[Bright staccato synth music.] [ADAM] Hello, my name is Adam Grant Warren. I'm a playwright, an actor, and the Co-Artistic Director of Realwheels Theatre. [NATASHA] And I'm Natasha Nadir. I'm a director, a dramaturg, and a playwright. [ADAM] For those of you who are new to Realwheels, we're a disability-led company based in Vancouver, Canada. Our work in theatre and performance creation explores the fullness and complexity of disability experience, identity, and community. [NATASHA] It's been our absolute pleasure to spend the last 10 weeks from September to December of 2024 with an incredible group of 10 emerging playwrights who identify with disability. Each week, we dug into ideas of character, story structure, and even creative process to bring excerpts of some really exciting plays in progress from the minds of these writers to your ears. [ADAM] Our Playwriting Circles have been around for a while, but this year we thought we'd try something new. For the first time in our history, we're sharing this work in podcast form, featuring original music and sound designed by the award-winning duo, Finka Wood. [NATASHA] With one excerpt per episode, you'll also hear the playwrights in conversation with us. We'll talk a little bit about what drew them to write their play and why the work feels important to them. [NATASHA] Without further ado, [ADAM] Welcome to Waveforms. [Music fades out.] [People quietly chattering, church bells tolling.] [STAGE DIRECTIONS] A real church, pews, stage, podium. There is a photo of Garv at the base of the stage in black and white, wearing their shit-eating grin, pointing finger guns at the camera. As the audience enter, the Celebrant is waiting on the stage. Audience members can continue entering as they speak. [CELEBRANT] Thank you all for coming to the funeral of Garvin Augustine Chan. "Chun Gaa Wung." 陳嘉泓 Garv was a friend to most, if not all of us. I'm sure they would have been touched by having so many people in attendance today, just for them. Yeah, what can I say about Garv? Again, they were my best friend. They actually asked me to do this back when we were in uni, which I forgot all about until funeral facilitation was mentioned as part of a set of instructions they left me in the event of their untimely demise. So the fact that I'm actually doing this is… Let's just say I thought it was a joke and I never thought we'd get this far. It hasn't sunk in proper yet. I keep thinking the words, "How well can you really know someone?" Then I beat myself up, metaphorically, in my head. There's no way to know someone fully. We're all different people to different people. You know, people are apples and oranges. [NATASHA] This week, I'm talking to Garvin Chan about their play, The Funeral of Garvin Chan, (1998-2025). It's an immersive dark comedy set in a church, an absurd and contradictory series of eulogies exploring the possibilities of how one can be remembered, the unknowability of one's person, spiritually, literally, and emotionally. Immersive theatre is theatre in a found or existing space, not a theater, where the audience is weaved into the performance. In this case, the space is a church and the audience becomes funeral goers. Can you talk about the inspiration for the play or where the initial idea came from? [GARVIN] Yeah. The initial inspiration was born from a place of narcissism. I had a pretty bad day. I was thinking, "Hey, if I died, what would my friend say about me?" And it was originally a vehicle to invite my friends to say what they would say while I was in attendance. But then my grandfather's funeral came along pretty much exactly a year today. And the production value of his funeral, speaking as a theatre person, was pretty horrible. They didn't do a sound check. They promised projection. We didn't get projection. I had to run up to read my cousin's eulogy. And in doing so, kind of created this farce where I didn't know whether to have to bow again in front of his photo. It was really funny to me how this sacred thing, this ceremony of grief, became this farce that I found hilarious. [CELEBRANT] Uh, Sophie, if you're here, can you make your way up? [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Sophie raises their hand and walks up to the podium on the stage. When she arrives, the Celebrant hands her an envelope. [SOPHIE] What the fuck is this? [CELEBRANT] Garv mentioned they wanted you to read this, Sophie— [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Sophie moves to open the envelope but is halted by the Celebrant. [CELEBRANT] After you say what you need to say. [SOPHIE] What is it? [CELEBRANT] I wasn't told to read it. I was told to give it to you at this exact moment. [SOPHIE] Anything else, or can I... [CELEBRANT] They also wanted you to have this. [STAGE DIRECTIONS] A vinyl record. Wildlife by la Dispute. [SOPHIE] Of course. That's when we met. Why the hell are they giving out funeral gift bags? Does everyone get one? [CELEBRANT] Just the speakers, except their mom. Anyways. [SOPHIE] Right. Hey, everyone. I, uh, spent the last week trying to figure out what to say. Ever since I was asked to deliver a eulogy for Garv. But how do you encapsulate a life like that? Why'd they pick me to do this? I have no clue how to do this right. This record reminded me of something, and that's the best I got. Hope it's good enough. Everyone's got some intrinsic contradiction, and Garv was no different. When we first met, it was the 10th anniversary of this record's release. [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Sophie lifts up the record above her head. [SOPHIE] It's a pretty dark record. But there's one moment that fans are really tuned into. It's probably the line that drew most of us into the band in the first place. When we all knew that moment was coming, the mosh pits stopped. Together, the whole venue shouted, "Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?" It was fate. But it was Garv that was standing next to me when that line dropped. I heard something there. It wasn't a question, or if there was, it wasn't one put into words. See, that song isn't just about a suicide. It is, of course, part of it. It's the ending, but what it is about is how a community reacts to and is impacted by death. I saw Garv outside the venue when it was all over. We got to talking, and eventually I got them to let up what they were thinking about. They didn't know if anyone would miss them when they were gone. That when they left, when