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The Floor Gets Flooded | Molly Flood hits the deck in Azimuth Theatre’s mystery-shrouded world première of Jill Connell’s The Tall Building.

Like a feral child safeguarding their shiny rocks, members of the theatre community love to hold their secrets close to their chest. There’s a belief out there — possibly a misguided one — that protecting this information is important to selling the show. As I spoke with actor Vincent Forcier, one of the stars of Jill Connell’s new play The Tall Building, I wondered if he would slip and spill some of the beans.

“It’s the story of a girl who never leaves her apartment, an assassin who is always watching her, and a boy who wants to interview her,” Forcier says. “And that is as secretive as I can possibly be.”
Et tu, Forcier?

The Tall Building is a collaborative, multimedia tale of three people whose busy lives all intermingle inside said building. It’s a play with big ideas and a big set — and knowing that it was going to take on a life of its own, the Azimuth Theatre crew knew the cramped confines of their usual performing space, The Living Room Playhouse, were a bit small and decided to get a bigger boat.

“It’s always planned to be at the Catalyst mainly because it’s an idea that is far too big to be in the Azimuth,” Forcier says. “So it’s Azimuth Theatre producing from within the Catalyst in order to get this awesome giant set in and get some room to move. We also think that it’s going to be something a lot of people are going to want to see, and in order to get everyone to see it at the Azimuth we would need a four-year run.

“It’s a pretty huge undertaking because it’s a very surreal type of play,” he continues. “It fills a world that is similar to our own but is very different. What gets me going about it is that the playwright has been working with us to create it. So every time we put out an offer it goes through this ‘Does that work?/Should we make it work?’ process. It is trial and error and it really just is creation at its best.”

The Tall Building plays The Catalyst from Nov. 19-29. Tickets are available through TIX on the Square (420-1757). —Trent Wilkie