Hik, a young playwright, finds themselves grappling with their own history as they delve into the world of the legendary-yet-complex Joe Carstairs
StoneCrabs Theatre’s Joe Carstairs makes its way to Omnibus Theatre’s 96 Festival this June. The piece tells the story of queer ancestor Joe Carstairs, in all their tricky complexity.
In the 1920s, Joe Carstairs made a decided splash in the very stuffy world of European affluence. Born into a wealthy family, Joe never felt comfortable acquiescing to the standards and practices expected by a woman of their time and societal position. Joe didn’t like men – Joe liked the ladies. A whole lot of them. Joe clearly felt uncomfortable presenting as feminine, and without the privilege of hearing Joe’s own testimony of their gender identity, the question of how to present Joe’s gender expression weighs on the mind of Hik. Hik is a young playwright in the 21st century. As Joe Carstairs’ story continues, so we understand that we are watching Hik’s creative process as they write their own version of Joe’s life.
Hik and Tee, Hik’s girlfriend whom they met at a writing workshop, dive into the process of writing this play about the magnanimous Carstairs. Soon they find questions of identity and tradition wrangling with their grip on the play. How to account for queer ancestors without access to a shared understanding of identity in a modern context creates complex moral quandaries, over and above the question of how to admire the tenacity of Joe’s relentless pursual of living their life with the utmost authenticity in a time wherein who they were was outright illegal, while also accounting for the darker shades of their life, coloured by colonial fascism.
This lively production brought forth a plethora of intriguing questions, leaving the audience with much to ponder. The dramatic structure was unique, cleverly interspersing moments from Joe’s life with scenes of Hik’s, having both scenes run almost simultaneously thus allowing for the audience to draw clear comparisons between Joe’s life and that of Hik’s. Music functioned as an essential aspect of storytelling, albeit not in the traditional musical sense. The cast did occasionally break out in song in the signature style of a customary musical; however, the music played a much more significant role. Music followed the characters around throughout the piece, gave them a means to express something about themselves without relying on words. Music guided the audience as to how to feel and what to think, told us where we were and what was occurring without needing language to establish these thoughts for us.
With a run time of two hours and ten minutes, the piece could do with some shaving down. However, this very enjoyable production did a wonderful job telling a multifaceted tale with skill and grace.