Drew Murdoch

Drew Murdock (he/him) is a theatre maker based in Saint John, NB. He is the director of the Fundy Fringe Festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer. Drew also works year round at The Saint John Theatre Company and regularly works with the Atlantic Repertory Company, Theatre Six, Improvisation Corporation, Loylist City Shakespeare, and other fine theatre makers in Saint John as a stage manager, lighting and projection designer, production manager, video director, and more.

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Transcript

[Phil Rickaby]
Welcome to Stageworthy. I’m Phil Rickaby, the host of this podcast. This is Episode 335.

My guest this week is Fundie Fringe Festival Director, Drew Murdoch. Last year, the Fundie Fringe presented a hybrid festival with both live with a reduced audience and live stream with local artists. This year, the Fundie Fringe returns to a fully in-person festival welcoming artists both local, national, and international.

The Fundie Fringe Festival runs from August 21st to 27th in St. John, New Brunswick. Here’s my conversation with Drew Murdoch. So, things must be gearing up for you guys over in St. John there.

[Drew Murdoch]
They are. They are gearing up now. I mean, it’s sort of a year-round thing anyway, but we’re definitely into the crunch zone here of things for sure.

Yeah.

[Phil Rickaby]
And this is, I mean, like every fringe in the circuit, this is a big one. This is like back from two years of, I mean, you guys did some in-person stuff last year, if I recall.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah, we did. We had 10 live acts last year and we also streamed all of them. And then the year before was again, we had some, yeah, we sort of been in a weird limbo state for a couple of years now, but we’re definitely trying to get back to sort of where we were before COVID hit.

[Phil Rickaby]
The live streaming thing, I feel like the Fundie Fringe and St. John Theatre Company did quite a bit as far as innovation, as far as regular live streaming of stuff. I think a lot of companies shied away from live streaming their stuff from the stage. It was one thing to do Zoom productions and another thing to try to do it from the stage.

But the Fundie Fringe, I think, has sort of been at the forefront of doing a lot of that. What was that like for you doing that in your first year, last year as the festival director?

[Drew Murdoch]
Well, you know, it worked out great for me because that’s sort of my background. And that’s what I do for the theatre company, actually. I’m the video producer, full-time there.

So honestly, that’s how I got a job in theatre was because I could do that. And there was a time when all of a sudden people couldn’t come to the theatres. And that St. John Theatre Company thought, OK, well, let’s still maintain our presence. So let’s stream it. And I was around and sort of did that. So that part I was fine with for the Fringe.

I sort of knew what I was doing already. And we have a great technical staff and students and volunteers that can help. And we sort of built that base up already throughout the year.

And we were sort of ready for it when Fringe came. Now, the challenge was that we weren’t just streaming one show from one place like we did at the theatre company and such. It was 10 performances from two different places.

And that was the challenge, was figuring out how to schedule that. But no, it sort of worked out fine. And I think it was a good decision to do it.

And I think going forward, it’s not something we’ll ever abandon completely.

[Phil Rickaby]
I think that’s really admirable because I know a lot of theatre companies that were doing digital stuff are now backing away from the digital. And to me, that feels like. In a lot of ways, having opened the door to accessibility, both for people who can’t make it to the theatre, people who can’t financially afford to go to the theatre, and also for people who live too far away from the theatre to be able to share the work with them.

And now to say now that we’re back in the theatre, we can shut the door on all of that. We don’t care about you. We’re going back to in-person entirely.

And I feel like it’s a missed opportunity.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah, it is. Well, it is an opportunity. It causes extra work.

But I have to say it’s worth it. You’re totally right that as far as accessibility goes, there’s so many reasons why people can’t go to the theatre that aren’t just, well, COVID happened and we don’t want to go. There’s so many reasons that I learned while streaming.

And it was like, oh, I never thought of that, that this person wouldn’t be able to go to a theatre for this reason, or wouldn’t be able to go to this venue for a reason. Or a lot of things that we found was, oh, my family lives in Ontario, and they just can’t come to see me in a show here at the Imperial. But now for the first time, they’ve been able to see me and they can all sit together in a living room and watch it together.

And it’s a totally different experience. And that’s worth something too. You’ll never recreate the experience of being in a theatre via live stream.

You just won’t. But it is a different thing. And that also has its place.

So we tried to sort of lean into that as well and be aware that the experience of watching it online is different. But maybe we can add some things to that that make it worth it. So yeah.

And then of course, financially, like all of our stream tickets are cheaper than going to the theatre. Accessibility reasons, we really make sure that all our venues, at the fringe at least, are accessible. But throughout the year, that’s hard with theatres.

And yeah, there’s so many reasons why people can’t go. And it’s too bad. And we’ve sort of opened this door.

And yeah, I don’t think it’s certainly not the right time to be closing it. And it sort of presents more opportunities where other theatres are now closing that door again, that it’s a good time to keep it going.

