Between Breaths is more than a play about whales.
Star Steve O’Connell says the show, on stage at Neptune Theatre’s Fountain Hall, has universal elements.
“It’s a fundamental play about this family, this husband and wife, and what happens when one of them gets sick and the other one has to look after them, and I think that’s something that everybody at some point, unfortunately, knows something about,” O’Connell said during an interview at the theatre.
“That part of the show translates everywhere.”
O’Connell (Republic of Doyle) plays Jon Lien, a man credited with saving over 500 animals. He became known as the Whale Man across Newfoundland and Labrador for his daring rescues.
Lien pioneered techniques for saving whales tangled in fishing nets. O’Connell said he looked for ways to free whales while doing little damage to expensive fishing gear, thus getting the fishing community on board with his initiatives.
Lien’s biggest fight came against an illness suspected to be a long-term result of a highway crash. He died in 2010, after coping with progressing immobility and dementia for eight years.
Along with marine life, the play by Robert Chafe is also about the challenges Lien, his family and friends faced toward the end of his life.
Chafe asked O’Connell a couple of years ago if he would be free to participate in a workshop version of the play.
“The strangest thing was I didn’t know Jon,” the actor said.
“I’m from St. John’s, but I didn’t really know Jon. I knew that there was a whale man but I didn’t know who he was.”
It turned out he knew two of Lien’s children from high school.
“It was really interesting to know all of his kids but not really know him or what he was all about. I’ve since had a great time meeting with the Lien family.”
O’Connell wasn’t sure he’d continue to be involved with the play as there were different concepts floating around, including airborne whales and cast members flying on wires to simulate swimming.
“I kind of figured I wasn’t going to be able to do that,” he said.
Most mountings of the production feature a spare circular set, with musical accompaniment provided by onstage musicians, but the show has proven to be as adaptable as Lien.
“We kind of liked the idea that we could play this anywhere, and we have played it everywhere, sometimes without a set, without chairs, just doing a staged reading of it, and the story is still powerful,” said O’Connell.
“We’ve also done a version of it without the set but with a whole 30-piece orchestra behind, kind of supporting our three-piece band, that was absolutely spectacular.”
Halifax is a port of call in a Canadian tour that will eventually get all the way out to British Columbia next year.
Also appearing in Between Breaths are Berni Stapleton (Judy) and Darryl Hopkins (Wayne). Musicians Brianna Gosse, Steve Maloney and Kevin Woolridge are on stage performing music written for the show by the Once. The Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland production is directed by Jillian Keiley.
Between Breaths runs through Nov. 10 in Fountain Hall at Neptune, which last week announced record attendance and a modest surplus for the second year in a row.
Over 105,000 patrons came to the theatre during the 2018-19 season, a 25 per cent jump over the previous year, according to a news release issued after the annual general meeting.
Much of the increase was attributed to Cinderella, which attracted more than 24,000 patrons, becoming the highest-grossing holiday production in Neptune’s history.
Between Breaths is also scheduled to be staged at Acadia University in Wolfville on Nov. 11.
