by Alan Filewod
Love is Strange
Paul Ledoux and David Young
Paul Ledoux was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He began writing for the theatre in Montreal, where his play The Electrical Man won the Dominion Drama Festival’s award for best play in 1975. Since that time he has had twenty-six plays produced, including Honky Tonk Angels with Feme Downey, Judy!, Children of the Night, and two collaborations with David Young: Love is Strange and Fire, which won both the Dora Mavor Moore and Chalmers awards for best musical play.
David Young has been active in a wide variety of literary and dramatic pursuits. He is the author of two books of fictions (Agent Provocateur and Incognito) and is President of the Coach House Press. In addition to his collaborations with Paul Ledoux on Love is Strange and Fire, he has written extensively for television and is the recipient of the York Trillium Award for his film script The Suspect. Currently he is working with Paul Ledoux on a play about Glenn Gould.
DAVID YOUNG (LEFT), PAUL LEDOUX (RIGHT)
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID HYLINSKI
Love is Strange was first produced at Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay on 5 April 1984, under the title I Love You Anne Murray. It was work-shopped at Factory Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, in March 1984.
PRODUCTION
Director / Brian Richmond
Musical Director / Michael Taylor
Design / John Dinning
Lighting / Bryan Francis
Choreography / Ilsa Maguire
CAST
David Conner / Franz Jacob Colby
Anne Wright / Linda Barrie, Edna Little, Kimberly Downey
Peter Zednick, Jerry Franken / The Crown, Larry, Chuck Edwards,
Cop, keyboards
Brian Kennington / Dr Rand, Jones, Ted, Rick, Cord, Sandy,
Reporter, bass guitar
Rennie Heard / The Judge
Michael Taylor / Priest, Cop, Clerk, Reporter, guitars
The show with its new title, Love is Strange, opened on 1 January 1985 at Centaur Theatre in Montreal, Quebec. The play was developed with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council and the Nova Scotia Department of Culture, Recreation and Fitness.
PRODUCTION
Director / Brian Richmond
Musical Director / Michael Taylor
Set and Costume Design / John Dinning
Lighting / Peter Smith
CAST
David Conner / Franz Jacob Colby
Anne Wright / Linda Barrie, Edna Little, Kimberly Downey
Ross Douglas / The Crown, Larry, Chuck Edwards, Cop, keyboards
Brian Kennington / Dr Rand, Jones, Ted, Rick, Cord, Sandy,
Reporter, bass guitar
Barney O’Sullivan / The Judge
Michael Taylor / Priest, Cop, Clerk, Reporter, guitars
Peter Zednick / Keyboards
CHARACTERS
With the exception of The Judge and Colby all performers play multiple roles and perform the music. Towards this end, a synthesizer is built into The Crown’s bench playing area.
Franz Jacob Colby, an articulate, highly intelligent wheat farmer in his early 40s
Linda Barrie, a beautiful, wholesome pop superstar in her mid-30s
The Crown, a slightly pompous, ambitious prosecutor
The Judge, a crotchety old geezer with a wry sense of humour
Dr D.F. Rand, a middle-aged psychiatrist with the emotional maturity of a smiley-button
Sgt Jones, a cop with a notebook where his heart should be
Edna Little, a myopic personal secretary
Ted, a bum with a sense of romance
Chuck Edwards, Linda’s husband/producer, a slick record producer with some rough edges
Rick Phillips, a speedy little autograph hound
Cord, a disturbed Springsteen fiend
Kim Downey, a young psychiatrist with a social conscience
Sandy, a gravedigger who hates his job
Cops, a court clerk, a priest, and reporters
PLAYWRIGHTS’ NOTES
It can be argued that most modern love songs derive from a romantic tradition which goes back to the poetry of twelfth-century France. Love is Strange examines the way this tradition has been transformed by the electronic age. From Michael Jackson’s glitter glove to Princess Di’s hair, our contemporary understanding of love is shaped in the image of shared public fantasies. But how far into the communal fantasy is a citizen allowed to go before society deems him dangerous or insane?
