Seeds Spins Some Unsettling Variations On the David-Versus-Goliath Story
^Photo. Courtesy of the NAC
L.to R. Christine Beaulieu, Tanja Jacobs, Eric Peterson.
here’s a memorable moment in Seeds when Eric Peterson, superb in the role of embattled Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser, delivers a passionate defence of farmers’ rights against the overwhelming powers of the genetically modified food industry.
It’s not an elegant moment. Indeed, there’s more than a glimmer here of Oscar Leroy, whose cantankerous presence once enlivened the Corner Gas television series. But in its mingling of anger, despair and futile defiance, it carries its own rough-hewn eloquence. The polemic works but — this is important — only for the moment.
Taken in isolation, the scene seems like a formidable indictment of Monsanto, the international agri-chemical giant whose legal battle with Schmeiser is only one of many which have engulfed that company globally. But before opponents of genetically modified food can applaud too vigourously, they’re pulled up short by the integrity of Annabel Soutar’s remarkable docudrama.
One might suspect that Soutar — like many of us — views international strong-armers like Monsanto with deep apprehension. But unless we stubbornly see only what we want to see in this absorbing production from Montreal’s Porte Parole, we must also concede that Soutar’s script wants to play fair. Many aspects of this David-versus-Goliath saga remain awash in ambiguity, but the controversial bottom line remains: the Supreme Court of Canada ultimately did rule, by a narrow 5-4 margin in 2004, that Percy Schmeiser had violated Monsanto’s patent rights by planting its genetically modified canola seed on his property without a license.
It was the end of a legal struggle dating back to the 1990s when Schmeiser insisted that Monsanto’s patented seeds had blown onto his farm by accident and that he was perfectly within his rights to use them as he saw fit. This determined Saskatchewan farmer’s intransigence turned him into an international celebrity among those who opposed genetically modified foods and the growing power of multi-national giants like Monsanto over basic human needs.
But as playwright Annabel Soutar presses on with a script built on a bed rock of legal documents and personal interviews, the issues become more murky. Did Percy Schmeiser, the uncompromising adversary of the Monsanto juggernaut, compromise his own position by being less than reliable in his own recollections of what actually happened?
This uncomfortable question is legitimately raised, and the evening ends on an unsettling note of ambiguity. One of the virtues of Seeds is that Soutar inserts herself into the narrative in the character of the playwright who seeks to discover the truth about what really happened. Her own certainties — indeed, her own conduct — end up being challenged in a riveting exchange with Schmeiser, a proud man who is genuinely wounded, yet also uncomprehending when his own probity comes under question. Christine Beaulieu is splendid in her nuanced portrayal of a young woman increasingly burdened by her own doubts and fallibility as her quest for the truth leads her into clouded waters.
Chris Abraham’s production, a swiftly shifting pot-pourri, sustains a strong dramatic thread — despite the fact that it threatens to alienate us at the very beginning by indulging in a pointless and seemingly interminable stretch of awkward audience interaction. Julie Fox’s admirable set design further ensures that we have no trouble being transported to a variety of places — Percy’s farm home, a lawyer’s office, the board rooms of the mighty, the halls of justice — in the course of the evening. And the necessary expository passages — often so hazardous to both playwright and production, yet so vital to a show like Seeds — have sufficient clarity to improve our understanding of a potentially intimidating technology.
Everyone except Peterson takes on multiple roles, and the ensemble qualities of this production are noteworthy, with Tanja Jacobs in particular excelling as a myriad of characters ranging from Schmeiser’s supportive wife, Louise, to real-life activist Maude Barlow to a retired farmer.
A pat ending is impossible with a story like this one. Those loose strands can’t be neatly tied off. But that doesn’t stifle the sense of unease that Seeds conveys about globalization and the rise of the multi-nationals. Set aside the legalities, and the moral question looms large about the power they now hold over ordinary lives. Can it be justified?
Seeds continues at the NAC to April 12
Seeds
By Annabel Soutar
A Porte Parole (Montreal) production
An NAC English Theatre presentation
Director: Chris Abraham
Set and costumes: Julie Fox
Lighting: Ana Cappelluto
Sound and music composition: Richard Feren
Video and projection/media design: Elysha Poirier
Cast:
Percy Schmeiser…………………………………………..Eric Peterson
Playwright etc……………………………………………..Christine Beaulieu
Multiple roles: Bruce Dinsmore, Mariah Inger, Alex Ivanovici, Tanja Jacobs, Cary Lawrence
