BWW Q&A: Fiona Sauder, Matt Pilipiak, Thomas Adlerson of BED & BREAKFAST at Brampton On Stage in The Rose Studio

Image of a deep royal blue mid-century home with white trim near sunset. The home is shrouded in trees covered in green leaves turning yellow and orange in autumn. The home’s door is painted a deep turquoise and showcases a fall wreath. The numbers “134” are displayed on white trim by the door. Three potted plants sit on four concrete steps with black metal railings leading down to the yard which is speckled with fallen leaves Bed and Breakfast The Orillia Opera House Production "Very smart, very funny play with a big heart and a brain to match." - Vancouver Sun Full of charm and comedic chaos, Mark Crawford’s BED AND BREAKFAST is worth a visit!

Unhappy with their careers, frustrated by life in the fast-paced city and unexpectedly inheriting a house in a small Ontario town, couple Brett and Drew decide to make the move and start up a B & B. But when they face friction in their new community, they discover the simple life may be more complicated than they thought. Presented by the Orillia Opera House and directed by Dora Award-winner Fiona Sauder, this two-person, multiple-character theatrical tour de force is the enjoyable minibreak in Brampton that your summer needs!

Fiona, What inspired you to take on a play about a couple starting a Bed & Breakfast?

Mark Crawford’s writing. It’s sharp, witty, hilarious and earnest. Having spent plenty of time in small towns myself, I have an affinity for the people who live in the smaller pockets of Ontario and I find Mark captures all their nuances so brilliantly. I love that the play is centered around a gay couple whose relationship is so strong. We don’t have a lot of queer Canadian plays, and even less with such hopeful endings. It’s a play in which folks who don’t often see themselves represented on stage are able to, not just the central relationship of the play but all the smaller characters adjacent to the couple. Their struggles and discoveries and rich stories are represented too, and I think it’s miraculous that Mark has created a platform for an audience to fall in love with such a vast array of people. I was also attracted to the challenges the play presents. I read it and thought ‘well that’s going to be hard to pull off’, which for me is usually the sign I should take it on.

Matt & Thomas - Can you talk about the process of developing the characters Brett and Drew?

Thomas: The joyful and challenging part about Bed and Breakfast is that we play multiple characters. When it comes to my primary character of Brett I have enjoyed having the opportunity to bring a lot of myself and my own experiences to the role. I’ve tried to focus on making Brett an extension of myself, so I have a nice grounded place to come back to after having done the scenes with the other more zany or over the top characters.

Matt: Drew has been a dream to get to play. I share a lot of similarities with Drew and have drawn on that a lot for the performance; we’re even both from Saskatchewan. There’s so much humour in how these characters speak, even in the harder moments and that humour feels so true to life, that’s how we all cope and get through the tough times.

Can you share some of the challenges you faced when bringing this play to life?

Fiona: It’s massive! This play has a seemingly infinite number of characters and only two actors onstage. Further, it visits countless locations and jumps through time with the longest scene spanning just over two pages. I remember breaking down the script and realizing we’d be changing locations somewhere around 50 times between the two acts. So I think the biggest challenge was breaking all those pieces down, finding the clarity in each of them and then putting them back together without losing our minds. Because of all the shifts (in character, time, location) we had to be incredibly precise and make sure we were taking care of our audience. Making sure they understood who each actor was embodying at each time etc. It was an exercise in efficiency, bold choices, patience, and belief that we’d make it to the finish line.

Matt: I mean playing 1 character alone is hard enough, playing 10+ characters has been a whirlwind of an experience. Combine that with a fairly quick rehearsal process and the challenges aren’t hard to imagine. One of the biggest challenges though is playing 4 or 5 characters who are all in the same scene together. That can really give you a case of “ok, wait… who the hell am I right now?!”

Thomas: Honestly, the biggest challenge was learning the material in a fairly short time. This show has only two actors and we never leave the stage. Luckily I trust Matt to keep me going if I second guess what’s next, and I trust Fiona to help me develop the characters more fully since I’ve had to focus so much on the memorization than I would with another piece. They have both been so amazing and have made the hard work totally joyful.

How does the setting of a small Ontario town contribute to the narrative of the play?

Fiona: It’s both a source of tension and a source of delight, and it’s truly the backbone of the story. Coming from Toronto to rehearse the show in a small town reminded me of this in that wonderful ‘art mirrors life’ kind of way. We dressed differently than the locals. We stuck out. We were less anonymous than in the city. Like the characters in the play, this puts one on edge, and then you learn more about the people you’re surrounded by, and you fall in love with all their eccentricities, and them with yours. As the central characters grow throughout the play, we experience the backdrop of the town doing the same thing. We meet more people, we learn about their histories, their secrets, their motivations. More details are painted onto the canvas and we’re left with a really rich picture of the place these people have landed in. These details (the sound of the cafe bell, the names of the streets, the interconnectedness of the families) are crucial to the play’s ultimate conclusion. The story spans a year’s long journey from discomfort to a sense of peace, and this slowly blooming tapestry of the small town is what allows the audience to feel the same sense of surety that our central characters end the play with. The play spans a year long journey from discomfort to a sense of peace when the characters finally find a true sense of home.

Matt: It’s truly the beating heart of the play, this rural community. Mark does such a brilliant job of both highlighting the joyful bits as well as not shying away from the tough stuff. At its core though, everyone in the play and in the town is just trying their best to be a good human in the world, even if they don’t know exactly how to do that at times.

Before bringing the show to Brampton, you're doing the show in Orillia, which while not quite a 'small town' is certainly smaller in feel than the GTA. Do you think audiences might react differently in each respectively?

Fiona: I love seeing the way reactions differ based on location. Each audience has its own little culture. That said, Mark’s play is universally funny and I think one of the reasons is that audiences aren’t only laughing at the jokes, they find the accuracy of each character the actors portray to be entertaining. The transformations they make and specificity in them is funny because of its authenticity. They laugh because they recognize the people. Even as a city dweller myself I feel this. You think “I know that guy!” and I think this will happen for Brampton audiences as well.

Matt: the reactions in Orillia have been amazing so far. People have been really moved by the piece: gasping one moment then laughing the next. I think people really see a lot of themselves in the piece, it’s really universal in that regard. I’m curious to see how audiences in Brampton, a more “city” type of crowd will react. At the end of the day though I can’t imagine people not laughing, the writing is just too funny to not.

Thomas: I am excited to see how the reactions differ. There are some small town specific observational type humour in the script for sure, but I think everyone will appreciate the wit of Mark’s writing no matter where we play!!

Why should audiences come and see Bed & Breakfast?

Fiona: Watching these two actors inhabit the challenge of this play is like watching circus performers on a high wire. It’s astounding and seems nearly impossible yet they pull it off with razor sharp precision and you find yourself connected to everything they’re doing. These are some of the best storytellers in Canada, dancing around Mark’s gorgeously crafted playground, sharing a truly touching story about finding your way home. You will see something you’ve never seen before and you will absolutely laugh your pants off.

Matt: I think it’s one of those rare pieces that moves you as much as it makes you bust a gut laughing. It’s got a little bit of everything and that makes it truly special.

Thomas: I think Bed and Breakfast really makes the audience feel connected to the characters. It feels like you’re spending time with good friends. Even if those characters might be quite different from some audience members. I think it leaves the audience with a great sense of community. It’s a show about finding a sense of community, after all. Plus, it’s fun to see two people play dozens of characters, with a healthy dose of silliness.

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