Interview with Don Walker of the Banyan Theater’s “The Drawer Boy”

[Cliff Roles]

Ken Ferrigni, Don Walker and Kenneth Tigar in “The Drawer Boy.” photo/Gary Sweetman

Here's the interview link - click to listen! The Drawer Boy

“The Drawer Boy” is a Canadian drama by Michael Healey. The story centers around lifelong friends and World War II veterans Morgan (Don Walker) and Angus (Kenneth Tigar). The play is set on a farm where their hard but peaceful workaday life is interrupted when an eager young actor, Miles (Ken Ferrigni), comes to call. Miles is researching a theater piece about farming and he wants to observe Morgan and Angus on their daily rounds.

Morgan allows the young man to stick around but soon realizes that Miles is ill-equipped for life on the farm. His naiveté and ineptitude create some of the most delightfully comic moments in the
play.

As Miles begins poking around their lives, he learns that Morgan and Angus have lived together on the farm ever since they returned from their stint in WWII. Angus still bears the mental scars of
a brain injury he suffered during a bombing in London. His memory is all but wiped out, and while he can still make sandwiches (and is a mathematical savant), he can’t remember, for example, who Miles is, so the young man must reintroduce himself every time they meet.

Each night Morgan and Angus go through a storytelling ritual that helps them make sense of their life together. Using the comforting cadences of an oft-repeated bedtime story, Morgan also speaks of Angus’s youthful love for drawing, referring to him as “the drawer” and to himself as “the farmer.”

Miles overhears the story and decides to surprise them by using it in his play, which stirs up trouble. Ultimately, art becomes life.

“The Drawer Boy” is fundamentally about the transformative power of storytelling in creating and interpreting reality.

~Carole Kleinberg, Artistic Director

Get tickets for any of the performances by phoning the box office at [phone] or going online to http://banyantheatercompany.com!

“The Drawer Boy” performance dates:
8:00 pm July 24, 28, 29*, 30, 31
2:00 pm July 24, 25*, 31; August 1

*Play Talks follow these shows.