The
Tom Thomson 
Musical
by Jim Betts

The Story Colours In The Storm is the story of Tom Thomson, one of Canadaís best loved painters.  Thomsonís landscapes of Algonquin Park - including "The West Wind", "The Jack Pine" and "Northern River" - are among the most famous paintings ever done in Canada.  But Thomson is perhaps as famous for the controversy of his death as he is for the strength of his paintings.  He died in mysterious circumstances in the waters of Canoe Lake, and in the 75 years since his death there has been endless speculation about who may have murdered him. Colours In The Storm is partly concerned with the mysteries of Thomsonís death, but it is more concerned with the passions of his life.  It is the story of a man who, after drifting through the first 35 years of his life, suddenly comes face to face with something in himself that he never really knew was there.  He fell under the spell of Algonquin Park, and came face to face with his own talent for painting that park, and with a potential in himself he became obsessed with exploring. The story of Thomson's years in the park is also the story of his relationships with a number of specific people: Winnie Trainor, to whom Thomson was alleged to be engaged in 1917; Martin Bletcher, long considered (although perhaps unfairly) the prime suspect in Thomson's mysterious death; Shannon and Annie Fraser, the proprietors of the Mowat Lodge, the inn on Canoe Lake where Thomson stayed each spring; and Larry Dixon, one of the local guides, and one of the men to discover Tom's body floating in Canoe Lake July 16th, 1917. The show is about one man's struggle to realize his own potential: about both the recognition of a talent in oneself, and of the determination and obsession with realizing that talent or potential.     What's Been Said About The Show "Memorable.  Evocative.  Wonderfully Haunting Musical Score.  A Hit." Stewart Brown, Hamilton Spectator "Vibrant songs.  Resounding emotion.  Sense of wonder."  Kerry Corrigan, Hamilton View "Elegant.  Mature and important themes."  Ray Conlogue, The Globe and Mail "A story brimming with adventure, romance and mystery.  Passionate intensity.  Superb."  Robert Reid, The Kichener Record     Colours In The Storm  Cast of Characters TOM THOMSON passionate, mercurial, and increasingly possessed by his artistic vision; 35 years old in 1912 WINNIE TRAINOR confident, capable and Thomson's equal in most things; a few years younger than Thomson MARTIN BLETCHER quiet, emotionally repressed, but capable of anger; considers himself Thomson's rival for Winnie SHANNON FRASER "the big Irishman"; powerful and quick to anger; jealous of and increasingly aggravated by Thomson ANNIE FRASER hard-working and good-hearted; endlessly intrigued by Thomson; comes to understand her own strengths LARRY DIXON poacher, guide and self-proclaimed "expert woods-man"; makes a mean vat of hooch MARK ROBINSON park ranger, diarist; grows to become one of Thomson's few friends WILD MARY an uncontrolled spirit of the bush, alert to and embracing of the dangers and passions of the park FRANCES McGILLVRAY an artist; self-confident, intelligent, goes after what she wants; in her 50's MARIE TRAINOR determined to be a proper mother, she has somehow sublimated a real strength and determination DR JAMES MacCALLUM ophthalmologist, art patron, businessmen; wry and intelligent; becomes Thomson's patron, agent and friend LAWREN HARRIS a founder of The Group Of Seven; spiritual; well-spoken  ALICE LAMBERT 15, vivacious, unaffected, determined     A Note On The 1998 Version Of Colours In The Storm COLOURS IN THE STORM has undergone a lengthy development.  It was originally commissioned and workshopped by Michael Ayoub and The Muskoka Festival in the late 1980's, and first reached the stage in 1990 as a co-production between The Muskoka Festival and Arbour Theatre Company in Peterborough.  That 1990 production was revived, with a number of script changes, in 1991. A few years later, Tapestry Music Theatre sponsored a re-examination of the script, and a new draft was developed with Urjo Kareda as dramaturge.  Under the direction of Martha Henry, that script was then workshopped by Tapestry and subsequently produced as part of a seven-week tour through Ontario in 1994.  That tour featured seven actors and four musicians.  The show was then adapted the following year into a one-act format and toured by Tapestry through the schools in association with Prologue To The Performing Arts. Yet another revised script was produced by Theatre Orangeville in 1997, and that script revised yet again for Theatre Aquarius in the fall of 1998.  It is that Theatre Aquarius version of the show - performed by a cast of eight actors and three musicians - that is represented here . The show as currently written could be performed by as many as twelve (or more) actors, and by many more musicians.  That production, however, has yet to happen. For Theatre Aquarius, all of the actors except Jonathan Whittaker (as THOMSON) doubled at least once.  Those doubles were: BLETCHER/ROBINSON, FRASER/HARRIS, MARIE/FRANCES, WILD MARY/ANNIE and DIXON/HUGH; all of those combinations, as well as the actors playing WINNIE and MacCALLUM, also doubled as "SHADES".  It is possible to change how the doubling works, and in fact no two productions have used the same doubling breakdowns. Because the story moves quickly through many different locations, the set needs to be as flexible as possible.  