Before we announce the winners of our 2024 Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series.
One of our favourite productions of the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival, Desperate Measures featured a funny and fresh script co-created by Rachel Moore & Catherine Teichman. We spoke with the Outstanding New Work-nominated playwrights to hear the story behind the show and how the production came together.
What was your first experience with theatre?
R: When I was tiny I saw the 1995 Mirvish production of Beauty and the Beast, that was my first experience as an audience member. I’ve thought a lot about the imprint that might have made on me, and how it felt to be in a room full of hundreds of people that all got quiet at the same time as the lights dimmed. I hadn’t experienced anything like it at the time. And the witch floating into the air as she turns into the enchantress? I mean, come on, I was hooked.
C: One of the earliest shows that sticks in my memory was a puppet version of Comet in Moominland, which I think was touring here from Manitoba Theatre for Young People. It was in this big circular tent, and this miniature set was built all around the outside where the actors were puppeteering, and the kids all sat in the middle and turned to face the action as it moved. I just remember feeling so transported, it was very magical. I was also fortunate enough to grow up seeing a lot of theatre, often from behind-the-scenes because my parents both work in the industry too. That meant a lot of my first experiences weren’t just from the audience perspective, but also let me see the kind of hard work, collaboration, and team effort that making a show requires, which was its own kind of magic.
Do you remember the first thing you ever wrote?
R: I always enjoyed writing as a kid, and I spent a lot of time alone which gave me a lot of time to make stuff up. I think that big inner world is something I’ve, thankfully, held onto and I tap into often in my work. The first play I wrote was my 10-minute play Harlequin that I wrote for the Humber 10-minute play festival. It’s about a romance novelist who uses her books to escape the monotony of her mediocre relationship.
C: Similar to Rachel, I had a big imagination as a kid and spent a lot of time in that make-believe space. I remember writing a bunch of songs and short stories when I was little, but the first real script I remember creating was when I was 12 or 13 for a community activation program in my hometown. The idea was they had kids and teens write radio plays based on local landmarks, and then placed signs at the landmarks with a phone number where people could call in and hear the radio play. I don’t know if I have a copy of it anymore, but mine was about the city’s carousel coming to life in the middle of the night.
Where did the idea for Desperate Measures come from?
R: Catherine and I knew we wanted to find a project to work on together so I was pitching her some ideas that had piled up over the years that I never properly got started on. Desperate Measures started as an idea for a one-woman-show I had while I was reading craigslist ads years ago. If you’ve ever looked for jobs there then I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for dancers and escorts with lofty compensation attached. When I need money I spend a lot of time thinking about how to get it. And when I read those ads I started doing the math in my head…what was stopping me? What would happen if I responded to those ads? And then Catherine and I riffed on that and we had so much fun coming up with all the business logistics and problems that could arise. When we think back to what really inspired us it was the first time we imagined hundreds of pairs of red panties on stage. We knew it would be fun to watch because we had so much fun writing it.
Tell us about your collaborative process.
It was a concern of ours when we started co-writing that the script wouldn’t feel unified but we never really got that feedback. I think our voices are quite similar which helps. We have a close enough sense of humour and sensibility and as we wrote new drafts we would find ourselves solving problems on the fly more often, changing things together while we were on a call etc. so it became less of a concern. Best idea wins. And speaking of the best ideas we had a lot of help during the development process from actors who read the scripts in development and from our dramaturgical team, the brilliant minds of Matt Pilipiak and Kat Sandler.
Tell us about finding your cast and what they brought to the production.
We produced Desperate Measures in a “staged reading” format at the Hamilton Fringe in 2023 where we had different casts for each show. This spoiled us for choice when it came to casting for the 2024 production; we had several of those actors come audition for us and we ended up casting all actors who had all done those staged readings in 2023, though not necessarily with each other. Cameron Kneteman originally read it with his wife Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks, and Hilary Wirachowsky and Lisa Randall had both read with various combinations of actors in that Hamilton run.
We had so much fun with this cast, we really appreciated how much they’d advocate for their characters and play around in the room. Here’s a fun fact – Pete was originally an Oboe player, rather than an opera singer. Cam actually sang for us in his audition (such a show off), and then after we cast him he pitched that we consider switching it to opera singing.
What are some of the rewards and challenges of producing at the Fringe?
It can be so expensive to produce, and it’s so much work, and getting into the Fringe provides you with a way to make it happen. It was really meaningful to be part of the cohort of other shows being produced during the festival and share that experience. There were many rewarding things about this process, it meant a lot to us to be able to showcase our work and that we sold out our run.
The challenges – oh, the challenges. The two of us were the only producers on this show, in addition to co-creating, directing (in Rachel’s case), and designing the sound (in Catherine’s case). It was a lot to take on. As most people reading this will know, indie producing means that pretty much every job is your job. This meant that there were countless hours writing late into the night, problem solving on the patio at Java House, sewing pair after pair of panties, cramming the entire set into my Mazda 6, the list goes on. We rehearsed the majority of this show in various people’s living rooms – it wasn’t the most glamorous process but we made compromises to keep costs low and pay the artists as much as we could. I guess what we’re trying to say is that the beauty of Fringe is not that it’s glamorous but that it makes it possible to get things up on stage and even without the bells, whistles, and a fancy studio to rehearse in, we’re really proud of what we were able to do.
What were you hoping audiences would take away from the production?
First and foremost, we wanted the audience to have a great time. That being said we both have a cerebral side and enjoyed adding as many layers to this show as possible. The show is a comedy, but we wanted the couple to feel like a real couple – not stereotypes, and at the end of the day selling panties is sex work and we wanted to explore the complications that would arise in that line of work without sensationalizing it.
We started talking about writing this play in the winter of 2022 and, unfortunately, it has only felt more and more relevant based on the economic situation we’re all facing. We noticed many other shows at Toronto Fringe this past summer that also touched on financial problems, gambling, get-rich-quick schemes, and it’s clear that the cost of living is on everyone’s minds so hopefully this was a cathartic way for people to see that reflected.
What are some of the most memorable responses you received?
A few people asked if we were selling the panties as merch. We got one comment on our instagram that one of our audience members can’t seal up a ziplock bag without thinking of our show (if you missed the “DIY vacuum sealing” portion of our show… you can use your imagination). It was also interesting to hear from some audience members who were pregnant or have kids what they thought of the show. We wanted that part of it to feel authentic. For instance, it meant a lot to us that the pregnancy belly looked real. Many people asked if Hilary was actually pregnant and that’s a great compliment to the costume design but also a testament to Hilary’s movement work and research.
Truly, the best part was watching the audience watch the show. People would laugh, gasp, etc. and it felt amazing knowing that the audiences were really with us and invested.
What are you working on now/next? Anything to plug?
We’re taking some time to work on solo writing projects but we also have several projects that we’re planning to collaborate on when the time is right – we loved working together and plan to never stop until one of us dies.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Yes, we’d like to do a major shout out to a group that we lovingly refer to as “the sniffers” who shall remain anonymous. If you saw the show then you know that the sound design was our way to integrate the unseen customers who purchase the panties in this story. That meant we needed audio of people receiving the panties. Which meant, well, sniffing. To accomplish this we sent out a bunch of very strange texts and emails, something to the tune of “Hey, weird ask…would you be willing to send us an audio recording of you sniffing and moaning to mix with music for our sound design?” and unbelievably we received an outpouring of very vulnerable, very perfect audio clips for our show. You know who you are and we won’t name you but we love you, and we’re a tiny bit turned on.