The Other Guys Theatre

The Company Now & Forward

Our current project, Good Timber, Songs and Stories of the Western Logger is inspired by a collection of poems entitled Rhymes of A Western Logger by Robert E. Swanson. Swanson worked as a logger in the woods of the Pacific Northwest and later, as an engineer, invented the air horn for locomotives and air brakes and run-a-way safety lanes for logging trucks. Swanson was best known for the poetry that he wrote and collected about the life in the lumber camps.

"The easiest way to describe Robert Swanson's writing is to say he did for the loggers of the BC coast what Robert Service did for the goldminers of the Klondike. Swanson never hit international bigtime like Service but in the world of the BC coast logger, he achieved legendary status, a status he retains to this day. Like Service's writing, Swanson's has a breath of authenticity, a spirit of workplace vitality, which lifts it above the common run of folk verse. As such it makes an important contribution to the story of the west coast."

Rhymes of a Western Logger, Excerpt from Foreword by Howard White.

The meter of the poems lends itself towards various musical styles ranging from country, folk, blues to ragtime, gospel, Celtic and swing. Some of the poems stand on their own as dramatic readings, some spoken with musical underscoring, but the majority are being sung. All of the accompaniment is being provided live by the actors/musicians. We have brought together some of Vancouver Island's finest artist-musicians including Tobin Stokes, Colleen Eccleston, Kelt Eccleston, John Gogo, Sarah Donald, Ross Desprez and Mark Hellman. This fully staged musical revue will be set against a backdrop of rarely-seen film and photographic archival images from a time when loggers climbed trees.

From the Beginning - The History of OGT

Founded in the spring of 2000, the company is under the leadership of Artistic Director Ross Desprez, a director, actor, musician, playwright and educator based in Victoria, BC. The Board of Directors is comprised of local, professional theatre veterans with more than twenty years experience working in Victoria's performing arts.

The company's first production in the spring of 2001 Sex: the Musical, created by Desprez with musical direction by Tobin Stokes, played to sold-out houses at the Belfry Arts Centre and enjoyed unanimous critical acclaim. The production also enjoyed a successful run-out to Nanaimo, BC.

In 2002 The Vinedressers reunited the team of Tobin Stokes (Composer, Librettist) and Ross Desprez (Director). This world premiere included a cast of seven singers, a musical director/accompanist and three musicians. Once again, the company enjoyed critical acclaim and strong audience response. The Vinedressers recently enjoyed its second production at the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific in Powell River, BC.

In November 2002, OGT work-shopped Moodyville Tales, created by Desprez with musical direction by Stokes. The play ran in February 03 and featured a cast of 7 actor/musicians ranging in age from 15 to 50. The play enjoyed a revival at the Chemainus Theatre in April 03 and was remounted in downtown Victoria in the summer of 2006 for a sold out 4 week run.

The company's fourth project was the world premiere of Charles Tidler's Tortoise Boy in April 2004. With a cast of two local Equity practitioners and two University of Victoria Theatre students, this darkly poetic piece garnered excellent press and audience response. Charles was subsequently invited to the Banff Centre of the Arts to continue work on this piece within the playwriting program.

Desprez then created The Ballad of Jim Pane featuring Zach Stevenson. The first workshop for the play took place in November 2004 and the show premiered at the Belfry Theatre's Festival in March 2005. Such was the success of the initial production that the Belfry Theatre ran the show all summer of that year. In 2007 the show was invited to the On The Waterfront Festival at Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax, NS.

In 2007 Desprez brought together acclaimed local Victoria professionals Brian Linds and Jan Wood for a stellar production of Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad by Michael Melski. The show played to sold out houses at the Belfry Arts Centre Studio.

The focus for 2008/09 has been the development of the new multi-media musical theatre revue titled Good Timber - Songs and Stories of the Western Logger. This work again reunites the team of Desprez and Stokes as lead creators with some of BC's finest actor/musicians. The show will premiere on July 2, 2010 and run until August 28, 2010 at the Royal BC Museum.