[Phil Rickaby]
It absolutely is. Because I think that that a lot of theatres that are closing that door, I think it’s a good reminder that this is still necessary and it can work. I think that yes, it takes effort, but I think the effort’s ultimately worth it.

And you’re right. A live stream is never going to replace being in the room. But it can give a taste.

And if a show is running, or it might come back, watching it online can wet an audience’s appetite. I’ve had this conversation with so many people just say, you listen to your favourite band’s record over and over. But if you have the opportunity to go see them live, you’ll take it.

Why is that different about theatre? I know kids, I’ve seen YouTube of Broadway shows. But to them, that doesn’t replace the opportunity.

If they had the opportunity, they would still go to see the show. It’s an enhancement. It’s an addition.

It’s like an add-on rather than a replacement.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. And that’s the fear, I think, with a lot of these, and not just theatre companies that are shutting the door on that. And I think you’re right that their mentality is, oh, well, we still want people to come.

So if we stream this, then no one will come, which totally is not true. But the other aspect of that is publishing companies that maintain the rights to a lot of shows just will say, no, you’re not allowed to stream this particular title, because we still want people to pay to come see it. And it’s a missed opportunity there.

It’s a different thing. We did stuff at the theatre company where we did a show for Black History Month in February, I think it was in 2020, so sort of near the beginning of the pandemic. And it was an original script written by a writer and a poet here, Clyde Ray.

And it was just a bunch of monologues of famous Black people who lived in St. John, who their names are not known as well as they should be. And it was just a series of monologues. So that production was also streamed, and we decided in the streamed version of it to have interviews with the cast members in between monologues, sort of commentary from the director spliced in.

So we tried to make it a different experience than just seeing it in the theatre, because we’re not really trying to recreate that. And there’s been a few shows that we’ve done where we’ve tried to do that. And so it’s, if you kind of think outside the box, then it has its own place, for sure.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Phil Rickaby]
Now, this is sort of, this is a big year for Fundie Fringe. This is 10 years of the Fundie Fringe. And, you know, as 10 years of the Fundie Fringe, your second year as director, and the first time sort of like, are you, is it a full slate?

Is it like back to 2019 levels of shows at the Fundie Fringe this year?

[Drew Murdoch]
So 2019, we had 20 acts that sort of that was, I think, I don’t know when the festival started. I’m not sure if they, I don’t think they started right with 20. But yeah, no, this year we have 15.

So close to, we’re close to it. Yeah, we’re close to it. And the venues are a little bit different.

We don’t have as many venues as we would have in 2019. But they’re sort of all more contained and closer together. And we’re just sort of, it’s a different atmosphere.

And we’re trying to create that. So we’re not back to full 20. But we’re sort of getting closer.

Last year, we got closer again. And then yeah, this year, so yeah, Nice.

[Phil Rickaby]
As the festival director, leading the Fundie Fringe into its 10th year, what does the Fundie Fringe mean to you?

[Drew Murdoch]
Well, on a personal level, it means a lot. I sort of, I owe my career in theatre, I guess you could say to the Fundie Fringe. I started working for the Fundie Fringe Festival as the marketing assistant out of high school.

So after I graduated high school in the summers, I got a summer job there, which is what got my foot in the door with the Fringe and with the theatre company. So had it not been for that, I don’t know what I would be doing now. But it probably wouldn’t be this.

And then the next few years, I worked there as a technical coordinator. And then sort of evolved into this position. So had it not been for Fringe, for me, I probably wouldn’t be working in theatre, at least not in St. John right now, I would think. Yeah.

[Phil Rickaby]
And you mentioned working in marketing, were you making theatre at the time that you first started getting involved with the Fringe or did that come later for you?

[Drew Murdoch]
Yes, I was totally a theatre kid in high school. That was my thing. I found it later.

I didn’t start till grade 11. Most people start right in grade nine in high school. And I waited till grade 11.

We did Les Mis, snuck in there. Then we did Phantom, snuck in there. And I was definitely a theatre kid, directed a show in high school.

So I was, yeah, I was already into theatre. That’s what made me apply for the job at the Fringe and at the theatre company. It was a seed grant, I think, when the province was doing that, getting students to work in the summers.

And yeah, that’s how I started. So I was already into theatre. But this certainly made me appreciate it and love it more, and in a different way.

Fringe festivals are not the same as producing, you know, I don’t want to say regular theatre, but they’re a different, it’s a different animal. So I really love getting to sort of do both.

[Phil Rickaby]
For me, Fringe is the opportunity. It’s sort of like the gateway to producing theatre, right? Like it’s producing with training wheels, because you don’t have to rent your own venue, and there’s certain things that you don’t have to do, and the cost is lower than producing your own show.

So it’s sort of like, it’s like you’re getting your foot in the door and getting started. But then, you know, outside of the Fringe, it sort of expands and gets more complicated. Now, you mentioned sort of getting into theatre in high school.

As far as like your first, was that your first introduction to theatre? Or was there something else that pulled you in? What is your theatre origin story?

