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Soil Magnate | Farmer John Wright is David and biotech corporations are Goliath in Katherine Koller’s The Seed Savers.

THE SEED SAVERS
Directed by Michael Clark. Written by Katherine Koller. Starring John Wright, Maralyn Ryan, Natasha Napoleao, David MacInnis, Jesse Gervais. La Cité Francophone (8627-91 St). To Nov 8. Tickets available through Workshop West (477-5955, ext. 301).
***

The seeds of change are blowin’ in the wind.

This is, quite literally, the message behind Katherine Koller’s new play The Seed Savers. A conflict between farming old and new, technology, big business, and the individual rights of farmers, this quintessentially Alberta story tackles a rural struggle for the urban crowd.

Joe (John Wright) and Mindy (Maralyn Ryan) have been farming in southern Alberta for years. They grow canola from their own seed stock, but when rogue genetically modified canola is found growing on their property, carried there on the wind from a neighbour’s crop, big biotech business steps in and takes them to court. Part legal battle, part kitchen sink drama, The Seed Savers explores how technology impacts a traditional way of life, as well as the people who live it.

There are a lot of beautiful aspects to this production, most notably April Viczko’s gorgeous set and lighting design. I think it’s fair to confess my theatre geek crush on Viczko and her work, and this aerial view of checkered cropland is a masterpiece. Also worth noting is Paul Morgan Donald’s gorgeous rural soundscape, Michael Clark’s creative “theatre in the rectangle” staging, and the gritty, visceral use of actual seeds and dirt on the stage.

The performances are strong as well, although you’d expect nothing less from such a talented and well-balanced cast. John Wright carries the show as Joe, the wise and curmudgeonly farmer of old, and Maralyn Ryan is excellent as his “big city” wife Mindy (from the big city of Red Deer, that is). Natasha Napoleao plays Skye, Joe and Mindy’s prodigal granddaughter, and her performance is tender and affecting as one newly in touch with the land — and her family. David MacInnis and Jesse Gervais both play small-town Alberta boys who have taken very different paths. Edmonton is lucky to have MacInnis back from Vancouver, and with this great performance, audiences will be doubtlessly be seeing a lot of him in the future. And perennial audience favourite (odd to say that about someone so young, but it’s true) Jesse Gervais does not disappoint.

But in certain important ways, the play itself does disappoint. The emotional peaks and valleys come in strange places, and the characters (with the exception of Skye) remain largely static. Much of the language is beautiful, and no one can dispute Koller’s poetic voice, but the flip-flop contrast between the straightforward farm “talk” and a more impressionistic voice is a bit distracting. As well, the play tackles such a big story, it would perhaps be better suited to a television miniseries (coming soon to the CBC?) than a two-hour live performance that, inevitably, only scratches the surface of the issue.