Blarney workshops a noir-esque play

Most theatre companies hesitate mounting risky scripts. Bottom line, they need to make money and an unknown quantity is an unpredictable prospect.

However, Blarney Productions specializes in the chancy, and in their second show of the season, the theatre troupe is hosting a workshop production of Mote by Montreal playwright José Teodoro.

Teodoro has borrowed characters from Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking film Psycho taking them in new directions and altering facets of their personalities.

Mote runs from May 6 to May 17 at La Cité Francophone. The dates include two preview shows.

Set in Arizona and California from 1959 onwards, the play begins with Marion, a secretary-turned-fugitive who steals $40,000 from her employer.

During her escape, she takes a wrong turn and ends up at a forgotten, rundown motel in the middle of nowhere. The motel is so dilapidated the letter “l” has fallen off the name.

The proprietor is Norman, a young man whose entire family is dead. While another young man may have pulled up stakes, Norman chooses to stay.

“He’s tied to the past with his family. It’s the only home he knows and he feels it’s his responsibility to keep the motel going. It’s the only life he’s known,” says actor Luc Tellier.

The former St. Albert Children’s Theatre actor has just completed a stellar season employing his skill set in varied shows such as Edmonton Opera’s Barber of Seville, Citadel Theatre’s Arcadia and Maggie Now.

Typically cast as a younger brother or the fresh-faced boy, Tellier is champing at the bit to play a character out of his comfort zone.

“At his (Norman) core, he’s a beautiful nice person, but he’s had a really hard life. He’s been abused and he doesn’t know how to deal with people. His social cues are off.”

Tellier sees similarities between Norman and actor Twilla MacLeod’s Marion.

“She’s very headstrong, knows what she wants, but is not quite sure how to get it. Like Norman she feels trapped. She finds herself driving on a road that leads to the motel where initially she believes will lead to her freedom.”

When asked about the famous shower scene, Tellier skirts the question.

“They start identifying with each other and that’s as much as I can say. It’s not until the end when things tie together do you realize what happened to the characters.”

To create this dysfunctional world, director Wayne Paquette uses a fresh technical approach. The audience is seated in balconies with a bird’s eye view while the play takes place on the ground floor as top down projections create a physical environment.

“We’re trying to turn everything on its head and make something new. It’s not often you build an entire world with projections and soundscapes.”