Lynn

Live and in person at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto, Ont.  Produced by Theatre Rusticle. Playing until Jan. 28, 2024

www.buddiesinbadtimes.com

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Allyson McMackon

Costumes designed by Lindsay Anne Black (hats), Monica Viani (milliner), Brandon Kleiman, (costumes)

Lighting by Michelle Ramsay

Music composed by Jill Goranson and Kelsi James

Cast: Brefny Caribou

Jill Goranson

Beck Lloyd

Trinity Lloyd

Annie Tuma

A fascinating, wild-ride of a show, as one expects from Theatre Rusticle.

The Story. The programme offers a succinct outline of the story, which I will pare down even further. The Tempest is Shakespeare’s last play. It takes place on an island inhabited by Prospero (the Duke of Milan) and his daughter Miranda who landed there when Prospero was banished by his jealous brother Antonio. Also on the island are two servants, native to the island, Ariel and Caliban.

Prospero has magic powers and conjured a tempest that wrecked a ship carrying: Alonso, the King of Naples and his brother Sebastian, Prospero’s brother Antonio, a councillor named Gonzalo, Ferdinand, the King’s son and Adrian, Francisco, Stephano and Trinculo.

“The actors will tell you what happens to everyone.” (as per the programme).

There is also a paragraph that says: “The Tempest is also a play that happens here, now, in Buddies on this night, told by five actors traversing all these parts.”

In a sense this paragraph and the one that follows that quote is the exploration the actors and director took in exploring the play. That exploration is for the sacred space known as the ‘rehearsal hall,’ where only actors and creators should be. The audience gets the benefit of the results.

The Production and comment. The stage is bare except for a pattered circle of illumination (bravo Michelle Ramsay for the effective, evocative lighting) in the center of which are coloured objects. The five actors enter and pick up one of the objects—they are ruffs that they will wear around their necks when they change characters.

The five actors come to the front of the stage. They all wear a long dress fitted on top, that flares out for easy movement, sinched at the waist by a wide leather binding. They each introduce themselves and list the many characters they will play. They will all have a chance at playing Prospero, Miranda and Ariel. For example, Brefny Caribou is a commanding and at times, impish Prospero; Annie Tuma is a vivid, energetic Miranda; Beck Lloyd is a more serious Prospero.

When an actor is not on stage, they sit in chairs at the side of the playing space. Other props are at the sides and back as well for easy access.

Director Allyson McMackon has envisioned a spare but lively production, full of movement, provocative costumes, head gear and simple additions to establish characters: (bravo Lindsay Anne Black for the hats, Monica Viani for the millinery and Brandon Kleiman for the costumes).

Prospero always wears a flowing cape; Ariel wears a blue ‘fascinator’ with a ship affixed to the top of it; Caliban has a chain linked around the waist—that’s inspired since Caliban is treated as a captive slave. But sometimes a character also had a chain around the waist (Ferdinand), and that clouds the clarity of what character we are looking at. The other courtiers wear ruffs around their necks; the King of Naples wears a crown. Characters are always changing head-gear or other signifiers for a character. And often an actor will put the Prospero cape on another actor who is playing him. Another actor will put the chain around the waist of the actor playing Caliban. This communal activity adds  cohesion to the production.

At times four actors stand upstage wearing the blue head-gear for Ariel and give the lines at the same time.  It works if all four actors are in unison, but it gets fuzzy if they are not and that happens more often than not.

Shakespeare of course is open to all sorts of interpretations and ways of performing his plays. That’s one of the many reasons they have been done regularly for more than 400 years. The language is particular (and subject to change) and the poetry-meter of it is specific. Some actors have a facility with the language/meter others less so. All the actors in this production of The Tempest have the opportunity to try and flex their acting muscles on this challenging playwright.

I’m glad of the chance to see Allyson McMackon’s latest production and ponder all sorts of questions about language, poetry, meter, interpretation and a whole lot of other stuff that will pop up when I least expect it.

Theatre Rusticle presents:

Opened: Jan. 19, 2024

I saw it: Jan. 24, 2024.

Closes: Jan. 28.

Running time: 2 hours. 45 minutes (1 intermission)

NOTE: Respectful comments are accepted on this site as long as they are accompanied by a verifiable name and a verifiable e-mail address. Posts that are slanderous, libelous or personally derogatory will not be approved.

