The Net: Much more than a fish tale
Acadian thriller examines what happens when traditional way of life threatened
by ANDREA NEMETZ, Entertainment Reporter, HeraldThough The Net is a story of a collapsing fishing industry, it could just as easily be the story of any industry in crisis, says Matthew Tiffin, who directs the play at Ship’s Company Theatre in Parrsboro.
"It could be a family on the Prairies or anything where a community’s way of life is threatened."
The suspense thriller previews on Wednesday and Thursday, opens on Friday and runs till Aug. 29.
It is the Atlantic Canadian premiere of the work by Montreal playwright Marcel-Romain Theriault, who is originally from New Brunswick. It was translated by Maureen Labonte and Don Hannah.
"Our mandate is to premiere Atlantic Canada work, work about Atlantic issues and themes with an emphasis on new work," says Tiffin, who is in his first season as artistic producer at Ship’s Company.
But beyond that, he admires the "very, very powerful, entertaining piece" that is full of twists, turns and multiple storylines.
"It sounds dark and heavy but it moves quickly and is very thrilling."
The Net, which won the New Brunswick Arts Board’s Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for High Achievement in the Arts in French, is the story of the Chiasson family, a powerful New Brunswick crab fishing family.
Michael Chiasson, who was last at Ship’s Company in Snow Dance, is grandfather Anthime; Wally MacKinnon, who starred in Chairmaker: The Musical and Jacob’s Wake, is son Leo; and Douglas MacAulay, a Cape Breton native and National Theatre School graduate, is making his Ship’s debut as grandson Etienne.
Anthime runs the family fishing business and wants to pass it along to his grandson. Leo is running the business and excelling at it but he is the second-born son and Anthime refuses to give it to the second-born, believing that businesses should be passed from first-born to first-born.
In the meantime, at the wharf, trouble is brewing with the not-so-wealthy fishermen.
The play was partially inspired by riots in Shippagan, N.B., in May 2003. About 250 people set fire to three boats owned by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, a fourth owned by the Big Cove native band, two fish processing plants and a DFO building.
The rioters were angry that Ottawa had cut the region’s share of the lucrative snow crab fishery and ordered traditional crabbers to share 15 per cent of the remainder with inshore lobster fishermen.
Theriault "was inspired to write a piece about how vital and important a traditional way of life is, particularly in the face of threats from outside," says Tiffin, who grew up in Ottawa and has lived in Montreal, Toronto, London and New York.
The play, originally titled Le filet une tragedie maritime, premiered at le Theatre populaire d’Acadie in 2007 and toured New Brunswick and Quebec before being translated into English and performed at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa in 2009.
Tiffin didn’t see it but was intrigued by an image he saw on a poster and emailed the author to learn more about the play.
Reading the script, Tiffin determined it was "extraordinary, stunning, original, very powerful and unique."
The bilingual Tiffin says he believes it is the first Acadian play done at Ship’s Company and the first French-English translation.
"It’s a very important play for the Maritimes. Thematically the play is about the erosion of the fishing industry and the erosion of traditional family values."
The play runs about one hour, 20 minutes without intermission and has a very cinematic feel, says Tiffin.
"There is so much going on, so many storylines. It has an epic movie style."
(anemetz@herald.ca)
