GCTC poets take Democracy to task

by Denis Armstrong
Ottawa Sun
25 January 2006

Actor Geordie Johnson loves the live stage but it's his work on TV that's got him the most notice.

The veteran actor, one of Canada's more recognizable faces on television and film, gets back to his theatrical roots playing the legendary American poet Walt Whitman in the Great Canadian Theatre Company's latest production Democracy, opening tomorrow night.

YEARN FOR THE STAGE

He also had roles in The English Patient, Showtime's Charms For the Easy Life and Liszt's Rhapsody. Add to that guest appearances on E.N.G., Street Legal, Traders, Largo Winch and Canada: A People's History and you have a face -- if not a name -- many people recognize.

"I loved doing movies and television," the 52-year-old Johnson said during a break in rehearsals. "It used to be that I'd yearn for the stage when I was doing TV and wished I was doing television when I was acting in a play.

"I've done so much television, especially in Europe, it changed my career and life. But it's true, there's nothing like a live audience. That's real nourishment for any actor."

Johnson has divided his time at Stratford equally between Shakespeare and American classics by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, where his swarthy good looks and impeccable stage manners make him ideal leading man material.

LUSTY SENSUALIST

"I've always felt it was really important to go out into the wider world and enjoy a diverse career," he said. "Doing movies like The English Patient and TV, I've been able to tour the world and have the kind of life I never would have had had I stayed at Stratford alone.

"It's really changed my life. But acting in front of an audience opened up my life. I've learned a lot about myself by acting."

In John Murrell's political wordfest Democracy, Johnson's Whitman argues the nature of citizenship, freedom and responsibility, with famed American poet Ralph Waldo Emmerson, played by Jack Wetherall. The two are unlikely allies, Whitman is a lusty, back-to-nature sensualist while Emmerson is a cool intellectual.

"Whitman has a lust for life," said Johnson. "I can relate to a lot of what he says about death and getting on with life."

TOUGH WORK

Although the play is set during the American Civil War, Johnson said the timing of the play is perfect for today.

"It's one whole day beside a pond, the two poets making sense of democracy, what it is and how it can evolve."

The role mirrors his own upbringing. A native of Cowley, Alta., Johnson began working for the family sawmill business while a teenager.

"It didn't take me long to figure out what hard work is," he laughed. "I didn't know what I wanted to do until I found a deep connection with theatre."

Democracy runs until Feb. 12. Tickets are $12-$34 at the box-office at 236-5196.

 

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