A sweet-prickly play about the year in the life of a long-married couple who know everything about each other and still have room to be surprised and romanced.
It’s New Year’s Eve and Mary and Michael, long-married, are getting ready for bed: she with flossing her teeth, eye shade, a book etc. he with an eye-shade, a thingy for the nose to aid breathing (I think), a book, etc. They talk about sex. They banter. They talk about sex some more. They turn the light out.
Jamie Williams has written this play based on the boring routine he and his wife actress Melanie Janzen do to prepare for bed. That’s as a start. To add a wonderful closeness and intimacy to the piece, Jamie Williams is performing this with his wife Melanie Janzen.
The dialogue is fast, funny, witty, silly, thoughtful and covers all sorts of events in the lives of this couple over the year. Michael is an editor at a local newspaper and is worried that the new owners of the place, the children of the late publisher, will want to sell and then what would he do?
Mary tries to calm his fears, which turn out to be real. They cope as long-married couples do, with humour, support, hugs, assurances, and hope. There are health issues. There are plans to make, trips to arrange, a wedding of their daughter.
The View From Here will have everybody nodding in recognition. We’ve all been there in one way or another. David Nairn has matched the swiftness of the dialogue with an efficiently, smartly directed production. Beckie Morris has designed a set that is on a revolved. One part of the set is Michael and Mary’s bedroom the other part of the set is the living room. The action takes place in one or the other of these places. To change locations a stagehand pushes the set around on its revolve from either the bedroom to the living room, or vice versa. To suggest the passage of a day, but would be the same location, the stagehand pushes the set completely around. I must confess, I found the revolving for anything other than to change the location unnecessary and time consuming. If a day passed all that was needed would be to either make the bed or change the props, since Mary’s pajamas usually changed to suggest the passage of time. (Kudos to Alex Amini for her costumes, especially Mary’s vibrant pajamas). After a while I looked on that stagehand as Sisyphus pushing that boulder up a hill.
Both Jamie Willams as Michael and Melanie Janzen as Mary are charming in their own right. As a long-married couple, they have the familiar rhythm and shorthand of couples who know each other intimately. Indeed, there is a lot of intimacy here and it is comforting to know the two are married and comfortable with a touch, a hug or a caress. Michael is a fretter and Mary is calmer. Both compliment and comfort each other beautifully.
This is the best production of this play that I have seen over the last 20 years. It’s full of the beating heart of the play, nuance, loving detail and wonderful talent.
Background. Kim’s Convenience is Ins Choi’s first play. He began writing it in 2005 as part of the Fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company Playwrights’ Unit and continued to develop it over the next several years. In 2010 Ins Choi sent the play to various Toronto theatres that rejected it. He submitted the play for the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival and won the New Play Contest. From there it was remounted by Soulpepper, toured the country and was made into a television series of the CBC. There have been awards along the way.
The play is a bittersweet immigrant story; of trying to fit in to a new life but still honouring the traditions of one’s culture; of love and forgiveness.
The Story. Mr. Kim (‘Appa’ in the programme, means ‘Father’ in Korean) has owned and operated his convenience store for 30 years. He is thinking of passing it on to his daughter Janet to run. When she was a kid she helped often in the store, while also going to school to be a photographer. That is where her heart is—to be a photographer. She is now 30 years old, lives at home above the store and is indeed a photographer.
There is a son, Jung but he’s estranged from his father and they haven’t talked in a long time. Jung talks to his mother, (‘Umma’ in Korean), often going to church with her. He regrets the rift with his father and longs to come home.
The Production. Julia Kim has designed a set that reminds us of every convenience store we have ever been in. There is a set layout to these stores, you can check. Because Mr. Kim-Appa (Ins Choi) is meticulous, the shelves are stocked and neat. I always thought that interesting. If the shelves are always fully stocked, doesn’t that seem like there have been few sales? I always wondered about that. But of course, the shelves are stocked because Mr. Kim is meticulous.
When Mr. Kim-Appa (I’ll refer to him this way since he’s referred to by both names depending on whom he is speaking to) opens the store at 7 am Ins Choi as Mr. Kim-Appa enters from the back where the family apartment is. Ins Choi as Mr. Kim–Appa is grey-haired, walks slowly—he wears sandals, socks, a work shirt and pants. He turns on the radio, (wonderful selection from sound designer, Maddie Bautista—of traffic reports in Toronto), sets out the lottery tickets and makes a cup of coffee using more sugar than a human should use for a cup of coffee. Director Esther Jun knows how to set up a visual joke beautifully and Ins Choi as Mr. Kim knows how to milk it. He opens a pack of sugar and holds it high over the cup and then adds more sugar from a dispenser, held even higher.
