The loudest Oscar party in town will no doubt be wherever the cast of Hedda Noir is hanging out.
The Theatre NorthWest play is opens Feb. 15 and closes Mar. 4, which happens to be the night the Academy Awards are handed out. When the final bows are taken after that day's matinee closing show and the customary wrap party gets underway, you can expect the actors and crew to sprint to the nearest television and give Stewart Arnott the comfiest chair in the middle of the room, with the coldest glass of champagne.
All eyes will be on The Shape of Water, the film that scored 13 Oscar nominations (one shy of the all-time record) and the film in which Arnott has a role alongside such film greats as Richard Jenkins (nominated for Best Male Supporting Actor), Octavia Spencer (nominated for Best Female Supporting Actor) and Sally Hawkins up for Best Female Actor In A Leading Role.
The Shape of Water was filmed primarily in Toronto and Hamilton by superstar filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, who is up for Best Director for this effort. Many Canadians got in on the production, and one of them called in for their talents was Arnott. He was riding high from a significant role in the most recent season of Murdoch Mysteries (as Dr. William Osler), and appearances in the television comedy Schitt's Creek alongside Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, and the mini-series 11.22.63 with Josh Duhamel, Chris Cooper and other stars.
So how does an actor end up in Prince George on the TNW stage when he could have justifiably been in Los Angeles watching the Academy Awards live inside the Dolby Theatre? He heard two callings.
One was quite literal - it was TNW's artistic director Jack Grinhaus offering him a part.
One was spiritual. His late brother Bill lived in Prince George for 10 years, but Arnott never made it here to see his sibling's adopted hometown. When the chance came up this winter, he enjoyed the idea of finally getting to see this city so far to the west of his Ontario life.
Being on stage isn't that common even back where Arnott bases his career. He gets some screen roles and he does a lot of theatre directing. He took on this challenge of playing Judge Brack in Hedda Noir, the gritty, cinematical adaptation of the great Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, in order to work with Grinhaus and the play's lead Lauren Brotman, both of whom he knew back in the Toronto theatre scene before they moved here.
"The last time I was on stage myself was a year and a half ago," Arnott said. "That was another reason I wanted to take this on: to keep those muscles toned. I've been directing a fair bit, and teaching, and a lot of things in the field. By spreading my talents widely, that's what pays the mortgage."
It's not as easy as it sounds, but he has actually played Judge Brack before and is coming back to it in this version that Grinhaus re-imagined.
"I'm not even sure Jack knows that I've been the judge once already," said Arnott. "It was something I did a long time ago, and this version is so different. I'm an actor who dumps the lines of my last performance almost the next day. I can learn quite quickly and I dump quite quickly. I just let it slide right out of my head. And this was so long ago, and the version is so different, that it really is like I'm playing the judge for the first time."
The rehearsal process is far enough along now that the atmosphere of the script is starting to paint over the mere words and raw recital of the story.
This play puts Brotman front and centre in one of theatre's most substantial female lead roles. It is also the return of Sharmila Dey who many will remember as Alice in TNW's re-imagining of Alice In Wonderland in 2016. Joining in the action are Ray Strachan, Deborah Drakeford and the comeback of Ian Farthing who made his TNW debut in 2011 in the production of Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun.
"I'm really liking this noir world that Jack's created for us," said Arnott. "The last time I played him he was a highly respectable judge and in this one, maybe his past is a bit shady. Jack has given the judge some juicy dialogue, some good vernacular."
As a director himself, he is sensitive to the theatrical process from company to company and even day to day. He was lavish with the praise for TNW and Grinhaus in particular for fostering a workplace philosophy of collaboration and affirmative attitudes towards production challenges.
He's seen his share of strong directors, lately, if the Oscar nomination list is any indication. He called Del Toro a "magpie" for his ability to spot shiny things to collect into a brilliant hodgepodge of useful and beautiful storytelling points.
"People are struggling to describe The Shape Of Water, but the one I like best is it is a cross between Creature From The Black Lagoon meets Amaelie meets Splash," Arnott laughed. "I didn't have a large part, but I feel so lucky to be able to be a part of this production. I got to work with a master director and a master actor in Richard Jenkins. Del Toro is a true auteur, he has a very firm vision of colour, of set, of costume, and he surrounds himself with the best possible people for bringing that vision out so the camera can get it. And yet he was the one who would walk me to my new spot when my mark had been moved, not an assistant; and he was the one who said 'oh, you flapped your coat three times on that walk-across so be sure to do that again,' which is always someone from the continuity department telling you that stuff. He just holds his vision so strongly that he sees everything, he's comfortable with everything, and he believes in his process."
To see another dramatic collaboration with strong artists, one that examines the shape of noir, book your seat for TNW's latest production. Hedda Noir opens the night after Valentine's Day. Tickets are on sale now online at Theatre NorthWest's website or in person at Books & Company.
