Q and A: Shannon Chan-Kent stars in the Arts Club's The Flick (2025)

The Flick

Sept. 29toOct. 29 | Granville Island Stage

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Tickets and info: starting at $29,artsclub.com

Anyone who’s ever spent way too much time talking about movies is sure to relate to The Flick. Annie Baker’s 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner takes place over an evening at an old movie house, as three ushers mop up the popcorn and discuss life, love and film. We talked to Vancouver actor Shannon Chan-Kent about changing her hair colour to play her character, generational anxieties and gaps in her classic movie knowledge.

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Q: You’ve dyed your hair green for the role of Rose in The Flick. What does the hair colour signify about the character?

A: Originally I thought that maybe she can’t stay in a relationship for more than four months, she’s always changing her mind, and therefore she’s always changing her hair colour, she doesn’t really know who she is. Then I dove into it a bit more with Dean (Paul Gibson, director of The Flick) and we came up with this theory. Green isn’t the most welcoming hair colour, it’s a bit off-putting, maybe, a bit repellent, and I feel like she kind of likes that. So no one can really get close to her. She likes making a statement, she’s a bit of a rebel, or at least wants to be perceived as that. I think the green is an important colour, that pink or purple or a dark warm blue would have been too pretty for her. She’s supposed to not be wearing any makeup, shewearsbaggy clothing. She’s still supposed to be sexy but sexy within her own body, within her own confidence.

Q: Two out of the three main characters are millennials. What are the generational anxieties the characters are facing?

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A: I think millennials are used to being stimulated all the time. Especially with this play, because it’s based in real time, and it’s a very patient play, coming to the movie theatre signifies a time when we can shut off all that technology and try to be in a place where there are no distractions. These three characters are learning how to navigate their relationships in a more real way, in a kind of old-school way. No texting, no phoning, just learning how to get to know one another. In this day and age, when everybody’s go-go-go and always on their computer or phone or Netflix, you can lose touch with human contact and what it is to feel compassion and what it is to put yourself in an awkward situation face-to-face with someone.

Q: Do they talk about technology?

A: Absolutely. Avery (Jesse Reid in the Arts Club production) is so against technology. He’s a huge film buff, and he talks about if the theatre goes digital, then he’s going to have to quit. That goes against everything film is to him. And Rose says she doesn’t really care, she puts on a bit of a front, but I think she does care. All of these people work at this theatre because they think they all have film in common and their love for something old and nostalgic. The fact that the theatre might be closing down because the new owner wanting to go digital goes against a lot of what they stand for.

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Q: Is there a lot of movie talk?

A: There’s a ton. I think there are 40 movies references in the whole play.

Q: Have you seen all the movies mentioned?

A: I’ve not. I’ve tried to watch the ones that are really important. I watched (Francois) Truffaut’s Jules and Jim (1962) the other night. It’s an awesome movie. That one’s really important to the play. And Pulp Fiction, Tree of Life. I don’t think you need to watch every single movie, but it helps.

Q: It sounds like the characters are a nine or 10 on the film buff scale. Where are you?

A: I haven’t seen a lot of the classics. I love movies, I’ll take any opportunity to go to the movies or watch a movie. I don’t know if I should say this, but I haven’t even seen The Godfather. I’m going to watch it one day. But I have not seen it.

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