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Live and in person at the Grand Theatre, London, Ont. Playing until Feb. 3, 2024. Produced by Catalyst Theatre.

www.grandtheatre.com

Written, composed and directed by Jonathan Christenson

Set, lighting, costumes and projection designed by Bretta Gerecke

Choreography by Courtney Arsenault

Sound and additional music by Matthew Skopyk

Music direction (vocals) by Ruth Alexander

Cast: Kristie Hansen

Kaylee Harwood

Melissa MacPherson

Sarah Nairne

Amanda Trapp

Justine Westby

Tahirih Vejdani

A chilling war story of how resourceful and fearless women could be. While the performances are vivid, the production is ponderously directed and choreographed. The music is melodic but the lyrics are simplistic. And on the whole the piece needs ruthless editing.

The Story. This is a fascinating story of heroism, bravery, tenacity and grit. It’s 1941 in London, England and the war effort needs help in Europe. Because men were off fighting in the war.  women had been recruited to do the men’s job at home—tending farms, working in factories making munitions, taking the place of the fighting men—they were not used directly as spies, as men were. The men in charge of British forces didn’t think women were up to the job. This changed when Evelyn Ash, who did work in administration for the British war effort, convinced her superior to let her create and train a group of women to be spies. Their job would involve going to France, working undercover to blow-up strategic places to stop the invading German army.

All the women spoke French; took jobs in France to be innocuous, invisible. They operated outside regular British channels and were called “Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” They completed several important missions. Then they were recruited to be involved with a complex, very dangerous mission and this is where they truly shone.

The Production and comment. Bretta Gerecke’s set is impressive in its spareness. A huge wall is at the back with many wood chairs affixed to the top of the wall. There are several wood chairs on the stage, some along the stage left and right wall, facing each other. There are a few chairs upstage. These are the only props. Gerecke’s stark lighting and projections establish location and mood.

The production starts in Romania a long time ago. A young woman is engaged to a dashing man who is visiting her at her home. She is there with her sisters. One day she goes to visit him at his huge manor house. He’s not there. The door is unlocked. She goes in to the gloomy house and sees a closed door up a hallway. She opens the door and goes into the room and see it’s filled with skeletons. I can’t remember if they were chained to the wall or not, but obviously something nasty happened there. The woman goes home. She plans a ruse to see if her fiancé will tell her what happened.

When the fiancé comes over to her house again, she tells him of a dream she had, and relates visiting the house and the skeletons etc. The fiancé is alerted in the telling that his fiancée has discovered something he didn’t want her to discover. I won’t reveal how this is resolved but the scene ends with the women singing “Be Bold”, a song of resilience and tenacity.

After a blackout we are now in London, England 1941. Evelyn Ash (Melissa MacPherson) crisp English accent, in military pants and shirt, tells us the details of how she formed her crack spy group of six brave women to become “The Invisible, Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” (I then spend the rest of this two hour and forty minute show trying to figure out what the first Romanian scene from long ago, has to do with the British war effort in 1941?)

We are told in quick succession of each of the women who are of various ethnicities and strengths. For example, Jacquline (Jack) Kovacs (an understated but impressive Kaylee Harwood) is a crack shot with any kind of firearm; Dorothy (Dot) Kristi Hansen is a meticulous planner; Anna Sidiqui (a wonderful Tahirih Vejdani) is an expert in code although a worry if she is interrogated. In the training trials Anna always succumbed to interrogation. So foreshadowing is established rather obviously.

The cast to a person is very strong, with Melissa MacPherson as Evelyn Ash a strong, determined leader. She had to stand her ground in a man’s world and yet play the game of diplomacy to get what she wanted for her group. As Madeline (Maddy) Barré—a chanteuse from Senegal, Sarah Nairne brought out all of Maddy’s charm, insouciance, flirtatious boldness and fearlessness.

The cast of seven actresses play all the parts, including those of the few men. Kristi Hansen, for example, plays Dot Ward and the head of the department, a stuffy, imperious man. All seven women are strong singers and perform with passion and conviction.

The story is terrific. It’s full of potential intrigue, tension, drama and possible grip-the-arm-rest-scenes. So, I’m heartsick that the production did not live up to its potential and make The Invisible, Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare a great piece of theatre. In spite of the strong cast, the production is ponderous. The direction by Jonathan Christenson is pedestrian and seems like so much traffic control. The pace of the dialogue is labored in an unnecessary effort to put weight on every important issue. The audience is smart. They can get it without everything being underscored.

Courtney Arsenault’s choreography looks like a deliberate attempt to recreate semaphore movements in formation on stage. Scene after scene has the cast jerk out their arms, raise them, flip them to the sides and bend their knees in the same kind of jerky movement. It’s deliberate, I just don’t know why.

