Consider the Samuel Beckett double-bill of Krapp's Last Tape and Not I at The BusStop Theatre (2203 Gottingen) as Tim Leary's homecoming. Leary, former head of the sorely missed Nova Scotia Arts Council, left the professional stage in the1970s but continued as a producer and a consultant.
"It's new all over again. It's like riding a bicycle, after a few shaky moments you're gonna get back into it. I guess the difference is that the traffic is a little heavier," he laughs. Leary has a long history with Krapp's, a demanding story of an old, feeble man who records an audio tape each year on his birthday. As an apprentice actor, Leary watched the legendary Donald Davis's Obie-winning performance. In 1972 he directed the first-ever Actors' Equity Co-op production—which put the role of producer in the hands of its performers—and in 1973, Leary and his wife toured the play, driving from city to city in their Volkswagen bus.
"He's such a great writer, these two short plays are little universes of their own. It's really rich stuff to work on," Leary says. Joining Leary is director Richard Donat and local vocal-queen Janice Jackson, who performs as "Mouth" in Not I. Shows run nightly until December 2, 8pm and 3pm Sunday matinees. Call 429-1797, $15/$20.