they died, they didn't think anyone would be impacted in the slightest. It was their greatest fear. But look around. We're here. What they couldn't see or understand was that in that conversation alone, we had developed a connection. I think most people here had some connection with Garv, too. In our case, it was a shorthand. When we mentioned only a song title or an album and we'd get what each other was thinking. Now, that's... [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Sophie looks at the back of the record at the track list. [SOPHIE] "Track 1. A departure." It's underlined. "I wrote some notes in the margins explaining it. The rest is between lines or in the fine print." No way. The fine print. This is a clue. What? You— What are the other records? Show them up. [NATASHA] Garv, you have specific stage directions, including a slideshow that you imagine for this piece. Can you tell us a little bit about what specifically you see at the beginning of the play? [GARVIN] Yeah, at my grandfather's funeral, we had a slideshow because he had a very long life, and we wanted to see what parts of his life were lived. And just... Kind of putting that for myself there, but putting increasingly absurd scenarios. Like, for example, one photo that is not specified in the script, but I really want to see it, is like myself and a friend at a firefighting scene. And it's like, who takes a selfie at a firefighting scene? It's that kind of thing that takes you aback even when you're immersed in it. Like you're immersed in the performance, but at the same time, there's this disconnection where anything can happen and anything has happened. [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Section 2: This is it. Their church is practically trashed. To the side, the casket has been torn apart by previous attempts to find Garv's missing corpse. The gang, which are Celebrant, Marigold, Sophie, Case, and Sammi (who is in an astronaut suit) stare bewildered. The Celebrant looks around suspiciously. They study the audience, getting uncomfortably close and peering into their faces. [CELEBRANT] How well did you know my friend there? Why are you here? [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Then they look up, peering around, its borderline paranoia. [CELEBRANT] Are you even really dead? [SOPHIE] Yes, you idiot. I saw them get hit by a car. [MARIGOLD] They were kicked to death by a kangaroo who then jumped on their head repeatedly to make sure. [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Sammi mimes an asteroid crashing into Garv's apartment. [CELEBRANT] That one has to be fucking bullshit. [CASE] Suicide. That's what I heard. [CELEBRANT] What the hell is going on? Jesus fucking Christ! [STAGE DIRECTIONS] They glare upwards. [GARV, disembodied] Listen, that's all you need to do. Listen. [CELEBRANT] Why are you doing this? [GARV, disembodied] You're missing the point. [CELEBRANT] I know you're there. I've cracked it. You, you narcissistic piece of shit! How could you… All this just to… This is punishment, isn't it? [GARV, disembodied] No. [CELEBRANT] Then what is it about? [GARV, disembodied] You can hear me? [CELEBRANT] What the fuck, Garv? Where are you? [GARV, disembodied] I'm not sure. Everything hurts. [CELEBRANT] What is it then, huh? [GARV, disembodied] It's not about you. [CELEBRANT] What about them? [STAGE DIRECTIONS] They gesture wildly to the rest of the gang, all of whom are gawping in shock. [GARV, disembodied] I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it out. Closure. [SOPHIE] How is any of this closure? We were grieving you! [GARV, disembodied] No. [MARIGOLD] Okay, let's all calm down. This is clearly a shocking revelation, but I feel yelling isn't conducive to the situation, okay? Garv, are you okay? What's this about? [GARV, disembodied] I think I'm dying and this is what I needed. [MARIGOLD] How so, Garvo? [GARV, disembodied] Unique Lights. Soph? [SOPHIE] Garv's not sure how they'd be remembered, and they're trying to figure it out before they go. You prick! You should have trusted us to love you. [CELEBRANT] Instead of putting your friends through hell. [GARV, disembodied] Yeah, I know that now. [STAGE DIRECTIONS] The doors to the church open. Garvin enters through the door, dragging their shadow. [GARV] Hey. [CELEBRANT] You asshole. [GARV] Yeah. [CELEBRANT] Yeah, you're an asshole. [GARV] I'm sorry. [CELEBRANT] You better be. [CASE] They're not sorry about this. [CELEBRANT] Excuse me? [CASE] Garv, you said no when Sophie said we grieved you. That's because we will grieve you. Is that correct? [GARV] Uh-huh. Sorry. But this is the best I'm going to get, I think. I just wish this was real. That I could say goodbye to every one of you, thank you for everything you meant to me, for helping try to figure out who I was— I am— in these last moments. I'm seeking a purpose when there is none. As if I'm important when I know, I know I'm not. I am what you see through your eyes. Nothing more than a memory you might visit. I think I wanted you all to understand. [STAGE DIRECTIONS] Garv taps their chest with their fingers, trying to articulate. [GARV] This is it. What you mean to me. Despite what I might mean to you, this life is not precious. Everything dies. Nothing matters. This doesn't make any sense. That's life. It happens. Thank you. [DISEMBODIED VOICE] It's time. [NATASHA] It's a dark subject in many ways, but your take on it is funny. I think this is a dark comedy. So how do you go about doing that? How do you go about mixing the comedy and the tragedy? [GARVIN] I don't know, actually. I think that dark... is funny. As long as the dark thing isn't so much endorsing something that's truly evil, then why isn't it funny? I think humor is essential to these dark topics. I think that a child tripping over their feet in the street, you know. That they're probably going to be fine, and in that moment it is hilarious. [Bright staccato synth music.] [ADAM] Thanks for listening to Waveforms. For a full list of our cast and crew, check out the episode description. [NATASHA] Waveforms was produced by Realwheels Theatre with the cooperation of the Union of BC Performers. A special thank you to our funders, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, and the Hamber Foundation. [ADAM] If you like what you heard, please drop us a rating and a review on the podcast platform of your choice. It really helps new listeners to find us. [NATASHA] See you next week. [Music fades out.]