"Incredibly alive": Bonnie Catterson and Kismet Theatre Academy

Denisa Kraus
Jun 14, 2015
7 min read

When a serious illness took Bonnie Catterson from her life as an actress in Vancouver back home to Nanaimo, she never intended to stay. But while recovering, she realized she no longer wanted the pace of the city and to start her career all over again. Instead, she decided to build on her experience teaching courses for Arts Alive and directing two adaptations of The Vagina Monologues, and open her own acting school. A week later, she signed a lease on the studio space on Victoria Road; a month later, in October 2012, the door of Kismet Academy opened.

Twice a year, Kismet now opens to the public during student showcases in which beginning and advanced actors present scenes from several different plays.

This semester, Catterson wanted the class to work on full one-act plays instead of several selected scenes, and give the students the opportunity to fully dive into the characters.

Bourbon & Laundry and Lone Star are twin plays written by James McLure and set in the 1980’s Maynard, Texas, a small, sweatytown where three women and three men connect through alcohol, despair, hope and a concoction of feelings for the 1959 pink Thunderbird Convertible. While humorous, they carry a dark layer of themes of the Vietnam war, infidelity, alcoholism. “I don’t want to do anything unless it has an edge, but I wanted to do something that is also a little light hearted, because I normally do pretty dark shit,” Bonnie Catterson begins our interview.

Bonnie Catterson watches her actors during the premiere of Lone Star.

Photo Denisa Kraus

How do you choose your students?

I don’t choose them. They choose me; they come. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t. My beginner class is totally open to anybody, but in this advanced class, I had to know that the people who’d be joining us would be willing to jump off the cliff as much as anybody else. I don’t want to have to hold the class back by having to start all over again and re-teach the same things. We’ve had a couple of people joining us in the last six months and they’re both really into it. I think we attract the kind of people that are supposed to be here anyway.

Why did you chose plays that feature a strong Texan accent almost like another character?

I think learning dialects is one of the most important things for an actor. It makes them hirable. It’s amazing how many actors don’t know how to do different dialects.. I did a full year of just straight dialect training. It’s not just that you know how to use one; it really helps you to jump from you into the character, because, already, their manner of speaking is different than yours. Also, these plays are written with the Texas accent, you pretty much couldn’t do it without it.. Texan accent is one of the easiest accents to do.

How do you view the separation of genders in these ”sister” plays?

The female and male characters are telling both sides of the story - without ever mingling. There are so many things that are replicated in both plays: superficial stuff like a chase or vomiting, but also both Roy and my character [Elizabeth] are talking about the land. I feel that Maynard, Texas is like the seventh character in the plays - the setting is really really important.

And I love how you have these ideas [about only mentioned characters] in your head during Laundry & Bourbon, and then you meet them in Lone Star, when they talk about their counterparts.

I think Elizabeth is supposed to be Roy’s spiritual grounder. And Roy is the main character in both of these plays - everybody’s story is about him in one way or another. Each have their own stories but he’s the main thing that brings all of them together.

You cast your real life partner as Roy, while you play Elizabeth.

I’ve worked on Laundry & Bourbon before and have seen Lone Star a couple of times, but I hadn’t read it in a long time. As soon as I read again it I knew Andrew was perfect for the part. In fact, I wouldn’t have even considered anyone else for that role.

Did your character’s relationship in the play have any effect on the one you have in real life, and vice versa?

It’s hard, working with your partner, especially for me as the director. I am very direct and bossy and demanding, and that can be intense on a relationship. Andy is stubborn and knows a lot about a lot of things, so it was hard for him to relinquish control and trust me. But he did. We don’t talk about work at home very much.

You sound very diplomatic.

I have to be. Tarah (Hattie) is one of my best friends; we’ve known each other for years. Andy is my boyfriend. And I’ve taught a lot of my friends and people I know. When I walk into this room and work with actors, it doesn’t matter what our relationship is.I’m simply working with an artist as a director, not a girlfriend or friend.

