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'National theatre of Newfoundland' is the birthplace of the region's stars
It is a green clapboard building, ageing and worn. Once a church in the 1800s, it is now named after the group that rebuilt it -- the Longshoreman's Protective Union -- when it burned to the ground during the great fire in 1922. This is the centre of the eclectic arts scene in St. John's and the birthplace of the region's most talented artists.
The local collective theatre company, the Mummers Troupe, bought the LSPU Hall in 1972. The group wanted to develop local talent rather than showcase artists from outside the region as other theatres had been doing. Since then, the Hall -- as it is simply known here -- has become a venue for theatre, music, art shows, literary readings, flea markets and public meetings. It continues to focus on new developments: untried, untested artistic projects that most theatres wouldn't want to chance.
"Out of this environment came the work of people like Mary Walsh and Tommy Sexton and the Codco gang and Greg Toomey and Sabastian Spence," said Michael Chaisson, LSPU Hall's artistic animateur. "This place suddenly gave people the opportunity to show their work. Artists didn't have that before. We basically grow artists here."
This week, more than 200 Newfoundland artists -- most of whom have a personal connection with the small, run-down theatre -- will take part in Festival "5" -- a celebration of Newfoundland's culture in theatre, dance, music, readings, film and visual arts.
"This place is the national theatre of Newfoundland," said Codco's Andy Jones proudly, who played a small role in yesterday's festival kick-off musical comedy, The Return of the Curse of the Mummy's Revenge. Mr. Jones describes the dusty building as a second home. He and his friends flourished in this messy maelstrom of creative activity, he said.
"It's extremely important to me. I don't know what would have happened to us if this place hadn't been here. It's the only place I can come to do original work without worrying about censorship and interference."
Codco, the irreverent comedy troupe, exploded on to the national scene in the 1980s with their rude skits about nuns and priests.
St. John's writer Bernice Morgan, who wrote the award-winning novel Random Passage and it's sequel, Waiting for Time, says the Hall is a "feeding ground" for everything arts oriented that has happened in Newfoundland.
"Our theatre heritage was English and the tradition was even if you came from Bonavista North, when you walked on the stage you suddenly started talking like an English person from Oxford," she said.
"We had never heard our own voices on the stage until the Hall came along with plays about Newfoundland. It was a wonderful experience. It was riveting to sit and suddenly hear your own accent."
Artists who got their break at the Hall are almost "embarrassingly happy" to come back or help the often cash-strapped theatre, which consists of a small art gallery, a tiny bar, one dressing room and a black-box theatre -- so intimate an actor can speak in almost normal tones and be heard perfectly. In April, the gang from This Hour has 22 Minutes came home to hold a fundraiser at the Hall. They raised $25,000 in one night. Meanwhile, Mr. Jones signs LSPU letters for donations because it increases the amounts people give when they see his name.
No matter where he has worked or travelled, Mr. Chaisson said he has always missed the informal atmosphere of the Hall, which he describes as a "hot bed of creativity."
"I am more comfortable here in terms of what I could do than in any place in the country," he said. "Instead of competing for a spot here, we want to foster talent. Try and get that in downtown Toronto. We all have a soft spot for this place and have faith that it will produce the next Codco or whatever."
In fact, Mr. Chaisson predicts St. John's resident Mark Critch, 25, who is hosting Festival "5," will be the next "bright light" to hit the national scene. "He has that bite. I tell you," Mr. Chaisson adds. Mr. Critch, an actor, commentator for CBC radio and a comedian, first did a show at the Hall when he was 15 years old. Rick Mercer, now a national icon, was also starting out with his own shows around the same time, he said.
"The Codco folk would sometimes come down and watch us younger kids and that was a big thrill," Mr. Critch said. "It would be like 'Oh, geez, look Rick, the crowd from Codco are here' and he'd be saying 'Oh my God.' Now look where he is. It's kind of funny."
Newfoundland has seen its share of talent leave the province, including artist David Blackwood, poet Michael Crummey, novelist Wayne Johnston and pop singer Kim Stockwood. Yet others staunchly refuse to leave their home by the sea, such as Christopher and Mary Pratt, whose paintings reflect the colours of the Newfoundland landscape, and the musicians of the popular band Great Big Sea.
"I can't imagine living anywhere else. I can't explain it. I love it here," Ms. Morgan said. "Other writers and artists go away and produce fine work about Newfoundland. I guess I'm different. One thing, though, we've all been touched in some point in our lives by the Hall."
National Post
National Post
ST. JOHN'S - The core of Newfoundland's capital city is made up of Victorian houses strung in a chain along the steep sloping streets. So, it's sometimes easy to miss the most important landmark in St. John's.