Mr. Kim-Appa has a polite, but distant relationship with his customers. One gentleman, Mr. Lee (?) (Emeka Agada) who is described as a Black man with an Asian name wants to buy the store for re-development. This makes Mr. Kim-Appa ponder his future and the store’s. Mr. Kim-Appa also has a rather prickly, commanding relationship with Janet (Kelly J. Seo). He expects her to be a dutiful, obedient daughter, and she balks at his obstreperousness. She also would like to be paid for her time working in the store. There is dandy exchange between father and daughter about the actual economics of the situation. As Janet, Kelly J. Seo is impatient and loudly vocal with her Appa. Ins Choi as Mr. Kim-Appa is as vocal if not angry most of the time. One can appreciate that. He worries about the store. He is till hurt by his absent son. It’s a world crowding in on him and anger is the best way of venting. It’s a beautifully modulated performance because there are moments of tenderness.
Ins Choi as Mr. Kim-Appa is agile, a bit stooped from age and wear but a man who is in charge. His timing is impeccable; his gruffness is part of his humour as is his watchfulness. The accent and the turns of phrase are divine. He seems to have a keen sense of who is shoplifting from his store. The banter between Ins Choi as Mr. Kim- Appa and Kelly J. Seo as Janet is particularly bracing. They lob insults and stand their ground with grace and finesse. One does cringe at Mr. Kim’s –Appa’s assumptions of who will shoplift on the basis of race.
Vicki Kim as Umma plays the quiet peace-maker in the family. She is burdened with the rift between her husband and her son. She is aware of the prickliness between her daughter and husband. She has to keep the peace for all of them. Both parents speak to each other in Korean. There is no need for a translation—we get the gist when there is reference to “Janet” etc. It’s the banter of long-married husband and wife.
As Jung, Leon Qin has a sweetness mixed with the guilt of what he did to cause the rift. He is trying to make amends. When he comes home, he makes suggestions to his father about the store. Three is such longing in this wonderful performance. Suddenly new possibilities arise for Mr. Kim-Appa and the future. To give a sense of the detail in Esther Jun’s direction, Jung gives his Appa a photo that he knows Appa would appreciate. He presents the photo like an offering and when Appa takes it Leon Qin as Jung gives the subtlest of bows in respect. I found that breathtaking. The production is full of such tenderness.
Kim’s Convenience is partially autobiographical in that Ins Choi came to Canada with his family from Korea and his parents earned a living by working in an uncle’s convenience store. We all recognize our own family dramas in the Kim’s family drama. It’s about determination, tenacity, respect and love. A wonderful, wonderful production.
A provocative play about women in a man’s world, power and the origins of the Beauty and the Beast story.
The Story. It’s 1533, in France. Two teenagers—Henry and Catherine both about 14 years old–are about to be married. It’s an arranged marriage. Henry is Henry II of France, and Catherine is Catherine de Medici of Italy. She brings the ‘baggage’ of her powerful family with her; something about poisoning their enemies. Henry is immature but knows that he needs an heir. Catherine’s job is to provide it.
At first, she is dutiful. Sex is frequent to produce an heir. Nothing results. Henry is frustrated. Catherine is too but also unsettled. Henry has a mistress named Didi who is much older than he is, and he tends to confide in her rather than Catherine. Catherine confides in Kitty, a servant. Into this group comes Pete. He was born with a condition that makes him profoundly hairy over his entire body. Henry keeps him in a cage as a pet.
Both Catherine and Kitty have compassion for him. Eventually Pete is taught to read, released from the cage and discovered to have a keen intellect. Pete falls in love with Kitty and marries her. They have many children. Catherine needs to have children. You see where this is going.
When Catherine ‘does her duty’ she becomes more confident about herself and her abilities. She wants to be given duties; tasks, responsibilities. Henry hesitates. Not a good move.
Background note: Wildwoman is based on real events and people. Obviously Henry II and Catherine de Medici were real people. Henry II had a much older mistress named Lady Diane de Portiers.Pete was ‘really’ Pedro González with a rare condition called ‘hypertrichosis’ to describe that he was very hairy. He was the focus of an experiment to educate him, give him a position at court and marry him off to Catherine de Medici’s Lady-in-Waiting, Kitt. They had seven children “who went on to be bought and traded by nobles like collectibles.’ (as Kat Sandler says in her programme note: “You can’t make this shit up.”)