[Drew Murdoch]
My theatre origin story is, I was in grade five in elementary school. And we were doing, like we used to do little musicals in elementary school that in my mind, at the time were like full length Broadway musicals. Looking back, there were like 30 minutes and there was very little singing in them.

But that’s beside the point. So I started grade five, I was in the ensemble of the hit musical, The Emperor’s New Clothes, based on the children’s storybook, and in the ensemble for that. And then one of the leads in the show got sick, like violently ill, one day, like the day of the show.

And I don’t know, I guess I had a good memory, but I just like knew all of his lines and knew all of the songs. So I stepped into his part and got to play that leading part in that show. And I don’t know, ever since then, I sort of didn’t stop.

That’s my theatre origin story.

[Phil Rickaby]
Now, was there something that between that and high school that made you sort of think that this was a thing that you could make your career, make your life around?

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah, that I don’t think that started until high school. For one, my dad is a huge theatre lover, and I guess that’s what part of my origin story was, he got me interested in theatre that way. But then in high school, like a lot of people who go into the arts, I had a very, a very important, very special teacher at St. John High School who was the music teacher there and really encouraged me to pursue it. And I did. I went on after I graduated high school to study music and theatre at Dalhousie and then at Mount Allison. So it was really not until high school when I was encouraged, and I think I needed that encouragement from a teacher to say, sort of, you can do this.

And that was that. Yeah.

[Phil Rickaby]
I think that the encouragement of a teacher can be huge because, you know, sometimes, you know, a teenager, a kid, somebody thinking about getting into theatre will get into their own head. They’ll have people like putting doubts into their head, like, can you make a career out of this? How will you ever make a living?

That sort of thing. And that’s, those are things that make people, you know, think twice and think maybe, you know, oh, I’ll just, I guess I’ll just get a regular job and forget about this thing. But that kind of encouragement can be hugely formative.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, and I don’t know, I don’t want to project, but I think for a lot of people that are interested in theatre and, you know, pursue the arts, I don’t know, a lot of us are just shy to begin with.

And we don’t, at least I’m speaking from my experience, obviously, but, you know, we don’t, we’re not on the sports teams at the high school and we’re not on the football team. And it’s sort of a different, it’s a different atmosphere. We’re sort of shy people to begin with.

So I think a lot of us just need that encouragement to say, yeah, you can do this or at least give it a try. Nothing wrong with trying it and it doesn’t work out, you know.

[Phil Rickaby]
Doing this podcast for as long as I have, I have encountered the vast majority of people that I’ve spoken to would identify as introverts, which always strikes people as like, you know, that’s weird. How can an actor be an introvert? And it’s so, it’s so common that there’s something to it.

There’s something in the introvert makeup. I think there’s plenty of extroverted actors and performers, but there’s something about what it does for the introvert. I think that sort of brings more of us into the fold.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. I think it’s a more meaningful experience for an introvert. At least it was for me.

I know very few people that I work closely with in theatre that are extroverted. So it is interesting. There should be a study on that.

I wonder.

[Phil Rickaby]
There really should. And you know, the thing that has always sort of frustrated me about, about the theatre world is there’s so many things that we put into our theatre landscape that are not introvert friendly. Opening night receptions, networking, like schmooze fest events, things like that.

These are not introvert friendly things. And we’ll go and like be miserable. And I figured out how long do I have to stay here?

And it’s like, there’s so many of us. Why is so much of what we do antithetical to the introvert personality?

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. That’s, that’s really interesting. Yeah.

I know back to front, like when I started, when I did the, got the fringe job, I don’t know how to phrase that. But when I, when I got the festival director job, I was like, okay, I can do this. You know, I’ve, I’ve done stage management and, you know, production management and I’ve been in shows and I’ve done the tech and I’ve done the marketing.

Like I can do this, but really the, what I didn’t want to do is like, have to go up on stage and talk into a microphone and introduce performers and schmooze with people. Like I really couldn’t think of anything worse than to do that, which is funny because I’m totally comfortable being on stage singing or acting or whatever. But I think people don’t, at least people that aren’t directly involved in theatre don’t understand that that is a very different experience.

Yeah.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. For me, it like, I, if I know what I’m going to say, I’m, I’m good. If I, if I, if I’m prepared for something, I can get up and I can say a thing.

I have my performance stuff on, but if I’m unprepared, the introvert takes over. In 2018, I had my show at the, the, the Fundie Fringe and it was a best solo show that year. And I was so awkward going up to accept that.

I think I came off as a dick because I just, all I could really say was like, thank you so much and like run away. But I think I’m not sure I didn’t come out as like, what a dickhead, but it was just like so awkward and painful that I just needed to get out of there.

[Drew Murdoch]
Well, I remember, um, yeah, I remember your show with the 2018 Fringe and I don’t remember thinking, Oh, what a dickhead.

[Phil Rickaby]
So no, no, no. It was just like the acceptance of the award. I have to, I’ve had to like, uh, like practice accepting compliments after a show.

