Noah Reid

Noah Reid Instagram – What a piece of work is a man. Playing Hamlet at the @tarragontheatreto in 2018, taken by my dear friend @theo.skudra. The theatre has always been a big part of my root system, and I’ve missed it in this time. In some ways I guess it’s nice to have a reminder that there’s no substitute for communal experience. When I was a kid, my family would go see shows in Toronto at the Tarragon or Factory or Canstage or SoulPepper, Mirvish or Stratford or the Dream in High Park, and I fell in love with the feeling of the lights going down, knowing I was entering some kind of sacred bubble, that I was going to be led through a maze, not knowing where it was going, hearing the audience laugh or gasp, measuring my own reaction against it, learning to watch the whole action, not just whoever was speaking, watching it unfold both alone and as a congregation. Then on the drive home, talking about it, analyzing it, dissecting it, developing a sense of critical thought, what worked, what didn’t work. Imagining myself in a part, how would I do it? How would it feel? Performing Hamlet was a huge challenge and a lifetime goal for me, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have spent that time in his tormented shoes. Richard Rose directed this production as a rock concert, with a band of actor/musicians creating a live score throughout the piece. We spoke into handheld mics, which became a way to tell the story with an intimacy and intensity we don’t often get with Shakespeare. It felt to me like we had a direct line to the audience; none of this lofty singsongy find the back row stuff, this was like a whisper inside your own head or a scream you could feel in your whole body. Many people told me they heard and felt the story clearly for the first time. Others told me it wasn’t for them. I think this is the beauty of the theatre. Hundreds of people in the same room watching the same thing and experiencing it completely differently. Whatever the range of that experience, there is an unmistakable togetherness to it. That’s the magic. I miss it, and I can’t wait to get back to it. | Posted on 12/Jan/2022 01:31:51