Jonathan Porter's set for the Theatre Aquarius production was beautifully evocative of Algonquin Park: it featured three main acting areas defined by riser units, each of a different size and shape; there was then a beautiful back drop based on one of Thomson's sky paintings balanced by a number of translucent screens to either side based on motifs from Thomson's "Northern River" painting. Props and costumes were realistic (although early productions of the show used as few real props as possible).  Jonathan Whittaker as THOMSON actually painted onstage as part of the show (and the pre-show), so many of the "boards" and paints were real working props.  Other "boards" were facsimiles of some of Thomson's relevant paintings. Two very specific design/performance choices were made in this production, as they were in 1990 in Muskoka. A rain barrel was a prominent part of the set, where "LARRY DIXON" often stood and accompanied scenes.  There are a few notations in the script that read "Shane McPherson as Algonquin Park".  Shane played DIXON in the original Muskoka production, and again in 1997-8 at Theatre Orangeville and Theatre Aquarius.  Standing by the barrel, and with the use of a few props or whistled bird and loon calls, Shane managed to create a wonderful soundscape and almost musical underscore to certain scenes.  He would create the sounds of Canoe Lake, or a river or a canoe trip by using a canoe paddle to stir the water in the barrel.  He had a set of "spoons" that he used to make the sound of skipping stones in Scene 6, or to accompany "The One That Got Away".  He had small stones (of various sizes) tied to strings that he used for the sound of fishing lures hitting the water in Scene 12, or BLETCHER's "plop" in Scene 6.  And he had a watering can that he used while THOMSON was standing in the canoe in Scene 12.  More than any other single choice, I think the use of the rain barrel is what gave those particular productions their unique sense of style. Every production of COLOURS IN THE STORM will eventually have to decide how to deal with the canoe scenes.  The Tapestry Music Theatre production, designed by Jim Plaxton, used a wonderfully alive canoe based on a kind of "swiveling teeter-totter" design.  The choice we made was far simpler.  The original Muskoka Theatre production used a stationery bench - all the actual movement of the canoe in the water was created by the actors.  In the 1997-8 Orangeville and Aquarius productions, we made three separate canoe choices: in "Thunderhead" THOMSON used the edge of the stage as his canoe; in "The One That Got Away" and "Still Water/White Water" we used a wooden bench; and in the more surrealistic "Just A Little Farther" scene in Act 2 THOMSON and ROBINSON stood in separate isolated specials and "paddled" standing up, shifting their bodies in unison as the canoe went in new directions. The stage directions included in this script are meant to give the reader a feeling of how the Theatre Aquarius production worked.  It is possible, however, to interpret the story in any number of physical settings and by using as much imagination as possible in how the show is staged. One of the main themes of the show is the search for artistic perfection.  That is never going to happen, and it certainly hasn't yet been achieved by COLOURS IN THE STORM.  But we can keep trying, and so I encourage anyone who produces the show in the future to continue that search.  The Original Production Of COLOURS IN THE STORM was a co-production between The Muskoka Festival and Arbour Theatre Company, Peterborough. The original creative team was as follows: Directed by Michael Ayoub Musical Direction and Vocal Arrangements by Stephen Woodjetts Orchestration and Arrangements Ed Henderson Set and Lighting Design by Rod Hillier Costume Design by David Juby Choreography by Caroline Smith Tom Thomson Jonathan Whittaker Mark Robinson, Martin Bletcher, et al Ralph Small Winnie Trainor Suzanne Bennett Shannon Fraser, Larry Dixon, et al Shane McPherson Annie Fraser, Frances McGillvray, et al Elise Dewsberry Pianist Stephen Woodjetts Guitarist Mike Allen Fiddler/Mandolin Shelley Coopersmith Stage Manager Madelyne Keane Assistant Stage Manager Theresa Malek Apprentice Stage Manager Judith Begley Acknowledgments: The Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council, The Laidlaw Foundation, Victoria Steele, Young People's Theatre, Doug Ellis, CAMTA and the Factory Lab Theatre. DEVELOPING ARTISTS FOR THE FIRST PRODUCTION WERE: Michael Ayoub, Suzanne Bennett, Elise Dewsberry, Melanie Doane, Judith Farthing, Rachel Glover, Shelley Hanson, Ed Henderson, Kate Hennig, Lee MacDougall, Shane McPherson, David Nairn, Barry Peters, Ralph Small, Marcia Tratt, Judy Uwiera, Jonathan Whittaker, Stephen Woodjetts and Patrick Young. COLOURS IN THE STORM was produced by Theatre Aquarius in 1998 with the following creative team: Directed by Jim Betts Musical Direction by Charles Cozens Set and Costume Design by Jonathan Porter Lighting Design by Louise Guinand Sound Design by Mike Stewart Choreography by Max Reimer Tom Thomson Jonathan Whittaker Winnie Trainor Suzanne Bennett Mark Robinson, Martin Bletcher, et al Ralph Small Shannon Fraser, Lawren Harris, et all Lee MacDougall Larry Dixon, Hugh Trainor, et al Shane McPherson Wild Mary, Annie Fraser, et al Naomi Emmerson Marie Trainor, Frances McGillvray, et al Sheila Brand James MacCallum et al Brian Rhodes Pianist Charles Cozens Guitarist Mike Allen Fiddler/Mandolin Shelley Coopersmith Stage Manager Stephen Newman Assistant Stage Manager Cindy Jennings

The painting is  Northern River by Canadian artist  Tom Thomson. Tom Thomson (1877-1917) Northern River, 1914-15 Oil on canvas, 115.1 x 102 cm  National Gallery of Canada,  Ottawa, ON. Canada