Theatre Brouhaha’s Kat Sandler, Tom McGee and Chris DePaul are presenting We Are The Bomb.Zaiden.com
One of the hits of this year's Fringe Festival is We Are The Bomb, a comical site-specific play from Theatre Brouhaha about a group of would-be revolutionaries who fight the government's enacting of prohibition by declaring their favourite tavern a sovereign nation. We spoke to fast-rising director-playwright Kat Sandler about drinks, causes and revolutionary ideas.
We Are The Bomb is hilarious, but within the farce you do raise some interesting issues, particularly about political protest and young people. Do you think younger generations have a romantic notion of revolution?
Yes. And we don't know what to do when it all hits the fan. We just don't have the skill set. The line in the play "My father is 78 and he's lived through all these wars," that's true. My father has had such a different life than I've had. I've been safe, lucky to live in Canada. I don't think we're as informed. I don't think we have has many causes as our parents had.
Is your generation looking for causes?
Absolutely. I think that's why there are so many young artists now. I wrote this play before the thing with the crackdown on drinking in Trinity Bellwoods Park. But so many people have gotten behind that because it's a cause we understand. It's a right that we enjoy and it's being threatened.
Your right to drink PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) in the park?
Well, technically you can't, but people do. A lot of young people use that park because it's their only green space. Toronto has become this kind of concrete block of condos. So we cling to our parks and beaches as our last remnants of nature.
Still, as far as causes go, it's not exactly ban the bomb.
Well, that's not to say our generation is causeless. We want to have something to fight for. And that's so much of what this play is about. In the world of the play, prohibition is something we understand. Our right to drink is a big part of many young people's social lives. So, it was easy to riff on that idea for 60 minutes of a farcical play.
Have you done anything revolutionary yourself lately?
I'm not political at all. This play was meant to be a comedy. I guess there are ideas lurking beneath the surface, but I set out to write something that will entertain people. And also to give people an experience.
By setting the play in actual bar, rather than a theatre?
The Paddock is an amazing place. Frank Sinatra played there. Al Capone used to go there. Part of Theatre Brouhaha's whole philosophy on theatre is getting people who traditionally don't enjoy theatre to go into a theatrical space to see something and to create an experience for them rather than just present a play.
Brad Wheeler