Foster explores class dynamic in latest play

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An award-winning Canadian playwright is to debut his latest work at Bermuda Musical & Dramatic.

Norm Foster’s play ‘On A First Name Basis’ opens tomorrow.

It tells the story of a very successful novelist who suddenly realises he knows nothing about his maid of 28 years, and she knows everything about him.

The novelist makes it his mission to learn all he can about her by engaging her in conversation for the first time since he hired her.

“Class is discussed quite a lot in ‘On A First Name Basis’,” said Mr Foster in a telephone interview with The Royal Gazette. “The maid feels he looks down on her. He is oblivious to things like that, or at least thinks he is.”

Mr Foster is no stranger to the Bermuda stage. A number of his plays have been performed here including ‘Here on the Flight Path’ and ‘Wrong for Each Other’. He was also one of the early BMDS Famous for Fifteen Minutes contest judges.

Mr Foster assumes the role of the novelist. The maid will be played by a visiting actress also from Canada, Patricia Vanstone.

Acting in your own play is no easy task, Mr Foster acknowledged.

“When I act in my own play I am thinking more about what the audience is doing than I am when I am in someone else’s play,” he said. “My attention is slightly divided. I find it a lot easier doing someone else’s play.”

Most of his plays are set in small towns in Canada; Mr Foster said he hoped that they had universal appeal.

“I have been told that the characters in this play sound very British,” he said. “It could be done by a British couple. It is a very well spoken language but we do it in the Canadian way. The play uses a type of language that anyone can latch on to.”

‘On A First Name Basis’ will be directed by David Nairn, another Canadian. Rehearsing presented some obstacles.

“Patricia lives in Toronto and I live in Hamilton and David lives 50 miles up north in Orangeville, Ontario,” said Mr Foster. “We would travel to Orangeville for the first four rehearsals, then for the next two weeks we rehearsed on Skype with each other. This was actually a great way to rehearse. We will probably be rehearsing in Orangeville for the final two times before coming to Bermuda.”

Mr Foster is known for his witty dialogue and snappy plot lines. He is one of the more prolific playwrights in Canada, with more than 47 plays and musicals under his belt. One of his most celebrated plays was ‘The Melville Boys’.

He recently turned his hand to books and has written a mystery. ‘Watching Jeopardy’ has been well received and compared to the hit movie ‘Fargo’.

“This was my first novel and my last,” said Mr Foster.

He is currently working on a new play, ‘The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby’.

‘On A First Name Basis’ opens at 8pm at the Daylesford Theatre and tickets are $30. Tickets are available between 5.30pm and 7pm weekdays at the box office until May 13. They are available between 7pm and 8pm on performance nights. Tickets are also available online, www.bmds.bm .

The play runs through May 19.

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