By Rosie Shaw
On Oct. 24, 1993, Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer carried his 12-year-old daughter to his pick-up truck, attached a hose from the exhaust pipe into the cab and turned on the ignition. Then he sat in the back of the truck and watched her die.
Tracy Latimer had cerebral palsy. Weighing 40 pounds, she was a quadriplegic who functioned at the level of a three-month-old infant. Her father maintains he did it to relieve her suffering.
But who gets to play God? Can killing your own child be an act of love?
These are the issues raised in Mourning Dove, a play inspired by the Latimer case, which had its world premiere at the Great Canadian Theatre Company Feb. 15. It was written by Emil Sher and stars Timothy Webber, Kate Hurman and Ben Meuser.
Mourning Dove also brings up the difficulties in producing a play that mirrors real-life events.
Lorne Pardy, the show’s director and artistic director of GCTC, says the main challenge is dealing with people’s expectations.
“The media have already told that story in a very specific way,” Pardy says.
“Once people make the connection, they will come to the theatre expecting details. So you can’t get too far away from the facts of the case.”
Sher says it can be successful “as long as you’re focused on making those characters human and not making those specific humans into characters.”
A playwright must have freedom to tell the story, some “theatrical license,” as Pardy says, which is why Sher chooses to say the play was inspired by the Robert Latimer case rather than based on it.
“ ‘Based’ on means sticking to the facts,” Sher says. “If you try to wedge in political ideas and too many facts, it all falls apart.”
“ ‘Based on’ means committing yourself to keeping within the boundaries of the actual story. ‘Inspired by’ means we have used that situation to create our own dramatic situation with the same issues, but not necessarily the same facts,” Pardy explains.
“That way, we can stretch it when we need to, and be literal when we need to.”
Sher says he needed more inner conflict and controversy in the play than there was in the real case.
“Latimer was very clear. He absolutely felt he did the right thing. His wife, his community and people in general supported him. There was not enough conflict there,” he says.
Similarities to the Latimer story are obvious, but there are also many differences. Latimer was a farmer while the play’s main character, Doug Ramsey, owns a hardware store. The Latimers have three other children; in the play, Tina Ramsey is an only child. The character of Keith, Tina’s friend who is also disabled, is a new creation as well.
This issue has surfaced in the news lately. “The Sea Inside” and “Million Dollar Baby” are both Oscar-nominated films that address assisted suicide and euthanasia to end suffering caused by severe disability. Marcel Tremblay, a 78-year-old Kanata man, killed himself last month because he was tired of living in chronic pain.
“I think it’s in people’s consciousness right now,” Pardy says.
“There is such a large issue at stake, and Emil knew that,” says Pardy. “What is pain? How can we interpret someone else’s pain? I think he has balanced both sides quite well.”
“For me, there is no doubt Robert Latimer was motivated by love,” says Sher.
That doesn’t mean Sher wants to make a public statement about the case on stage.
“You might as well read a pamphlet or hand out a brochure from whatever political viewpoint you’re coming from.”
Ben Meuser, who plays Keith, says there is no clear inclination in the play towards either side of the issue. “Hopefully, we don’t make that decision on stage.”
Sher says he was very careful to avoid a conclusion.
“My mission is not to convince people one way or the other. It is to humanize certain issues that risk being reduced to headlines or statistics. We’ve gone beyond the headlines.”
Pardy says it’s up to the audience members to decide for themselves whether or not it was right, and it certainly is not a simple judgment to make.
It took almost eight years to reach a final decision in the real case. Latimer began serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 years on Jan. 18, 2001.
Mourning Dove continues until March 6. For tickets call the GCTC Box Office at (613) 236-5196.