Charlie Ross was in the middle of an ordinary childhood,
growing up in British Columbia, when Star Wars encased his life
like Han Solo was encased in carbonite.
“You remember when they first came out, there was no geeky stigma
attached to the movies, everybody just loved them,” he says, on the
phone from his home in Victoria. “I lived in a farm outside of Prince
George. Brutal winters, and it was miles away from neighbours and
friends. I was stuck watching whatever videos we had. Star Wars was something I had recorded off of television, and I wound up watching
it a stupid amount of times.” According to his website, “a stupid
amount” is more than 400. “I just have an ability to retain weird
little details that would basically make me a dork.”
Being a Star Wars dork in 2009 is inescapable. The films have
had such a far-reaching influence they’ve spawned cultural subgenres
and offshoots. Witness the role Star Wars has in almost every
Kevin Smith movie—most recently Zach and Miri Make A Porno and
the ingenious porn version the characters dream up, Star
Whores—and the Star Wars-centred plot of the recent comedy
Fanboys. Animated TV shows The Family Guy and Robot
Chicken have hugely popular homage/satire episodes, now packaged
and available on DVD. Charlie Ross’ theatrical recreation/gentle satire
fits comfortably into this crowd.
“I’m sure that I’m definitely part of it,” says Ross. “It’s weird
because I’m one of those slightly-better-than-the-Star Wars-kids
guys that somehow snuck through the cracks and got a positive notice
from Lucasfilm. I really don’t think I’m anything special at all, it’s
really just a good idea that came at the right time.”
What he does is simple or, at least, simple to explain. Without
props or sets, he recreates the three original Star Wars movies
on stage, reduced to 20 minutes each. Sound effects, Wookie noises,
music, dialogue, character: Ross does it all.
His show, One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, directed by TJ Dawe, is
coming to Eastern Front’s SuperNova Theatre Festival—held this year
at Neptune’s Studio Theatre–and has been performed all over the world
since 2002, from London to Dubai to George Lucas-endorsed Star
Wars conventions. When it appeared off-Broadway, Ross’s success
prompted a licensing agreement. He’s now officially part of the Star
Wars canon.
Ross’ Halifax connection runs deeper than this show. He lived here
from 1999 through 2002, and conceived of One-Man Star Wars while
he acted in theatre, doing work that included stints at Two Planks and
a Passion and Neptune.
“There’s so much stuff that happens there,” says Ross. “And because
of this feast or famine part of my career, I decided I needed to make
something of my own. To have something I can run on my own steam, it’s
fantastic. It’s not typical theatre, some people might say it isn’t
even proper theatre, but that’s fine.
“Halifax was so welcoming, but the work, there wasn’t a lot of it.
To come back… anybody who is as an actor in Halifax has to become a
cockroach, to survive the nuclear winter of Canadian arts. That
hardiness has made this show succeed over the years, because I refuse
to die out.”
One-Man Star Wars had its premiere in Toronto—the first
film only—as part of a workshop of radio plays for CBC performed
before a live audience. “I did it for this group of people and it did
better than anything else I did that evening. The reaction was so
positive, and it was a very diverse audience, they weren’t there just
to see the Star Wars thing…this show weirdly resonates.”
He has gone on to do other shows, including a One-Man Lord of the
Rings, but his Star Wars continues to draw audiences. There
is one character from the first film—since the prequels known by many
as Episode IV: A New Hope—that audiences won’t be seeing in
Ross’s show.
“I don’t do Greedo, and I’ll tell you the reason,” he says. “I
didn’t want to get into the whole ‘who shot first?’ thing. You wouldn’t
think it was such a big deal, but it’s probably the number one thing I
get asked: ‘In your opinion, who shot first?’ I just want to be
Switzerland in this whole thing.”
Eastern Front Theatre SuperNova Theatre Festival runs
May 7-17 at Neptune’s Studio Theatre, 1693 Argyle.
One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, May 14-15,
7pm; May 16, 8:30pm; May 17, 3pm, $15-$20 at the Neptune box office,
429-7070, easternfront.ns.ca.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.