How did the actors work on understanding their characters and individual scenes? For example Rey confessing to Roy he had an affair with his wife?

Andrew Kent (joins the interview): The way I see it is that Rey understands Roy very well and is trying to ease the blow of the car being destroyed by telling him he slept with his wife. That’s how much Roy loves his car.

Bonnie: And there’s another brilliant moment in Laundry & Bourbon where I have that line “Sometimes I think he loves that car more than he loves me.” That’s why it’s so funny in the other play. I think the Thunderbird convertible represents Roy’s sense of self and his sense of freedom. That has been a constant in his life, after enduring the horrific Vietnam war and coming back home and feeling awkward with the people he knows and loves, because he’s been through so much trauma. You can only imagine how that was for the Vietnam vets coming back from seeing all those atrocities.

What’s the content of the beer cans you use in the Lone Star?

It’s Molson 0.5 dealcoholized beer. Arn is amazing - he went on eBay and bought that original Lone Star box. Then he made the labels, printed them out and put them on the beer cans.

Catterson as Elizabeth and Tarah Sullivan as Hattie in Laundy & Bourbon

Photo Denisa Kraus

It seems pretty essential to the piece.

The characters usually drink about ten to twelve beers per show. It was such an important part of what they were doing, that they couldn’t get away without doing it during the rehearsal, so they’ve been drinking dealcoholized beer for a couple of months now. Arn said last night that he’s put on weight from it.

What are the actresses drinking instead of bourbon?

Iced tea. I like bourbon, but I’d never ever take any mind altering substance before going on stage or while being on stage.

What is being on stage like for you?

I always get super nervous before, but it’s nervous excitement. When I get on stage, I just love being there; it’s my favorite place to be.

How did you feel at the premiere?

I had more nerves than I usually do. It wasn’t intimate. It was a really quiet audience; it was a lot quieter than what we’re used to. Our rehearsal process has been in front of the acting class, and they are very reactive audience members. I have to say that I like directing more than acting. I have this sense of pride and excitement when I watch my actors on stage. Especially considering the lack of experience - this is Andy’s and Arn’s first play; that’s a big deal! Not even just as “Oh, for students, they were really good.” No, they were really good for actors! That makes me feel like I’m doing something right. Frank Moher said to me last night: “Where do you find these people and how do you make them do these things?” That’ a good compliment.

There are some very intensive performances in the plays.

Yes, especially the Lone Star is very physical…

(Andrew joins the interview): ...I always feel really sluggish before the show, like “I don’t think I wanna do this..” Then I get on the stage, perform and then I’m all “Wow! Where-are-we-going-next?! What-are-we-doing?”

Bonnie (takes over again):You get a real high off of it. It really makes you feel alive when your body kicks into that fight or flight kind of state and you have to work really hard to be in the present in the moment. You feel incredibly alive. More so than you do doing almost anything other than probably intense exerciser sex. I like to say that acting is as much fun as you can have with your clothes on.

How do you view the current theatre scene in Nanaimo and what is Kismet's role in it?

Well, I see the scene as influx. Up until recently there hasn't been much of a professional scene - there hasn't been any real professional training, especially for adults. VIU is not known for it's theatre program, and Theatre One has been bringing in actors from elsewhere for most of their shows. That is what I want to change. Western Edge has offered edgier theatre and continues to do so, though their audience tends to be a little older than what I am shooting for. I see Kismet as training actors to do truthful and honest work. I see Kismet Theatre Collective bringing theatre to the younger audience and showing them it does not have to be a cheesy or inaccessible art form.

Where is the future of Kismet?

My goal is to have ten or twelve actors and produce a season of shows every year, and, in the summertime, take a couple of those shows on tour of Gulf Islands. Do a weekend on Salt Spring, a weekend on Lasqueti or Gabriola, or Denman, Hornby.. We’d travel around a bit and get to play for other audiences than just Nanaimo. I have some really close friends in Vancouver who are actors, so I’d like to do coproductions with them. Maybe take a show that is particularly good to Vancouver and do it there, and show what Nanaimo's capable of.