Mark Hellman is nothing if not multi-talented. As a working Montreal actor in the early ‘90s, his swordfighting experience got him cast as an English soldier in a Heritage Minute — the iconic Canadian television series. Years later, he led a community choir in Victoria. This time, he wields not a sword but a banjo in The Incompleat Folksinger, a show about the first half of Pete Seeger’s career.
Seeger’s career was at its height when America was “tearing itself apart,” said Hellman. Folk songs like “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” were defining songs of the post-Second World War zeitgeist, where the Vietnam War and racial segregation were vigorously opposed by the American left. The show is based on Seeger’s memoir of the same name, which covers his life from about 1940-1970.
“Even though it’s based on a book that was written over 50 years ago, it is still quite timely and pertinent to the situation in the world that we find ourselves in now,” said Hellman.
The show recreates certain moments in Seeger’s concerts from those years, “and in a way, by singing along with these concert moments, the audience becomes another character in the show,” said Hellman, “so by the time we get to the end of the show generally just about everybody in the audience is singing along, even if they don’t know the words!”
It was originally produced by a small Victoria theatre company, The Other Guys, and Hellman is quick to acknowledge Ross Desprez, who wrote the show with Hellman and helped him whittle Seeger’s non-linear, 800-page memoir into an approximately 40-page script. The company is producing new works now, so Hellman has become the sole producer and performer of the show.
He began bringing the show east of the Rockies to Winnipeg and Montreal this year to build contacts and audiences, which he said is far better than “trying to talk about it from a distance.”
The Jan. 14 performance at the Mary Winspear Centre will also be filmed so Hellman can present it to far-flung theatre companies and artistic directors who might be interested in including the show for their upcoming seasons.
Seeger’s shows were known for their audience participation, and Hellman is experienced in that regard as well. His very first professional theatre job was with the Story Theatre Company in Victoria, where a third of every show was completely improvised, and his choir directing experience is useful when leading his audiences.
Hellman said he will not try and impersonate Seeger.
“Rather than trying to trick the audience into thinking I’m Pete Seeger, the show sort of does that on its own. I tend to try and get out the way and let the words and the music speak for itself.”
reporter@peninsulanewsreview.com