Closed curtains?--the political theatre of Jason Sherman.

• Author: Normey, Robert
• Position: Law and Literature

I consider that there are few experiences as thrilling and immediate as participating as an audience member in a politically charged drama unfolding before ones eyes. Theatre is particularly well-suited to provocative and passionate writing that displays political engagement. It thrives on conflict. So why do we see so few political plays, particularly those dealing with Canadian subjects, on Canadian stages? For instance, it has been some time since I have seen one of Jason Sherman's plays. I recall seeing his ominous political thriller, Three in the Back, Two in the Head, winner of the Governor Generals Literary Award, and thinking, why don't we see more such work?

The play begins with the assassination of a Canadian weapons scientist and moves back and forth in time to gradually disentangle facts from rumour regarding the motivation and execution of the hit.

Other plays of note exemplifying Sherman's pre-eminence as a political playwright are Reading Hebron and The League of Nathans, two plays about the relationship between Diaspora Jews and Israel. Many political plays can and should lend themselves to a consideration of the intersection of law and politics and raise fundamental rights issues, as these do.

Not having any inside knowledge of the considerations, political and financial, for why mounting plays by award-winning Canadian playwrights capable of rocking the boat should be so difficult, I thought I should ask Mr. Sherman himself. Sherman tells me that a few years into his career as a dramatist it became a matter of some urgency to confront audiences with uncomfortable questions and disquieting scenarios about what he perceived to be sometimes "smug, or at least quietly held beliefs, assumptions, hypocrisies." This led him to develop plays drawn from his own experiences, thoughts and hair-tuggings on subjects close to his upbringing and for which he truly thought he had something to say within the context of the political and social forum that is theatre.

Unfortunately, over time Sherman learned, to his chagrin, that theatre in Canada is, in his words, "a fringe activity with a low threshold for political engagement, or at least political engagement that doesn't ultimately support the status quo." He was dismayed to see that productions of his work, despite very high critical reaction, dried up over time under the decision-making of directors and producers who considered that any play that smacked of local politics was anathema...