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Culture Stage

Truth teller

OUT THE WINDOW created and directed by Liza Balkan, with David Ferry, Julie Tepperman and R.H. Thomson (Window Collective/Theatre Centre). Part of Free Fall ’12 at the Theatre Centre (1087 Queen West). Opens Saturday (March 17), runs through March 20 and March 25 at 7 pm. $25, stu/srs $20. 416-538-0988. See listing.


Theatre artist Liza Balkan can’t forget Otto Vass even though she never met him.

He died in a 7-Eleven parking lot on August 9, 2000, and Balkan saw it all from her apartment window. She went on to become a witness at the 2002 preliminary hearing, the 2003 trial and 2006 coroner’s inquest, all of which probed the role of four police officers in Vass’s death.

She takes that history to the stage in Out The Window, a docudrama that begins with the tragedy but expands to look at the police, mental health consumers, accountability and the malleability of memory.

“I quickly went from being a witness to the event to being a participant,” recalls Balkan at the Theatre Centre, where the play opens this week. “When I was subpoenaed in 2006 to testify at the coroner’s inquest, I was given transcripts from the two earlier hearings to refresh my memory.

“I was surprised and disturbed to read [my own] testimony at odds with my memory of being on the stand. Those differences rocked my core. I felt the need to investigate, explore and dive into the muck of what happened that night and what I thought happened.”

What she describes as the “nightmare quality” of the case inspired Balkan to devise a short piece for Lab Cab in 2007 using public-record testimony to make sense of it. That led to a Theatre Centre residency to develop the material, and later to working with Chris Abraham of Crow’s Theatre.

“His first question to me was key: what was my source material? Until then, it was my testimony and my emotional world. Through that astute question, I realized that developing the play involved tentacles spreading in many directions.

“Suddenly, the project became thrilling, confusing and overwhelming, all the while staying compelling.”

The four officers who were ultimately acquitted became part of her investigation. Statements by the four (treated by Balkan with scrupulous fairness) and others involved in the case form the majority of the play’s text, drawn from interviews and court transcripts.

Download associated audio clip.

Out The Window features David Ferry and R.H. Thomson as the lawyers in the case, Julie Tepperman as the central character, Liza, and Balkan herself standing on the sidelines but occasionally stepping into the action.

Download associated audio clip.

Because the play aims to use the Vass case as the occasion for a dialogue about truth, responsibility and justice, audience members are invited to read testimonies and interviews, turning the production into a blend of script and public forum.

Download associated audio clip.

Much of the source material and related information is available at The Brain, an online companion to the show developed by Praxis Theatre’s Aislinn Rose (outthewindowcollective.com), and talkbacks featuring experts follow several performances.

“I know I’m not an expert in these fields I’m investigating the more I learn, the more I need. But I feel blessed by all the support I’ve had from so many different groups,” says Balkan.

“It truly takes a community to make a piece of theatre like this.”

jonkap@nowtoronto.com

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