. In 1969 Donald Crowhurst, a dark horse in the Golden Globe Around-the-World Solo Sailing Race, appeared on the verge of triumph. But two weeks before he was scheduled to cross the finish line, he disappeared. His trimaran, Teignmouth Electron, was found floating in the North Atlantic, with no sign of its captain. When his logs were discovered on board, a shocking story began to unfold. Using a palette of live video projection and constructed image to explore the art of deception, The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst is a visually stunning multimedia journey into the deep waters of a human soul.
GIANT. An alternative to the traditional biopic, GIANT tells the story of professional wrestling legend André the Giant, interpreting his hypermasculine world through the lens of his estranged daughter. Animated objects take the foreground in this expression of a larger-than-life protagonist. His early days at the Montreal Forum, his turn as beloved giant Fezzik in The Princess Bride, the coke-and-cable-fuelled world of 1980s wrestling—it’s all there. Even that story about André and Samuel Beckett. Which is probably true.
Over ten years, theatre creators David van Belle and Eric Rose worked with teams of talented artists to develop a body of unique plays using multi-phased devised creation processes. Three of these plays are printed here for the first time—ephemeral, ‘impossible’ works partially documented in text and image. All three plays were created and produced through Ghost River Theatre, a Calgary theatre creation company with a 30-year history of daring new work. Works include The Highest Step in the World, The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst and GIANT
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Eric Rose: Artistic Director
Eric Rose is an award-winning Canadian director, creator, deviser and educator. In 2012, he received the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Artist Award for his body of work as a theatrical innovator, spanning large-scale contemporary and classical theatre, site-specific and immersive performance, performance creation, devising theatre, new play development, physical theatre and dance. His work is characterized by a striking audio-visual aesthetic that embraces the impossible; constantly reframing and rediscovering what theatre is and is capable of.
Artistic Director of Calgary’s renowned Ghost River Theatre, his recent credits include: director/co-playwright of GIANT (Betty Mitchell Nomination Outstanding Director & New Play – Award for Outstanding Ensemble); concept/direction/co-creation of Intuition Project; co-adaptor, sound designer and director Tomorrow’s Child, directing/co-writing The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst (Betty Mitchell Awards for Outstanding Production, Direction, New Play and shortlisted for the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Prize in Playwriting).
David van Belle
David van Belle is an Alberta-based playwright whose works include The Highest Step in the World, GIANT and The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst(with Eric Rose, Ghost River Theatre) and Liberation Days(Theatre Calgary). He premiered a new adaptation of A Christmas Carolat the Citadel Theatre. David has been Writer-in-Residence for the Edmonton Public Library, Playwright-in-Residence at Alberta Theatre Projects and an ensemble member of One Yellow Rabbit. He is currently Playwright-in-Residence at Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre and Creator-in-Residence for Ghost River Theatre