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Getting to know Farren Timoteo,
starring as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher
Farren was last seen at the Citadel Theatre in Alice
Through the Looking-Glass, Make Mine Love, and
Monty Python’s Spamalot, the last of which earned him
an Elizabeth Haynes Sterling Award. Some of his other
acting credits include The Light in the Piazza (Theatre
Calgary); As You Like it, and Coriolanus (Freewill
Shakespeare); Marvellous Pilgrims, and Scent of
Compulsion (Teatro la Quindicina); Little Shop of Horrors, and Gentleman Prefer Blondes (Mayfield Theatre).
In 2015, Farren was included in Avenue Magazine’s list
of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40, celebrating the city’s
most promising young leaders. Farren can next be seen
performing in his own one-person play, Made in Italy, at
The Club at the Citadel. He resides in Edmonton with his
wife, Patricia Zentilli, and their six-year-old son,
Leonardo.
Farren Timoteo, actor, Peter and the Starcatcher
“I think [it] engages the audience in a
unique way that brings them into the
story.” -Farren Timoteo
Citadel Theatre: How are rehearsals going?
Farren Timoteo: Fantastic. They’re like a dream come true. It’s a fantastic group of people; I love the
play so, so much. We have an incredible leader, an incredible creative team. It’s amazing.
CT: Have you worked with most of the cast before, since you’re based in Edmonton?
FT: I’ve worked with at least half of them but several of them, no. It’s a really nice blend for me, getting
to work with familiar faces and getting to finally work with people who I’ve wanted to work with.
CT: Is this your first time working with James MacDonald as a director?
FT: Yes, it is my first time working with James as a director. I’ve been a huge fan of his work from the
audience for a long time, and we’ve acted together before, but this is my first time working under his directorship, and it’s really quite beautiful. He’s really quite incredible.
CT: What kind of director is he?
FT: He’s an amazing mix of being wise and grounded and intelligent
but also joyous and compassionate. So it creates this really amazing
working environment where everybody feels comfortable, everyone’s
encouraged to play and discover but we’re also really motivated and
married to the text and we’re always improving, working really hard.
It’s an incredible blend.
CT: What’s it like playing multiple characters? How do you switch
from one character to another seamlessly?
“Amidst all of this energy
and spectacle, there’s this
really gorgeous heart at
the centre of the story
about these two kids who
are growing up a little
bit.” -Farren Timoteo
FT: It’s always fun to get to play multiple characters. I really love that
kind of theatre. It keeps us on stage for the brunt of the show, so we’re always transforming right before
the audiences’ eyes and inhabiting these different characters. It requires us to have to access different
physicalities or voices to find that, especially as we play more and more characters as the play goes on,
finding new ways to hone in on something that’s unique, that you haven’t seen yet. I love that. I think it
pushes us all to our limit.
CT: There are a lot of props to work with on stage. How does that factor into your performance?
FT: It’s a piece that really wants us, as actors, to use our imaginations to bring seconds – and the world
and the universe – to life, but also – and this is the beauty of it – asks the audience to use their
imaginations, too. So, we have this incredible array of props that I think you’d find on the deck of a ship or
on a dock in England in the 1800s and, using these items, we’re going to create the world that you see.
And I think that’s really theatrical. I think that engages the audience in a unique way that brings them into
the story.
CT: Peter and the Starcatcher is a musical play but not technically a musical. What’s the difference?
FT: For a non-musical, it’s very musical! There’s a lot of really beautiful music in the show, and it does
everything from lifting dramatic, catastrophic moments to providing humour, delight and comedy. It plays
a really big factor in this show, actually.
CT: What’s your favourite scene?
FT: That’s a tough one because I’m having a really amazing time with everything. I have several scenes
that I love doing but, if I can, from an audience perspective, I’m really in love with the scenes between
Peter and Molly. I just like sitting and watching them. Oscar Derkx and Andrea Rankin are doing really
beautiful work exploring those characters and bringing these beautiful little scenes to life. Amidst all of
this energy and spectacle, there’s this really gorgeous heart at the centre of the story about these two kids
who are growing up a little bit. I love watching that. It touches me.
CT: How would you describe the show to someone who’s not familiar with it?
FT: I would describe it as a reboot on the popular mythology of Peter Pan, something that asks the
audience to have as big of an adventure as the characters on stage are having.
CT: What do you hope patrons will take away from seeing the show?
FT: I think it’s a show that explores identity and I think it’s a show that explores youth. In addition to
having a really excellent time and having a great many laughs because it’s a very funny show, I hope they
take away a little introspection, a little contemplation over their own identity and their own nostalgia for
their youth.
CT: What are your character’s best and worst qualities? Does Black Stache have a good quality?
FT: I think maybe Stache’s best and worst quality is the same thing. He’s got this incredible confidence
and sometimes it manifests itself as arrogance but also, that kind of works for him because he has created
this larger-than-life persona. He wants to be the ultimate villain, so I think his confidence helps him to
achieve that and distracts from that but also the way it manifests as arrogance prevents him from seeing
what a big buffoon he is half of the time.
“There’s a lot of really beautiful music in the show, and it does everything
from lifting dramatic, catastrophic moments to providing humour, delight
and comedy.” -Farren Timoteo
CT: Have you seen any footage of the Broadway version of Peter and the Starcatcher?
FT: Christian Borle played Black Stache in the Broadway production and I have seen a few clips. I’m a
big fan of Christian Borle’s work. When I did Spamalot here at the Citadel a few years ago, I was
fortunate to play the tract that Christian Borle had originated in that show, so I feel a sort of kinship with
Christian Borle. I’m a really big fan. His timing is impeccable and his energy is incredible so, if anything,
I feel pretty inspired by Christian Borle to just have fun and marry that clash of Black Stache’s eloquence
with buffoonery.
CT: Were you a big Peter Pan fan growing up? What about the character did you relate to? Do you still
relate to Peter now as an adult or do you find yourself relating to other characters more?
FT: As a child, I’m not sure … but now that you mention it, in Kindergarten, for Halloween, I was Peter
Pan. And I can’t remember if that was my choice or my mom’s choice. She might have just made me that
costume. I think I was a slow-comer to the Peter Pan mythology, to be honest. I think I was an adult
before I really started to understand and respect how beautiful J.M. Barrie’s storytelling really is.
Peter and the Starcatcher runs April 1-23, 2017, at the Citadel Theatre. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.citadeltheatre.com.