I’m in a late-morning Zoom conversation with Jesse Gervais, and the Edmonton-based actor exudes smiles and warmth.
This summer, the actor came east to step into the iconic role of Jules “Skinner” Tonnerre in the Stratford Festival’s world premiere of Vern Thiessen and Yvette Nolan’s adaptation of Margaret Laurence’s seminal 1974 novel The Diviners. Playing this key role has allowed Gervais to tap into his Métis heritage, while embodying a character who grapples with identity, displacement, and trauma. It’s personal. It’s professionally challenging. And he’s having a thoroughly fulfilling experience with it.
Directed by Krista Jackson with Geneviève Pelletier (who is the production’s Cultural Consultant), The Diviners centres on Morag Gunn (played by Irene Poole), a 47-year-old successful writer living in Ontario in 1972. The narrative is set in motion when Morag’s 18-year-old daughter Pique (Julie Lumsden) suddenly leaves home. She journeys to Morag’s hometown of Manawaka, Manitoba, seeking to understand her half-Métis identity. Meanwhile Morag, struggling with writer’s block and excessive drinking, reflects on her past — and the play uses intricate, organic choreography on an evocative, minimalist stage (designed by Bretta Gerecke) to weave in and out of flashbacks – “memorybank movies” – to key periods of her life.
We see the trauma of her childhood as an orphan raised by her father’s friend and town garbage collector Christie Logan (Jonathan Goad), her attraction to her childhood friend Jules, her marriage to older university English professor Brooke Skelton (Dan Chameroy), and her friendship in adulthood with neighbour Royland (Anthony Santiago), a water diviner. Morag reflects on her life through a non-linear narrative that explores themes of colonialism, artistic development, and the struggles of being an outsider.
The book’s expansive and multi-layered narrative captivated Gervais. “The novel does so many things”, he observes, reflecting on how Laurence’s original work delves into identity, culture, class and belonging, the Métis experience as explored through the experiences of the Tonnerre family, and the ideas of history and memory through storytelling. He was particularly drawn to the novel’s exploration of alienation and displacement, which Laurence “ties . . . so beautifully into the land and these ideas of intergenerational legacies and cultural conflict and resolution.”
To capture the authenticity of these complex themes, the production significantly expanded Indigenous representation and cultural elements, including Michif, the language of the Métis people, and Métis musical traditions. Darla Daniels, an experienced Métis musician, was cast to bring authenticity to the role of the Métis Fiddler, and served as Métis jigging consultant. The resulting production uses a chorus of actors, soaring music, dynamic dance (choreographed by Cameron Carver) and creative staging to amplify and contextualize the complex, time-shifting and culture-bridging story of Morag’s journey from a young orphan to a mother grappling with her daughter’s quest for self-discovery.
The challenge of distilling such a multifaceted work into a stage production is not lost on Gervais. Describing the play as “a memory play about a woman who evolves from a place of poverty and insecurity and self-doubt to really finding her voice and agency as a woman and as an artist,” Gervais marvels at the adaptation’s ability to weave together the novel’s many threads. “There are so many ideas that come into the novel,” he acknowledges. “It’s a testament to the adaptation in finding the threads that are compelling – because you can’t have everything that’s in the book.” And the adaptation captures the essence of “huge scope of the novel,” if not every detail.
Jules Tonnerre, the character Gervais portrays, is central to the play’s exploration of Métis identity, the impact of racial trauma, and the search for belonging. “I have a lot of similarities with the character from my own family,” Gervais reveals. “My father is a Métis man. My mother comes from Scottish descent. They had a beautiful love affair, and I was the result of that.” He smiles broadly, then explains how this personal connection to the role enriches his portrayal: “Jules struggles with his Métis identity and his role of music in his life. He experiences a tremendous amount of displacement and a search for belonging. In the play, you get to see him experience themes of survival and resilience – and he carries with him the weight of internalized trauma. But he still maintains an important idea of family and history – and this serves as a beautiful backdrop for the novel.”
Jules comes in and out of Morag’s life a number of times. And his internal drama—his complicated relationship with Morag, and his attempts to cope with the trauma of his past—are one key to the emotional depth of the play. Gervais, who plays the role with a deft mix of sensitivity and strength, sees Jules’ journey as both individual and representative of broader Indigenous experiences. “He struggles with so much shame, and his family history, and the perceived failures that he has as a man,” Gervais notes. He points to the death of Jules’s sister Piquette (Caleigh Crow), which haunts him throughout his life, shaping his choices and requiring numbing through his nomadic lifestyle. “It’s an all too common feeling among Indigenous people,” Gervais observes, before highlighting how Jules uses music as both a creative outlet and a way to cope with his trauma. In fact, one of Gervais’ unexpected joys in preparing for the role was learning to play the guitar. “I didn’t know how much I would love playing it!” he smiles. “It’s a wonderful thing that’s come out of this, and now I want to continue to play, and get better and better.”
While acknowledging that the theatrical production is a very different experience from the novel, audience reactions to The Diviners have been positive – with viewers finding themselves moved by the play’s emotional resonance and cultural significance. Gervais recounts an encounter with a group of people from Neepawa, which is Laurence’s hometown and was the real-life inspiration for the novel’s fictional setting. They were thrilled to see the Métis experience brought to life because “they’d never seen representation like that on stage at this level,” he explains. “And to have a play set in your town? It feels pretty special to be seen that way!” That broad smile reappears. “That was really lovely.”
Commenting more broadly about the enduring appeal of The Diviners, Gervais doubles down on this idea of being seen: “It really does a good job of reflecting the complexities of our country’s colonial history and identity.” The play, like the novel, offers all Canadian audience members the chance to reflect on who they are and where they come from, “and that is something Canadians are continually searching for”.
Gervais is no stranger to compelling and challenging roles. Earlier this year, he gave a standout performance as white agitator Thomas Scott in Women of the Fur Trade, a co-production between Native Earth Performing Arts and the National Arts Centre. And after The Diviners, he is set to to play the Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. After that, he returns to Women of the Fur Trade, directed by Yvette Nolan, at the Globe Theatre in Regina – but this time portraying Métis leader Louis Riel, who led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and is regarded as the founder of Manitoba. “It’s an honour. It truly is an honour to be a part of that,” he says, eyes glistening. “The more I get to explore those roles, the deeper I delve into my own family history, and it serves as a real conduit for learning about myself and where I come from.”
Much like Jules’ efforts to preserve his identity and family history, Gervais and his father recently undertook a quest of their own: a personal project at their family cemetery in northern Saskatchewan. “We recreated a church that used to stand on that cemetery. We got to rebuild it based on pictures, and we filled it with pictures of our family” he shares. “It was a wonderful experience, and a real gift to be able to share that with him.” And he has his mother to thank for a surprising personal passion: calligraphy. “I really nerd out,” he laughs, after explaining that his mother was a gifted calligrapher with beautiful handwriting. “I love doing things with my hands and making things like that. That’s a very calming thing I do in my downtime.”
As we close our conversation on his key role in this landmark performance of The Diviners, he is reflective. “It’s my very first time at Stratford. I’ve never been here. I’ve never even seen shows here, and to be here,” he smiles. “I feel very, very fortunate”.
The Diviners is on stage at the Tom Patterson Theatre only until October 2, 2024. Visit stratfordfestival.ca to reserve tickets.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine, 2024