Like that’s something that I’ve had to do. Cause otherwise I’m a deer caught in the headlights. So I’ve, I’ve had to perfect my, the face, the mannerisms, the whole thing to be able to face people after a show who want to say nice things to me.

[Drew Murdoch]
So yeah, my go-to is, Oh, I’m really glad to hear that. That’s all I’ll say. Cause you’re right.

I don’t, I don’t know what else to say.

[Phil Rickaby]
Mine is mine. Mine includes a well-placed stammer. Thank you.

Thank you so much. It’s very humble. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. It’s all I can manage. It’s all I can manage.

Um, has, has the, the, the being the face of the essentially, cause that’s the, the festival director, you are the representative of the fringe to the community in a lot of ways, like in the year when, when the fringe is not on has, how has that been something that’s a challenge for you as a more introverted person?

[Drew Murdoch]
It is. And it’s a challenge, not just because I’m introverted, but also because really it has nothing to do with me. It’s, you know, it’s odd answering questions and I get that someone has to be the face and I’m happy to do it really, um, being interviewed and whatnot.

But at the end of the day, you know, the festival is made up of performers from around our province and around the country. And, you know, sometimes in other countries, and that’s what it’s about. Like we should really be asking them what their experience is like.

Sure. I can make the schedules and, you know, pick the venues and things. But at the end of the day, like the, the performers are chosen literally out of a hat.

Like I don’t really have anything to do with, you know, it’s, it’s just, it’s not like directing a show, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s different.

[Phil Rickaby]
It isn’t. But I do think that a festival director can set a tone for a festival, right? A festival director can set a tone as to whether or not it’s a warm fringe or a cold fringe.

And I’ve done fringes across the country and I’ve been at warm fringes and I’ve been at very cold fringes. And my experience at St. John is that it is a warm fringe. Yeah.

And that is, you know, the, like I said, like a lot of times when you look at like, why is this fringe the way it is? You can look to the top and that’s, that’s, that’s the reason that person’s personality sort of like reflects on, on how the fringe treats the people around it, how people reflect on it. Um, and, uh, I think, I think the Fundie fringe reflects St. John as a warm fringe.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think you’re right.

I think St. John, for one, St. John’s a pretty warm place. Um, at least in the arts community, I think it is. And, you know, I have to thank, obviously I have to thank Sarah who sort of steered the ship for a very long time and built it to what it is and totally created that tone from the top down.

And the best that I can do now, um, is maintain that. And, um, obviously we hope to grow it and continue to do new ideas, but that tone you speak of, um, you know, if we can just keep that rolling, then I’m happy.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. The, as far as like, what are, what do the, are the venues this year?

What, what kind of venues are they? Are they all traditional theatre venues? Are they school rooms?

Like what’s, what are you looking at this year?

[Drew Murdoch]
Uh, they’re not. So we have, um, our BMO studio is, uh, the venue that’s in the building that we work out of. Um, um, you would have been in there.

I’m sure it’s a, it’s a 60 to 80 seat sort of black box style theatre with, you know, full technical equipment and the seating can be arranged however you please. That’s one of our venues. And then our second venue is a large tent in our parking lot.

Um, we did this last year too, uh, basically because of COVID we decided to have a sort of an outdoor venue and we really liked it. So we’re going to do that again. We have a tent in our parking lot, which seats maximum like 80 people, which is, you know, more than enough for, for our festival.

It has a stage, it has lights, it has sound equipment. And then, uh, our third venue, which is the first time this being a venue we’re calling it the warehouse, but it doesn’t really have a name and it’s on the same street as the other two venues. And it’s sort of just down the block and there’s like a, it’s sort of like a courtyard that then goes into this brick warehouse room that has a sliding glass garage door.

And it’s basically just a big empty brick room. Um, that’s perfect for storytelling shows. One person shows music.

It’s sort of a cool kind of grungy or non-traditional venue.

[Phil Rickaby]
Are there, as far as like the tent, are there particular shows that you, that you envision work best in a tent?

[Drew Murdoch]
I think any show can work in a tent. No, I, um, yeah, there are certain shows that work better in a tent for sure. Um, last year we got pretty lucky I think, but last year we had sort of like two-hander straight plays in the tent and it worked fine.

Um, it’s a different room. I mean, you would know more as a, as a performer more regularly than me for sure about, you know, how a room can affect a show, but we definitely had, uh, people seem to like the tent and it’s sort of parked right up against our loading dock and we have a nice little bar set up outside there. You can sit down on the deck and have a drink and go in the tent.

So it worked well, but yeah, it’s sort of a challenge to figure out, okay, who can make the tent work and who maybe needs a little something more.

[Phil Rickaby]
That is always the, and that is always the challenge as a performer, having done shows across, across the country, especially like if you’re doing one show and moving from space to space, um, you always have to walk into a space and, and sometimes you’re like, well, whatever this is, somehow we have to make this work. And that’s always like this, this magical challenge of like, well, we were working in a tiny black box when we were in Montreal and now we’re in Winnipeg and they’ve put us in the massive theatre. So how do we make this adjustment?

