Munish Sharma’s football tale looks at Roughrider legend George Reed
Theatre | Gregory Beatty
34
Until Nov. 27
Globe Theatre (Darke Hall)
The last time Saskatchewan hosted the Grey Cup in 2013 it was a dream season, with the Riders fulfilling every fan’s fantasy by capturing the cup on home turf with a dominating win over the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
This season it’s a different story. After starting strong, the Green and White hit the skids mid-July and never recovered. Realistically, it would have been asking a lot to see a repeat of 2013. But to not even make the playoffs on the crossover… ugh!
Oh well, such is the life of a Rider fan. In the team’s 112-year history, there have definitely been more lows than highs. The lowest arguably came in December 1956, when the Riders lost four all-star linemen in the Mt. Slesse plane crash. Five years of futility followed, topped off by eight wins total (against 37 losses and three ties) from the 1959 through 1961 seasons.
Rider fortunes started to turn around in 1962, with the arrival of quarterback Ron Lancaster in a trade with Ottawa Rough Riders. Bruising fullback George Reed joined the team the next year from Washington State University. And with other key pieces falling into place — a solid O-line, tenacious defence, good home-grown talent — the Riders became a CFL powerhouse, playing in 11 straight Western finals from 1966–1976, and appearing in five Grey Cups (they won in ’66).
It was a grand time to be a Rider fan. Globe Theatre revisits that era in the run up to Grey Cup 2022 with the premiere of #34, a play by Vancouver-based performer/playwright Munish Sharma.
Sharma’s involvement with the project, he recalled in a recent phone interview, started with a curious question from Globe Theatre artistic director Jennifer Brewin.
“She asked whether I liked football or not,” says Sharma. “Obviously, growing up in Regina the first sport I ever took an interest in was football,” Sharma says. “My dad was, and still is, a huge Rider fan. I replied, ‘Yeah, I love football. I grew up watching it.’ I thought it maybe had to do with going to a Rider game or something. She e-mailed back and shared with me that there were talks about possibly writing a play on George Reed and his life on and off the field.”
Brewin had been working with Sharma on an audio production of his play Mrs Singh and Me, so she was familiar with his work. Sharma wrote up a short draft for Brewin, and also spoke with John Brazill, a retired CBC TV producer who first proposed the idea to the Globe.
“John worked in media for a number of years, but he’s not a playwright,” says Sharma. “That’s how it started. And it’s a bit under the gun because generally when a new work is commissioned you get 18 months to two years before a show goes up. This started in late December 2021, so here we are.”
High-Octane Game
George Reed was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1939. When Reed was a boy, the family moved to Seattle, and after his four-year Pac 8 college career with Washington State, he opted to sign with the Riders despite expressions of interest from several NFL teams. The NFL was relatively small potatoes back then, so the money wasn’t much different, and having experienced life in the Deep South as a boy, Reed felt Canada was the better option.
Sharma was born a decade after Reed retired in 1975, so he never got to see him play. To gather background for the project, he read Reed’s 2011 autobiography, along with the material Brazill had collected. He also hunted down footage of old CFL games on YouTube, and spoke several times with Reed’s daughter, Georgette.
“I also sent drafts to Georgette, which she shared with her father,” says Sharma. “In talking with her, I know he’s aware of the project and has had a level of involvement in the process.”
The Globe is staging the two-person play, which stars Jeremiah Sparks as Reed and Sharma as a Rider fan, at the newly renovated Darke Hall. It’s directed by Judy Wensel and will include a multi-media component as well as period fashion and décor.
“I would describe the story as an adventure,” says Sharma. “I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s very similar to a high-octane game. A number of things happen, and it really comes down to the final seconds as to how it all comes together.”
In addition to Reed’s exploits on the field, he spearheaded a drive in the early 1970s to form the CFL Players Association to advocate on behalf of players past and present. Reed’s leadership role didn’t endear him to management, but the generations of CFL players who came after him owe him a debt of gratitude.
Reed is also well-known for his charitable work with Special Olympics and other causes, and Sharma tries to capture some of that in the play, too.
“Family is also a huge part of Mr. Reed’s life, and it’s a big thing in the Riders culture as well,” he says. “Themes like family, working together, what it means to be a fan, and showcasing the person as he is and how we see him is also part of it.”
In recent years, Reed has spoken about the racism he and his family encountered when they first moved to Regina. That’s another theme Sharma has woven into the play.
“At its core, the goal is to honour Mr. Reed’s life in its entirety,” says Sharma. “He’s a phenomenal person who has done a lot, not just for the Rider organization, but the whole community. His early experiences in Regina are part of the story, as I didn’t want to step away from any of the challenges he had to overcome.”
During at least the first half of Reed’s CFL career, the Riders had a “quota” limiting the number of Black players on the then-32-man roster to three. Reed and star defensive lineman Ed McQuarters filled two of those spots, then there was a rotating series of halfbacks: Ed Buchanan, Silas McKinnie and Bobby Thompson.
Sharma sees Reed’s story as part of a broader trend over the last decade or so where people from diverse backgrounds are stepping forward to tell their stories.
“The characters on stage are Black and Brown people, so they’re telling a narrative that is at once both very Canadian, but also offers a different perspective on what it means to be in Canada. There are some things touched on that are very valid, because they did happen,” says Sharma.
“But at its core, it’s very much about honouring George Reed and the culture of the Riders,” says Sharma. “His humility and work ethic are what I think sets him apart. He’s never been a ‘Look at me’ kind of person, which is admirable.
“There’s something to be said for a human being who puts his head down, puts in the work, and changes people in the world around him.” ■