Jonathan Christenson is a quadruple threat creator. He has written the book, the music, the lyrics and he directs this. The music is melodic and tuneful. But who tells him that he has overdone it with one of the other three areas? Who tells him that the book needs ruthless editing to tighten flabby areas, starting with the first scene in Romania because it’s extraneous. Evelyn tells us in the last scene the meaning of the Romanian folk tale. Again, meaning laid on by a trowel. The entire show after that first scene, proves the thesis of the folk tale. Trust your audience to get it without spoon feeding. Who tells him that his direction is less about establishing relationships and depth of story and more about moving people around, often for no reason, and the pace is glacial, certainly in scenes that should go like the wind? Who tells him that the lyrics are simplistic (“We are Victorious, We are Glorious, We are Warriors”)?  

Besides being frustrated by The Invisible, Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare, I was just disappointed that it did not live up to such huge potential, strong cast notwithstanding.

Catalyst Theatre Presents:

Running until Feb. 3, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

www.grandtheatre.com

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Heads Up for the week of Jan. 22-28 2024

January 22-28, 2023.

The Tempest

by William Shakespeare

At Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

Theatre Rusticle is presenting The Tempest  a subversive, joyful, physically robust framing of Shakespeare’s final play about the exiled magician who embarks on a complex journey of forgiveness through art. The company mixes movement, dance and subversion to tell their story.  It’s about power, love and how we make theatre.

The work of Theatre Rusticle is always fascinating.

There are only 10 performances so book tickets (416) 975-8555
 

Jan. 24-Feb. 4, 2024.

Two Noble Kinsmen

By William Shakepeare.

The Theatre Centre.

This rarely performed play is a collaboration between Shakespeare and John Fletcher. Michael Man and Emilio Vieira play the titular kinsmen. It’s a play of war, animosity, two friends who turn to enemies when they fall in love with the same woman.

It’s directed by James Wallis.

www.theatrecentre.org

January 19-Feb. 3, 2024.

Better Living

By George F. Walker

At Alumnae Theatre.

Better Living is a black comedy that revolves around a family of women and the father who deserted them after trying to burn down their house. Seeing any play by George F. Walker in Toronto is rare, except for a production of Orphans for the Czar that played at Crow’s Theatre in 2022. Here is your chance to see why George F. Walker is one of this country’s finest playwrights. www.alumnaetheatre.com

The Laundry List

Al Green Theatre

The Laundry List tells the story of sisters Ruby and Zelda Benoit, who embark on a wild adventure to save their family’s bootlegging business. The sisters go incognito and infiltrate the world of Frankie’s Suds and Bubbles—a speakeasy cleverly disguised as a laundry. Shimmying their way into the chorus, they two-step their way through a madcap mix of jazz singers, rum runners, and a whole lot of dirty laundry. 

TICKETS!

DATES & TIMES:Saturday, January 27th, 2024 @7:30PM
Sunday, January 28th, 2024 @3:00PM
Sunday, January 28th, 2024 @7:30PM

LOCATION: AL GREEN THEATRE
750 Spadina Ave, Toronto
*Al Green is an accessible theatre, located inside the
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.

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Live and in person at the Marilyn & Charles Baillie Theatre, a Back to Back Theatre Production presented by Canadian Stage. Playing until Jan. 28, 2024.

www.canadianstage.com

Written by: Michael Chan

Mark Deans

Bruce Gladwin

Simon Laherty

Sarah Mainwaring

Scott Price

Sonia Teuben

Directed by Bruce Gladwin

Composition by: Luke Howard Trio

(Daniel Farrugia, Luke Howard, Jonathan Zion)

Sound designer, Lachlan Carrick

Lighting designer, Andrew Livingston, bluebottle

Screen designer, Rhian Hinkley, lowercase

Costume designer, Shio Otani

AI Voice Over Artist, Belinda McClory

Cast: Simon Laherty

Sarah Mainwaring

Scott Price.

Provocative, challenging and brilliant.

From the production material: “Weaving a narrative through human rights, sexual politics, and the rise of artificial intelligence, THE SHADOW WHOSE PREY THE HUNTER BECOMES is a sly theatrical revelation reminding us that none of us are self-sufficient and all of us are responsible for the future. At the center of this exploration lies a fundamental question: If artificial intelligence took over the world, would human beings all end up living with an intellectual disability?

Written and performed by neuro-divergent actors interrogating the parameters of traditional theater and their own perceived disabilities, the three performers from Back to Back Theatre challenge contemporary presumptions about artificial intelligence and the human mind.”

This explanation from the production material provides a hint of the provocative work. It also brings me face to face with my assumptions and presumptions.