You know, little things like that. And, and, uh, it’s one of those things that the performers and their, their team have to figure out in a, in a space. But that tent, now that you describe it a little more fully, it sounds a little bit, it sounds more, more cozy than I was initially imagining.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah, yeah, it is. Uh, it’s not massive and there’s a, a lot of it is taken up by, by a stage and by, you know, lighting trusts and, and stuff and stuff. But, um, yeah, it’s, um, I mean, when we’re looking at performer applications after we sort of draw them out of the hat, you know, if someone says, oh, I need control of lighting and projection and like, okay, well then probably can’t go in a tent, but a lot of, in fact, I would say most people that apply to our fringe, at least say like, yeah, whatever room we have is fine with us as long as we can be in it, which is great. So then it doesn’t quite matter as much.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. Um, what do you, what are you most looking forward to about, about fringe, uh, coming back and, and, and you sort of like doing this larger fringe and then in the last two years?

[Drew Murdoch]
Well, I’m really excited to have our national and international acts back last year and the year before it was just sort of, we call it local only, but because we’re a small, small city, we extend that outwards sort of to the province. Um, but I’m excited to have those national and international performers back because it just brings something more to the festival. I mean, St. John being a small city, honestly speaking, a lot of these local acts, like everyone knows and almost knows them personally. You sort of know what you’re going to get when you, you see someone’s name is in the fringe and you go to their show, you know them, you know that what kind of shows they do, but to have that sort of sense of, Oh, here’s someone coming in from Toronto or from Vancouver. And we’ve never heard of them. We’d never seen their show or maybe we saw them five years ago at the fringe and they were great.

And Oh, here’s someone from Los Angeles. And I wonder what that’s about. It just, it creates a sort of a different buzz.

Yeah. That’s a different experience of going to see someone, you know, and love. So I’m excited to have that back.

[Phil Rickaby]
There’s also something about like, I know from, from going to different cities and seeing shows in each, you know, each city has its own flavor. Like you see something that you haven’t seen anywhere else, like this performer, you don’t know that performer and they blow your mind or they introduce you to a new concept of something. And you’re like, wow, if they, if, if, if we could bring this home, they would just like go wild for it.

So it’s always good to have like the familiar and the new and unfamiliar, which it makes is kind of what makes fringe exciting.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. Well, I’ve seen so many shows at the fringe that are, you know, you read them in the program and go, Oh, okay. You know, let’s, I’m not sure about this one, but I’m going to go see it.

And then it’s like your favorite show. And that really only can happen at a fringe festival.

[Phil Rickaby]
100%.

[Drew Murdoch]
That’s what’s exciting.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. Yeah. Um, are there any, uh, innovations or new things that are, that are new for you guys in St. John, uh, with the Fundie Fringe this year that, that I, that, that, that we might want to know about or, or, or new, new programs, things like that.

[Drew Murdoch]
Good question. Uh, new, well, we have a tent, but we talked about that.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah.

[Drew Murdoch]
New things. Oh, well, yeah. So our festival back in 2019 was like very much just cash only at the door kind of thing.

We’ve sort of upgraded since then. Um, we’re able to accept debit and credit cards and sell tickets at our box office. And, uh, so that’s been helpful and we’re going to keep doing that this year, even though our venues are spread out, we’re able to do that, which is nice.

We’re going to bring back the preview night. We very much hope, um, which is always a fun event for Fundie Fringe that we haven’t had the last two years. Um, just because we’re not, we weren’t really allowed to crowd as many people in one room as possible for obvious reasons.

So that’ll be nice to get back to that evening.

[Phil Rickaby]
Is there a, is there a, like a, I mean, one of the things that a lot of other fringes do have is like, uh, you know, you mentioned that there’s like a spot to, to get a drink out at the, at the tent venue. Um, a lot of fringes have like their beer tent or their, their, their location where people can hang out. Is that something, is that what you’ve sort of like created outside of the, the tent venue?

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah, we have. We’ve, we’ve created that last year and I thought it was great. People really liked it.

We have one inside too that we called the hub. I think you’ve recorded some past podcasts in the hub. You might remember the horrible acoustics, but just this big, empty cement floored room, um, that actually my office is in.

So my voice carries more than it should in there, but yeah, we have one inside too that we, we have volunteer tables and couches and coffee and place to hang out for performers, for volunteers, for just patrons to come in and, and, uh, hang out with people. And then we have one outside too, which is great. That was great.

A nice little bar with some seating and yeah, it’s one thing to just have, you know, here’s three venues with, you know, five shows going on at each, but like, what do you do in between? And the community aspect that I think is really present in St. John at Fundie fringe, um, is that you could easily like meet all the performers if you wanted to and, uh, talk to the volunteers, talk to the staff. And that part’s always fun for me too.