In the beginning we were inspired by the complex and compelling story behind the headline-making trials of Robert Charles Kieling – a man who challenged the boundaries of convention in search of unity and personal completion. In the 18 months the three of us worked together on this project we found ourselves drawn deeper and deeper into the many questions raised by the case and our fictional retelling of it. Our conversations ranged over the true nature of love, romantic obsession, the way our system of justice deals with the mentally ill, the cult of celebrity, and the concept of freedom of the imagination. We were drawn to the humanity of the situation because, like most people, we’ve loved and been loved, fantasized about the “perfect mate,” and experienced rejection. On another level we realize that we are plugged into the same network of public fantasy which delivered the message of love to Mr Kieling.
At bottom the character at the centre of our play is an explorer – a man lost in the grid of image and fantasy that drives our culture. We think his journey speaks volumes about who we are and how we live.
Paul Ledoux, Brian Richmond, David Young
SET
The action of the play takes place in three distinct manners: Colby speaks directly to the audience; defends himself in court; and tries to reconstruct the details of his relationship with Linda Barrie in a series of “memory scenes.” The part of the play that takes place in Colby’s memory shifts locations; his tractor, clubs, arenas, back-stage, at dressing room doors, in his kitchen, at a funeral, in a hospital for the criminally insane, and inside the music of Linda Barrie.
As can be imagined the set must be very flexible indeed. What follows is a description of the original set design by John Dinning.
The back of the stage is a cyclorama, with the floor curving up to meet it. The floor is a highly reflective black, broken into squares by a white grid pattern. Downstage of the cyclorama is a platform for members of the band. This area is visible only when lit, the major image of the set being a series of reflective mylar panels that surround an abstract courtroom setting. Upstage centre is a platform, connecting with the band area. A stair unit leads to the main playing space. Stage right of the stair unit is an entrance, to the right of the entrance a small platform. On the platform sits a swivel chair used by the accused, Colby. Stage left of the stair unit is a black box, set on a small platform that functions as the witness box. Stage left of the box is the Judge’s bench, and beside it the bench of The Crown. Downstage of these set elements is an open playing area. The entire set is painted to blend with the floor.
SONGS
The play makes use of pop music from the repertory of a number of contemporary female singers.
Act One:
Stardust (Mitchell Parish and Hoagie Carmichael) Belwin Mills Co.
Snowbird (Gene MacLellan) Beechwood Music
Together Again (Buck Owens) Central Songs Inc.
In Dreams (Roy Orbison) Acuff Rose Publications
Stand By Me (Ben E. King, Leiber & Stoller) Trio Music Co.
Farewell to Nova Scotia (Trad.)
Act TWO:
Heart Like a Wheel (Anna McGarrigle) Garden Court Music
Daydream (John Sebastien) Trio Music
That’s Not the Way (It’s S’posed to Be) (A. Goldmark & P. Gladston)
Non Pareil Music and Kazzoom Music
You Needed Me (Charles R. Goodrum) Chappel & Co. Inc.
ACT ONE
The house system is playing the love songs of Schubert.
The Crown Prosecutor enters with a cour
t brief. He puts it down and calls for the ASM who wheels on a TV. He turns on the TV and an interview with Linda Barrie comes on the screen. At first the sound is inaudible, but after a moment The Crown turns up the sound. The house lights dim. The play begins.
As the interview continues Jacob Colby enters from the audience. He carries a briefcase and is dressed for court. He stands watching the interview for a few moments then takes his place and unpacks his briefcase, preparing for his trial.
(Tape interview:)
Linda: The funny thing is I never really thought I’d end up in show business at this point in my life. You know, I’d be a housewife, raising my kids somewhere down home. That’s all I ever really wanted, but… I guess things never really turn out how you expect them to.
Larry: I guess not. I mean who’d ever believe a little girl from Mount Stewart, P.E.I. would end up a superstar, winner of every major music award. Boy, it must be tough.
Linda: (laughing) It’s awful! Sometimes I worry about it, but I think I’ve struck a decent balance between home and the road. And the kids are doing fine.
