On November 20th and 21st, The Theatre On King in Peterborough hosts acclaimed author David Macfarlane and musician Douglas Cameron for three special performances of their collaborative show The Door You Came In: Songs and Stories of The Danger Tree. The 90-minute show combining words and music is based on Macfarlane’s critically acclaimed novel The Danger Tree.
“It’s not a play, but it’s not a reading,” Macfarlane says, describing the performance. “It’s something in between.”
First published in 1991, The Danger Tree is an exploration of Macfarlane’s family’s past in Newfoundland. Although born in Ontario, Macfarlane looks at Newfoundland’s social and political landscape, filled with both joy and tragedy, via the lives of the Goodyears. Much of the history is tied into the sacrifices and loss that the people of Newfoundland faced during the First World War. Not only does 2016 mark the 25th anniversary of the book’s publication, but it also marks the 100th anniversary of the battle at the heart of book.
“My mother was from Newfoundland,” Macfarlane explains. “She was born in Grand Falls. The Danger Tree is the story about her father’s generation and it’s somewhat centered on Newfoundland’s regiment involvement in the First World War and the battle at Beaumont-Hamel. That battle is where the Newfoundlanders, on July 1st, 1916, were pretty much wiped out in the first half hour of battle. The story of Beaumont-Hamel is central to many families in Newfoundland.”
“The Danger Tree was the stump of an old tree on the battlefield and it was the only thing that had any verticality on the battlefield,” Macfarlane continues, explaining the origins of his book’s title. “It was used as a landmark by the Newfoundlanders and they knew that was the beginning of No Man’s Land.”
“In my grandfather’s family, there were seven children — six sons and one daughter. Of the six sons, five enlisted. Three were killed at Beaumont-Hamel and the other two were wounded. That was not an unusually high mortality rate for Newfoundland. Newfoundland suffered the highest mortality rate per capita than any other colonial power.”
Macfarlane began his artistic collaboration with musician Douglas Cameron two years ago upon releasing his most recent novel, The Figures of Beauty when he was looking for something unique to do at the book’s launch.
“The passage I wanted to read at the book launch made reference to an Italian partisan song from the Second World War,” Macfarlane recalls. “It was one of those songs that, if you read the title, it doesn’t really register with an English-speaking audience — but when you hear the tune, it’s a familiar melody. I was frustrated that I was going to read this passage, making reference to this song, and no one at the book launch would know what the song was.”
“So I asked Douglas if we could work together in working out an arrangement where he played the melody on guitar and I read the passage. When we performed it at the book launch, I was struck by the power of combining words and music. It seemed to kind of elevate things to a whole different level. The people who were there also remarked on how this was a potent combination.”
With the success of the collaboration of their words and music, Macfarlane and Cameron decided to work on a larger project. With Harper-Collins about to republish The Danger Tree, the pair decided to create a piece surrounding that book. However, the pair wanted to make sure that it would be more than just a book reading.
“We agreed we didn’t want it to be a reading with background music,” Macfarlane says. “We wanted it to be very much a collaboration of a musician and a writer. We tell the same story together. Sometimes we sing together. Sometimes Douglas is speaking. So it’s very closely woven together.”
“It’s very much like being told a story, and that seems to be what connects to people. People seem to really like the idea they are listening to a story through spoken word and music, and it’s their imagination that fills in the faces and the features and the landscapes we’re describing.”
The title of the performance, The Door You Came In, comes from a song that Cameron wrote from inspiration he found at the funeral of Macfarlane’s mother.
“Douglas began writing ‘The Door You Came In’ at my mother’s funeral,” Macfarlane explains. “Three of us spoke, and we all made reference to a Newfoundland superstition my mother always talked about. When anyone came to visit she’d say ‘Be sure to leave by the door you came in, because if you don’t you’ll take the luck out of the house with you.’ Douglas began to write the song in the church, and that became the song that guided us through the show.”
So far Macfarlane and Cameron have performed the show at more than 20 venues throughout Ontario and most recently brought the show to Newfoundland. The show will continue through Ontario and the East Coast through 2016, with performances slated for Stratford next summer.
“We were nervous about doing it in Newfoundland because we’re mainlanders and it’s a story about Newfoundland,” Macfarlane admits. “We performed it in a room one night were there were quite a few people in the audience who actually knew the people we were talking about. So we were a little uncertain how we would be received.”
“Although we’ve been overwhelmed by audience reactions in Ontario, I have to say we were even more overwhelmed by the audience in Newfoundland. We were received with open arms in Newfoundland because the show makes a very strong point to not pretend to be Newfoundlanders. That would have been a disaster. The show is written very much from the viewpoint of two people who are not from Newfoundland, but loves it.”
Receiving standing ovations at every performance thus far, Macfarlane says that the audience has reacted to the show with both laughter and tears. However, at their most recent performance at The Arts and Culture Center in St. John’s in Newfoundland, the pair had a truly special thing happen involving a special member in the audience.
“John Crosby, the former Lieutenant of Newfoundland, was sitting in the first row,” Macfarlane recalls. “He’s still sharp as a tack, but he’s very uncertain on his feet. One of the most moving things that have happened to me was watching John Crosby struggle to give us a standing ovation. That was wonderful.”
The Door You Came In: Songs and Stories From The Danger Tree runs at The Theatre on King in Peterborough for three performances: Friday, November 20th at 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 21st at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door.
Photos courtesy of David Macfarlane and Douglas Cameron, except for the public domain photo of the danger tree.
