Provocative play examines truth

Brad Fraser made a career for himself out of writing provocative plays including Poor Superman The Ugly Man and Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love . He frequently challenges long-established notions of sexuality relationships and power often resulting in an outpouring of criticism and praise from audiences and critics alike. His work has been described as subversive disturbing and downright hilarious.

His latest drama True Love Lies tells the story of a seemingly normal nuclear family. When the father is confronted by a former male lover the family’s assumptions about their relationships are proven to be only half-baked; secrets are disclosed pain and heartbreak ensue and the family is redefined. The play is based on Fraser’s own experience of encountering a previous boyfriend and discovering the man was married with children.

Kate Newby the director of the Alberta Theatre Projects production was drawn to the play by Fraser’s fixation on love and society’s ways of viewing the emotion. Our culture holds many myths about love that attempt to define intimacy in narrow ways she says. Newby believes love is incredibly complex and changes from person to person.

“I think the most intriguing part is how we adapt to love and how love changes us” she says “how relationships and circumstance changes the way we view love.”

For Newby it’s the secrets that prove to be most heart-wrenching for the family in True Love Lies . When skeletons are pulled from the closet the children view their parents differently and trust is severely damaged between husband and wife. Sex and relationship columnist Dan Savage once said “lies damned lies” are what poison most relationships and True Love Lies explores the effects of such deceit.

But it’s not just the falsehoods in the loving relationships that muck things up. Society can be naive in how it views love and partnerships. “I get kind of tired of hearing about ‘traditional family values’” Newby says. “We have this Judeo-Christian myth about the family you know that as long as the family has a male and a female and children everything’s going to be perfect and OK. Those ideals just don’t work.”

Newby says if two people are connected and in love it doesn’t matter what their sexual identity is.

“That’s not important. The play really hits that fact. Love isn’t about sexuality or gender. Love is about love. And it’s about people communicating and being truthful.”

Many familiar fairy tales convey the idea that for every princess there is a prince and that prince will rescue the princess they’ll get married and live happily ever after. It’s a notion our culture passes down to children over and over again and Newby thinks that myth needs to be re-evaluated. “Life just doesn’t work that way” she says. “Why don’t we just get real? Why don’t we just fall in love with those that we love as opposed to doing what we should do? There are pressures in society that try to force us to be a certain person when we may not be that.”

The soul of True Love Lies she says comes from Fraser’s growth as a person and his experiences with love over time. Fraser himself says the play is a spiritual sequel to Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love . If one views the previous play written 20 years ago followed by True Love Lies one will notice a pronounced difference in the heart of both plays. Newby attributes the change to Fraser’s personal character and soulfulness.

The structure of Fraser’s work has often been described as cinematic for its short scenes and jump cuts and his language is frequently couched in the idiom of pop culture. Many years ago a critic reviewing one of Fraser’s plays described his work as “theatre for the MuchMusic generation.”

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