WhatsOn Why it’s hard to let go of Elvis
Filed Under Kitchen Curtain | Posted on March 13, 2008
Death and remembrance. It’s an issue that Toronto playwright Franca Miraglia explores in her latest work, Last Days of Graceland, opening tomorrow at Theatre Passe Muraille.The play itself is me thinking through the question of, ‘How do we say goodbye?’ said Miraglia of her ninth work.I’m always fascinated at how funerals do play that role in our lives. It’s like you can run away all your life and then there’s that moment when you have to decide especially if you’re delivering a eulogy how are you going to reflect that person’s impact on your life? she said.Set outside the gates of Graceland, the home of the late great Elvis Presley is about to close forever after being purchased by a multi-millionaire who is turning it into a private residence. A professional eulogist is among those gathered for one last farewell. Miraglia readily agreed that she chose Graceland with the evocative place it holds in popular culture as a metaphor for that last opportunity, that once it’s gone it’s gone forever.At 48, the self-described baby boomer said she, like those of her generation, is grappling with the reality of aging parents in frail health and an acute recognition of her own impending mortality.Actor Tedde Moore with almost a half century on stage said the play’s theme resonated equally with her.Moore, whose father, Mavor, died in 2006, said in recent years she often attended funerals of her father’s contemporaries in the theatre community on his behalf. That meant sitting through eulogies where the speakers often ended up talking about themselves.The point is we all lose people and we all have to come to terms with how we say goodbye. It’s really about this whole issue of loss, Moore said.While Miraglia recently completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at York University, one might question what academia could offer the experienced playwright. Her examination of anonymous sex, Platinum Travel Club, was staged at Passe Muraille in 2005 before going to New York in an off-off-Broadway production a year in which Miraglia was selected to join the New Perspectives theatre company’s year-long woman artist-in-residence program. A previous work, Life on a Diet, won plaudits at Toronto’s 1998 Fringe Festival before also heading to New York. But Miraglia said going back to university after more than 20 years away gave her access to the kind of artistic and professional feedback that playwrights can’t get from everyday working life.When you work full-time and you try to do writing on the side, it’s really hard to eke out enough time to really focus on it and make it a priority. So I really appreciated being in (the university) environment for the last two years, she added.Likewise, Miraglia said she also learns a great deal from watching her plays go from script to stage to final curtain call.Sitting in a theatre and listening to when people laugh and even worse, when they don’t laugh really teaches you something about the craft that you can’t learn sitting by yourself in your study, she said.And while the subject of funerals and eulogies may seem a tad morose for the average theatregoer, Miraglia noted that they’re evolving in our modern age, from televised memorials like the send-off for Princess Diana to themed funerals, which are popping up increasingly in the U.S.Miraglia also promised that Graceland will offer at least a few moments of levity amid the gravity.I’ve worked really hard to make sure the humour and the funny moments are kept. There are moments of comic relief.
Just the facts
WHAT: The Last Days of GracelandWHERE: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave. WHEN: Tomorrow until April 6 (Opening night Wednesday)TICKETS: $15- $35 at artsboxoffice.ca
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