Girls Unwanted
Live and in person at the King Black Box Theatre, 1224 King St. W., 3rd Floor, no elevator, Toronto, Ont.
Playing until Sept. 29, 2024.
https://www.thekingblackbox.com
Written and directed by George F. Walker
Production design by Sophie Ann Rooney
Costumes by Madison Caan
Cast: Louis Akins
Alexandra Floras-Matic
Ziggy Schulting
L.A. Sweeney
Marline Yan
Vintage George F. Walker: marginalized characters trying to get by in a production that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the final curtain.
The Story. Hanna, Kat and Ash are three women living in a half-way house, trying to exist in their troubled world. They are supervised by Maddy who has her own problems. When one of Maddy’s co-workers is murdered no one in the halfway house is safe from suspicion.
The Production. Bravo to the feisty, young company of The King Black Box Theatre who reached out to George F. Walker for a play and he not only ‘offered’ them Girls Unwanted, but he also directs it as well.
George F. Walker is one of the stalwarts of Canadian theatre and yet for all he has contributed to the theatre and keeps on writing, he is rarely produced these days in Toronto. That is a disgrace. You can also add Brad Fraser to that group of playwrights not produced in this city. Disgraceful squared. So, bravo to the gutsy King Black Box Theatre who know and respect their theatre history and the people who create it.
The theatre is on the third floor of a building on King Street just west of Dufferin, in Parkdale. There is no elevator. The space is small—seating about 40 seats. The staff, to a person, is charming, helpful and accommodating. Seeing a play here is an adventure and Girls Unwanted is a wild ride and worth every breathless moment.
The three women who live at the halfway house all have their issues. Hanna (Ziggy Schulting) is abrasive and combative. Kat (Alexandra Floras-Matic) was adopted but then abused by her adoptive parents and left that life to live on the streets. Ash (Marline Yan) is damaged and delusional. Hanna and Kat have a particular animosity towards each other and are usually wrangling over some slight or other, never letting the other get away with anything. Interestingly, Kat is the most compassionate of all the characters and suggests an ability to change, while the others are stuck in their ruts.
Maddy (L.A. Sweeney) is the supervisor of the house. She has her own issues as well. And Max (Louis Akins) is a surprise visitor, being the long-lost brother of one of the women. There has been a murder of one of Maddy’s colleagues and all the people in the house are suspect.
George F. Walker’s dialogue is taut, combative and forceful. His characters have to think quickly on their feet and never let a moment catch them unawares. These women are wily, smart, fierce abrasive and fearless in their dealings with each other. While Hanna and Kat go after each other at every opportunity—bravo to the Ziggy Schulting as Hanna and Alexandra Floras-Matic as Kat—the acting of the whole cast is terrific.
George F. Walker directs with the same energy and grip as his dialogue. Characters are up close in those tight quarters. There is a finesse to maneuvering Sophie Ann Rooney’s functional, seedy set and this cast does it with style.
The King Black Box Theatre presents:
Plays until Sept. 29, 2024.
Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission)
FIERCE
Live and in person at the Alumnae Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Produced by Moss Theatre Collective and Alumnae Theatre. Playing until Sept. 21, 2024
https://mosstheatrecollective.ca
Written and directed by George F. Walker
Set by Douglas Tiller
Costumes by Fabiana Mercurio
Sound by Shannon Farrell
Lighting by Daniel Shiels
Cast: Liz Best
Elizabeth Friesen
George F. Walker’s production and the acting are indeed fierce but some of the situations in Walker’s script stretched credulity. Still, it’s a George F. Walker play written and director by Walker and that’s cause for celebration.
The Story. Jayne is an angry, unrepentant druggie who was hit by a truck while she was high. She just walked into traffic, oblivious of the oncoming truck and was hit. The judge in the case has sent Jayne to see Maggie, a psychiatrist, for assessment to see how to proceed. When they meet there are fireworks. Jayne is perceptive, knows how to zero into a person’s weaknesses and to work them to her advantage. She knows secrets about Maggie (she’s looked her up and done her research). Maggie fights back finding out secrets about Jayne that reveal the cause of her anger. Both women are fierce in their combative wrangling with each other.
