Dion Johnstone - Triple Threat
LOTR's Boromir, Stargate's Chaka, Tom Stoppard, and Stratford 2008.
Dion Johnstone on his many roles - from Lord of the Ring's Boromir, to Stargate SG1 "Unas" Chaka, plus his fave playwright, and his take on the Stratford Season 2008.
In the finale of this five part series, Dion Johnstone recalls the magic of Lord of the Rings, the thrill of early Stargate SG1 days from 1999 to 2003 as Chaka and reveals why his preferred playscribe is Tom Stoppard.
You played Boromir in the stage adaptation of Lord of the Rings. What was that like?
"I think Boromir is one of the great examples of the flaws and the heart of the human race in the play because you have the representatives of the elves, the dwarves and Boromir is a foil for Aragorn.
It’s through the mistake that he tries to take the ring and to do good but the ring blinds him and he loses his way. But then the realization of what he’s done and the sacrifice that he makes to try to right his wrongs, I think is the spark that pushed him to say to Aragorn – I have left my people for so long. They need a leader and they have been abandoned and it is time to step up to the plate and be the king that we need. It makes for a beautifully written death scene, one of the best that I have ever been able to play. It was great to be the warrior and fight those wars."
That was a multi million dollar mega musical special effects monster….
"It was unbelievable – an incredible challenge. I would say it was the most physically demanding show I have ever been in, in my life. It was really difficult to perform in and to maintain. By the same token, it had some of the most amazing theatrics I have ever seen. When we first assembled as a company, it was incredible to see all these artists of so many different disciplines – people who had never necessarily been in a play before, but were amazing acrobats or amazing break dancers. Everyone was at such high levels at their particular craft all coming together to create a whole new language which was really exciting. We first saw the stage in this big warehouse that we were rehearsing in, in its basic form and then they started to operate it and spin it around – I just looked and it and thought ..' I cannot believe this.' There were some moments of sheer magic in the creating of it."
You have a quite fan base for this show - because you were Chaka on Stargate SG1. Would you ever go back?
"I think Stargate the original series has now wrapped. Certainly, I would work for them again. I had a lot of fun. They were the first company in the film and TV realm who took me under their wing and found all these kinds of ways of bringing me back – Captain Warrick Trevor, Wodan, and Chaka and giving me a lot of experience and a lot of confidence. Chaka was great. It was a character and a story line that was created by one of the producers (Peter DeLouise) who was a director at the time who got to write and direct his first episode. So that was his baby that we were creating. He had all these different sources and images and that he wanted to pull together to create that story."
Who's your favorite playwright and why?
"Tom Stoppard, because he is brilliant with language. I did a production of Arcadia when I was in theatre school years ago. I love what he is able to do with different time periods and lauguage and interweaving storylines and the way it all sort of resonates and eventually finds its peak, the way he pulls in science and mathematics and poetry and history and sends you off on a hunt for the truth."
What do you think of next year's season at Stratford?
"It all looks very exciting in terms of the direction that the company is going. I like the idea of making the festival more of an international stage where we are able to bring our Canadian works to, and also the way we do our repertoire of Shakespeare’s work alongside international works. I like that cross pollination – to be able to take our shows abroad and show them in the U.K, show them in the States, show them around the world and to bring in shows. There are two specific shows, one is coming in from Germany next year (Emilia Galotti) and I think that is very cool."
Watch for Dion Johnstone on stage, the big screen (The Core, Dreamcatcher) and the smaller screen. He's set to appear in John Water's outrageous marriage-to-murder romp Til Death Do Us Part!
