The third time’s the charm for London’s Grand Theatre.
After two years of pandemic delays, the Grand Theatre is ready to raise the curtain on the production Room Tuesday night.
Room tells the story of a mother that was kidnapped as a teenager and locked inside a shed by her captor for seven years. During her time in captivity, she has a son who is five years old and has no concept of the world beyond the one his mother has built for him.
The screenplay is written by London, Ont., author Emma Donoghue, the same author who wrote the best-selling novel by the same name.
The North American premiere of the production has been a long time in the making, with the production being postponed in March of 2020, and then in January 2022 due to pandemic restrictions.
“Three years and two postponements later, our spark has not been dulled. If anything, it has only made us more determined and more exhilarated to officially premiere Room and celebrate the power and unity that is live theatre,” said Dennis Garnhum, Grand Theatre artistic director.
For London author Emma Donoghue, getting to see the production finally make its debut is “moving” to have its debut in the same city she wrote the novel and scripts for both the movie and play.
“I love adapting my own work because it lets you play to the strength of each genre,” she said.
“I would say films are really good for a kind of naturalistic believability, and theatre is great for making things larger than life. This version is more exuberant, it’s got music in it. It plays to the theatricality of the original story: the idea of two people stuck in a room, making stuff up, making their days meaningful and entertaining and full of joy and love.”
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“It feels as if the story has kind of burst its bounds in this version because it gets to really lean into the theatricality of it,” she said.
Given the last two years, Donoghue thinks audiences will be better able to connect with the story.
“I think the audiences will be all the more able to connect with this story because it’s not such a weird story anymore,” Donoghue said. “Lots of people have been through a feeling of confinement, being stuck in the house, trying to get everything that they can out of their relationships with a tiny handful of family members.”
Making his Grand Theatre debut, actor Brandon Michael Arrington, who plays the character of Super Jack, says a lot of work has gone into getting the projection where it is these last two years.
Arrington plays a character that is a figment of the little Jack’s mind, giving audiences a glimpse into the mind of the five-year-old boy.
“I think a big thing is the fact that we as artists are actually able to bring this audience back in to actually feel, and it’s our job to show you the not so beautiful parts of life, the things that hurt, the pain that’s there, and to actually finally give our audiences who are coming … permission to feel deeply, to be honest with their hurt,” Arrington said.
On Feb. 14, Premier Doug Ford unveiled that Ontario would be fast-tracking previously announced steps to lift COVID-19 restrictions, including moving the next step of its reopening plan up to Thursday instead of next Monday.
As of March 1, capacity limits have been lifted in all remaining indoor public settings, and proof-of-vaccination requirements have ended for all settings.
The Grand has said it is keeping vaccine requirements in place but plans to open up to full capacity.
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