pieing jean chretien: evan brown`s "problems with authority"

9/28/12
Pieing Jean Chretien: Evan Brown's "Problems with Authority" | OpenFile
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PIEING JEAN CHRETIEN: EVAN
BROWN'S "PROBLEMS WITH
AUTHORITY"
REPORTED BY
JACOB BOON
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This screen capture shows the exact second in 2000 when Evan Brown, then just 23, pied Prime Minister Jean
Chretien in the face. Brown has written an illustrated monologue for this year's Atlantic Fringe Festival, where the
tight-lipped theatre tech promises to explain his motivations.
REPORTED ON
August 29, 2012
Jean Chretien was not amused.
The then-Prime Minister was visiting
Charlottetown, PEI in August of 2000 when
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9/28/12
Pieing Jean Chretien: Evan Brown's "Problems with Authority" | OpenFile
SOLD! NUDE PAINTING OF STEPHEN HARPER SELLS
23-year-old Evan Brown nonchalantly
TO UNKNOWN BUYER FOR $5,000
walked up and pushed a whipped cream
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
pie in his face. It was reportedly to protest
Chretien’s failure to regulate genetically
AND NOW, A NUDE PAINTING OF STEPHEN HARPER
Friday, May 18, 2012
modified food, but Brown was largely silent
about why he did what he did. Despite
hundreds of requests from local and
international media, he partook in just two interviews—one in Charlottetown, and one in his
native Halifax.
Now, over a decade later, and having served 9 days in jail after being given a 30-day conditional
sentence for his actions, Brown has created a one-man play about the pie-throwing and his own
history of civil disobedience. A theatre technician by trade, he’s working with directors Clare
Waque and Nicholas Bottomley on "Problems with Authority", a “neurotic and dark journey”
through Brown’s life which premieres as part of the Atlantic Fringe Festival this Friday.
Brown took some time away from rehearsals to chat with OpenFile about the show, the
importance of protesting, and what exactly happened back in 2000.
Talk to me about the play—what is
it?
Well, how to sum this up..."Problems
With Authority," in short, is about the
pieing of Jean Chretien, the Prime
Minister of Canada, in 2000. A lot of
people ask me about it. So it's the
hows, the why and all the absurdities in
between that happened from the point
of view of the guy that did it; me.
Why make it now? What brought
you to that?
THE LATEST
Evan Brown pies Prime Minister Jean Chretien in 2000.
A lot of different things. Actually, we
talk about that in the show. I was really hesitant to talk too much about it afterwards—I mean, it
was a slow news summer and it was a real shit storm. Of hundreds of offers to do interviews I
only did two. A radio interview on the Island to try and explain things to people that were
confused about it, and one in Halifax to explain things to people back home. And besides that, I
didn't have any interest in exploiting the situation for personal attention.
In the last ten years I've kept my head below the radar and just kind of plugged away at my
field. And about two years ago at a Fringe show, somebody was asking me about it, and
suggested the idea. I think that's where it first sort of popped into my head. Over the years, I've
been asked again and again and again. "How did you do that?" and "Why did you do that?"
In addition, I wanted to do a show, a funny show, a dark show, a sad show about our
relationships to authority. I'm a father now, my son's 18 months old. I thought it all kind of rolled
together into a nice package.
MAN WHO CUT TEEN'S CHAINS SPEAKS,
BULLIED YOUTH CAN REMAIN ANONYMOUS,
EXPLOSION BLOWS UP GAS PRICES
HALIFAX, MORNING FILE
5 hours 19 min ago
The neighbour who cut the chains of 16-year-old
confined and bound for two weeks in Upper Chelsea
spoke to News 95.7 yesterday. "(The teen) said '...
Where would you say your problems with authority originate?
Well, I think they definitely originate with my father. He's passed now, and he was a really
complicated guy and had a lot of his own troubles that he never really worked out. And he really
set the archetype up for me to analyze and scrutinize and be concerned about my whole life.
But at a certain point, you know, the joke I heard once is after you turn 30 you can't blame your
parents anymore. It's all on you. So we put that in the show, a bit. There's a lot about personal
responsibility, because I took a lot of heat afterwards. But I have nobody to blame but myself.
I have to ask, why did you pie the Prime Minister?
You know, you'll have to see the show, my dear. I'm sorry (laughs).
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1 day 5 hours ago
The first-degree murder trial against Chaze Lamar
Thompson heard testimony yesterday from the wife of the
store owner who called a cab for two black...
