Q&A: Sea Sick

Alanna Mitchell. Photo by Chloë Ellingson.

Alanna Mitchell is best known as a Canadian journalist and author, who writes about sciences and social trends and specializes in investigative reporting. Her most recent book Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis won the Gotham Prize for excellence in environmental journalism. This month, Mitchell will perform a staged version of that story at The Theatre Centre's New Live Arts Hub & Incubator (1115 Queen Street West).

We caught up with Mitchell to find out more about the process of adapting Sea Sick for the theatre with the help of directors Franco Boni and Ravi Jain.

Theatromania: What compelled you to adapt your book Sea Sick into a one-woman show?

AM: It started with The Theatre Centre's artistic and general director Franco Boni, who saw me give a short talk on my book. He came up with the idea of turning it into a one-woman play and asked me if I would be interested. I took a deep breath and said, "Yes!"

Theatromania: How would you describe this production in a few sentences?

AM: It takes the audience on a journey—around the world with me as I do research with scientists about the ocean—but more importantly on a profound emotional voyage of learning what the stakes are for us in the high-carbon world we've created. The aim is to help the audience participate in an emotionally and intellectually satisfying experience.

Theatromania: Did you encounter any particular challenges while staging this piece?

AM: The biggest problem for me is that I'm not an actor and I had to learn to do a bunch of theatre-y things that are totally foreign to me. Stand on a certain part of the stage when I'm saying a certain word?? Say the same words in the same order?? Excuse me??

Theatromania: Have you learned anything new from this experience?

AM: It's been an extraordinarily rich experience to create a script with Franco Boni and with Ravi Jain. The three of us have been locked in a rehearsal room on and off since August trying to shake some theatrical life into the research for two of my books, keeping absolutely faithful to the latest science and to the experiences I had traveling the world to do the research in the first place. They kept asking me why I did things the way I did and that led us into conversations that went far beyond the science, into the realm of what happens when art and science marry, of what journalism is, what science is for, why someone like me does what I do. Best psychotherapy ever.

Theatromania: What's next for you?

AM: We tour the play to Montreal and possibly a few other places. We've had interest from the States. Apart from that, I'm open to ideas!

See Alanna Mitchell in Sea Sick from March 19 to 23 at The Theatre Centre's New Live Arts Hub & Incubator, 1115 Queen Street West. Visit theatrecentre.org for more information and to buy tickets.