On a recent weeknight at the Ted Ferry Civic Center, about a dozen actors fell into place on a small stage. Some were holding props, like a bucket and a bag of ice. A man dressed similarly to Beetlejuice stood center stage.
The props were turned to weapons against the stripe-patterned man. A cane was jabbed into his ribs. The bust of a mermaid was smacked against his face. He was then roped into a net, like a fish.
It was just one scene in the notoriously silly short play “Fish Pirate’s Daughter.” The production is an exaggerated take on the city’s history – with drunks and ladies of the night who worked in Ketchikan’s infamous red light district on Creek Street.
Director Elizabeth Nelson, who has been involved with “Fish Pirate’s Daughter” for about 40 years, said the show was made by Ketchikanites, for Ketchikanites. She said it probably wouldn’t work well outside of Alaska.
“It’s our opportunity to laugh with ourselves, not at ourselves, to see our friends and neighbors in something that is silly and fun,” Nelson said. “I think it just is – it’s just to become a part of who we are as a community.”
“Fish Pirate’s Daughter” was written in the 1960s by Ketchikan-born Robert Kinerk to fund the newly formed theatre group First City Players. That organization still puts on the play. It’s been performed around Southeast, from bars in Ketchikan, to Wrangell, to ferries on the Alaska Marine Highway.
And as its name might suggest, the play is about fish pirates – or commercial fishermen who stole salmon in the days of fish traps. The devices, which captured salmon before they could go upstream to spawn, wiped out salmon populations, but were protected by the law. The play is a farcical look at the seriousness of fish piracy.
“Part of the brilliance of this show is that the script is a framework of which you can take 300 different roads,” said Phillip Smith, who plays the role of Tony, one of the drunks. He’s acted in the show for about five years but has grown up watching it. His mom is the director.
Smith said the interactive play changes year to year. That’s in part because the actors make the characters their own.
“New people have come through and added their own twist on it, and suddenly, it changed an entire scene,” Smith said. “It doesn’t change the message at the end, but it still can change moments, it can make life of new things and bring different light to these characters.”
This year’s show is chock full of “Fish Pirate” veterans and first-timers. And it’s pretty low stakes for new actors or those who want to get back into acting. The show is less than an hour long.
And while Ketchikan has changed a lot since the days of fish piracy, some actors argue it’s the same in a lot of ways. It’s still a quirky fishing town.
Nelson said that helps make the play’s story timeless.
“I just am kind of amazed that it has survived this long, and that it still feels fresh, and it still feels fun,” she said.
Since its debut in 1966, the show has seen a complete overhaul of its music scoring. It’s also added new characters, like laddies of the line, or men of the night.
The 60th annual “Fish Pirate’s Daughter” will run this and next Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. inside the Ted Ferry Civic Center. You can purchase tickets online at firstcityplayers.org or in person at the theatre company’s office on Main Street in downtown Ketchikan.
Editor’s Note: KRBD Program Director and Morning Edition Host Maria Dudzak is a cast member in this year’s production of “Fish Pirate’s Daughter.”
Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.
