From an actor, director and writer with an established reputation for personal shows, it’s his most personal show yet.
TJ Dawe brings his 11th one-man show to Nanaimo Centre Stage Friday (May 20) as part of a fundraiser for the Fringetastic theatre festival.
His show, Lucky 9, weaves his story of reconnecting and communicating with his family with the help of the television show The Wire, books by Gabor Mate and Enneagram personality test.
“I ask the audience to come out on a limb with me,” Dawe said.
It’s a signature of Dawe’s style to talk about seemingly disparate themes only to wrap them all up into a conclusion – and to do it in a way that makes people laugh.
He heard of The Wire, a fictitious HBO series that delved deeply into social issues from the point of view of politicians, police and journalists working the city of Baltimore, through a friend. Although he never watched it, he mentioned it to his dad, and finally had to tune in when his normally quiet and reserved father couldn’t stop talking about it.
“It became a way for my father and I to talk,” Dawe said.
The process was similar with the writings of Gabor Mate, whom he, his mom and his sister all related to. He discovered Mate through a friend who suggested the author as one of her Four Totems, a side project in which Dawe asked participants which four people or ideas they would put on their own personal Mt. Rushmore.
Dawe was resistant to the Enneagram personality test because of his pride in his uniqueness. Although once he found out his personality type was ‘individual’ – emotionally honest, creative and personal but also moody and self-conscious – he found it comforting that someone else may understand him.
“The last thing I wanted was to be put into a box,” Dawe said.
All but one of his 11 one-man shows are directly related to his personal life, a concept he finds frightening and liberating simultaneously.
“This dug even deeper,” he said.
This also marks the 10th anniversary from when Dawe broke free of day jobs to tour the North American fringe festival circuit full-time. Since 1998, he toured 86 festivals worldwide, the majority in Canada.
“No other country has anything that compares to the fringe festival in Canada,” Dawe said.
Fringe is a low-budget, highly creative type of theatre, chosen through lottery. Depending on the draw, anyone can come out of nowhere with a hit show.
“In fringe, people are totally open to seeing something new,” Dawe said.
Catch TJ Dawe in Lucky 9 Friday (May 20), 8 p.m., at Nanaimo Centre Stage, 25 Victoria Rd. Tickets $15/advance from www.fringetastic.com; $20/door, cash only.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
