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In Surrey, ‘Campground’ weaves Facebook posts into comic murder-mystery show

Lucas Myers returns to arts centre with solo show that has him playing six characters
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Lucas Myers plays six characters in “Campground,” a comic murder-mystery coming to Surrey Arts Centre’s Studio Theatre on Nov. 24-25. (submitted photo)

SURREY — Lucas Myers sure likes to get creative with his comedy.

A few years ago in Surrey, the Nelson resident performed DECK, subtitled “How I Instigated Then Overcame an Existential Crisis Through Home Improvement.” The solo show, in which he plays a neurotic single parent, had him building an actual deck on the Surrey Arts Centre stage, from which the wooden structure was raffled off at show’s end.

This time around, Myers brings a comic murder-mystery called Campground to the Bear Creek Park building’s Studio Theatre, for a pair of Surrey Civic Theatres-presented shows on Friday, Nov. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 25.

Observational humour and quirky songs are promised in Myers’ latest solo show, which has him playing six characters who set up for a night at, yes, a campground.

One intriguing aspect of the production has Myers, live on stage, logging into Facebook to track the movements of two characters – the hipster Justin Case from Vancouver and redneck-y Michael Hodgkins from Medicine Hat. They’re being followed by a “rogue” RCMP officer on a the hunt for a missing man.

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“This young man is making (smartphone) videos while he’s out and about, doing his thing, so the RCMP officer is using the videos as clues,” Myers told the Now-Leader. “He ends up at a campground, and there are other characters I play in the campground who have had some interaction with this young man. The officer is trying to figure it all out.”

Projected video, live music and shadow-puppet play are also part of the show, which Myers has been performing for two years.

“The story is really about this kid who’s living life to the fullest and he has these interactions with these people, and everyone’s life is changed through this experience,” Myers explained.

Those into sleuthing can do some advance investigation by visiting the Facebook profiles of Mr. Case and Mr. Hodgkins.

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During the show, Myers uses a computer on a desk in front of him.

“I have to get the internet password in every theatre I play,” he said. “The RCMP officer will go, ‘Well, you said this but look at your post here on Facebook.’ (The characters) are kind of trapped in time because I haven’t kept posting as them, but you can go and read their posts and see them with, like, pictures of the campground and them talking about being at the campground.”

In creating the show, Myers said it was fun going online and posting as characters in the show.

“It turned into kind of a fun character development,” he said with a laugh, “because I had to find their voice and what kinds of things they’d talk about.”

An avid camper, Myers came up with the show concept after a camping trip with family in the Shuswap area.

“We were in one of those huge campgrounds, and it was like a microcosm of a society, you know what I mean?” he said. “There are people who want to play their music loud, there are people who have their generator running. You’re kind of anonymous in that situation. You’re never going to see these people again, so you kind of choose who you’re going to be, and everyone has to get along, and I thought, what an interesting place to put a show, and what an interesting way to have very different people have to interact.”

Prior to his return to Surrey Arts Centre, Myers brings the show to Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre.

In Surrey, tickets for Campground range from $25 to $35. Call 604-501-5566 or visit tickets.surrey.ca. The theatre is located at 13750 88th Ave., Surrey.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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