Scott Price is explaining to Sarah Mainwaring about touching. No one has the right to touch another human being without permission. He is telling her this not just as information but also for her protection. (interestingly, he does gently touch Sarah’s shoulder later in the show, without asking permission or without it being noted at all.) Scott notes private parts that are out of bounds. He speaks quickly. Sarah speaks very slowly. Surtitles of what they are saying are projected above the stage, although, with careful listening the audience will get it.

Scott is explaining this as they appear from the wings. His walk is an easy gate. Sarah Mainwaring walks with her arms flailing, her body slightly bent and her legs move in an exaggerated manner. I worry that she will become unbalanced and fall. I think a cane might help. This is my first erroneous assumption. Sarah Mainwaring gets to where she needs to go quickly, upright and without balancing aides. In other words, how she does it is none of my presumptive business.

There is a dolly of five stacked chairs which Scott unloads. He carefully places the chairs side by side across the stage. Joining them is Simon Laherty who enters quickly from the wings. The chairs are for a meeting. Scott, Sarah and Simon are the only ones attending. Scott begins the land acknowledgement for the meeting (not the show—that was done earlier by Jordan Laffrenier, the Associate Artistic Director). Scott carefully notes on whose land they are on. He tries to say “Wadawurrung” (are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne), … but stumbles on the pronunciation. Scott corrects him. Simon tries again and stumbles again. Scott wonders if Simon even knows who the Wadawurrung are. And so in a compact, simple scene this Back to Back Theatre Company subtly skewers the whole notion of land acknowledgements—it has more to do with being politically correct and less to do with respecting the actual people on whose land they are residing. Another preconception dashed, nicely.

In the space of one hour Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring and Scott Price had us re-examining our ideas of intelligence, neurodiversity, ability, failure, acceptance, consideration, care, being different, success, self-worth, societal responsibility and respect. The cast does it with wit, subtlety, impish humour, deep thinking, philosophical musings and by challenging everything we ever thought of being abled or ‘disabled.’

The show poses the fascinating question: If artificial intelligence took over the world, would human beings all end up living with an intellectual disability? Artificial intelligence has taken over the world—one of the names is Siri—and the answer is obvious.

THE SHADOW WHOSE PREY THE HUNTER BECOMES is a brilliant piece of theatre that will make you rethink everything. I have no idea what the title means and I won’t ask Siri.

A Back to Back Theatre Production presented by Canadian Stage:

Plays until Jan. 28, 2024.

Running time: 60 minutes (no intermission)

www.canadianstage.com

NOTE: Respectful comments are accepted on this site as long as they are accompanied by a verifiable name and a verifiable e-mail address. Posts that are slanderous, libelous or personally derogatory will not be approved.

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Live and in person at Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, Ont. Produced by two thousand feet up theatre co. Plays until Jan. 28 2024.

https://ca.patronbase.com/_TheatrePasseMuraille/Productions/MIG/Performances

Written by Matei Visniec

Translated by Nick Awde

Directed by Siavash Shabanpour

Set by Kadi Badiou

Costumes by Tessa ourchier

Lighting and projections designed by Duncan Appleton

Sound by Victoria Gallant

Composer, Nariman Eskandari

Photographer and videographer, Zahra Saleki

Cast: Jamar Adams-Thompson

Parastoo Amanzadeh

Jeffrey Auminio-Mesidor

Jeysa Caridad

Andrew Chown

Mahsa Ershadifar

Silvana Herrera

Lean Jafari

Eric Kinsella

Keely Krall

Ahmed Meree

Daniel Motaharzadeh

Henry Oswald Peirson

Shannon Pitre

Henrique Santsper

Garrett Mallory Scott

Jona Villa

Gripping and important stories of immigrants and refugees escaping oppression, told with artistry.

Playwright Matei Visniec illuminates gripping stories of immigrants and refugees escaping oppression, but with a twist. While we occasionally see and hear from them directly—if they have no papers or cannot swim—we get the stories indirectly, from the people around the immigrants.

At the center is Boss (Ahmed Meree)—demanding, commanding, emotional and matter of fact– he will be taking the immigrants and refugees by boat to Lampedusa, but not to shore. He will drop them off far from shore where they will ‘swim’ with the aid of life jackets the rest of the way, hence the importance of knowing how to swim.

There are the opportunists who convince desperate parents to send their children ahead for safety, not realizing they will be taken and sent into slave labour elsewhere. A Balkan Man (Andrew Chown) seems to have an onerous job to keep immigrants out of his country, but in a wonderfully subtle scene he and his wife (Mahsa Ershadifar) show how open-hearted they are.   

