An upcoming theatrical opus by the Driftwood Players will dare audiences to see their own reflection in shards of a fragmented heroine. The Dissociates, which debuted almost two decades ago in a version by Vancouver’s Sea Theatre (and was described by a contemporary theatre critic as a “dark comedy”), takes on new urgency in its Gibsons incarnation at the Heritage Playhouse.
The protagonist struggles with discordant inner voices that offer comfort and criticism following an attempt to take her own life. Meanwhile, she recollects a now-fading era of queer history, encapsulating the music, rites and archetypes of vibrant lesbian community then in the process of asserting itself as part of the cultural mainstream.
The full-length play by B.C. musician and writer Dorothy Dittrich achieves dramatic alchemy: her script spins discrete strands of history and identity into an alloy with universal resonance.
“There’s something in it that appeals to everyone,” said Susan Hogan, who anchors the play in the role of Alex. Idiosyncratic aspects of her psyche are played by Charlotte Bailey — in her Driftwood Players debut — and Heritage Playhouse veterans Wanda Nowicki, Annie Rodgers, Sally Williams, and Mardell Vestad.
“I have people come over to help me with lines,” continued Hogan, “and always by the end of the reading they go, ‘God, that sounds just like me.’ In the beginning I thought it’s so heavy and so sad, but I don’t feel [Alex] is a victim at all. There’s such resilience in this play, and it’s deeply life-affirming and optimistic and hopeful. It’s a beautiful piece of writing.”
Hogan, who commuted weekly from her Bowen Island home to rehearse with the cast, was the 2023 recipient of the Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award from the Union of BC Performers. The award recognized her career-long achievements in the performing arts to increase diversity and gender equality. (She has also earned a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award and numerous Leo Award nominations for her film appearances.)
The playwright herself is acclaimed for her contributions to live arts: Dorothy Dittrich won the Governor General’s Award for English-language drama in 2022.
For director Anthony Paré (responsible for last year’s touring production of the Lizzie Borden tale, Blood Relations), connection is at the heart of The Dissociates. He described an exchange between two shards of Alex’s personality: Irene, an intellectual force filled with simmering anger, and B.D., a youthful, optimistic naïf.
“There’s a line in which Irene laments the loss of community,” said Paré. “B.D. says, ‘Well, there’s a scene out there.’ And Irene says that a scene is not a community. I think that’s for me one of the most powerful human messages: this need to have community. We live in community or we die out of community.”
Mardell Vestad, who plays Irene, lamented Alex’s existential trajectory as it moves from vibrancy into a stultifying workaday rhythm. “Look at what [Alex] gives up to be in this land of uselessness,” she said, “connection, community, joy, love, desire.”
The stage surface is littered with overflowing planters and tangled foliage. Alex pulls weeds and turns soil, leaving her fecund sanctuary only for flashbacks or recurring consultations with a desultory physician (played by Peter Gray).
“The play normalizes how easy it is to sink into mental health issues, how easy it is to get off-track,” said Annie Rodgers, who portrays a Buddhist nun contributing quixotic epigrams to Alex’s internal cacophony. “A lot of this play is about the journey back. It brings in strengths and memories that talk about the fact there’s more than this period of life where there’s struggle.”
The Dissociates appears over eight performances: 7:30 p.m. on March 27 (a pay-what-you-can preview), 28, 29 and April 3, 4 and 5 plus matinee shows at 2 p.m. on March 30 and April 6. Tickets are available online at driftwoodplayers.ca or from Fong’s Market, MELOmania, the Sechelt Visitor’s Centre, or the EarthFair Store in Madeira Park.
Proceeds from one performance will be donated to the Building Together Fund of the Sunshine Coast Community Services Society, supporting rental housing for women and children at risk of or impacted by violence.
