John McGie notes that he's penned 575 iterations of his distinctive Chair Series monologues since 2016. He remarks, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that still hasn't discovered anything profound about himself or the format.
"I like monologues," quips the North Vancouver-based playwright. "If I don't know an actor, all I do is go out and have coffee with them and talk about anything but theatre—because theatre is boring to talk about. It's kind of like being a tailor: writing the monologue to what you believe their strength to be," he says.
"I don't know if I've really learned anything. I'm just doing it because I like it, and luckily everybody else seems to come along and play too."
For readers previously unaware of the Chair Series: it is a show bereft of costumes, props and elaborate sets. The only onstage item is a chair, and sounds may be played at various moments, but actors rely upon their own raw talent and the fundamentals of performance to deliver each scene effectively. Each actor gives McGie a word, which he uses as inspiration to pen each monologue.
On Feb. 1 at 7 p.m., the Point Artist-Run Centre (PARC) will host the next running of the Chair Series. Eight Sea to Sky actors form the cast: Kathryn Daniels, Carla Fuhre, Janice Hayden, Sara Marrocco, Emma Strong, and David Francis join Susan Hutchinson and Brandon Barrett from Pique Newsmagazine. Each actor will deliver two five-odd-minute monologues.
"[The Chair] makes everything simpler," McGie remarks. "It really gets down to the craft of performance and writing, so if I suck or they suck, there's no hiding. It's theatre for the short attention span. I'm writing it for myself, because I get bored really fast … and for some odd reason, when actors memorize monologues, they want to perform in front of an audience."
'Kind of like Lego'
No two Chair Series events are alike.
McGie figures that more than 100 different actors have participated in the performance series over the last eight years. Certain venues may reoccur (White Rock, Port Moody, Squamish and Whistler, for instance), but content stays fresh. Each show is presented only once: miss it and it's gone.
"The great thing about the Chair Series is that it's kind of like Lego," says McGie. "People's lives get in the way sometimes, so if I have to lose an actor at the last minute, I can sometimes slot another one in quite quickly, bu ... I never choose the running order until I've done the rehearsals with everybody so I can see where people are at.
He continues: "It's kind of like putting an album together, right? You're not going to put three ballads at the front of the album. You're going to go fast, fast, slow and in that you're usually looking at an arcing of energy. That's what we're always aspiring for. Sometimes, thematically, it happens too: I have certain thoughts and they'll bleed into each other. Even though [the Chair Series] is not traditionally one long, flowing story, it does have an arc that people usually attach to and follow."
Some of the actors like Marrocco, Daniels, Hutchinson and Vogler, artistic director of the PARC, are known to McGie. Others, such as Francis and Strong are Chair Series first-timers. He enjoys having a few old hands on deck to ground the rehearsal process, although he's not one to mind a little chaos either.
Chair performances are often held in non-traditional venues. Since the format does not require typical theatre equipment like lighting, McGie prefers to bring it to cafes, breweries and other low-key social settings.
The PARC, with its hardwood floors and salt-of-the-earth aesthetic, is an ideal option.
"The Chair is hopefully not pretentious at all," McGie says. "It's just a bunch of people coming up in their blacks and doing the craft they like—and usually it turns out pretty good. The show that people will see on Feb. 1 will have never been seen before. Brand new writing, brand new everything. The audiences who come to the Point are fabulous. They've been really good people, and that's the fun of it too because the audience is the additional actor."
Tickets are $20, available at The Point's website.
