Final project brings Damien to stage

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

For Matthew Boardman, bringing Damien to the stage is more than a final assignment – it is the culmination of four years of personal, spiritual and artistic growth at Rosebud School of the Arts.

“Rosebud has just been life changing,” Boardman said. “My four years here have just been so wonderful, with such a personal theatre training experience. I’ve learned a ton about myself; I’ve learned a ton about my faith.”

Boardman is a fourth year acting student and as part of Rosebud’s final project requirements, students must produce a full theatrical production while participating in their field of study. For Boardman, that meant taking on an ambitious challenge; producing and starring in Damien, a one-man show written by Aldyth Morris and based on the true story of St. Damien of Molokai.

“As part of the final project you have to produce the play and you have to participate in your field of study,” he explained. “Because I’m in the acting program, I have to produce and act. And since there’s only one role, I’m doing it all. I chose to do that.”

The play follows Father Damien, later canonized as St. Damien, who ministered to people suffering from leprosy in the late 1800s on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Boardman describes the show as a reflective, almost ghostly retelling.

“He kind of appears after his death and he talks to you about his life,” Boardman said. “Why he came to Molokai in the first place, and what it meant to dedicate his life to people who had been completely cast aside.”

At the time those afflicted with leprosy were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to poorly resourced colonies. Damien, though not sick himself, chose to live among them.

“He sees this, and he dedicates his life to being that colony priest,” Boardman said. “He just spends his life taking care of everyone there and helps to work to get them things like running water. He brings attention to what’s happening, and from that attention comes real change.”

Boardman believes the story’s relevance today is impossible to ignore.

“We’re in a similar position where we’re kind of staring at the space of so much pain worldwide,” he said. “There’s a phrase at the end of the play. He says he felt the wound of love and he knew he had to do something.”

Producing the show has also stretched him in new ways.

“There’s something really risky but also really rewarding about trusting a whole team with your vision,” Boardman said. “To be given such a resounding yes from the people I asked has been really touching.”

As he looks beyond graduation, Boardman remains committed to theatre that explores faith, humanity and compassion.

“I came for acting and I still am in love with acting in the theatre,” he said. “I want to keep telling these kinds of stories.”

Damien runs March 26-29 at 6 p.m. nightly and an afternoon matinee at 2 p.m. March 29 at Rosebud’s Akokiniskway Gallery. Tickets are $16 general admission and $10 for seniors, they can be purchased through servanthoodstageworks.com or you can buy them at the door and pay cash or etransfer.