By Amanda Hu
Most people want to see the world be a better place, one free of crime, hunger and other maladies. While the sentiment may be there, it dissolves for many when confronted by those in need, and the self-sacrifice that offering relief can entail.
Habitat, Downstage’s final production of the 2007–08 season, explores themes of displacement, intolerance and coming of age through circumstances that hit home for many, regardless of their background. The play, written by Judith Thompson, follows the story of a picturesque upper middle-class neighbourhood thrust into conflict after a newcomer opens up a group home for wayward youth. The friendly, “Howdy, neighbour” smiles start to melt away, revealing a community that doesn’t seem quite ready to embrace their new friends down the block.
Though Thompson penned her play several years ago, Downstage took on the project now, citing its relevance given recent incidents in Calgary like the debate within Sunalta over the appearance of a halfway house in the community and the various appeals filed from the 16th Avenue area when the Brick building was converted into a temporary homeless shelter.
“It’s one of those plays that is kind of ripped from the headlines because there are still murmurs about that sort of stuff going on in our own backyards,” says Simon Mallett, Habitat director and Downstage’s artistic producer. “When you read about things in the newspaper, it’s really easy to cast a judgment for or against one side based on who you are and how you feel.”
Mallett notes that while the “not in my backyard” argument is prevalent throughout the production, Downstage was careful to portray both sides equally, giving a human and relatable face to all viewpoints. This approach sets the stage for audience engagement and, hopefully, future discussion and discourse.
“A lot of the community uproar that surrounded [the Sunalta situation] is the same as in the play in terms of the residents’ perspectives,” he says. “Decreased property values, increased crime rate, those sorts of concerns, are completely valid concerns. I think the challenge is that, in those sorts of situations, we don’t just get an insight into the details and the specifics of the people involved but also the kinds of desires within the efforts to establish a halfway house.”
Julie Orton, who portrays the group home’s heroine, Raine, says her character seems to personify the argument, dealing with the inner conflict of coming from affluence and landing on the other, less fortunate side of the fence.
“She has the circumstance of being pulled in all directions,” Orton says. “She’s thrown into this situation and is along for the ride. In that respect, she is able to use her experiences with both sides and at the end, truly emerge as her own person and find her own voice and fight for something that she truly believes in. She probably comes out at the end of the play having learned the most and come the farthest and it’s really her journey.”
Orton says she learned a lot from working on the project, though she hasn’t come to any definitive conclusions on the issue.
“My perspective of the issue before was just what I had heard in the news because I didn’t really have any personal experience with it,” she says. “In the course of doing this, you get a chance to see both sides and how it can seem overwhelming and helpless.”
Mallett maintains that the play is meant to spur on the debate, rather than make a statement for one side or the other.
“I think one of the great things about the play is that it explores some socially-provocative questions without giving any easy answers,” he says. “It’s not just sort of a political diatribe within a theatre space. It’s actually a very human story that happens to revolve around something that is very much happening in our community.”
While Habitat may leave the audience with more questions than answers in regards to the NIMBY argument, the discourse that follows may result in the solutions we’re looking for, or at least a willingness to accept the personal costs.
Habitat runs May 22-31 in the Studio at Vertigo Theatre Centre. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.