Annabel Soutar: Life on Stage

NAC English Theatre presents some of the most dynamic theatre artists and companies from across Canada on the national stage.

On March 27, members of the National Arts Centre Foundation Donors’ Circle were treated to a pre-show chat with playwright Annabel Soutar who discussed her captivating docudrama Seeds, now playing at the NAC in a production by Porte Parole (Montreal).

The audience listened with great interest as Annabel spoke about her method of writing the script. Much of the play’s dialogue was taken word-for-word from interviews, court transcripts and newspapers in order to tell the story of the famed four-year legal showdown between biotech giant Monsanto and Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser. The playwright deliberately collected material from all sides, creating an accurate and balanced story that encouraged audience members to make up their own minds about the case.

Annabel said she combed through thousands of pages of transcripts to find the moments that would tell the story, and help create a play that would both inform and entertain. She left her listeners intrigued to see a performance that, true to life, left its audience with more questions than answers.

The Porte Parole (Montreal) production of Seeds runs in the NAC Theatre until April 12, 2014.

A special thank you to our Open Rehearsal and Preview Sponsor, Rob Marland, Royal LePage Performance Realty who makes these sessions possible for NAC Foundation donors.