The following two reviews were broadcast on CIUT FRIDAY MORNING, 89.5 fm on Friday, April 25: A GOD IN NEED OF HELP at the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace and OF HUMANE BONDAGE at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts until May 17.
The guest Host was Phil Taylor.
(PHIL)
Good Friday Morning. It’s theatre fix time with Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. What do you have for us this week?
(LYNN)
Two intriguing plays each dealing with the human condition in a way, and art in a way.
A God In Need of Help is written by Sean Dixon and produced by the Tarragon Theatre and deals with a religious painting by Dürer and a harrowing journey on which it was taken.
The second play is the world premiere of an adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s classic, Of Human Bondage.
Vern Thiessen, a Canadian playwright, was commissioned by Soulpepper Theatre Company to adapt the book and Soulpepper is producing it.
I have to say bravo to Albert Schultz, artistic director of Soulpepper Theatre Company for being the impetus for this commission to produce the only stage adaptation of this towering work of literature.
It’s about how man is in bondage to his emotions, try as he might not to be. So human bondage is made of the things that tie us up—love, lust, obsession, possession and passion.
(PHIL)
Lots to discuss. Let’s start with A God in Need of Help. What’s it about?
(LYNN)
It’s a beautifully written play by Sean Dixon that is part art-theft mystery, part political-religious intrigue, part mysterious miracle, that takes place in 1606 and is still relevant in 2014. The focus of the play is Albrecht Dürer’s religious painting, The Brotherhood of the Rosary.
In it the Virgin Mary and her infant son Jesus, are surrounded by an adoring crowd of townsfolk comprised of the very humble to the most powerful Pope and Emperor. Considering the religious opposition between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants at the time, such a religious painting might be in danger.
The Emperor wanted the four strongest men in Venice to physically carry the painting from Venice, over the Alps to Prague. The four men are accompanied by a soldier (known as Captain in the program) for their protection. The soldier proves to be one of the dangers they have to endure. Half way through the journey, in a little town, the five men are captured by a group of Protestant zealots.
It seems two miracles occurred. First 56 people of the town swear that they saw the Virgin Mary come to life and carry her baby out of the painting. And the other miracle is that the five men escaped their captors.
Also along the way we see the kind of people the four men are. One suggests he copy the painting and pass it off as authentic when they get to Prague. All the intrigue of the journey gets the interest of the Cardinal of Milan and a leading enforcer in Italy. There is an enquiry and the men who carried the painting and the soldier are questioned about what happened.
Stories vary; lies are told; torture is used. Did miracles happen? That’s what the Cardinal and the enforcer want to know.
(PHIL)
It sounds like a substantial play.
(LYNN)
It is. Sean Dixon has written a play that is dense with research—there are two pages of historical information in the program to help us out and put it all in historical perspective. There are vaulting ideas about faith, religion, reformation, and the various philosophies of the day.
That’s not suggesting the play is dry. It isn’t. The story of the painting and the men who carried it are what make the play fascinating in so many ways. At times I thought I might get bogged down in all the information, but thought it’s a playwright trying to make his points about the intrigue of that time. The five men are cogs in a giant wheel. The story is the gripping part.
(PHIL)
How do they convey the journey over the Alps and the rest of the story?
(LYNN)
Richard Rose has directed a stylish, beautiful production. It’s very spare using very few props. There is that huge painting with a large frame around it standing upright at the back of the stage. The frame is detached, flipped so that it’s held up by a man at each corner, over their heads, so that the painting is parallel to the floor. The clever use of the detachable frame suggests the burden of carrying it as well as the men’s involvement with the painting. Sometimes they set the frame down so that it is standing upright, encasing the painting, and sometimes the men are in the frame suggesting they might be in the painting too. The clever design is by Camellia Koo. The impressive lighting is by Kimberley Purtell, and the evocative sound effects are by John Gzowski.
The cast is strong. As the Cardinal Greg Ellwand has that deceptive benign attitude that hides a sharp mind. John Cleland plays Zen, the powerful, ruthless enforcer. Cleland is steely eyed, condescending and brutal. There is nothing Zen like about this guy
While the four strong men are all accomplished actors, Jonathan Seinen as Rafal is notable because he obviously is not strong. He is slight but wily. He’s also delusional or is he. He is the most mysterious of them all. And as the soldier—Captain—Dmitry Chepovetsky has that dangerous, bullying attitude about him. You don’t turn your back on this guy—for many reasons as it turns out.