The Production. Nick Blais is a wonderful designer—smart, thoughtful and his sets often illuminate the play. What then does one make of his gigantic, overpowering set of what looks like suspended antlers that almost encircle the set? Rather than overpower, (the audience?) how about some illumination? What does that set have to do with that play? Hmmmmm? There is a richness to it for sure, and we are at court. Michelle Tracey’s costumes are sumptuous, richly textured and beautifully establish the elegance of the court of Henry II.
Playwright Kat Sandler had set out to write a play about a ‘wildman’ who was half-man, half-beast, covered in hair who was the inspiration for the fair tale of “Beauty and the Beast.” But then she became fascinated with the women of the story: Catherine de Medici, (Catherine) (Rose Napoli), Lady Diane de Portiers–Didi (Rosemary Dunsmore) and Kitt-(Kitty) (Gabriella Sundar Singh). Each were considered ‘wildwomen.’ So the play went in another direction.
With each woman, Kat Sandler wrote about women trapped in convention (as Catherine was to have an heir), to serve (as Kitty) did as a Lady-in-Waiting, and to stand in the background as Didi did as Henry’s mistress. The three women wanted more. They wanted responsibility, as Catherine did when she wanted to be on a governing council; as Didi did when she was appointed to that council by Henry (Tony Ofori), at the exclusion of Catherine; and as Kitty did when she wanted to take care of her children and not farmed out to nobles to act as pets. The women had brains, wiliness, perception and watchfulness, all qualities that could earn a bad reputation.
As Catherine, Rose Napoli went from being an eager to please young teen to a woman who plotted and planned to gain power. It was subtle and careful. As Didi, Rosemary Dunsmore has a regal bearing and a maturity that is commanding. She is formidable in owning her place in Henry’s life, but has met her match when she tangles with Rose Napoli’s Catherine. As Kitty, Gabriella Sundar Singh is demure and insecure about a facial deformity cause by an unfortunate meeting with a bear. But Kitty comes into her own confident self when she meets and falls in love with Pete, a compelling Dan Mousseau.
Pete is brought on in a large cage. As Pete, Dan Mousseau is wildly hairy, hunched and skittish as a frightened animal. But as Pete’s humanness is developed, as he is respected by both Catherine and Kitty, Dan Mousseau stands taller (out of the cage) and is calmer. With his hair tied back in a pony tail and in decent clothing, Pete becomes almost courtly; noble, articulate and expresses his thoughtfulness with composure. It’s a wonderful transformation.
Henry is played with a dangerous boyishness by Tony Ofori. He is the king and gradually we see the corrupting power of power. Tony Ofori is petulant, demanding, hot-headed and imperiousness.
Kat Sandler’s play is full of the funny word-play one expects of her work. It’s quick banter, almost one-liners, but mainly smart people riffing with each other. The situations are very funny and how these characters deal with it all is hilarious and chilling.
Kat Sandler also directs with efficiency, quickness and confidence. But the play needs cutting and I doubt the director can tell the playwright to edit the play because the playwright and director are the same person. Also, the ending seems to come from nowhere, unsupported and unearned. It’s a chilling conclusion but it needs to be established more strongly in order to work properly.
Comment. Wildwoman is Kat Sandler’s most ambitious play. It’s full of invention, imagination, her usual pointed, irreverent humour and creativity. I think it requires another look to edit, trim, cut and tighten. Still very worthy of a visit.
Soulpepper Theatre Presents:
Runs until Oct. 29, 2023
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes, but closer to three hours. (1 intermission)
A rural folk tragedy with humour, given a beautiful, stylish, sensitive production.
After forty-five years of hard work and dedication, Frau Esel, (Nancy Palk) the longest serving housekeeper of Völksenhaus, has been replaced. Inspired by the darkly comic stories of the Grimm brothers, Bremen Town is about the painful truth of outliving our use.
When Frau Esel is fired, she is livid at the harsh way she is treated by her employer and his new wife. Frau Esel packs up and leaves to go to Bremen to live with her son, who she has not seen for years (45?), and who lives in Bremen and plays the clarinet in the local orchestra. There is no train so she begins to walk. She meets an itinerant magician named Herr Hund, (Oliver Dennis) down on his luck—he owes money to people and can’t make any money appear out of thin air. Frau Esel pays him to be her guide to Bremen Town as they walk and walk and walk.
As negative and critical as Frau Esel is, that’s as irreverent, optimistic and light-hearted Herr Hund is. They pick up others on the way—Frau Esel wants to be on her way, Herr Hund is compassionate and they pick up: Herr Katze (William Webster) who is looking for the town where he grew up; they pick up Frau Henne (Deborah Grover) about to be sold at market by her ungrateful children. They meet a dancing bear, people flying kites, a wise accordionist, birds that land on your shoulder giving comfort.