[Phil Rickaby]
Well, one of the things that I do, I like about, about the Fundie fringe is it is, it’s, you could see all of the shows and that’s sort of the joy of it as a, as the size of it, a Toronto fringe, or even, even more like say a Winnipeg or Edmonton fringe, you could never see all of the shows, but at the Fundie fringe, a patron could go to see all of the shows, which is kind of an amazing thing.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah, no. And there are people who have their programs and they have their Sharpies and they’re circling their shows and creating their own schedule. How can I, how can I do it?

How can I see all the shows in, in three days or in four days? And, um, people try to sort of cram it in, I think.

[Phil Rickaby]
Well, also by having your venues close together, you do make that, uh, simpler for people.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. Yeah. And that’s something we, we tried to, well, last year we only had two venues.

We had our studio and our tent. So that was easier because they’re the parking lot of the studio is where the tent is. So that made things easy, but even scheduling, like we really kind of put our brains together and said, how can we make a schedule that you could see all the shows even in one day if you want it to, like, um, there was only 10, 10 acts, but right.

Um, yeah. So it’s fun to be able to run around with your program and check off all the shows. And there are people that do it, are really good at it.

[Phil Rickaby]
They should hold a seminar. Those people should do that.

[Drew Murdoch]
That should be a new thing at funding fringe. We should have a workshop on how to see all the fringe shows.

[Phil Rickaby]
That would actually be pretty incredible. Um, just a little, just to talk a little bit more about, about you, uh, as a, as a theatre maker, if, if you were to, and I don’t know if it’s possible, if you were to describe yourself as a maker of theatre, how would you describe yourself?

[Drew Murdoch]
Well, the first word that comes to mind is versatile. Um, I only say that because I don’t know, I’ve, I’ve taken on like a whole bunch of different roles in theatre over the last few years and really love doing them all. Um, I’ve, you know, been a photographer for a show or a videographer or a musician or, uh, you know, a video director or a stage manager, production manager, lighting designer, set designer.

Like I, and it’s funny because the St. John is sort of, at least I think one of the few places you can really do that because it is smaller. If I were to go to a big city and work at some theatre, like I’d kind of be doing one thing. Um, but it’s been great that I can do many things because I, I don’t know, I just, I like to do all things theatre and I get to do it here.

So I would say versatile final answer.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s a good final answer. Uh, you’ve been a stage manager, a lighting and projection designer, production manager, video director. Um, where do your, like, is there one thing that above all that is your favorite?

[Drew Murdoch]
Well, I really like lighting design. Uh, that’s if I could do one, if I had to pick one thing, I think it would be that. And I don’t know why I just really like doing it.

I like being creative. And, uh, I, I sort of, when I was a kid, I got really into photography still am. Um, and I just sort of fell in love with making things look nice on camera and lighting things certain ways.

And I, you know, did a lot of homework on it and sort of studied it and, um, color. And I don’t know, I just, something about lights that I really, I really took an interest in, uh, as a kid and it never sort of left me. So to do a theatre lighting design, I don’t know.

I just, it’s one of the things I enjoy the most.

[Phil Rickaby]
Well, when you say that, when you say that you were into photography, in many ways, that makes sense to me that lighting design would be a thing that you’d be interested in. Um, the, the, you know, and in many ways, photography is about the use of light. So, um, it would, it would make a lot of sense that that would be something that you graduate to or gravitate to.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t really know which came first.

Um, I remember buying my first camera when I was a kid and I don’t know what I really, it’s funny. Like you look back to things and go, how, what made me want to do that? And I really have no idea.

But, uh, I remember when I was in my elementary school and middle school, if there was ever a project, like where you could do anything, like a book report, everyone used to do book reports and they would say like, okay, you can write an essay or you can like draw a picture or whatever. I always said, I’m going to build a diorama of what the setting of this book is. It was just always my thing and I loved doing it and I still love doing it.

Like making my cats is like one of my favorite things to do. And then I would always have to like get the flashlights out and fly it certain ways. And I don’t know, I guess it’s like, I don’t know why, but I just liked that.

So yeah. Storytelling, I mean, it’s all storytelling, right? Like it all boils down to the same thing.

Um, but being able to augment a story or enhance a story with through, through lights is really fun for me.

[Phil Rickaby]
Well, because without lights in many cases, like you’re missing an essential piece of the mood, right? You can do like a wash, but that doesn’t tell the story. Uh, light, light can help to enhance whatever is happening on stage.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. And I think, I don’t know if it’s because of me, but, um, I think at Fringe, we really try to like maybe even have more tech than a lot of fringes and have more opportunities. Like even in this warehouse venue, that’s essentially a brick room.

Like we will have lights and have LEDs that can change color and create the moods that you want. And maybe that’s my doing of saying, at least need to give these performers something to work with. Or maybe it’s just because I want to see how they look.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s fair too. That’s fair too. It is, it is essentially I mean, it’s your festival.

You can, you can influence it that way.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. We can get movers in and all kinds of fun. We don’t do that, but more than just a wash.