Two white presenters (Keely Krall and Shannon Pitre) cheerfully talk up the latest technology that can detect the panicked heartbeat of an escaping immigrant or the latest in improved barbed wire.

The President (Garrett Malloy Scott) of a country that might be France) writes a free-wheeling speech about keeping immigrants out of his country only to have his ‘coach—PR expert’ Henry Oswald Peirson, massage the speech to incorporate all the politically correct jargon that ‘softens’ the speech. We are told that ‘immigrant’ and ‘refugee’ are not acceptable words, but ‘migrant’ is acceptable. Matei Visniec cleverly indicates his disdain for this watering down, by spelling the title of his play Migraaaants.

All of the people surrounding the immigrants give us a chilling idea of the sordid world these desperate immigrants and refugees have to navigate to escape and the trauma, hardship and challenges they endure along the way.

Perhaps the most important person in the play is Boss and Ahmed Meree plays him with passion, commitment and urgency. (Note, Ahmed Meree has his own take on the refugee story with his two stunning plays: Adrenaline and Suitcase). Boss tells his passengers all the rules and regulations of travelling with him: what to say when they get to shore, they will have lifejackets; they should have papers but that will change. He says that he is not like other ‘traffickers.’ He is a man of God and a family man. We get the measure of him when something goes wrong. Ahmed Meree gives a gripping performance.           

As Elihu, Parastoo Amanzadeh is astonishing. Elihu is faced with an impossible decision as a youth. Parastoo Amanzadeh plays Elihu with such stillness and economy it’s mesmerizing, making Elihu’s dilemma all the more gut-wrenching.

Director Siavash Shabanpour directs with such style and a sense of vivid imagery. He navigates his large cast with grace and clarity and the emotional cost is in every performance. Duncan Appleton’s lighting is stark and artful and his projections add another layer of depth to the various stories.

I would suggest that to strengthen the story of the immigrants and refugees, the parts of the two Presenters should be cut. They do offer a cold-hearted perspective of the two white Presenters, but they detract from the real angst of the actual people fleeing their countries. By cutting these two parts, the whole is strengthened.  

Migraaaants is a harrowing play. May we never become complacent about these heart-squeezing stories of people desperate to find safe haven from oppression.

two thousand feet up theatre company presents:

Plays until Jan. 28, 2024

Running time: 80-90 minutes (no intermission)

https://ca.patronbase.com/_TheatrePasseMuraille/Productions/MIG/Performances

NOTE: Respectful comments are accepted on this site as long as they are accompanied by a verifiable name and a verifiable e-mail address. Posts that are slanderous, libelous or personally derogatory will not be approved.

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Just announced, the 2024-25 Royal Shakespeare Theatre Season, Stratford-upon-Avon:

In the Swan Theatre (no dates given at this time):

The Red Shoes Kimberley Rampersad directs a magical new staging of the classic fairy tale The Red Shoes for families, adapted by Nancy Harris with music by Marc Teitler.

Kimberley Ramersad has directed and choreographed theatre across Canada, often at the Shaw Festival (Amen Corner, Man and Superman) and the Stratford Festival (King Lear, Serving Elizabeth).

And now for the Royal Shakespeare Company…..Bravo.

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Live and in person, presented by Other Hearts in association with VideoCabaret, at VideoCabaret, 10 Busy Street, Toronto, Ont. Plays until Jan 21, 2024.

https://quartet.brownpapertickets.com

Written by Heiner Muller

Translated by Marc Von Henning

Directed by Harri Thomas

Set and costumes by Eija Loponen Stephenson

Cast: Sebastian Marziali

Silvae Mercedes

Bold, challenging, raw and creative.

I can’t remember another time when the audience was as well taken care of as Other Hearts Collective takes care of their audience for Quartet. We are warmly greeted at the door and our name is checked off a list. We can read the copy of the programme that is laid out on a table or we can take a photo of the QR code and download it to our device. We are told when we will be allowed into the theatre and when the show will start after that and how long the performance is and there is no intermission. There are content warnings that are delivered carefully: Explicit Images, simulated sex and kink, violent and sexually explicit language, simulated blood, flashing lights, references to death/sickness/suicide. Pornography is mentioned. We are invited to explore the set by Eija Loponen Stephenson because it’s also an art instillation. The audience knows exactly what they are to see. No one has blundered here by mistake looking for 42^nd Street.

