"It doesn't bother me if what I'm writing doesn't seem possible," shrugs Jason Maghanoy, one of an elite class of only two playwrights graduating this year from the National Theatre School. "It's theatre. They'll find a way to do it." How fitting that Maghanoy's final project is Say Yes.
Maghanoy sees his development over the last three years not only in terms of technique, but outlook. With the sorry state of the world in the last few years, Maghanoy admits he was coming from a dark place. "In my second year, I was writing about how terrible things were. I was thinking about the invasion in Iraq. I felt like things were falling apart."
On reflection, he realizes Say Yes represents a recent emotional shift. "An underlying sense of hope and optimism. That's what I'm leaving the school with now. I find theatre so exciting. It's all part of this ongoing journey. You never stop learning."
The learning, which has largely taken place in what Maghanoy describes as "a sort of insulated, safe environment" at the school, now gets pushed screaming into the world as the two playwrights hand their work to seasoned directors for full public productions.
"The learning comes in leaps and bounds when the director comes in," says Maghanoy, whose play about holding on to the people we love is helmed by Sarah Stanley. "She's really challenging the material and bringing out the theatricality of the piece."
Maghanoy won't spend much time mourning the passing of his school career. He's off to the Banff playRites Colony this spring. Ultimately, Maghanoy's goals are deep but simple:
"To constantly challenge myself. To be able to write."
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The genesis of soon-to-be-graduated playwright Joseph Aragon's Euryalus and Lucretia begs for an ironic wink: While perusing a volume of plays by Pope John Paul II, Aragon stumbled on a side note about a steamy novel penned by another future Pope. For the NTS student, who cut his teeth writing parody musicals for Fringe Festivals, the choice was obvious: give the 14th-century erotic novel a 21st-century makeover.
"It's a big, glorious musical," enthuses Aragon, who composed all the music as well. "I had never read a story so florid in emotions and lacking in subtext," laughs Aragon. "With things like opera and musical theatre, you can get away with that. It's not broad or two-dimensional. It's just very, very heightened."
For Aragon, the struggle is in finding a balance between irreverence and genuine emotion. A recent visit to the rehearsal hall was an eye-opener for the young writer. "I was just really struck by how genuinely touching it was. It's my first time trying to reconcile the two things: the emotional engagement I learned at NTS with a big musical. No one was more surprised than I was," says Aragon of the elements of real feeling in Euryalus. "It's almost a parody of a romance, but it is a romance. The work kind of takes on a life of its own, despite what I try to do with it. It warms my heart to know I'm doing something right."