Brian Fidler, artistic director for the Guild Hall Theatre, has a knack for choosing plays that everybody wants to be part of. Take, for instance, the play called Mustard, which opens February 21. Written by Canadian playwright Kat Sandler, it’s described as “very funny, very sweet and extremely dark” by the production’s director, Reid Vanier. Greg Murdoch, the actor who plays the title character, promises “[It] will make you laugh, it will make you cry.”
One of the elements that drew Fidler to the play is the premise. The title character, Mustard, has been the imaginary friend of Thai since she was a baby. However, Thai is now 16, and Mustard continues to live under her bed. But he has to face the music when two “goons” from another world are enlisted to convince him to leave.
Vanier had seen the original production of Mustard, in Ontario, and yearned to direct it someday. “It’s hard to resist the urge—when you see someone else do a thing—getting excited about how you would do a thing,” Vanier explained. “It’s not about criticism or trying to do it better or even different or whatever. It’s more the excitement of Oh my God, I’m jealous they’re doing “the thing”… I would love to do this!
When he learned that the Guild would be staging Mustard for their 2023–24 season, Vanier leapt at the opportunity to direct it. “I made my case to Brian that I should be the director because I felt really strongly about how I wanted to tackle the play.”
Whatever his method in tackling the play, the cast is unanimous in their enthusiasm for Vanier’s approach. “Reid is just phenomenal,” Murdoch said. “He’s just an amazing director, so far, giving us lots of room to play; and also, he knows exactly what he wants and he tells you exactly what he wants, but you can play and explore a lot of the roles yourself.”
Murdoch is part of a stellar cast of actors who, under Vanier’s leadership, are encouraged to collaborate and bring their ideas to rehearsals. “The biggest highlight for me is I love being in a room where people feel comfortable to take big swings, to try something crazy that might work or might not work, and then we can work it out later,” Vanier said. “I think we’ve got good energy, and no idea is too crazy until we look at it, so everyone’s been really great about contributing.”
The actors bring a range of experience to the production. Murdoch, for example, got his start in the Frantic Follies, which was founded by his father, Lyle. Murdoch was also a student in the Music, Arts and Drama (MAD) program at Wood Street Centre. “This is the first scripted play [with the Guild] that I’ve had a chance to do and I’m super excited because I’ve seen a good number of Guild shows before and they’re always top-notch,” Murdoch said.
Carolyn Westberg, who plays Sadie (Thai’s mom), also has MAD connections as both a student and now a teacher. For her, Mustard is a chance to immerse herself in theatre while on maternity leave. “Mustard is a very unusual and zany play,” she said. “I enjoyed the writing; the characters have real substance. I thought maybe this would be an opportunity for me to get back onstage and experience that wonderful side of theatre again.”
Josh Schroeder, who plays a goon named Bug, has very little theatre experience and came to the audition with his daughter, Fidler told me. Bug’s goon boss, Leslie, is played by Lucy Charlton O’Connor. The cast is rounded out with Brenna Symanski, as Thai; and Max McLarnon as her boyfriend, Jay.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with our cast [and] crew and seeing their characters come to life,” Westberg said. “Everyone is so funny and creative! Some of these wacky scenes are hard to get through without laughing.”
And as if an outstanding director and cast weren’t enough, Mustard sports a top-notch crew to help bring the zany world of Mustard to life. “The design team [and] the set are full of all sorts of surprises that people are going to like,” said Vanier. “The costumes are going to be really, really fun. Like, everyone is kind of throwing their boldest ideas out there and, you know, it’s my job to fit them together into one thing that makes sense.”
Since everyone involved in the production raves about Mustard, there’s a pretty good chance that the audience will love it too. And who is the play for? It’s pretty broad in its appeal, said Vanier. “The good plays—the best ones—are the ones that are universal. The ones that are too specific, even if they’re great, they don’t have the traction or the universality that makes them kind of classics, and [Mustard] is already on its way to being a Canadian classic in terms of the theatrical canon.”
“Everybody should get a ticket,” Vanier said. “More than any other show I’ve ever worked on, this feels like everyone is bringing their biggest, boldest ideas. It’s going to be a very, very exciting, fun, touching, disturbing play.
“It’s going to be a roller coaster; it’s going to be a really good time.”
Mustard runs from February 21 to March 9. Get your tickets at Yukontickets.com
