Theatromania: What inspired you to write …and stockings for the ladies?

Attila Clemann: When I was in high school I read from one of the letters Ted Aplin wrote that begins "I have just seen Belsen and I am ashamed …" This letter, along with more than 50 others are part of our family collection because Ted was my step- father's father. The act of reading this letter made a deep impression on me and when I got the chance to really write extensively extensively about Ted's work I was thrilled. What Ted Aplin was able to do provides such a wonderful example of what it means to be a humanist because he acted purely out of compassion with no religious or political cause. This is an example I want to follow.

Theatromania: Why did you decide to use puppets in the show?

AC: The decision to use puppets in the show was made to help address the challenge of portraying the Holocaust on stage. The material is so profound and difficult to accept that when a young, fit actor tries to portray the Holocaust experience an audience can often turn away; they either won't truly believe the story as told by the actor or they won't be able to really invest emotionally in the story because of the difficulty of the content. The puppet on the other hand, never lies. The audience invests in the life of the puppet such that whatever the puppet says is believable. The puppet is also like a mask to the content and actually allows us to hear and accept more of the story. As I was told by a teacher once, if we look directly at the sun we squint and cannot see it; with sunglass, like a mask, we can look into the sun and see it for all its glory and strength.

Theatromania: Why should people see …and stockings for the ladies?

Zach Fraser: I like to think (and I may be a little biased) that Stockings combines many things that I personally am drawn to: a great story, fascinating history, poetry, honesty, a strong performance and a unique playful theatricality. Wherever the show has travelled, people have been captivated by the true story and the performance. That is certainly satisfying. While there is a particular interest for war history buffs, veterans and the Jewish community, I think the show is both personal and universal. Attila, Brendan and I are primarily theatre artists, and so we have sought to create a very theatrical show full of dynamism and magic that has attracted a broad range of theatregoers.

Theatromania: Tell us about your experience directing this production. Did you learn anything?

ZF: The creation of this piece happened very organically, starting with the early discussion between Attila and I shaping the writing and staging in tandem. As soon as Brendan joined the project, everything started falling into place. We each wear our respective hats (writer/director/performer), yet the three tasks have fused together remarkably well. I fondly remember the moments when we clearly decided to include puppet characters. I distinctly remember the first time we caught sight of the feasibility of one actor play multiple characters within one scene, in dialogue with each other.

It was very satisfying to essentially invent our own theatrical language for the piece: the solo performer choreography and trickery that allowed us to bring multiple characters to life with a single performer at one time. What was challenging to Brendan at the start of this process has now become second nature for him. As a result, revisiting the piece after a couple years, we're having great fun pushing these characters to new levels.

Theatromania: Tell us about your experience as Ted Alpin and the many other characters in this production. Did you learn anything from this role?

Brendan McMurtry-Howlett: Yeah, I learned what it must feel like to be schizophrenic. This isn't your run-of-the-mill one-person show. There are over 20 characters in this show and many scenes involving multiple characters. It can get a bit crazy inside my own head having all of these interactions with myself, including a bit of a make-out session. I won't give that part away though.

With the size and complexity of the show I just launch into it each night hoping like hell everything will come out in the right order. It has been an amazing experience and journey with this show. This was the first paid show that I performed in during its first incarnation in the Toronto Fringe Festival of 2007. I have learned so much about the craft of performance and the relationship with the audience through my work with this play. In the one-person show format the entire experience of performing in front of an audience is heightened. I watch them and listen to them just as much as they watch me, and they are required to use just as much imagination as I am in the creation of the world and the story. It is vulnerable, for everyone involved because in the end it is just the actor, maybe some lights and sound, and the audience. It is the most reduced form of storytelling and I love it.

It has also been a learning experience diving into the terrible historical events of WWII and being in the position of having to find the hope in the mess of it all. This show is based on actual people and events so the research was extensive. I was even able to take a trip to the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen to see the mass graves and the razed barracks. That was a very emotional experience for me standing in the exact place that the real characters of this play stood over 60 years ago. That experience has added a depth to living in these characters and this show that I think comes out in the performance.