John Agnew
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jul 31/98) - Last Sunday afternoon, Ben Nind and the other members of the Stuck in a Snowbank Theatre company pulled back the curtains and let their audience at NACC in on a secret.

The troupe held a public reading of a work in progress, Brian Lewis' drama "The Arctic Circle War."

Playwrights inevitably endure an intense labor before their work is born. The voyage from the imagination to the stage is a long one.

By the nature of the process, the experience can be at the very least daunting for an author -- if not downright humbling.

Actors, directors and dramaturges all whack away at the script, questioning the author's every intent. Characters are scrutinized, lines changed and scenes re-written.

Seated on the stage at NACC, hardcore theatre lovers watched the results of a week's work on "The Arctic Circle War." Mitch Jamieson, Brian Collins and Murray Utas, scripts in hand, delivered a re-worked version of the play.

Philip Adams of the Nakai Theatre in Whitehorse was the dramaturge, probing the characters' motivations, re-structuring scenes and editing speeches.

As the playwright, Lewis was central to the process, defending, coaxing and massaging his work.

For theatre-goers the afternoon was a pleasure and a privilege, as a glimpse behind the scenes of a production is.

The experience also demonstrated that the theatre community in Yellowknife still has a strong, steady pulse. As Erik Watt's engaging "Bush Pilot" concludes its extraordinarily successful second season and with Lewis' play now in the works, it seems that theatre by Northerners, about Northerners is alive and well.

Two strong presentations by Yellowknife playwrights at the Festival of the Midnight Sun add further proof.

Healthy ticket sales for "Bush Pilot" and the commitment of corporate sponsors to local theatre are all good signs.

The stage is set for the next act.