Eric Peterson on Wallace Shawn
Star of Corner Gas, This is Wonderland, Half Life discusses American playwright's prophetic voice
In the fall of 1997, Eric Peterson played Jack in The Designated Mourner by Wallace Shawn at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre - a role he will never forget.
"Wally Shawn came up to see that show and it is one of most difficult plays I ever did."
"Shawn is an American moralist, which is a very odd creature indeed, and when you see Wally act, most of the time he is a silly little guy. It’s hard to believe that this is the same guy who has a very strong moral point of view that he is talking about."
"The world that he paints, and his prognosis of the world, and his prophecies of what’s to come are not very pleasant to contemplate – not very pleasant to contemplate chiefly because they are all too possible. He’s a very wonderful writer and it’s incredibly worthwhile theatre in the sense that it’s not theatre that’s going to make people just sit and have a nice time. Shawn's whole point of his theatre is to prod you and attack you on moral issues and demand your response to it in some way."
Peterson stars in Corner Gas
How cool would it be to have Wallace Shawn show up one day just passing through Dog River!
