FIG TREES is a documentary opera about AIDS activists Tim McCaskell of Toronto and Zackie Achmat of Capetown as they fight for access to treatment drugs. Documentary interviews, speeches, press conferences and demonstrations are sampled, taken apart, and set to music, replayed this time as operatic scenes. A surreal fictional narrative is intercut with the stories of their struggles against government and the pharmaceutical industry. In this fictional world, Gertrude Stein decides to write a tragic opera about Tim and Zackie and their saint-like heroism. She kidnaps them, transports them to Niagara Falls, and forces them to sing a series of complicated avant-garde vocal compositions. However, when Zackie ends his treatment strike and starts taking his pills, Gertrude realizes that there will be no more tragedy, and thus, no more opera.
Credits
Fig Trees Cast
| Name |
Character |
|
David Wall
He was 62, 67 years old when he died
|
as Tim McCaskell |
Fig Trees Crew
| Name |
Department |
|
John Greyson as Director. He was 48 (now 64) years old
|
Directing |
|
John Greyson as Producer. He was 48 (now 64) years old
|
Production |
|
David Wall as Musical. He was 62 (67) years old when He died
|
Writing |
|
Damion Nurse as Production Manager. |
Production |