We like to offer more than just a wash. Yeah.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. Um, do you remember, do you remember the first play that you saw at the Fundy Fringe or the first, the first show that made an impact on you at the Fundy Fringe?

[Drew Murdoch]
Hmm. Okay. Let me think back.

There was a show, I think in what was 2018 year when you were at yes. Yeah. Okay.

I think there was a show in 2018 called 25 and the group was from Paris. I know the group. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Okay.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah.

[Drew Murdoch]
And I think it made an impact on me because it sort of made me think, oh, this is what, like, this is what a really small show that like fits into a suitcase can be.

[Phil Rickaby]
Do you know what I mean? I do. I do.

Because that show was like, people listening to this, haven’t seen it, but it was precise. It was precise and gorgeous and somehow managed to be small, but also huge.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah, it did. And it was thought provoking, but not in an annoying way. Also, if that makes any sense.

Um, yeah. So that one was, and also that I think because they’re, they were from Paris and people think that’s interesting, granted, sure, that a lot of people came to the show and it sort of created this buzz just around the show itself. That was really exciting to be an audience member in.

[Phil Rickaby]
Was that the first show at the, at the Fundy Fringe, as far as you know, that came from Europe?

[Drew Murdoch]
Oh, good question. I, I don’t know. I mean, I want to say yes, but it could be no, it’s been 10 years.

I’m not sure.

[Phil Rickaby]
True. Cause it’s, it’s, you know, I mean, you have a lot of choices when you’re doing the, the fringe circuit and they did, they did a number of cities with that show. And, uh, I think they finished off in the Maritimes, they finished off in, in Halifax.

And, uh, um, you know, I, I remember watching that show in a full house in St. John, which was, you know, they did create a buzz and maybe it was because they were a troop from Paris, but I like to think it was because it was like, like nothing else. I think people usually see it a fringe.

[Drew Murdoch]
And I think from my perspective too, that it wouldn’t be the same as just a regular audience member, but they were also just really nice. And that goes a long way as far as making an impact, um, working for a festival, working on a festival, volunteering like that. I mean, maybe I remember them because they were so nice and they would strike a conversation and we’re just sort of lovely people.

And that totally makes a difference. So I will say too, and I’m not, I’m not just being a kiss ass, but I, I do remember your show vividly. Um, and that I, I, I don’t think I can forget that show because it was, I don’t know, it was, it was very well done.

It was, um, heartbreaking, but just in a, in a really interesting way. And I remember the venue, I remember sitting in interaction and it was just sort of dark and we were just, everyone was just glued to you, including me. So thank you.

That’s an honest answer too.

[Phil Rickaby]
Well, thank you. Thanks very much.

[Drew Murdoch]
Um, you didn’t stumble.

[Phil Rickaby]
You didn’t, I know I did. I did it without the, I did it without the stammer that time. Cause I already blew my stammer earlier.

You knew what you were waiting for it. Um, this year, um, are there any, are there, are there, are there things that are happening? Are there shows that are coming this year that you are particularly looking forward to company names that have jumped out and, or, or, or things like that, that you’re particularly looking for or looking forward to seeing there’s, um, there’s a show coming from, from Los Angeles, uh, that looks really interesting.

[Drew Murdoch]
Uh, not just because it’s from Los Angeles, like the Paris thing, but really the description of the show is, is, uh, I don’t have it handy, but I remember reading it thinking, Oh, this would be a great, you know, I, when it, when it was picked out of the hat, Oh, this is really interesting. This is great. Um, that one for sure.

I don’t know what you have in store this year, but, um, I, when I drew your name, I thought, Oh, great. We’re going to have another solid show. Thank you.

Um, and then there’s some local folks that I’m always interested to see what they get up to.

[Phil Rickaby]
Are they, I mean, the, the local stuff, I mean, it’s always interesting for me going to a place and seeing, seeing the locals. Um, there is a certain, uh, uh, flavor of, uh, of, of magic shows at the Fundy fringe. Um, is there something in the water in St. John that like brings out the magicians?

[Drew Murdoch]
This is a great question. This is a question I’ve pondered for since I got to the Fundy fringe, I don’t know, but it does seem like there is a particularly high percentage of magicians in St. John, or at least in St. John that apply to a fringe festival compared to other cities. I don’t know.

It’s, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with it. It’s just, it’s really interesting to me that there are so many magicians. Now this year, uh, there are only two, which is, which is one of the lower years, like to say that there’s only two out of 15 is funny to say that that’s low, but it really is like 30 years that a third of the shows are magic shows.

Um, there is a magic circle in St. John and I don’t know if that is unique to St. John. I know there are a lot like magic circles in a lot of big cities, but maybe there aren’t in small cities. I don’t know, but there is a magic circle.

Um, I know most of the people in it cause they’ve all performed at the fringe and, uh, you know what they just, and I get it like they have a show that is already built and ready to go and they just love to perform. And it’s, it’s sort of easy for them to just say, Oh, I’ll apply to a fringe festival. And if I get in, like I have a show that I can deliver.

