arts // no. 8

theotherpress.ca

 

High-stakes action and
adventure in CBC's ‘Caught’

> Interview with series’ showrunner

and star, Allan Hawco

Cheryl Minns
Senior Columnist

 

daring prison escape, detectives,
nd double-crosses fill CBC's new

five-part crime drama series, Caught,
which premiered on February 26.

Adapted from Lisa Moore's 2013
novel, Caught follows David Slancy
(played by Allan Haweo) as he escapes
New Brunswick's Dorchester Penitentiary
in 1978 and reconnects with his former
friend and business partner, Brian
Hearn (Eric Johnson). Slancy considers
doing one more job with Hearn, despite
the fact his friend may have been
the reason he ended up in prison.

“Slancy's life was turned upside
down fora shipment of weed in 1972,"
said Haweo, the series’ showrunner,
writer, and star, in an interview with the
Other Press. “He's completely ruined.
When you mect him now, he's ina place
where he has ne other option, he has no
other skill set, he has ne other life but
that connected to this level of crime."

Haweo discovered the novel
Caught when his previous CBC series,
Republic of Doyle (2010-14), was coming
to an end of its six-season run and he
was searching for new inspiration.

“We were anxious to find a natural
end to that show, but ina lot of ways,
I was kind of burnt-out creatively,"
he said. “Then I read the book and
it inspired me in a way that I hadn't
been ina while. Onee we secured the
rights and we started to work on it,

the inspiration kept getting greater, ll
was a fun ride from start to finish,”
During the adaptation process,
Haweo took the character-driven book
and turned it into a plot-driven television
program that require a variety of filming
locations and a genuine ig7os acsthetic,
“Itwas a challenge because we had a
very limited budget, and we were shooting
in two different continents, he said, “We
shot in Newfoundland, in Hamilton for
two days, and in the Dominican Republic,
“We worked really hard mot to
make ita caricature,” he said of the
70s period setting, “The characters,
their hacksteries, what they want, an
their obstacles, all those kinds of things
are front ane foremost, We tried mot te
hang too much on the time and place,
We just wanted them te live in it,”
Haweo used the novel asa base
for the show, with some alterations to
make it fit the television medium, In
order to stay faithful to the ariginal
story, Haweo kept in touch with the
author, Lisa Moore, to let her know what
kinds of changes were being macle,
“It's based directly ane fundamentally
on the characters, the premise, an
the hackstory of the characters,” he
said, “But there are great departures, |
cleared everything with Lisa first, | just
wanted her blessing, even though we
technically didn’t need to do that.”
One such departure is the
way the thriller novel examines its
characters, This can be hard te portray
on plot-driven television, which
dovsn't really offer an opportunity for

 

  

Image of Allan Haweo in ‘Caught’

“The characters, their backstories, what they want, and their
obstacles, all those kinds of things are front and foremost. We

tried not to hang too much on the time and place. We just wanted
them to live in it." - Alan Haweo, star and showrunner of 'Caught'

 

characters to reflect introspectively.
“The book itself is extremely lyrical
and beautifully written,” said Haweo,
“Tt has a lot of internal thought, a lot
of characters on their own, and you
really don't worry so much about the
plot in the book as much as you do
with the inner working of the character,
which is dithcult for television.”
Another departure is the
introduction of new character KC
Williams (Enuka Okuma), a Drug
Enforcement Administration agent, She
is seen in several uncomfortable scenes
that establish the blatant sexism and
racism of the wg7os. Asa black woman,
she has.a difficult time getting respect
from her male co-workers. Despite

having a good track record, she still gets

sent out of meetings to get coffee. Police

Detective Roy Patterson (Paul Gross) is

searching for Slaney and Hearn, and offers

to bring Williams into his operation.
“|Moore] has seen the first twe

episodes,” said Haweo. “She called

me right away from the space where

she watched it and was extremely

supportive. Then she went home and

wrote a five-page email going into

mare detail about why she loved it.
“Lreally hope people enjoy it. That's

all | can hepe for at the end of the day:

That people feel like they've been taken

on an interesting ride for five episodes.”
Caught airs at g p.m.

on Mondays on CBC.

Chairman of the Board: Game of bureaucrats

> ‘Kingsburg’ board game review

Ed Appleby
Senior Columnist

 

kkekeknk

he reports are in from your scouts:

A marauding horde of bloodthirsty
monsters bent on destruction will be at
the gates of your kingdom sooner than
you would like. There is only one thing
te do—suck up to the bureaucracy!

Kingsburg (2007) is a resource
allocation game for two to five people
designed hy Andrea Chiarvesio and Luca
lennaco, and published by Stratellion.
Inthe game, players take the role of
governing lords who must guide their
lands through the seasons by constructing
buildings, acquiring resources and
intelligence, and preparing your army te
defend against the upcoming monster
attack at the end of the year, Resources
are acquired by allocating dice rolls to
various members of the King's Council,
The winner is the player with the
most victory points after five years.
This game has a lot going for it.

The fact that your influence is based on

dice ralls, anel that the lowest roll pets
to place their influence first, gives the
game a balanced random clement that
dovsn't take away from the stratepy.
Players who fall behinel in resources or
buildings get a boon from the king after
certain seasons, which keeps players from
being left behind, Unlike most Euro-
atyle strategy games, there is no “point
salad” effeet at the end of the game—
and every victory point is valuable,

There are several expansions available
for the game, which for onee is a welcome
addition, Whereas many expansions tend
toovercomplicate an alreacdy-complicateed
game, in the case of Kingsbury the
expansions aclel littl: in the way of new
rules and more in the way of new options
for the players to allocate their resourees,

Kingsburg is a unieorn among
fantasy-based European strategy
games—one that is fair, balanced, anel
engaging without a hidden scoring
system, The basic rules are simple
enough to understand, anc easy enough
te pick up after a round or two, | would
highly recommend giving this game
ashot, especially since it just had a
accond cdition release last year,

  

 

Illustration by Ed Appleby