Larry: Would you like them to get into the business?
Linda: No. It’s too tough.
Larry: What’s the hardest thing about being a star?
Linda: The lack of privacy.
Larry: Yeah, I heard one guy actually showed up at your father’s funeral.
Linda: It was dreadful. Fortunately, the number of people who do that kind of thing is small.
Larry: But you’ve had your troubles …
Linda: I guess it goes with the territory.
Larry: Since the John Lennon thing a lot of entertainers are very paranoid. Do you have those kinds of fears?
Linda: Oh yes, it’s very frightening. Some nights I’m out on stage and I think there could be someone out there who … it’s usually only a flash. I don’t even like to think about it.
Larry: Has Linda Barrie changed much over the years?
Linda: (smiling) She’s not nearly as vulnerable as she used to be … then again, none of us are.
Larry: How about a song?
(On tape Linda gets up and walks into a performance area. The Band begins to play the intro to “Stardust”)
Announcer: (off) Ladies and gentlemen … Let’s have a warm round of applause for three-time Grammy Award winner Miss Linda Barrie …
(Linda sings on TV and “live” on the upstage platform. As she sings the TV is wheeled off.
A note on “Stardust”: The lyrics of this standard deal with love in terms of dreams and memory. “The memory of love’s refrain” is conjured up by the singer as she stands in a garden looking up at the stars.
During a musical bridge in the song the Court Clerk speaks)
Clerk: All rise in court.
(The Judge enters and takes his place, and the song continues to its conclusion. Linda Barrie exits. There is a sudden light change which shifts us to court. Colby stands and is charged.)
The Judge: Franz Jacob Colby you are charged with a breach of probation in that on or about the 19th day of October 1983 in the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto you did willfully violate a probation order of the Provincial Court of Ontario. To wit, not to attend at the offices of Linda Barrie. How do you plead to the charge?
Colby: I plead not guilty.
The Judge: Be seated. The Crown may proceed.
The Crown: Thank you. Your Honour, the accused Franz Jacob Colby suffers, for lack of a better word, from an on-going ‘infatuation’ with Linda Barrie.
(As The Crown speaks we hear the sound of a jet roaring overhead. Colby looks up. The lights shift. Guitar underscoring. The Judge and The Crown speak in an altered, slow-motion manner)
Colby: Snowbirds.
The Crown: As a result of this infatuation, he’s been in and out of court for the past three years.
Colby: Even after all this time I can’t hear a plane go overhead without thinking of her … and snowbirds.
The Judge: Yes, I have the arrest record before me.
Colby: I’ve been arrested eight times for being in love with Linda Barrie.
The Judge: All of these charges relate to this … Miss Barrie?
The Crown: It’s Linda Barrie, Your Honour … (no reaction from the Judge) of singing fame.
The Judge: Linda Barrie, of course.
Colby: It’s true … I love her.
The Crown: I think his record pretty much establishes the fact that Mr Colby has a habit of ignoring court orders on this matter.
Colby: If she were here she could clear this whole thing up in about three seconds flat, but she isn’t. That’s not her way. It never has been. It’s crazy, but who knows, maybe everybody who falls in love is just a little bit crazy. See, when two people are in love they’re in each other’s heads all day long, no matter what kind of distance is between them! Love arcs like electricity … across a city … across a country … like a halo around the world.
The Judge: Yes. Interesting. Let’s go the charge at hand.
Colby: Now, here’s what I don’t understand … For nearly 10 years I wrote to Linda, sent her presents, saw her whenever I could. For 10 years she welcomed, even encouraged my interest. Then one day, out of the blue, I’m arrested and thrown into jail. I was 40 years old and had never so much as picked up a parking ticket. Suddenly, I was trapped in a legal revolving door. I reach out towards Linda and I’m arrested. The same charge. The same arresting officer. Even the same prosecutor – Mr C.G. Broilman, a classic publicity-grubbing Toronto fool. And he calls his buddy Dr Rand, an ambulance-chasing psychiatrist who specializes in spewing narrow-minded notions about Linda and I for public consumption. Of course, the press loves it.