So I get why they’re, why they’re applying. And I’m looking forward to seeing the two that we have this year. There’s one, there’s one this year.

Um, uh, to braise is doing who’s performed in the fringe many times. Um, but his is not just a magic show. There’s a lot of storytelling aspects in it too.

And it’s quite a personal story to him. And, um, so that’s always nice to see too, when it’s sort of in a new creative way, it’s interesting.

[Phil Rickaby]
I do think that the magic thing, I’m not disparaging the magic at all because, uh, I I’m a sucker for magic. Um, but also I think it’s one of those things that is part of the flavor of the Fundy fringe. Every fringe has its own particular thing.

You can say this about it. And, and I think that the magic aspect is something that, that is unique to St. John and is something that, that, that flavors it. So I think it’s, it’s something that, that, uh, is, is, is wonderful and special about the Fundy fringe.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. Yeah. And I think part of that too is like, no matter what the magic show is, it usually gets a pretty visceral reaction from an audience just because there’s people, audience participation and like, it’s hard to come out of a magic show and not immediately start talking about it.

So there’s often outside on princess street, like after magic show, there’s always like a huddle of people going, Oh, how did we do that with the numbers? So it sort of does create this interesting buzz. And that is, it totally is part of the flavor.

I will admit now you’ve got it out of me. I was a magician as a child. I did, I did birthday parties.

I did the whole thing. So maybe I have a particular interest in it too, but, and you know what, Hey, now that we’re talking about it, maybe that’s a connection too. Like I think between theatre and magic and of course magic is theatre, but I know more than just myself who sort of their introduction to performing on stage was doing magic.

And I think there’s even a lot of well-known famous actors who like I’ve talked about they sort of started doing magic and card tricks for their family. And that’s what really sort of brought them out of their shell to, to go on to performing careers. So maybe that has something to do with it.

[Phil Rickaby]
I don’t know. Maybe, maybe. Just in, in closing as you guys are, are heading towards, towards the fringe opening in, in August what is your favorite part about the lead up to the start of fringe?

[Drew Murdoch]
I really liked the tech rehearsals because it’s sort of the first time that a performer gets introduced to the space they’re going to perform in and gets introduced to the staff and the volunteers. It’s sort of like a meet and greet kind of day and they get to work out their show and their new space and you get to see sort of what it’s about. And I don’t know, that’s why I like, I mean, also I’m sort of a theatre technician too, and I’m always interested to see what people are up to, but there is sort of a, a unique atmosphere to a tech day when everyone’s sort of running around and fixing lights and hanging speakers and shows are coming together and people are just arriving in the city from across the country.

It’s an exciting few days during those tech rehearsals for me.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s great. That’s great. I’m thinking about, you mentioned arriving and now I’m thinking about the, the, the, the group that is coming from Los Angeles, which is, is a, it’s a trek and I don’t know if they’re driving, but if they’re flying, um, I don’t know how many cities are going through, but I hope they avoid some of the airport problems we’ve been having.

[Drew Murdoch]
I know. Yeah. It’s, it’s tough.

Yeah. It’s, uh, they, I believe they are flying. I, I do recall, um, a recent email with that.

So I hope it all works out. I’m sure it will all work out somehow.

[Phil Rickaby]
They just, yeah, they may be very frustrated by the time they arrive.

[Drew Murdoch]
They may be. They may be. I got an email from, you can cut this out if you want, but I got an email from air Canada this morning.

I have flights booked in September to go to Toronto.

[Phil Rickaby]
Right.

[Drew Murdoch]
And it said, please confirm there’s been a major change to your flights. And I thought, oh no. And instead of departing from St. John at 1155 and arriving at 1303, it’s now departing from St. John at 1155 and arriving at 1306. And they said that was, that was a major change that I needed to confirm, which you know what? They got their priorities down. Sure.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah.

[Drew Murdoch]
I mean, sure.

[Phil Rickaby]
Absolutely. I mean, as far as I, I, I, for my, for booking flights, I have avoided air Canada. I have avoided all of that.

So hopefully there are no, no delays for me in my travels because I was just like, I’m not even flying out of Pierce out of Toronto’s main airport. I’m flying out of a smaller one just to avoid as much of that as possible.

[Drew Murdoch]
Yeah. It’s really, it’s tricky. Yeah.

It’s hard.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. It would almost be safer for me to drive, but I don’t have a car. So it’s a long haul too.

It is a long haul too. Not as far as, as driving from Las Vegas though.

[Drew Murdoch]
So no, that’s true.

[Phil Rickaby]
True. Thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate you taking the time and I look forward to the Fundie Fringe this year.

[Drew Murdoch]
We look forward to seeing you in August and seeing what you have in store. And it was a, it was great getting to chat with you.

[Phil Rickaby]
Stageworthy is a Canadian theatre podcast produced by Phil Rickaby. That’s me. Stageworthy is a one person operation.

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