In Bremen Townplaywright Gregory Prest writes about old age with compassion, wisdom and humour. The kindness of Herr Hund juxtaposed with Frau Esel’s abrasive anger makes one wonder when she will be affected by his lovely example. Gregory Prest’s language and turns of phrases are quirky, playful, heartfelt and wise. His direction is imaginative with creative images. The magical bird that appears in the air, its wings flapping gracefully, melts the heart. Having Tatjana Cornij compose the music and play it to underline the mood of the piece is a brilliant stroke. That Cornij also offers narration and graceful commentary adds to the luster of the piece.
As Frau Esel, Nancy Palk is fiercely rigid in her anger, but gradually softens. It’s a masterful, accomplished and very funny performance, although Frau Esel does not intend to be funny. Oliver Dennis as the kind-hearted, generous Herr Hund offers a perfect foil to the dour Frau Esel. The rest of the cast are terrific.
Bremen Town is an accomplished, polished gem of a show.
“A story based on the music and magic of The Irish Rovers.
My review here: https://slotkinletter.com/2023/10/review-the-wild-rovers
OCT. 19-29
BREMEN TOWN
Buddies in Bad Time Theatre
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY GREGORY PREST
“Bremen Town” is a rural folk tragicomedy about what happens when we outlive our use.
After forty-five years of hard work and dedication, Frau Esel, the longest serving housekeeper of Völksenhaus, has been fired and sent out to pasture. In a rage, she sets out on a winding journey to Bremen to live with her estranged son, meeting a host of trying characters along the way (and doing her best to avoid the stupid Kite Festival).
How would you raise your child if you knew that one day their turn will come to hold a rifle? As a liaison officer for the army, Ilana, a single mother, supports families who’ve lost their sons and daughters to the wars. But when the time comes for her only son to wear the army uniform, she faces a life-changing dilemma. Through drama and comedy, Niv Petel weaves a vivid and detailed familial relationship in Knock Knock, an immersive physical mono-drama about the effects of National Service on everyday life.
With presold tickets alone, we’ve already committed $50,000 towards this donation. A sold-out run could triple this contribution. This is our chance, as a community, to rally behind our friends and family in Israel.
The Greenwin Theatre | Meridian Arts Centre 5040 Yonge Street, Toronto
Inspired by the music and magic of The Irish Rovers
Directed by Jason Byrne
Music direction, arrangements and additional music by Kelly-Ann Evans and Josh Ward
Production design by Graham McMonagle
Lighting design by Leigh Ann Vardy
Sound design by Don Ellis
Puppet consultant, Baptiste Neis
Cast: Julia Dunne
Philip Goodridge
Vicki Harnett
Liam Lynch
Steve Maloney
Powell Nobert
Melanie O’Brien
Sean Panting
Nicole Underhay
Band: Alex Abbott
Sultan Dharamshi
Keith Doiron
Kelly-Ann Evans
Grant King
Paul Kinsman
Dan Smith
Josh Ward
Sitting through this self-indulgent, incomprehensible story was life shortening.
The Story. Here’s one of their versions: “Inspired by the music and magic of the beloved Irish Rovers. The Wild Rovers is a mad-cap adventure that sees the famed band whisked away to a fantastical land of Athunia, not to be confused with their sworn enemy, Ethunia (and yes they are pronounced exactly the same). These fictional countries find themselves on the brink of war and the loveable, hard-working band must help them find a path to peace through song!. There will be puppets, there will be no intermission and there most definitely be no fourth wall.”
Or another version of the Synopsis: “ Our tale begins way, waaaaaay back in 19 and 89. The Wild Rovers (Billy, Jordy, Joe, and their bus driver Sheila) are touring the country. The band is just outside Grand Falls, Newfoundland, when they are suddenly whisked away to a magical world.
Here we meet two fairy tale nations at war, and as fate (and plot) should have it, the band is directly in the middle of it all.
The Wild Rovers battle and seduce a wonderful, mad cap cast of characters along the way, as they try to reconcile their own deepest doubts and fears in order to broker a lasting peace.
Will they save these warring kingdoms from themselves with songs? Or strike a sour note and force an entire world into the ravages of war?!
You’ll soon find out.”
This gives a sense of the assumption of cleverness and barely funny writing.
