Opening today, Daniel Brooks’ dramatic adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s Divisadero contains a number of impressive names from the theatre world, but those familiar with Toronto’s music scene might recognize one in particular: Justin Rutledge.
It’s the first acting job for the recently Juno-nominated singer-songwriter, but he played a major role in the genesis of the play. In fact, Rutledge was the first person recruited for the production.
“Michael (Ondaatje) came to see me play at the Harbourfront about two and a half years ago,” recounts Rutledge in an interview with NOW over the summer. “One of the songs I played that night, Snowmen, really reminded him of Divisadero. So he called me a couple of weeks later and gave me a copy of the book.”
Rutledge spent the next year or so collaborating with Ondaatje on music for the play. As a result, most of the songs on Rutledge’s latest album, The Early Widows, were written for Divisadero: A Performance, but only one, Jack of Diamonds, actually made the cut.
“That song is specifically about this character, Coop,” Rutledge explains. “The character is very stoic. He doesn’t say a lot and you don’t really get a sense of what he’s feeling most of the time. I didn’t want to be too literal, so I had to take some liberties. I wanted to be a little more inventive lyrically and work the way Michael does, using words as vehicles to generate emotion and images. Michael’s a very image-driven writer.”
Though he was originally drafted just to score the production, Rutledge was eventually cast as Coop, the farmhand-turned-gambler that drives the action of the story. Casting a non-actor in such a pivotal role is a risk, but Divisadero: A Performance eschews traditional dramatic form for a more lyrical, evocative style (see: NOW’s interview with actor Maggie Huculak).
“We did three days of initial workshops at the Theatre Passe Muraille,” says Rutledge. “After about three weeks of rehearsal, the director, Daniel Brooks said ‘we need another male character.’ He looked at me and asked ‘do you act?’ I said no, but he cast me anyway.”
“Daniel is one of the greater directors in the country and his company, Necessary Angels, has done some really forward-thinking stuff,” Rutledge gushes.”How I got involved in it I don’t really know, but I feel lucky to be doing it.”
See a listing for Divisadero here.
