102299 Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, Ottawa, ON

For today’s ticket story I decided to call in a consultant, to phone-a-friend as it were, to see what sort of insight I could muster about a play called Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, which I saw at Carleton University’s Alumni Theatre on October 22nd, 1999.  I have a ticket stub that tells me so and everything [pictured].

As you might have already gathered, I have little-to-no recollection of this particular performance of this particular play on this particular (or any) night, and to be honest (for I truly attempt to be so) the “little” in that “little-to-no” refers to flashes of any number of nameless plays that I saw in that (particular) theatre.  Due mostly to the friend who’s response I am awaiting – and later to my own (musical) involvement in the university’s acting troupe – I saw a lot of independent student theatre throughout the mid-to-late ’90’s.  But if I had to guess (and pending Eric’s response I may just have to), I would surmise that this play was probably an Alan Neal creation.  I base that supposition on the following two pieces of circumstantial evidence: 1) I saw a lot of plays written by Alan Neal in the Alumni Theatre, and 2) the play’s overly verbose title.  Alan’s plays tended to be…um…wordy.  They also tended to be long, like three hours or more.  Dude liked to write (more than he liked to edit).  He probably still does, though his day job is manning the microphone on CBC’s Ottawa drive-home show.

Come to think of it, that makes two of my former fellow students who have shows on the CBC; Julie Nesrallah is the other.  Julie and I used to hang out when we were both music students at Carleton University in the early ’90’s.  Back then she was clearly and immediately very cool, very smart, and super-friendly.  Everyone liked Julie and with good reason, and the few occasions when our paths have crossed since then have only proved that her butterflying from a fantastic mezzo-soprano into a world-class radio host did not alter the core of her personality one iota.  And I love love love listening to her radio show!

Anyway, my friend finally gotten back to me and I can report that he was little help.  I asked him straight out what he could tell me about Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love and he replied that it was a play that he had heard much about but had never seen, though he’d heard that it was “steamy” and that it involved a serial killer, that it was Canadian, and it was possible that his ex-girlfriend had acted in it.

Well I had news for him!  For the little piece of paper that accompanies this stub in my ticket album states clearly and in mine own handwriting that Eric and I had in fact attended this performance together, so he had seen it.

“Huh…?” he replied.  “Wha…?” he continued.  “Where?” he concluded. [I’m paraphrasing].

“Oh right, it was at the GCTC, no?” he reached.

“No,” I quasi-gloated, “It was at Alumni Theatre…”

I surmised to Eric about the Alan Nealness of the title and he surmised back at me that he thought otherwise.  So let’s see if an internet dive can shed some probability one way or the ‘nother…

…Well that was easy; Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love has a wikipedia page.  And that page tells me that it is was written by Canadian playwright Brad Fraser* (two points to Eric) and that it is about a group of sexually-diverse Edmontonians that are being stalked by a serial killer.  Two more points for Eric.  More likely three, as he’d also recalled his girlfriend-at-the-time engaged a smooching scene with another actress, which I may or may not semiremember.

Ahem.  So…

On October 22nd, 1999 I saw a campus production of a Canadian play called Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love that featured my roommate’s girlfriend as a lesbian-dabbling thirty-something who was in danger of being murdered and was not written by CBC broadcaster/amateur playwright Alan Neal.  I don’t remember much about it.

Oh, and you should listen to my friend Julie Nesrallah’s show Tempo on CBC Radio 2.  It’s on every weekday morning.

*Any relation to director Natalie Fraser?  The internet isn’t big enough to hold such answers.