Interview with the author:
Interviewer: Can you tell us a little about the
history behind your play Catch As Catch
Can, where you got the idea, where the story came from?
Vello: I wrote the play for a childhood friend of mine. We met in
kindergarten, actually, and grew up together. This was here in Winnipeg – St.
Boniface. Growing up we were close, and then by the end of high school we had
gone different ways, didn’t keep in touch. It wasn’t until about ten years
later that I received a package from him, with a Canadian flag! It was really
out of the blue. I was living in Finland at the time and my daughter was just
born and I was starting a new life there. After that we kept in touch, and I
saw him the few times I was back in Canada visiting family. Then about three
years ago, we were on the phone and got to talking about the situation of the
world economy, and how it looked like the West was on the verge of collapse –
both economic and when it comes to questions of personal freedom. So we came up
with a plan of escaping to a tropical paradise somewhere, running a café maybe,
or a language school, and living out our days on the beach.
Interviewer: So is your play a true story?
Vello: No, not at all. I haven’t escaped to that beach – not yet
anyway. But after the phone conversation, an image came to me of two guys in a
beach hut, one with a gun and one in handcuffs. It was just an image I had in
my mind for a while – the opening image of the play when the lights go up. The
story came out of that.
Interviewer: Catch
As Catch Can deals with moral issues, questions of right and wrong. Where
does that come from?
Vello: I grew up Catholic so the theme comes naturally to me. [Laughs] I don’t know, I’ve always been
interested in how we determine what is right and wrong, what is truth, who is
right. I haven’t consciously written that into the play but it comes out with
these two characters. A strong theme in the play, of course, deals with power
and control, and who governs the use of that power.
Interviewer: Getting back to what you said earlier,
about personal freedom. How did that figure into the writing?
Vello: That’s a deep question. I grew up with punk music and
always had this ideal that whatever anyone thought or felt was important – no matter
what it was. That we are allowed to have our own ideas – however bizarre.
Instinctively, I’ve always been against any type of control- even when it comes
to writing down words! I have a slight animosity toward that side of writing, because
it’s more limiting than what your mind actually goes through. So school was a
big issue for me. Anyway, since 9-11, we’ve had more and more state control,
state surveillance, tracking technology, that sort of thing coming down on us,
and that was really bothering me while writing this play. It’s always been
there, of course, Governments are always trying to control people - it’s what
they do right? Except that nowadays the world is smaller because of technology,
and I had this sense that it’s harder to get away from that type of control. So
the idea of two friends escaping to a tropical paradise really appealed to me.
Interviewer: Although it’s not exactly paradise in
your play.
Vello: Well, no. Because they bring their past with them. It could
be if they left it behind.
Interviewer: So would you say this is a political
play?
Vello: Not overtly, but to a certain degree it is. At least that’s
where it started, with conversations over the phone about the economy and
politics. But I’d say the play is more personal, about what it takes to find
personal freedom. One solution is to play games. Have fun.
Interviewer: Can you tell us how the title Catch As Catch Can came about?
Vello: Sure, my working title for the play was Tropical Paradise. A little bland – but it
carried me through the first drafts at least. Then later, after I had finished
the play, I was listening to a Lou Reed song and the line “catch as catch can”
jumped out at me. And when I found that it comes from a style of wrestling, a
no-holds-barred style of wrestling, it seemed to fit perfectly for the play.
Plus it sounds like the name of a game. Which I made it into for the play.
Interviewer: Is there a specific message in the
script that you want audiences to get?
Vello: Yes. Have fun. Be Happy and Lucky.
Interviewer: Those are the names of the characters in
the play, but they aren’t ever mentioned. Why is that?
Vello: I guess that’s back to your question of finding the message
in the script.
Interviewer: Okay, but the characters seem to be
playing games throughout the play. Can you talk more about that?
Vello: What do you mean?
Interviewer: Well, for example, they count points
throughout the play. What exactly are they counting?
Vello: That depends on who’s counting. But I’ll tell you the idea
behind that. You know, I have two kids, and when they were young we would
invent all these games together. Games starting from nothing and evolving into intricate
things with very complicated rules. And what always got me was that whenever I
was about to win, they would change the rules. It fascinated me, really, how
they could both agree – just like that – on the new rules. And being their
father, of course, I had to go along with the rule change. So the ‘Point’ idea
really came out of that. Trying to keep score in a game with changing rules. A game
run by children.
Interviewer: Would that be your idea of paradise?
Vello: Yeah, that’s good.
