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focus Carr's Capilano Connections Brought to Light in New Play bvAnn Macklem While I have always known that the residence at the very end of Keith Road on the west side of Capilano River, Klee Wyck, was named after Emily Carr by a dear friend of hers, I've never really given it much more thought than "Oh, that's kind of neat." But thanks toTrisha Mason. I discovered that there was an entire story attached to this bit of local trivia. Mason hasj ust completed Water under the Bridge, a play about Carr's connection to the North Shore (scenes from which were performed at the Harmony Festival in August, thanks to a grant from the West Vancouver Community Arts Council). It turns out that the artist enjoyed close relations with two women who lived on either side of the Capilano River, Nan Cheney and Ethlyn Trapp. Both of these women were pioneers in their own right. Cheney, an artist of considerable merit, was also B .C.'s first medical illustrator, and Trapp was a cancer specialist who fought long and hard to be accepted by the male medical establishment. Cheneyfirst met Carrin 1927. and a close friendship developed, with Cheney taking it upon herself to organize Carr's first Vancouver exhibit. Trapp wasn't to meet Carr until 1938 (via Cheney), but hit it off with her immediately, identifying with and admiringher persevering spirit. A fourth character, Ira Dilworth, adds dimension to the play, providing the tension necessary to drive the plot. Like Carr's women friends, Dilworth was quite accomplished in his field, He was the CBC's first regional director, and he had a particular bent for arts programming. Dilworth appears quite late in Emily's life, as her editor and eventual confidant, and remains a close friend until the artist's death in 1945. relationship with Dilworth intensifies to the point of displacing her own 15-year friendship with the artist. She tries to get Ethlyn to side with her, but manages only to make herself look foolish and immature. Even on the eve of Carr's death. Cheney refuses tolet go and let it all be "waterunder the bridge." While Mason does lend her own vision to the drama (choosing to make Cheney the pivotal character constitutes an interpretation in and ofitself ). it is also apparent that she has done extensive research. She makes creative use of it (but discretely, without cluttering the play with facts), quoting. for instance, a 1940 Province review of a show in which Cheney participated, and referencing Cheney's unsuccessful attempt at reelection to the Vancouver Art Gallery board of directors (thwarted by none other than Ira Dilworth). Also, much of the play's dialogue has been reconstructed from correspondence exchanged between Emily and Nan, Emily and Ethlyn, and Emily and Ira. All of these details lend an air of authenticity to the play. Which isn't to say that Mason hasn't ci taken any liberties with her material. One scene in Water under the Bridge has Emily visiting Nan and Ethlyn on the North Shore. The playwright did find some evidence to support this--Emily wrote in a letter that she liked the placement of one of Nan's paintings, and in another that Nan's studio was "swell"--butnothingsolidenoughto actually prove it. Mason left the scene in, because it captured Emily and Nan's disintegrating relationship so well.' L Carr. Because Mason wanted to tell a North Shore story. it only made sense. Also. Cheney was far more interesting dramatically. She had a long history with Carr, and she was a fellow artist with a streak of competitiveness. In the play, which unfolds in the years 1940-1945, Mason has Cheney feeling possessive and jealous as Carr's home, etc. Even now, with this Dramaworks-sponsored production, she is "back" on the North Shore for a time. Plans are afoot to mount a truly authentic production of Water wider the Bridge on the grounds of Klee Wyck itself, complete with afternoon tea, live music and an exhibit of historical membrabilia. Because renovations are planned for Klee 5 C.' 5' C., C.. 5.' 5' C., 5' C.' `-5 5' C.' A Emily Carr's studio in Victoria Wyck, and because the building is so much in demand among cultural groups, the full production will probably have to wait until the spring. If you'd like to get involved in planning this event, call Dramaworks at 922-8963. `Over tea, Cheney excitedly announces that she has found a buyer for the portrait she'dpainted of Emily (see the cover page) and that when the buyer died, he'd leave the painting to the National Gallery. Emily finds the idea repugnant, exclaiming "What a thought! My mug on view for the whole of Canada! and reaches over and moves the painting out of sight. Nan Cheney, on one of her visits to Emily Carr in Victoria Water under the Bridge is, in the author's words. "a dramatization of real events." When asked whetherit was easier to build a story from real events than from scratch, Mason responded, "No, it wasn't easy in the least. Because when you're creating something from your own imagination, your own experience, there's all kinds of leeway. But with this, it was already sort of laid down. It was simply a matter of finding a way to knit it all together." She knit it all together by making Cheney the focal character, rather than So even if Carr did not actually set foot in the two homes on either side of the Capilano River,she made her way there in other ways--in letters she sent to Ethlyn and Nan, in sketches and paintings she gave them to hang in their homes, in conversations that took place. about her, in the thoughts of her friends, in the name given to Trapp's Arts Access Sep/Oct 1994 5