Tip of the Iceberg, the first play written by Norfolk County’s Chris Rait, Jeannine Bouw and Mark Williams, and developed and produced Lighthouse Festival Theatre, runs Nov. 16-26 in Port Dover (lighthousetheatre.com).
It also features music by Rait.
As a member of the band The Treeline with Bouw, Rait writes original folk-rock music. Songs written for Tip of the Iceberg were a springboard from that experience – another avenue to write and create.
“Tip of the Iceberg is basically a Newfoundland story so all of the music was crafted in the maritime folk tradition, the Irish folk tradition. The songs are upbeat and they tell a story and they are easy to sing along with, so I tried to capture that in the music for Tip.”
It’s a story about hope, rebirth, positivity, friendship, he said.
“These two characters they get a moment where time stands still. They’re older and they can examine their life and think about how to improve it. They make a decision in their life to do things and make it better.”
Writing for Tip of the Iceberg, his songs came from a character’s perspective, compared to songs for The Treeline which are mostly personal experiences and stories.
“There are two different characters in this story. One song will be from their point of view, and another from the other character. Then there’s a musician who kind of plays the role of a narrator – so there is storytelling, there is point of view, which is really neat as a song writer. You have to think of what that character is feeling in that moment. There’s a bit of freedom in it, too, because it’s not ‘me.’”
Rait said he knew how the music would fit into the play when he wrote it for specific scenes, but hearing it in rehearsal, it sounded even better.
“It was something I couldn’t have pictured or imagined. It was magical, I really enjoyed it.
“Mark, Jeannine and I came up with these two characters, these two people, and they are sort of like real people to us. They are singing from their heart, so their voice comes through. It’s really cool.”
In total, he wrote eight songs for Tip of the Iceberg.
“There’s an opening song that sort of sets the stage for what’s going to happen. The last song of the play is an epilogue. They are both upbeat and singable. I feel like people will go away sort of humming those tunes. There’s a song halfway through the play, On Water, and that one is sort of my favorite at the moment just because of the arrangement of it, the guitar picking, the mood of the song.”
Rait, who retained music rights, said he’d like to record the songs someday.
“I’m hoping to use some of the funds that we make from the play to record. It’s expensive – and you want to do it right. It’s definitely something I’d like to do.”
Rait, Bouw and Williams are currently teaming up to write a second play, Poster Boy, and they are about 85% done.
“We wanted to keep the momentum going.”
Poster Boy is about a 1980s rocker – a one-hit wonder – who is ‘kind of stuck in 1984’ but it’s 2022.
“He is trying to hold on to his fame,” said Rait, “and it’s holding him back because he’s a really good song writer, but he’s been sort of handcuffed by his one hit. It’s a comedy with music.”