A Bragg Creek playwright has combined pieces of Alberta’s history to create a fresh and new theatre production.
About five years ago, Peter Cochran was working on his Masters Degree in playwriting when he read a few news stories about the King Edward Hotel – a crumbling old structure in southeast Calgary that was built in 1905 and held the title of the city’s oldest continuously operating hotel until it closed its doors in 2004.
The Eddy had a storied reputation, serving alcohol during prohibition in the 1920s, renting out cheap rooms in the 1940s and becoming one of Calgary’s first establishments to serve blacks and whites together. Homer Myers ran the hotel from 1946 to 1962.
Cochrane also came across a book detailing the life of Margaret Gilkes, Calgary’s first female police officer – who happened to serve during the exact same time frame.
“These two might have met each other at some point…,” said Cochran.
The writer let his imagination run wild with the concept until he landed on a fictional moment in time that now forms the basis of his play: Myers and Gilkes meet while living in the same seniors’ home.
“(Gilkes) says, ‘I remember you – you’re responsible for the death of a prostitute,’” said Cochran. “(Myers) says, ‘I didn’t do it and I’m going to prove it.’”
The one-act play then takes the two characters back to The Eddy, where they break into the condemned hotel in their search for answers.
“They’re looking for some secrets there,” said Cochran, adding he also wants to keep the rest of the plot a secret, for the enjoyment of the audience.
The actors playing the characters based on Gilkes and Myers also blur the lines between fantasy and reality: Diane and Les Antoniak are a real-life married couple, and Cochran said their true relationship adds to a special spark to their on-stage rapport.
“It’s an excellent chemistry.”
Cochran had the pleasure to meet Gilkes in 2011 when she was 93 years old. She died in 2014.
“It was really interesting. She recited poetry to me… She was quite a character,” he said. “She was just happy I had come to visit.”
“For me, it’s going full circle.”
The Eddy runs for two evening shows at the Bragg Creek Community Centre Jan. 27 and 28, with an afternoon matinee Jan. 29. The score for the play includes live blues music, performed by Emmett Jerome and Trouble with the Fritz.
Tickets are $20 and are available at The Best Little Wordhouse in the West or by calling (403) 949-4995.
