A roundup of late reviews-comments of shows that have closed at the Shaw Festival for this season. Apologies for the procrastination.
Candida
By Bernard Shaw
Directed by Severn Thompson
Set by Michelle Tracey
Costumes by Ming Wong
Lighting by Louise Guinand
Original music and sound by Thomas Ryder Payne
Cast: Damien Atkins
Sochi Fried
Claire Jullien
Ric Reid
Johnathan Sousa
Sanjay Talwar
Candida is a play about love, marriage, devotion, domesticity and an exalted idea of love.
From the programme: “The story revolves around the character of Candida who finds herself caught between two men in a fierce battle of ideals for her affection. Her husband James offers a faithful domestic love, while the young poet Eugene’s romantic devotion is all-consuming. Ultimately, Candida’s own radical brand of love surprises them both.”
Bernard Shaw does go on and on in his musings and philosophizing, doesn’t he? Director Severn Thompson directed an earnest production. Most of the performances were of “another time.” Sanjay Talwar as Rev. James Mavor Morell was stodgy, very proper and tried to be an example of the proper, devoted husband. Johnathan Sousa as Eugene Marchbanks, the Reverend’s rival for Candida’s affections, was broody, impetuous and ‘knowing’ because the dialogue said he was. I found Claire Jullien as Miss Proserpine Garnett, a bit over the top with her efficiency and secret but obvious pining for the Reverend. But Sochi Fried as Candida was terrific. Effortless in her grace, wisdom and ability to know both men instinctively. While most of the performances were stuck in the sense of a museum, Sochi Fried as Candida breathed fresh air and light into the character. Wonderful work from Sochi Fried.
Snow in Midsummer
By Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig
Based on the classic Chinese drama The Injustice to Dou that Moved Heaven and Earth by Guan Hanqing
Directed by Nina Lee Aquino
Set by Camellia Koo
Costumes by Joanna Yu
Lighting by Michelle Ramsay
Original music and sound by John Gzowski
Cast: Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster
Cosette Derome
Manami Hara
Eponine Lee
Richard Lee
Michael Man
John Ng
Travis Seetoo
Donna Soares
Jonathan Tan
Kelly Wong
Lindsay Wu
The story follows a child bride turned widow, Dou E, who is wrongly convicted of crimes by a corrupt court official. Before she is executed, the widow puts a curse on the village.
While director Nina Lee Aquino’s production was provocative, creative and impressive with some of the imagery, such as a torrent of locusts dropping from the sky, I found the complicated story incomprehensible at times.
Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart
By Reginald Candy (Damien Atkins)
Based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Directed by Craig Hall
Set by Ken MacKenzie
Costumes by Hanne Loosen
Lighting by Bonnie Beecher
Projections by Cameron Davis
Original music and sound by John Gzowski
Cast: Damien Atkins
Deborah Castrilli
Rais Clarke Mendes
Nehassaiu deGannes
Sochi Fried
Claire Jullien
Michael Man
Ric Reid
Johnathan Sousa
Sanjay Talwar
Sophie Walker
Kelly Wong.
Fine and quirky performance by Damien Atkins. Dreary, plodding production.
The production takes place in London and Switzerland from November to December 1891.
It seems that Sherlock Holmes (a serious, stoical Damien Atkins) is missing and presumed dead. The play recaps the many and various details of past cases and suspects to find the truth. Did Holmes finally meet his match in the dastardly Moriarty? Holmes did meet his intellectual equal in Moriarty but did he meet the man who would overcome him? There are lots of questions; activity; concerns by the always loyal Dr. Watson (a solid Ric Reid). While Moriarty is a character in the play, he is not listed in the cast of characters so he ‘must’ be in disguise and I won’t reveal it, although the actor playing him is listed. Now that should confuse some folks alright.
Ken MacKenzie’s set was the most sparce, empty setting of Sherlock Holmes’ dwelling I’ve ever seen. You could do ballroom dancing in the huge expanse of his living room and not knock anything of a table. There were a few nick knacks, let alone little furniture, but lots of empty space.
There was some effort to hide the identity of the playwright, Reginald Candy. But the play is so complex with red herrings one lost interest or cared who the writer really was. It’s Damien Atkins and he is a fine playwright, elsewhere.
The production is directed with a plodding, glacial pace devoid of imagination, by Craig Hall. It was so tedious that by the time one got to the final supposed suspenseful drawn out moment, one was exhausted and was tempted to say, “Hurry up, I want to go home.” It reminded me of the story, apocryphal (?) of a terrible production of The Diary of Anne Frank. In the final moments of the play when the Nazis rushed into the building where the Frank Family was hiding, a frustrated audience member was alleged to have yelled out, “They’re in the attic!”