Kristen Thomson, who wrote the award-winning play I, Claudia, stars in Fulfillment Centre as a 60-something folk singer.Elana Emer/Supplied
Canadian actress and I, Claudia playwright Kristen Thomson stars in Abe Koogler’s Fulfillment Centre, directed by Ted Dykstra at Toronto’s Coal Mine Theatre. It’s a humorous drama about four lonely, mismatched characters in New Mexico. Thomson spoke by video call during a rehearsal break.
You play a 60-something folk singer in Fulfillment Centre. Do you have any musical talents?
Zero. But I don’t have to hold a guitar. The truth is, I wouldn’t call her a 60-something folk singer. I’d call her a 60-something drifter. Folk-singing was part of her distant past. The way that her life is unpacked in the play, there’s space to make a lot of choices for the characters to be telling the truth 100 per cent or making some things up or having a faulty memory. So, I have my own story of how I made my way.
So, no singing?
I sing one thing. It’s one word, and it’s laughable. Evan Buliung is in the play. He’s a total sweetheart and an incredible singer and an accomplished musician. He said to me, “It’s okay. Everybody’s voice changes as they get older. So, it’s just part of the story. She doesn’t have the voice she once did. Maybe she smoked too much.”
Thomson describes her character as a drifter.Elana Emer/Supplied
Do you prefer flexibility in a character’s backstory?
That kind of space inside of a script is attractive. The characters have certain centres of gravity, each of them, which are quite different. But even within those character types, there’s room for the actors’ imagination. I love that.
You describe your character, Suzan, as a drifter. But drifters tend to be male roles.
Her being a drifter really appealed to me. She is a woman who has chosen a certain kind of freedom above everything else. If she was a folk singer, it was part of the path of trying to live a free and unencumbered life. We’re meeting her when she is 60, and that kind of life comes with a cost. As most life choices do. You can’t have it all.
Coal Mine’s Ted Dykstra licensed the play with you in mind to play the part of Suzan. Did he tell you why?
My voice. He could just hear my voice in the character. And I should say that both of us have wanted to work together again.
You worked together in a Factory Theatre production of George F. Walker’s Problem Child in 1997. You earned a Dora Award.
Yes. Problem Child was way back in the day, and it was one of those blessed experiences. It’s still one of my favourite experiences on stage. Ted and I shared a lot.
As a writer and someone who works on stage and on screen, how do you navigate your career in terms of the projects you take on?
My choices are about having a whole life. Having a family life, a full career, creating time to write. As an actor, you do have to put the puzzle pieces together, and every year they get spilled out of the box in a different way. I do the parts I really want to do. Otherwise, I put my energy into writing.
Elana Emer/Supplied
Your award-winning play I, Claudia, is nearing its 25th anniversary. Were you ever asked to write a sequel?
Yes, a long time ago. I didn’t want to do it. It was such a sweet little piece. I just thought, let it be.
Do you identify with your Fulfillment Centre character, reaching a certain age that can be challenging, yet freeing?
Suzan is in a particular back-against-the-wall situation. When you go through life there are chapters where you look back. That started to happen to me when I was 40 or 45. My kids have all gone off to university, so now I’m an empty nester. I feel that’s another moment − that whole craziness is over. What happens next?
Does Suzan have children?
No, she doesn’t. But she has failed family relationships that have really left her untethered in the world. She’s desperately trying to thread the needle of continuing to survive, maintaining her independence and finding people to help support her to get her to the next step forward. She has less and less means to get there.
Will we root for her?
I think so. She’s very lovable. The play is about the challenges she’s facing. She’s hilarious, she’s hopeful. She just really wants to keep going just as she always has. But life is saying, no, your car is broken down, your body is broken down. You can wish for whatever you want, but she’s not going to get it. But every little crumb she gets, she celebrates.
Fulfillment Centre, currently in previews, opens Nov. 20 and runs to Dec. 7 at Coal Mine Theatre.