February 19, 2015
The SuburbanFebruary 19, 2015
By Walter J. Lyng
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Although the plays put on at the Segal Centre as part of its main season run the gamut of subject matter, few if any have put the spotlight on Unidentified Flying Objects. Damien Atkins is about to change all that.
From Feb. 22 to March 15, Atkins will present the premier of his one-man play, We Are Not Alone, in the Segal’s Studio space. A pastiche of his own interest in the subject matter as well as ruminations on more empirical topics, Atkins wrote this piece which is being co-presented by Toronto’s Crow Theatre company.
“When I write a play there’s not really one thread,” says Atkins. “All these threads mysteriously start to join until you’ve got this weird idea for a play. I wanted to write a play about getting older somehow. And I was always interested in UFOs and I wondered if that was the same piece. Part of what I like to is take ideas that don’t seem to be related and let them sit side by side for a bit and see if they are related.”
Having already been a part of five separate productions at the Segal, Atkins brought the idea for this play to former artistic producer Paul Flicker, who ultimately gave him the green light to proceed.
“What’s so fabulous about him is that if he trusted you, he would take a risk on you,” says Atkins. “We showed him a bare bones draft but he said, ‘Sure, I trust you guys.’”
While the one-man nature of the piece may seem reflective of the type of isolation often associated with those who firmly believe in UFO conspiracies, Atkins says it was more of a nod to his early days in theatre. “I felt like I wanted to do another solo show. It had been a while and that’s kind of how I made my name in Toronto. I felt like it was time to try my hand at that again, just to shake it up.”
Even though it may seem like a fringe subject, Atkins assures that no one should leave feeling marginalized.
“The play is not addressed to anyone in particular,” he says. “It doesn’t matter how you feel about UFOs. The show is a really good time. In the end, it is about something more than UFOs. Where we take it to is a more universal place that anybody would be interested in.”
For more information, visit www.segalcentre.org