​Quartet is a play written in 1980 by Heiner Muller and inspired by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liasons Dangereuses (first published in 1782). As the play information for Quarter states: “in a space that is equal parts “a drawing room before the French Revolution/ an air raid shelter after WWIII, two people remain: the Marquise de Merteuil (M) and the Vicomte de Valmont (V).”

In Les Liaisons Dangereuses the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are two amoral lovers-turned-rivals who amuse themselves by ruining others through sex and manipulative games and who ultimately destroy each other.

The audience sits on either side of the playing space. The whole room is ‘curated’/designed with video screens around the room so the audience can always see what is being live streamed. There are video cameras, sound machines and recording devices that the actors operate. Opaque plastic sheets encase the room, and sometimes act as clever costumes. There are mannequins, some with dildoes attached, in various spaces. S & M gear is arranged around the room. An old-fashioned bath tub filled with swaths of plastic sheeting is at one end of the room. Stuff to observe and look at are scattered around the space.

When the production starts, the plastic sheeting in the tub is rustled, moves and then reveals Merteuil (Silvae Mercedes-she/they). She breathes with the aid of an oxygen mask attached by a tube to a canister. She slowly gets out of the tub—she wears a flimsy ‘negligée’ revealing she wears panties but is topless. She slowly walks to a side of the space, hauling her canister after her, where she binds her bare breasts with lengths of narrow material that she wraps around her.

When she returns to the tub and settles into it, it seems as if she deliberately removes the oxygen mask and gasps for air. At this moment Valmont (Sebastian Marziali – they/them)) bursts into the room (taking off their coat) and tends to the gasping Merteuil by putting on her oxygen mask, saving her.

Valmont dressed as Merteuil is—briefs and there is binding with the same narrow strips of material around their upper body but under their bare pecs. What follows are games of seduction, manipulation, flirtation, role-playing and reversal role-playing in which both switch roles, or voice other characters.  Silvae Mercedes as Merteuil and Sebastian Marziali as Valmont, are measured and tempered in their delivery, each toying with the other, each getting an upper hand only to loose it subtly later.

By having both characters dress the same director Harri Thomas is exploring gender-fluidity. One wonders of Merteuil and Valmont are the same person from different points of view and the views get blurred. That adds a depth of inquiry to a play that is challenging on its own.

Playwright Heiner Mueller’s language, with thanks to translator Marc Von Henning, is poetic, esoteric, dense, obtuse, obscure and fascinating.   The result is a kinky, pornographic, raunchy look into a dark world of sexual games-playing, that occasionally seems a bit boring with the effort to be provocative.

What is never in question is director Harri Thomas’s inventive, creative mind to establish startling images (along with designer Eija Loponen Stephenson) that are beautiful and arresting. Not for all tastes, but thought-provoking all the same.

Other Hearts in association with VideoCabaret present:

Plays until Jan. 21, 2024.

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (no intermission)

https://quartet.brownpapertickets.com

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Heads up for the Week of Jan. 15-21, 2024

Jan. 15-28, 2024.

Migraaants

Theatre Passe Muraille

By Matei Visniec

Translated by Nick Awde

Directed by Siavash Shabanpour

In Matei Visniec’s dark comedy Migraaaants, we journey with asylum seekers from war and unrest to an over-crowded boat, to an uncertain welcome in an unknown land. 

The mosaic of stories in Migraaaants leads us through the many facets of a global crisis: not only the terrifying journeys of those in flight but the machinations of deadly chaos shaped by political forces. 

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

https://ca.patronbase.com/_TheatrePasseMuraille/Productions/MIG/Performances

Jan 15- 21, 2024

Quartet

At VideoCabaret, 10 Busy Street, Toronto, Ont.

By Heiner Muller

Directed by Harri Thomas

A play by: Heiner Muller Translated by: Marc Von Henning

BUY TICKETS

A play by: Heiner Muller
Translated by: Marc Von Henning

An Other Hearts production
in association with VideoCabaret

Who will you be, and who will you be with, after the end?

​Quartet is a play written by Heiner Muller, inspired by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ Liasons Dangereuse. In a space that is equal parts “a drawing room before the French Revolution/ an air raid shelter after WWIII”, two people remain: the Marquise de Merteuil (M) and the Vicomte de Valmont (V).  

Jan. 18-28, 2024

The Shadow Whose Prey The Hunger Becomes.

Berkeley Street Theatre/Canadian Stage

A Back to Back Theatre production from Australia presented by Canadian Stage

When AI takes over from human intelligence, how will people be treated?

Weaving a narrative through human rights, sexual politics, and the rise of artificial intelligence, The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is a sly theatrical revelation reminding us that none of us are self-sufficient and all of us are responsible for the future.

