Rod McTaggart stars in Mercury Man: The Last Performance of Orson Welles at the Hamilton Fringe Festival on July 18–28. (Bruce Peters photo)
By RAY KELLY
Following its world premiere at The Pearl last summer, Mercury Man: The Last Performance of Orson Welles returns to Ontario for seven shows as part of the Hamilton Fringe Festival 2019 on July 18–28.
The 90-minute drama was called a “smart, fun show with a nostalgic kick” in a four-star review by the Winnepg Free Press during its run at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. “The show’s kick is largely in its imaginative staging of the circumstances behind Welles’ greatest hits.”
“We had a feeling this show was special, the overwhelmingly positive response to our premiere in Hamilton last year confirmed this, and it has been like that with every show since,” said writer-director Joel Pettigrew.
Mercury Man finds Orson Welles voicing a cartoon robot just days before his death in 1985. Welles, played by Rod McTaggart, encounters his “Biggest Fan” (Cora Mattheson) and recounts his Broadway days, The War of The Worlds radio broadcast, filming Citizen Kane, and everything one sacrifices to do what you were made for.
“For me it is about refining. When we got into Hamilton, my first question was, “Ok, how can we do this better?” There is always room for improvement. I sat down with the team and took suggestions. I reviewed the video of last years show, and made notes on every element I want to see refined. This lead to changes in staging, dialogue, best practices, and 90 percent of the video projections being redone by wonderful native artist Nathan Chechock. Most of it is just tightening up something I was already really happy with to make it that much better,”Pettgrew said. “As my PM Christina Coxson put it, “If we were at 95 percent last year, how do we get to the final five?” I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect show, but having done it once, having had time to reflect, I do think Mercury Man, is the best it’s ever been.”
Taggert added, “My scene partner, Cora Matheson, is just a delight to work with … just a wonderful, wonderful, artist to be working with. And as my primary scene partner, she and I have been bouncing off of each other for about a year. There is a comfort level with this production that wasn’t there in the first production. ”
Tickets, priced at $12, for the performances at Mills Hardware in Hamilton are available online at hamiltonfringe.ca/tickets
Mercury Man opts for a bold and unique approach that incorporates live radio-play sound effects, voice acting, and projected animation. The Dramatic Hat Production even paints cast members, literally, as black and white film characters. “It’s like trying to pull of an elaborate magic trick with many different moving parts,” notes Pettigrew, whose previous acclaimed stage work includes The Girl in the Photograph, (Broadway World Award, Best Toronto Fringe Play 2018), The Dilemma and Waking: the Play.
Taggert said he is looking forward to the Hamilton run.
“I love Hamilton’s scene. I’ve been doing shows here in Hamilton since I did the Hamilton Festival at the Pearl Company Back in 2012, where I was playing a dead guy…all of my work in Hamilton basically has been at the Pearl Company since that time… Frankenstein, Fool for Love, and Death and the Maiden, which was a theatre pick for best of 2018 last year. It’s just been an amazing experience working in Hamilton, the arts scene here is so alive…so vibrant, it’s so fresh, and yet it has depth. It’s not new. It’s fresh but it’s not new. You got the players guild which is the oldest theatre company in Canada…there’s a lot of people who I know whose work I’m looking forward to seeing at the fringe this year.”
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