SPOILER ALERT: We will be making further productions of Lake of the Strangers in the future so if you weren’t able to make it out to one of the theatrical performances in early 2019 and wish for the plot to remain a mystery, please don’t continue reading!
Another month brings another adventure into an artist’s creative process as a part of our Reflection Ceremony series; a collection of blog posts in which we speak with a host of Alberta-based artists who created original pieces of art inspired by our one-man play, Lake of the Strangers.
Introducing: Chelsea Armstrong.
Chelsea is an unstoppable force whose love for reading led to a deep-seated passion for creative writing that she’s pursued since she learned how to tie her shoelaces. With a BA in English from the University of Alberta and a published work in a horror and speculative fiction anthology, Chelsea writes both fiction and non-fiction and finds the act of writing a chance to experiment with language and make sense of the what-ifs buried in her brain.
We were overjoyed for Chelsea to walk alongside us as we continued our journey into understanding how to form a new myth. She hopes that her short story reminds you that things aren’t always what they seem and we do too.
You’re It
Uncle told me to stay inside because of my asthma. But we hardly ever saw fog! All the more reason to frolic in the ground clouds I thought.
“You’ll be coughing all night,” he warned.
“You’re not my dad!” I shot back. I thought it was kinda funny because no one was. More than a good night’s sleep, I loved proving people wrong. Uncle’s mouth moved like a fish. Open and closed. Sucking on stale air. Jared and I left him to catch flies all by his lonesome.
We zipped up our jackets in the boot room. “They say this year’s the one,” Jared said. “Will it show up today, you think?”
“Stop with that garbage story already.” I hoped it sounded tougher to his ears than it did to mine.
Jared wiggled his fingers at me. “Somebody’s sc-a-a-r-e-d.”
“I’m not!” I said, louder than intended. “I know it’s made up. It’s a — what’s it called? An urbing legend.”
Jared looked like he was about to puke. Probably one of his practical jokes. I ignored it and continued.
“ — You know. A story someone makes up to scare every kid in town from ever leaving their house. In other words, a big fat lie.”
“OK, so how do know this is a…urBING legend?” Jared asked.
“Because.”
“Because — ”
I liked Jared, but man could he be a pest sometimes. “It hasn’t shown up yet. What would make today any different?”
“That’s not for us to answer.” Then after a pause, “Ika, what do you think it will do to us?”
[…]
To read the rest of Chelsea’s short story, click here.
What moment or moments from Lake of the Strangers did you respond to with your artwork and why?
The very beginning — when Henry and Thomas are splashing their way to Lesser Slave Lake. While I didn’t realize it at the time, that water soaked into my skin, my ears, my brain. Because the stage is a pool, the entire show syncs to a soundtrack of restless water. So you can see the liquid, you can hear it, you can smell it as the show unfolds. That stuck with me. In my story, You’re It, water appears in a different form — fog.
I was also struck by Henry’s grief and seeing a young child deal with loss.
Children can inspire us to relive and appreciate awe, discovery and laughter. Those finer moments in life. So it’s heartbreaking to see them hurting and having to cope with trauma they aren’t ready to handle.
I wish we could protect all children from this, but the reality is we can’t. The world can be a dark place, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that without sinking to the depths of despair. It’s all about balance which of course is easier said than lived.
What medium did you choose and what was the inspiration for that decision?
Short story all the way. Perhaps this was the safe option for me.
Creative writing is a passion that’s been coursing through these veins since my first days of shoe-tying.
But even though writing is an activity I love, I will avoid it like the plague. It’s the strangest relationship.
This project forced me, in the best way, to sit my butt down and focus on crafting a story in response to another piece of art.
How did you approach creating this work both technically and artistically?
This might get confusing, so hold on to your hat.
- Before and after watching Lake of the Strangers, I wrote a free-flow of words to describe how I was feeling, what I was thinking.
- A couple days later, when the synapses were still fresh and firing, I reflected on the show and recorded several themes and plot points that resonated with me. That resulted in over a dozen words strewn across a page. I stared at those phrases for far too long.
- The next day, I held the words in front of me, closed my eyes and sectioned them into groups of three by jabbing a finger randomly at the page. (This is starting to sound weird, even to me.)
- Then I brainstormed a story premise for each of these word groupings. My chosen story used the grouping of “final + after-life + chase.” Sure, my piece didn’t end up conforming to that structure, but it gave me a place to start.
As I’ve mentioned, writing is the act I love most, but I will sidestep it at all cost.
My artistic process is haphazard, unscheduled. It’s a wonder I create anything. And yet, every time I finish a piece, I’m reminded of how fulfilling it is to discover ideas I didn’t even know I had and pour them onto a page.
What do you hope people take away after experiencing your piece?
I hope readers sit back, raise their eyebrows and go, “hmm.” Not like they’re confused. More like they’re intrigued by the way my story reimagines the game of tag. I hope it reminds them that things aren’t always what they seem and truth is something that can never be fully realized.
Some art revolves around the creation of one piece or experience. In joining the creative journey with Lake of the Strangers, can you share your experience in creating an artistic response alongside the show?
I haven’t collaborated on a project like this before, and I was honoured to participate. It was overwhelming too, heading into a theatre knowing that, ideally, I’d walk back out with an idea. And then create…something. Anything! My goal was to watch the show with an open and curious mind in hopes that I’d somehow absorb the core of the work and ultimately re-envision that through a new lens.
Writing can be a lonely process. This project disrupted the silence and filled it with art, conversation and community. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
If you’d like to learn more about Chelsea and her work you can check out her tumblr or Twitter @keyboardclicks.
For other posts in this series, you can visit the Iskotew: Our Circle page on our blog and to hear from the extraordinary person who made this Reflection Ceremony and all of its creations possible you can click here.