Would you say civil disobedience has an important place in society?
Oh my god, of course it does. I mean, if you want to spend any amount of time studying the
Depression. There is such a long history in the last hundred years, particularly in labour for
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9/28/12
Pieing Jean Chretien: Evan Brown's "Problems with Authority" | OpenFile
workers' rights, for women's rights, queer rights. Across the board, any type of power structure
we have that's top-heavy, there's always somebody somewhere getting squeezed pretty hard.
And nothing's ever changed for them or gotten better without making some noise.
Why do you think there's people then that dismiss that as hooliganism?
Well, there's hooliganism, which I think is painting with a very broad brush a lot of people. You
really have to be a participant in a protest to see how small that percentage is. It's hard to take
anyone seriously, with respect to anyone who hasn't taken part in a protest, who will condemn
and blame 50,000 people protesting because one guy broke a window.
A great example, if I can ramble, is actually the G20 protest here in Halifax in, maybe 2001 (ed.
It was the G7 finance ministers’ meeting in 2002). It was the safest, silliest, happiest 1,000
people marching. And they made the mistake of doing what's called a snake march, which is a
random disruption of traffic where everyone walks around. Then they went downtown, to Lower
Water Street, and the police went batshit down there. And at a certain point there was a
response to step on this thing hard and gas the hell out of people and arrest a bunch of people.
And they did. And in the papers, it's reported, you know, thank goodness the police are there to
quell violent protests.
One week later, I come up to Ottawa to the Take the Capital march there, and that was an
angry scene. There were angry people there, and there were kids who defaced the side of the
steps of the Supreme Court of Canada and all sorts of madness. There were some extreme
elements there, people who wanted to tussle with the police. But the police at that protest had a
specific organization, called the Major Events Liaison Team, and its purpose was to not have
the police portrayed or seen as these really scary stormtroopers. So they did everything they
could to keep things cool. And as a result it's reported in the papers, despite a protest that was
borderline violent and much, much larger, it's reported in the papers that the protest was
peaceful.
The only way I can wrap that up, is that I've never participated in a riot the police didn't initiate.
In your experiences, have you felt ostracized by people you know over the
events you’ve been a part of? Have friends or family dismissed your actions?
Oh, yeah. I was always a bit of an alien creature, and that just cemented it for a lot of people. I
had friends from high school go on forums online saying stuff about me. Some family members,
who were a little more conservative, not knowing what to make of me. The action itself polarized
people, even though it's just a silly, stupid little pie.
What have you learned then, from how it was received by people?
I guess a good summary is that if you're going to take a really dramatic action and make a
scene, first off, be prepared to have a clear statement. Second off, be prepared for the
consequences. That's what I'd say. And I don't think that's a bad lesson for anyone, really.
With all those experiences and lessons, is it hard to incorporate all that onto the stage in
this one-man show?
Yeah, it's been challenging. I think we're on our fourth draft, and there's a lot of content. A lot of
thinking. We try to get a lot of laughs in and some serious moments, but make this as concise
and clear and interesting for an audience as possible. There's been a rigorous workshopping
and getting it up on its legs. I've got a lot of fantastic people around me, an amazing team, and
we've all been working on this together and chopping it up. They don't let me take myself too
seriously, which is good.
Technically, what have you been incorporating into the play?
We've been doing some pretty intense blocking. Clare (Waque) has an amazing head for
blocking and putting things together and figuring out where the tension is going. And Nick
(Bottomley) has a great head for that too, but his strength is really the video. And we have a lot
of content. I'd been shooting protests for years, and so we've got some of that that we'll be
using in different ways. We've tried to keep it tech-low, because I've run hundreds of Fringe
shows and we just wanted to be able to step into this with as few variables as possible except
maybe what we were running through the projector.
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Dumb question maybe, but do you pie anyone on stage?
You'll have to see the show. We do talk about Harper a bit (laughs).
Should audience members in the front row bring ponchos, like Gallagher?
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9/28/12
Pieing Jean Chretien: Evan Brown's "Problems with Authority" | OpenFile
(Laughs) Who knows. I would not be surprised in the slightest if someone tries to pie me. For
the first couple of years I thought it was going to happen at any moment, like poetic justice. So if
it's going to happen it might as well be at the show. As long as they don't hit me hard. It's got to
be gentle. You've got to do it with love.
"Problems With Authority" premieres at The Bus Stop Theatre Friday, Aug. 31. Tickets are $10,
Recommended for mature audiences.
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