CALGARY (CP) — On a stage walled off by fire engines, the ghosts of fallen firefighters will be remembered Sept. 11 in the shadow of a burned-out building used for disaster training.
Theatre Calgary’s reading of The Guys, a poignant portrayal of a fire captain eulogizing eight of his men killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks, is one of a dozen benefit stagings being held across Canada as a reminder of the firefighting community’s darkest day.
“This play will be done on Sept. 11 to commemorate the fifth anniversary and to honour the Canadian firefighters who on a daily basis risk their lives to protect us,” said director Eric Rose, who contacted other companies across the country to get them involved in the tribute.
He was astonished by the response.
“Magically, amazingly and courageously, another 11 theatres signed on,” said Rose. The troupes involved range from the Vancouver Playhouse to the Charlottetown Festival in P.E.I.
Each company has added their own touch.
Calgary is staging its production at the city’s firefighting training facility, while the tiny 2b theatre company in Halifax enlisted a local firefighter to portray the fire captain.
The Guys was written by American journalism professor Anne Nelson after she helped a Brooklyn fire captain struggling to pay tribute to his comrades killed in the World Trade Centre. Six weeks after 9-11, the play opened off-Broadway starring Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray.
It became a sensation with audiences looking for a way to share the profound grief and loss. It was later made into a movie starring Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia.
Although born out of an American tragedy, Rose believes the universal themes of loss and grief will also resonate with Canadian audiences.
“It doesn’t talk about the towers or the tragedy,” he said.
“It focuses on the human experience of this fire captain and the incredible lives of the men that he lost. Instead of giving a statistic — we know that 343 firemen died that day — suddenly those numbers are translated into humanity.”
Some of the theatre companies are donating a portion of the funds raised to the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The other funds will go to charities supported by firefighters.
The Ottawa-based group (www.cfff.ca) has been raising money for a national monument honouring firefighters who have died in the line of duty. The group’s annual memorial ceremony will take place Sept. 10.
Foundation president Will Brooks, a retired psychologist, says most Canadians are unaware of the human toll among first responders. More than 800 people have died fighting fires in Canada since 1848, when records were first kept.
Brooks said people are more likely to be aware of fallen soldiers and police officers.
“We’re not in a competition, but truly we’ve lost more firefighters since 2000 than soldiers (killed) in Afghanistan,” said Brooks, adding there have been 68 firefighting deaths in that time.
One Canadian diplomat and 32 soldiers have died in the effort to stabilize Afghanistan since an international coalition invaded the country to kick out the Taliban government in 2001.
Brooks says The Guys hits an emotional chord that crosses nationalities.
“The way Anne Nelson has written this play, she touches the audience so vitally that people quickly forget the borderlines involved and recognize the human elements,” he said.
“This represents the one day with the largest single loss of life in the fire service to date,” he said. “It’s kind of a beacon to everybody, whether they are in Canada or the United States or Rome.”
Other companies participating in the tribute are the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, B.C., Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops, B.C., Saskatoon’s Persephone Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg, Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ont., The Grand Theatre in London, Ont., Theatre & Company in Kitchener, Ont., and the Sudbury Theatre Centre.