Interview with the author:
Interviewer: Can you tell us a little about the
history behind your play Catch As Catch
Can, where you got the idea, where the story came from?
Vello: I wrote the play for a childhood friend of mine. We met in
kindergarten, actually, and grew up together. This was here in Winnipeg – St.
Boniface. Growing up we were close, and then by the end of high school we had
gone different ways, didn’t keep in touch. It wasn’t until about ten years
later that I received a package from him, with a Canadian flag! It was really
out of the blue. I was living in Finland at the time and my daughter was just
born and I was starting a new life there. After that we kept in touch, and I
saw him the few times I was back in Canada visiting family. Then about three
years ago, we were on the phone and got to talking about the situation of the
world economy, and how it looked like the West was on the verge of collapse –
both economic and when it comes to questions of personal freedom. So we came up
with a plan of escaping to a tropical paradise somewhere, running a café maybe,
or a language school, and living out our days on the beach.
Interviewer: So is your play a true story?
Vello: No, not at all. I haven’t escaped to that beach – not yet
anyway. But after the phone conversation, an image came to me of two guys in a
beach hut, one with a gun and one in handcuffs. It was just an image I had in
my mind for a while – the opening image of the play when the lights go up. The
story came out of that.
Interviewer: Catch
As Catch Can deals with moral issues, questions of right and wrong. Where
does that come from?
Vello: I grew up Catholic so the theme comes naturally to me. [Laughs] I don’t know, I’ve always been
interested in how we determine what is right and wrong, what is truth, who is
right. I haven’t consciously written that into the play but it comes out with
these two characters. A strong theme in the play, of course, deals with power
and control, and who governs the use of that power.
Interviewer: Getting back to what you said earlier,
about personal freedom. How did that figure into the writing?
Vello: That’s a deep question. I grew up with punk music and
always had this ideal that whatever anyone thought or felt was important – no matter
what it was. That we are allowed to have our own ideas – however bizarre.
Instinctively, I’ve always been against any type of control- even when it comes
to writing down words! I have a slight animosity toward that side of writing, because
it’s more limiting than what your mind actually goes through. So school was a
big issue for me. Anyway, since 9-11, we’ve had more and more state control,
state surveillance, tracking technology, that sort of thing coming down on us,
and that was really bothering me while writing this play. It’s always been
there, of course, Governments are always trying to control people - it’s what
they do right? Except that nowadays the world is smaller because of technology,
and I had this sense that it’s harder to get away from that type of control. So
the idea of two friends escaping to a tropical paradise really appealed to me.
Interviewer: Although it’s not exactly paradise in
your play.
Vello: Well, no. Because they bring their past with them. It could
be if they left it behind.
Interviewer: So would you say this is a political
play?
Vello: Not overtly, but to a certain degree it is. At least that’s
where it started, with conversations over the phone about the economy and
politics. But I’d say the play is more personal, about what it takes to find
personal freedom. One solution is to play games. Have fun.
Interviewer: Can you tell us how the title Catch As Catch Can came about?
Vello: Sure, my working title for the play was Tropical Paradise. A little bland – but it
carried me through the first drafts at least. Then later, after I had finished
the play, I was listening to a Lou Reed song and the line “catch as catch can”
jumped out at me. And when I found that it comes from a style of wrestling, a
no-holds-barred style of wrestling, it seemed to fit perfectly for the play.
Plus it sounds like the name of a game. Which I made it into for the play.
Interviewer: Is there a specific message in the
script that you want audiences to get?
Vello: Yes. Have fun. Be Happy and Lucky.
Interviewer: Those are the names of the characters in
the play, but they aren’t ever mentioned. Why is that?
Vello: I guess that’s back to your question of finding the message
in the script.
Interviewer: Okay, but the characters seem to be
playing games throughout the play. Can you talk more about that?
Vello: What do you mean?
Interviewer: Well, for example, they count points
throughout the play. What exactly are they counting?
Vello: That depends on who’s counting. But I’ll tell you the idea
behind that. You know, I have two kids, and when they were young we would
invent all these games together. Games starting from nothing and evolving into intricate
things with very complicated rules. And what always got me was that whenever I
was about to win, they would change the rules. It fascinated me, really, how
they could both agree – just like that – on the new rules. And being their
father, of course, I had to go along with the rule change. So the ‘Point’ idea
really came out of that. Trying to keep score in a game with changing rules. A game
run by children.
Interviewer: Would that be your idea of paradise?
Vello: Yeah, that’s good.