The Production. Bravo to Moss Theatre Collective and Alumnae Theatre for having George F. Walker direct Fierce, one of his unpublished plays. Douglas Tiller’s set of Maggie’s office is simple, tasteful and calming.
Jayne (Elizabeth Friesen) wears sweatpants and a stained sweat shirt. Perhaps the stains are blood from her accident. Her pinky/purple hair is disheveled and unwashed. She stands sizing up Maggie (Liz Best). Jayne is watchful and susses out a situation and people. Jayne thinks the judge was hiding something and is insecure because she used too much makeup. She has looked up information about Maggie’s past and holds that up to her, again, challenging her power. Jayne toys with Maggie about what really happened on the night of the accident, why she takes drugs, and what happened in her life. Maggie struggles to break down Jayne’s defenses, to get to the truth.
Both actresses are fine. Elizabeth Friesen as Jayne is angry, feisty, belligerent, wounded and hurting. Liz Best as Maggie is uptight, self-contained but easily broken. When both actresses wrangle and argue it is ‘fierce’ of course, as expected. When they both try LSD their defenses seem to disappear, as Maggie has a bad trip and Jayne does not.
Director George F. Walker guides the two actresses to their explosive revelations—occasionally as does happen the dialogue is so fast one wonders if the two characters are listening to each other in order to answer. Always a tricky proposition.
Comment. Playwright, George F. Walker is a champion of the marginalized, not just the underdog. His characters are on the edges of society, but they function well in their own way with their demons. Jayne and Maggie are two such typical Walker characters. Jayne is haunted by a death in her family and is mysterious about revealing who or what that was to Maggie. She obviously has a heart as we see in her dealings with her students when she was a teacher. Maggie has her own demons she has to live with and has tried to overcome them by moving on and becoming a psychiatrist.
In a way, Jayne hanging on to her rage through drugs and not wanting to let go of her demons is the fiercer of the two. While Maggie should be the one in control of the situation—seeing a patient in her office for counselling—because of her training, it’s really Jayne who is calling the shots and controlling the proceedings. It’s Jayne who makes a suggestion about their relationship that Maggie seems to go along with.
That’s my problem. I don’t believe the situation in that psychiatrist’s office, or that Maggie is so inept in dealing with such a manipulative, wily character as Jayne. I don’t believe that she would go along with Jayne’s incredible suggestion at the end of the play.
If Jayne can break down her psychiatrist so easily, how is it possible the judge recommended that Jayne see Maggie of all people? If Jayne can find out such details about Maggie’s background as if it’s a secret, how can we believe no one else wouldn’t know? Are we also to believe that no one else would have known about Jayne’s troubled family life before she saw Maggie, her psychiatrist? Sorry, I just don’t believe this.
If there is disbelief in the truth, credibility of the characters, then the whole structure of the play collapses. Truly, what am I supposed to glean from Walker’s play and his fierce characters? Troubling questions, but I’m still glad to have seen this play by this celebrated playwright, who always gets me thinking and pondering.
The Moss Theatre Collective and Alumnae Theatre presents:
Plays until Sept. 21, 2024.
Running time: 2 hours (approx.) (no intermission)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“After seeing the play ” GIRLS UNWANTED” , I can’t shake the disgust at this ‘slice of reality’ in our well-fed, democratic society. The play is powerful, showing how these young girls’ broken (by not their fault) lives are utterly devoid of even basic moral standards. Their conversations, manners, and attitudes toward their own lives are appalling yet realistic. Unfortunately, I doubt the play itself raises the broader idea that the society is at fault in this respect. The play feels more like a well-written and well-directed drama rather than, even not by one line, a critique of society from this respect.”
As for organization, it was very well organized. The premises are clean, brightly lit, very pleasant staff.