So A God in Need of Help is a challenging, intriguing play given a dandy production by Tarragon Theatre.
(PHIL)
Which brings us to Of Human Bondage. It’s a title we all know but perhaps not the story of the book. Briefly what’s it about?
(LYNN)
Based on Somerset Maugham’s 1915 classic. It’s the story of Philip Carey, born with a club foot; orphaned young; loves art and painting; studies to be a doctor. He is besotted by Mildred Rogers, a waitress in a tea shop. She treats him with disdain and disregard. He can’t get her out of his mind. She uses that to take him for all he’s worth and then some. It’s a spiral journey downward for both of them but Philip is ultimately saved through love and kindness.
And here is the art connection, Philip likens life as a work of art in progress.
(PHIL)
Do you think the adaptation brings the book to life?
(LYNN)
I do. I think playwright Vern Thiessen has brought the scale and sweep of Maugham’s book to life. We are caught up in Philip’s obsession with Mildred. We see how he can’t resist. He is attracted to other women and happy in their company, but when Mildred comes simpering around, he’s toast. At one point the audience groans when he falls for her line one more time and sacrifices everything for her. And Thiessen has also brought the other characters and their stories to life as well.
They are all full-bodied, multi-dimensional. True if you start with a masterpiece like the novel you are half way there. I just don’t want to diminish the efforts of Thiessen in his endeavour.
(PHIL)
Ok we have a celebrated book being given a fine adaptation. How does it all translate as a production?
(LYNN)
Aside from a few terrific performances, I hated the overall production. And I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of director Albert Schultz. The director has the vision of what he wants the production to look and sound like.
So Schultz, his set and lighting designer, Lorenzo Savoini, and his music and sound designer Mike Ross, seem to have all conspired to produce the most annoyingly distracting production imaginable. The result is a self-indulgent load of attention grabbing directorial business that diminished almost every scene.
Initially a doctor is instructing his class in front of a bed with a sheet on it. He delicately rolls up the sheet. Then characters approach the bed and begin a sawing action. We hear music as if from a double bass. The characters are all playing the instrument that is lying on the bed. The lighting is dim except for bright spokes of light that focus on the instrument in bed. That is the beginning of the fussy, attention grabbing directorial stuff.
Almost every single scene has sound effects made by cast members who sit on the sides of the stage. So when a scene takes place in a tea shop for example, we hear all sorts of ambient sounds of cups clinking or spoons tapping the sides of the dishes for effect. All this while main characters are trying to have a conversation that we are trying to pay attention to. We hear the clomping of horses passing outside a window. Why?
A dying man sits by a window—suggested by a picture frame held on a tilt. The dying man is talking to Philip his great friend. Then I hear sounds. A baby gurgling? Can’t be. No, it’s pigeons! Pigeons are cooing outside the window. Are you kidding I wanted to scream!!! Sounds effects up the wazzzoo. Why!
The effort to be clever in stage business is stultifying. A character sends a letter to Philip that he will end his life. So there is the character standing in front of a chair. He kicks over the chair. A harsh light is focused on him as he stands there. Then he tilts his head to the side. Voila a hanged man—too clever by half.
The lighting is so gloomy for the most part it seems like the whole play is taking place in a dark alley.
Albert Schultz is to be cheered for leading Soulpepper to prosperity and choosing a lot of interesting plays. But as a director he has always been fussy and show-offy at the expense of the play and this is the worst example of it.
(PHIL)
Ouch. You mentioned some good performances.
(LYNN)
I am so grateful for Gregory Prest as Philip Carey. This young actor gets better and better with each role. As Philip he is passionate, obsessed, lost, emotional, deeply moving, shattered and ultimately healed of his sorrow.
I am so grateful for Michelle Monteith as Mildred. She is coy, flirty, charming, manipulative and so enjoys toying with Philip that you squirm.
I am so grateful for Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster as Sally, the woman who saves Philip by loving him unconditionally. Lancaster brings out the gentle grace of Sally; her sweet innocence but also her quiet feistiness. These are lovely performances.
But this pretentious, self-indulgent production made my teeth grit.
(PHIL)
Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. You can read Lynn’s blog at www.slotkinletter.com or on Twitter @slotkinletter
A God In Need of Help plays at the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace until May 25
www.tarragontheatre.comOf Human Bondage plays at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts until May 17