Tyrell Crews still remembers the first time he set foot in the Martha Cohen Theatre. He just can’t remember the name of the show.
“The first show that I saw at ATP, I forget the name of the damn show! I remember David Trimble, who is in Unity 1918, played a character who goes through all stages of his life, and he was a four year old trying to get off his chair and I remember thinking it was the most magical things I had ever seen,” Crews recalled. Fast forward a few years to 2006, when Crews was cast by ATP in Vincent in Brixton, and again later in the year for Treasure Island.
“I can’t describe it. Those two shows were my first big equity shows in the city. Diane Goodman and Bob White have been nothing but generous and super-caring and so supportive with me as an ATP artist and a solo artist as well. I have loved ATP for many years and they do such high caliber work that it means a lot for me to be back there this year with Unity and playRites 09. When I got the call that I got playRites (for The Good Egg) I lost my mind, I couldn’t believe it. It is one of those milestones for me to be an actor in the Enbridge playRites festival - it is another dream come true. If it wasn’t for ATP, who knows where I would be.”
Crews joins a cast of 9 to go back to small town Saskatchewan after World War 1, in Unity (1918) running September 23rd – October 11th, 2008.
“It is about how the townspeople’s lives are affected by war. I play a wounded war hero named Hart who returns to Unity looking for his father who has recently passed away. He is kind of a wandering lost soul in a sense because he doesn’t have anybody left. This is also the time when the Spanish flu was starting to take flight. It got crazy with all of the soldiers concentrated in Europe and when they went back to their homes, is where it really took hold. This town is affected by war and a mysterious flu like bug that is turning out to be fatal.”
Crews’ character, Hart, poses a unique challenge for the actor, because he is not only playing a character from a far different era, but also a blind person.
”There are always numerous challenges to any role. I was at the library a few days ago and got about 45 pounds of books just to research on WW1 and where my character would have been and what he would have seen and experienced in the trenches. It has given me a really good idea, not just visually but mentally, to prepare for that and allow it to bubble under the surface. It is the first time I have played a blind character, an injury he encounters in the war, it is a physical limitation and is going to be really fun to explore because I am not entirely sure what the design is going to be. If my eyes will be bandaged, that is one way to stage it. Or I may be wide eyed and open to the world and learn how to sit in a scene with someone without looking at them.”
Crews can add “Betty Mitchell Award Winner” to his accolades. His performance in Theatre Calgary’s Our Town netted him the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
“I don’t know if it will do anything for my career but it might inflate my ego a little bit. It was a really special night because the project itself showcased not just myself but the high caliber of artists in this city. Just being part of the Awards - and I got to present some as well - was one of the highlights of my career thus far. I am still overwhelmed, shocked in a way also, but incredibly grateful that I am here in this community experiencing all this.”
Calgary’s theatre community and its patrons continue to grow. Many don’t realize how many outstanding plays are running at any one time in this city, and as someone who has been covering ATP since 2004, I can attest to the fact that they offer some of the best programming in the city. However it can still be a challenge for an actor to find work in Calgary. As a young actor, Crews doesn’t take his success lightly.
“It is a challenge anywhere but particularly in Calgary because it is such a young community here, and a small community. I think that is also one of our greatest strengths here because everyone is really closely knit. I know 95% of the cast of Unity very well. That helps create great energy in the rehearsal hall and there is a different ease to working and performing in this city. I think that is what is going to help our community and a provincial and national scale. For me personally it is constantly about finding work and great roles and, when you are given those opportunities, not to rest on your laurels. I challenge myself personally to really make the most of it. We aren’t Toronto or Vancouver yet so who knows when the next opportunity comes around.”
In addition to his talent, one can’t deny part of Tyrell Crew’s appeal is his good looks. He laughed when described as a “sex symbol” of sorts, but says that if that charm draws people to theatre, then he is all for it.
“To be referred to as a sex symbol makes me smile and giggle a little bit because I am kind of a shy guy. In playRites I am cast as a model who is referred to as ‘The Perfect Specimen.’ I am also a sperm donor so I have the genes of a god or something like that. It is very strange to think of myself as that. Up until now I haven’t been typecast as a sexy whatever, so I think I have been lucky in that sense. A lot of people do get typecast. If my looks [appeal] to young people who have never really experienced the theatre before, if me as a “sex symbol” can bring them into the arts in Calgary and get them interested in that, I am all for it. And who wouldn’t like to be referred to as a sex symbol?”

Alberta Theatre Projects presents
Unity 1918
September 28th – October 11, 2008
www.atplive.com