Written and performed by neuro-divergent actors, this is a funny and beautiful play unlike anything else that will be seen on stage.

All performances will be presented with surtitles. 

Jan. 18-21, 2024

Greenhouse Festival

Tarragon Theatre

This is a Tarragon Theatre Festival of works-in-development, instillations, and collectives. This is the Festival’s second year. Last year the entire Tarragon Theatre building was chockablock with theatre activity. This year is packed with plays, installations, works from collectives all of which will prick your imagination. Check the website for tickets, deals, timetables and schedules.

www.tarragontheatre.com

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Live and in person at Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton, Ont. Theatre Aquarius presents a Crow’s Theatre Production. Plays until Jan. 27 2024.

www.theatreaquarius.org

Written by Anton Chekhov

Adapted by Liisa Repo-Martell

Directed by Chris Abraham

Set and props co-designer, Julie Fox and Josh Quinlan

Set and props co-designer, Josh Quinlan

Costumes by Ming Wong

Lighting by Kimberly Purtell

Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne

Cast: Carolyn Fe

dtaborah johnson

Ali Kazmi

Eric Peterson

Anand Rajaram

Liisa Ripo-Martell

Tom Rooney

Shannon Taylor

A reconfigured Crow’s Theatre production to accommodate the proscenium stage of Theatre Aquarius with one cast change, that once again, realizes the beating heart and ache of Chekhov’s characters as they search for happiness. Beautiful and illuminating.

The Story. Uncle Vanya was published in 1898 and first performed in Russia in 1899. I think Chekhov was being cheeky when he described the play on the title page as “Scenes from Country Life in Four Acts.” The play is much more than that of course. It is a look into the quietly desperate lives of people stuck in ennui and aching because of lost opportunities, unrequited love, profound unhappiness and boredom. And in Chekhov’s typical way, it’s funny.

Vanya and his niece Sonya run the country estate for Alexandre, a noted scholar and professor, and send him the money the estate makes. Alexandre’s late first wife was Sonya’s mother and Vanya’s sister. When Alexandre’s wife died, he married Yelena, a woman much younger than he was. Because the times are not as prosperous for Alexandre, he’s come to the country estate with Yelena to continue his writing of essays, articles and other scholarly endeavors that occupy his time. In the process he and Yelena disrupt the whole household.

There used to be an order to the day of those on the estate. Marina, the family’s elderly servant, was used to preparing the meals at set times during the day and sleeping at normal, regular times. With the professor’s odd sleeping patterns, he got up at noon and worked usually all night, meals were not regular. Vanya and Sonya had not attended to running the estate for fear of upsetting the timetable of Alexandre.

The animosity of Vanya towards Alexandre is palpable. Vanya feels he squandered his life in the service to this pompous buffoon. Vanya also felt he had a better intellect than Alexandre. And to make matters worse Vanya is in love with Yelena.

Alexandre is always complaining of ill health and so Dr. Astrov is summoned to come and minister to him. When the doctor gets there, Alexandre wouldn’t see him. Astrov is secretly in love with Yelena as well. Rounding out this stoical longing is Sonya, who also pines for Astrov.    

The Production. Note: This is a remount of the 2022 Crow’s Theatre Toronto production but with a restaging and in one, a recasting, but only for Hamilton.  When the production played in Toronto in 2022, the production was performed in the round, with the audience on all sides of the action. There were pockets of action that the whole audience deliberately could not see. It added to a kind of secrecy, or privacy feel to these scenes.  This remount in 2024 is presented in a proscenium theatre, we watch the action straight on. There are still lots of surprises.

Set and props co-designers, Julie Fox and Josh Quinlan, have reconfigured the main room of this manor house so one gets the sense of the size and suggested former grandeur of the estate. The rugs are threadbare and faded. A long table and benches on either side are upstage center. Presumably this is where the family eats and Vanya (Tom Rooney) and Sonya (Liisa Ripo-Martell) work. There is little furniture, except for Marina the old nanny’s (Carolyn Fe) overstuffed, worn chair and foot rest facing downstage, a small desk stage right.  Memorabilia, books and lots of stuff are placed under things or around the room etc. A chandelier hangs down from the flies. Beams are above and they are large and thick. There are double doors leading off to other parts of the house. There is a glass wall looking out to a garden and the glass is filthy with grime.  This is a huge house, now shabby.

Kimberly Purtell’s lighting gives the sense of a faded photograph of by gone times. by filling the whole space as if we are in the main room of the house.

