Its creator describes it as a dork fest.
It’s no surprise that Charles Ross has a sense of humour about his hour-long, one man show, which spawned his international theatre career. The show itself, One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, is hilarious.
Ross condenses more than six hours of the original trilogy into 60 minutes, playing each character, from Princess Leia to Yoda – plus Stormtroopers and Ewoks in between – to tell the story.
“It’s gotten dorkier over the years,” he said.
Ross grew up on a farm in Prince George, B.C., without television. The family did have a VHS player and three movies – The Blue Lagoon, Shogun and Star Wars.
“It was far removed from cable or radio reception,” he said. “Anytime I wanted to watch TV I watched Star Wars.”
Ross, a former student of the University of Victoria, took his knowledge of the film and translated it into a sketch comedy routine, which formed the basis of the current play. That was 10 years ago.
Since then, Ross performed One Man Star Wars, plus One Man Lord of the Rings, internationally, beginning with fringe festivals and moving on to theatres in New York and London. Next month he begins a tour of Australia which will see him on stage at the Sydney Opera House.
Lucas Film, the company which owns the Star Wars brand, likes what Ross is doing and granted a license for him to continue.
“They [Lucas Film] wanted to know what I was doing and whether it reflected well or poorly on Star Wars,” Ross said.
Ross performs simply in black pants and shirt, using only his voice and body to move the story to conclusion. The decision to go without props like a light sabre or a laser blaster allowed for easier travel, set up and staging.
“And it makes it weirder than it already is,” Ross said.
Even if you lived on an ice floe in Canada’s high Arctic for the last 30 years, you will still understand what’s going on in Ross’s show. He gauges the audience’s knowledge of the movies based on a series of jokes in the first minute of the performance.
At least once he performed the show – successfully – to an audience with little experience with the movies.
“If they know a whole bunch about Star Wars it changes the pace of the show,” Ross said.
The Star Wars movies first appeared in the 1970s and although the special effects still hold up in the digital age, the longevity of the films is due to the characters and story.
The hero, Luke Skywalker, was as far removed as possible from the war between the Empire and the Rebels. Until the day adventure came to his front door and he was whisked away to heroically save the galaxy.
It leaves people with the question, were they put in the same situation, would they rise to the occasion, as Luke did?
“Plus there’s light sabres and spaceships,” Ross said.
One-Man Star Wars is set for Feb. 11-12, 7:30 p.m., at Nanaimo Entertainment Centre (old Caprice Theatre) on Nicol Street. Tickets $25/advance; $30/door. Please visit www.fringetastic.com to purchase online. Cash only accepted at the door.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