And the result of this circus? I end up in Canada’s most famous prison for the criminally insane – Willowood Mental Health Centre, Maximum Security Unit. For doing what? For writing a girl a love letter.
(The lights shift, action in court becomes “real” again)
The Crown: The substance of this charge is simple, Your Honour. On October the 19th 1983, Mr Colby went to Linda Barrie’s office and left her a letter. This in violation of an order prohibiting Mr Colby from communicating with Miss Barrie in any way or attending at the homes or offices of herself, her family, or her employees. Mrs Edna Little, Miss Barrie’s assistant, took the letter and called the police. Mr Colby was arrested at the Toronto International Airport. When he was arrested Mr Colby told the arresting officer: “When it comes to my relationship with Linda Barrie, the police and most of the general public are full of cow-flop.”
Colby: I object, Your Honour!
The Judge: One moment. Mr Colby?
Colby: I would just like to inform the Court that my statement grew out of an exchange of insults between myself and the arresting officer – a Sergeant Jones. He called me a pea-brained idiot. I was simply responding in kind.
The Judge: You don’t need to worry, Mr Colby. Saying an officer is full of cowflop is not likely to affect my judgment. Mr Colby, do you have counsel?
Colby: I’m defending myself, Your Honour.
The Judge: You realize the seriousness of this matter, Mr Colby?
Colby: Yes, Your Honour.
The Judge: You are facing a jail sentence here.
Colby: For personal reasons I prefer to defend myself.
The Judge: Just so long as you know a lawyer can be made available to you.
Colby: Yes, thank you, Your Honour. Based on my previous encounters with Mr Broilman I should do just fine.
The Judge: Good … you have everything you need for your defence?
Colby: Yes, Your Honour.
The Judge: Let’s proceed.
The Crown: Yes, Your Honour, it’s my intention to …
Colby: Your Honour, if I might add …
The Judge: Yes Mr Colby?
Colby: Yes, I just want to add, about this cowflop incident, that generally I’m very sympathetic towards police officers. My difficulties with the police
are part of an ongoing situation which I will bring to the Court’s attention in due course.
The Judge: Very well, thank you, Mr Colby.
Colby: Yes, Your Honour. It’s just that there is a very good case to be made for the idea that I’m on trial for being in love with Linda Barrie.
The Judge: Let me assure you that is not how the charge reads. Mr Broil-man?
The Crown: Thank you, Your Honour. Mr Colby’s remarks have brought us very nicely to my first, and I hope only, witness in these proceedings. I would like to call Dr C.G. Rand.
Colby: I object, Your Honour.
The Crown: It is my belief that Dr Rand will be able to show the court that there is every reason to believe Mr Colby is insane.
The Judge: Do you understand Mr Rand’s role in these proceedings, Mr Colby?
Colby: All too well, Your Honour. I’ve been through all of this before. Last year on the basis of Dr Rand’s testimony I was committed to The Willows, the hospital for the criminally insane where Dr Rand works. After some months of incarceration my appeal on his committal came before the Provincial Mental Health Review Board and I was released on my own recognizance. In its decision the Board contradicted Dr Rand’s diagnosis and that fact makes his presence here irrelevant.
The Crown: Your Honour, while it is true that the Board of Review did decertify Mr Colby that does not mean that in the Board’s opinion he is a sane man.
Colby: Then, Your Honour, I wonder if Mr Broilman could explain what it does mean?
The Crown: It means that, in their opinion, the severity or type of mental illness present at that time was not sufficient to warrant further hospitalization.
Colby: So I was crazy, but I wasn’t crazy enough to be locked up?
The Judge: In essence, I believe that’s what the Crown is suggesting.
Colby: Sounds like a description of half the people in Toronto.
The Crown: Your Honour, I’m sure Dr Rand could illuminate this issue for us all.
The Judge: Mr Colby, at this stage of the proceedings the Crown has the right to raise this matter, however, you will be given every opportunity to cross-examine the doctor.