Ming Wong’s costumes—well-worn for those who work the estate, and very stylish for Yelena (Shannon Taylor) and Alexandre (an irascible Eric Peterson) who is always in a suit to give off the impression of success. At times Thomas Ryder Payne provides a subtle hum, ‘buzz’ that underscores a speech. It’s one more aspect of something that closes in on these people as they try and endure.

Director Chris Abraham has beautifully, sensitively realized the subtle bubbling of emotions in the play—that bubbling emotion is more noticeable in this production. Chris Abraham’s direction illuminates the ache of yearning, of disappointment and lost love.

With this proscenium staging one gets a stronger sense of the ennui, boredom and despair these people experience. Performances are fuller, richer, deeper and more nuanced. One is keenly aware that Vanya is always shuffling around aimlessly just to give the sense of being busy. What he is really experiencing is crushing boredom, waiting for Alexandre to appear and the household to snap to attention. Tom Rooney plays Vanya as stooped, defeated by life and disappointment. He’s anxious, angry at Alexandre and in secret love with Yelena. When he rages at Alexandre it’s in a torrent of articulation and linguistic dexterity that is breathtaking. Vanya is ground down by life and the lack of its fullness. Brilliant work.

Characters such as Astrov (a haunted, serious Ali Kazmi) talks of how exhausted he is but can’t seem to sit down and rest (part of Chekhov’s quiet humour). I always wonder what would happen if Astrov sat down. Liisa Ripo-Martell plays Sonya in Hamilton. Sonya is industrious, efficient, an organizer. She finds things to occupy her and she moves with a purpose, although keeping her emotions secret, but only just. She is the diplomat, the calmer of frayed nerves, the one who takes charge when all else fails.

As Marina the old nanny/maid, Carolyn Fe quietly and with care, sees that the family is fed, that the samovar is always on, offers motherly affection and drink to Astrov, is always folding blankets and even when she is sitting in her chair, she’s knitting, being useful. Marina is industrious and uncomplaining while the others avoid doing anything and complain about it all the time. Chekhov is hilarious.   Abraham carefully realizes each character’s heart-ache. Scenes are never rushed. They have time to breathe and be. They linger in the air compelling us to see, feel and be aware of each character’s beating heart. I especially sensed that with this iteration of the play.

Liisa Repo-Martell’s adaptation breathes a freshness into Chekhov’s timeless play, that enhances it without distorting it. For example, at the end, as Sonya is comforting Uncle Vanya, trying to buoy him and give him hope, the frequent translation is that after they dedicate their lives to work, they will find rest (in the afterlife?). In Liisa Repo-Martell’s version, Sonya says they will ‘have peace’ which I think is more profound. More comforting. Repo-Martell’s language is both of Chekhov’s time and timeless. There is an intellectual modernity to it. And the fact that Liisa Ripo-Martell plays Sonya in the Hamilton stint adds a poignancy. It’s almost as if she is willing herself to believe in what she is telling Vanya.

Yelena is the most perceptive character in the play. She knows the secret feelings of those in the house and it’s so clear in Shannon Taylor’s playing of her. Shannon Taylor’s Yelena is full of grace. Conversation stops when she enters a room because characters are compelled to look at her. Taylor is watchful at everybody in the room. She listens to what they say and intuits how they feel. She knows her effect on people but is not destructive with it. She is bored, but won’t leave.

If ever there was a character who was pompous, bombastic and a source of hollow pontificating, Alexandre is it and he is played with wonderful arrogance, irritation and much hilarity by Eric Peterson. While Alexandre is revered by many, he’s easily defeated in an argument by Vanya who shows the hollow phony Alexandre is.  

Comment. Chekhov has said that if there is a gun visible in Act I then it has to go off in Act III. Well, there is no visible gun in this production, but it does go off in Act III (?) when Vanya attempts to shoot Alexandre. And misses. Twice. Hilarious and heart-breaking.

These characters are stuck in their misery but continue to perpetuate it. Vanya has squandered his life toiling on that estate, but he never moved to do anything else. Vanya berates Alexandre for never raising his salary in all the time Vanya has been overseeing the estate. Yet Vanya never asked for a raise either. It’s as if the characters need to suffer to feel alive. And they won’t move to change it. In a Chekhovian way, that’s funny. Stunning production, wonderful theatre. This production will play the CAA Theatre in Toronto for February, with Bahia Watson playing Sonya. I’m looking forward to seeing that too.

Theatre Aquarius presents a Crow’s Theater Production:

Opened: Jan. 12, 2024 (Snow storm? What snow storm?)

Runs until: Jan. 27, 2024.

Running Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (1 intermission)

www.theatreaquarius.org

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