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SummerWorks 2012: Q&A | Ajax Por Nobody

Playwright Alice Tuan and director Zack Russell talk about their controversial new production at SummerWorks

By Lauren Gillett • August 14, 2012

A dark comedy about sex games gone horribly wrong, Alice Tuan’s Ajax (Por Nobody) is making waves at this year’s SummerWorks Performance Festival. We caught up with the playwright and director Zack Russell to find out more about this provocative piece.

Theatromania: Tell us about Ajax (Por Nobody). What inspired this script?

AT: The script was inspired by Ajax the cleanser.And I wanted to write about the downsides of having too much absolute freedom. It seems if you can wash away horror and act as if nothing has happened, you can become unmoored and not even know it—until it’s too late. The U.S. has been able to wash from its conscience their two defining horrors—displacing the native peoples and importing a continent of people against their will. This is the acidic stew brewing beneath a play about four people getting together to have sex. It was written in a week and a half. I figured if the U.S. theatre wasn’t going to produce my works, I’d at least give them a play that showed them why.
Theatromania: This play has been called “unstageable” because of its explicit nature. How did you manage to bring the work to life despite these challenges?

ZR: The goal with staging Ajax was to retain as much of the suggestive power of Jim Simpson’s original production as possible, while still giving the audience a visceral experience. Throughout the process the mantra has been “less is more” and “the power of suggestion.” The Flea’s staging of Ajax made great use of audience imagination—the stage directions were read by a narrator, as opposed to being carried out by the characters. Instead of using narration, we tried to find ways to obscure and hint at some of the “unstageable” action while still keeping it visceral and visual. Avoiding realism but staying true to the visceral intention of the play permitted us to tackle its explicit moments without denying the importance of suggestion and imagination that is important to theatre.

Theatromania: What do you hope audiences take away from this production?

AT: To experience a modern tragedy in its full pity and terror. Empathy for abject characters who have either lost control of their humanity or are trying to reel it back. These days we just delete what we don’t like.

ZR: Questions. Understanding enough to frame questions (about the piece, their reactions) but not so much that they have perfect answers. A thinking, engaged instabilit— that’s what I hope they take away.

Theatromania: What excites you most about this year’s SummerWorks Performance Festival?

AT: Wee Tube and When It Rains from Halifax. Also Breathe for Me…and maybe Nina Arsenault’s 40 day and 40 nights at like 3am.

Theatromania: What’s next for you two?

AT: Rewriting a play about Americans trying to do business in Shanghai and not understanding that the Chinese government has their own business practice. Also, working on a commission for Yale Repertory Theater.

ZR: I’ve been trying to write about Marie, Charcot, Tooth—a hereditary degenerative disease that runs in my family—since January. I’m looking forward to returning to it with fresh eyes after Ajax closes. Collaborating with Alice has been a big learning experience, and I know it will influence my future work.

Catch Ajax (Por Nobody) at The Theatre Centre until Aug 19. Visit SummerWorks.ca for more information and to buy tickets.

Show Dates:

Tue, 2012-08-14 - Sun, 2012-08-19