Not unlike the character he plays in Tarragon Theatre’s remount of the award-winning production of Lungs, Brendan Gall is a 30-something father who is concerned about the state of the environment as he raises his son.
"I read the script and realized I wasn’t a unique snowflake," the Junction Triangle resident said with a laugh.
Gall’s character is a married 30-something who with his wife is contemplating having a child. They’re a middle-class, white-privileged couple, who is worried about the world, the environment and what humankind is doing to the planet. The play is about their personal struggle to decide whether or not to have a child – or if anyone should have a child.
"My wife and I are neurotic, anxious and worried about being good people," Gall told The Villager.
Lungs, written by British playwright Duncan Macmillan, and starring Lesley Faulkner alongside Gall, opens New Year’s Eve and runs until Sunday, Jan. 25 at Tarragon’s Extraspace.
Lungs promises to give a no-holds-barred look at lifetime of love in a time of global anxiety and political unrest. It’s simply two actors on stage in the midst of a conversation.
Coincidentally, Gall and his co-star both have young children. Gall’s little boy is almost three.
"My partner and I worry a lot about the environment. We worry about the world as our child is growing up," he said.
Gall and Faulkner "fight a lot. We care about the same things, but our approach is different," he said. "I’m a big fan of confident avoidance – this production is inadvertently therapy for me."
Audiences really respond to the play. The script resonates with a lot of people, Gall said.
"I’ve done remounts before. It’s familiar and comfortable (to be reprising a role), but it’s also a little nerve-wracking because there are expectations. You’ve got to deliver a second time."
Gall was born in Nova Scotia, but grew up in Richmond Hill. He credits a friend in elementary school for turning him on to acting. He would go on to graduate from the Unionville High School, an arts school before attending George Brown Theatre School.
He had aspirations as a kid of becoming a movie star.
"The reality is, being an actor in Canada has little to do with Hollywood," Gall said. "I feel really lucky. I’ve gotten to do some great work."
He is currently starring on the medical show, Remedy, and has some writing projects in different stages of completion.
Lungs can be seen at Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace, 30 Bridgman Ave., Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. beginning Dec. 31. For tickets, call Patron Services at 416-531-1827 or visit www.tarragontheatre
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