The Production. To get a further idea of how incomprehensible Steve Cochrane’s book is: as Sheila (Vicki Harnett) is driving the band in their bus, she decides to stop and pick up Maggie (Sean Panting) who is hitchhiking. He, the hitchhiker changed his name to “Maggie” because it would be easier (?!!!) He is carrying a leg. A lame joke is made about it, but it made little sense. Maggie is our narrator and fills in the story as well as offers limp remarks that someone perhaps found pithy. They drive along and accidentally are sucked into a portal, or perhaps it was the king driving his golden chariot with several horses that appeared from the portal first, some of the cast tended to mumble and not annunciate. In any case the bus crushes the king and his chariot and the band is sucked into the portal where they meet the inhabitants of Athunia/Ethunia: Princess Hiya (Melanie O’Brien) is about to be married to Prince Farid (Powell Nobert) of the warring side. It’s a marriage supposedly for peace. Princess Hiya is waiting for her father—the aforementioned crushed, dead king. He’s got the secret of her dowry and of a weapon he is to tell her about. Unbeknownst to her, Prince Farid and his conniving mother Queen Keerthi (the gifted but underused Nicole Underhay) plot to kill Princess Hiya once they have the secret weapon.
They have to find a magical egg and so Prince Farid goes with Princess Hiya and a courtier, Roguish Rick Castley (Liam Lynch) (really??? Is this a riff on Rick Astley? Oh, God!) to find it. The plan is that Prince Farid will be able to kill Princess Hiya on the journey. But of course, well, you know what happens when two warring sides come face to face and sing about it….exactly.
They meet a dragon who has clogged a river because the farmers didn’t appreciate nature or take care of their crops properly and are now starving. They meet pirates who will kidnap Prince Farid thus awakening Princess Hiya’s love for him. Somebody will look like they die but then everybody sings and magic happens because that is the power of music. The suggestion of singing together heals all wounds seems disingenuous when one is so aware of the horrors going on in the world.
When Sean Panting sings “The Orange and the Green” about parents who came from different backgrounds (religions), it looks like The Wild Rovers will establish the theme of the whole show. But aside from almost willing us to believe this is about war between different factions, Steve Cochrane is so busy trying to force lame jokes into the narrative that he doesn’t spend enough time actually establishing clarity. The over emphasis of the two places: Athunia/Ethunia and similar pronunciation wears thin instantly.
Steven Cochrane’s book is dreadful. It’s self-indulgent with its smug assumption that it’s clever and chatty and disarming. It’s not. It’s tiresome and unfunny. With every utterance of Sean Panting as Maggie, one sucks air, because it’s more unnecessary commentary. This is really a one hour fringe show bloated to almost two hours.
The inclusion of such songs as “The Rising of the Moon,” “Wasn’t That A Party,” “Come By the Hills,” are cause for rousing singing—the cast sings beautifully—but they do little to forward the story, as a jukebox musical would do. And The Wild Rovers is not reinventing the jukebox music form either—it’s so not that clever.
Jason Byrne is a smart director who has done terrific work elsewhere. Here he is very clever in constantly keeping the cast moving: creating elaborate business to show the band driving in their ‘box’ of a bus, a pirate ship with some cast holding a board with a sailboat on it as they raise and lower it, suggesting it’s moving through waves, and other busy stage work, the creation of ‘the dragon’ all to deflect our attention from the paucity of what is actually going on in the story.
The band under Kelly-Ann Evans’ guidance is dandy. As I said, the cast is hard-working, strong-voiced and determined to convey they are having a great time. I wish that feeling was contagious, but alas…….
Comment: This is the second consecutive terrabruce Production that earns the Red Face of Fury. Please let this not be a trend with this company.
Note: the ticket prices on the terrabruce Productions website are wishful thinking. When one clicks on a seat on the Ticketmaster site, listed initially for $87 it’s then ballooned to $101 with all the ‘extra’ costs. Be warned.
Live and in person at the Five Points Theatre, Barrie, Ont. Plays until Oct. 20, 2023
www.tift.ca
Written and performed by Jake Epstein
Developed with and directed by Robert McQueen
Music direction, orchestrations, arrangements and keyboard by Daniel Abrahamson
Set by Brandon Kleiman
Lighting by Chris Malkowski
Sound by Erik Richards
Performed by: Jake Epstein
Daniel Abrahamson
Abby David
Justin Han
If Jake Epstein’s autobiographical show Boy Falls From the Sky illuminates anything, it’s his love of performing. It’s a glorious heart-squeeze of a show.
Jake Epstein is blessed with supportive parents who nurtured his and his older sister Gabi’s love of musical theatre. Every summer he and his family made the 10-hour drive to New York City to see a Broadway show. In the back seat of the van, Jake and his sister sang duets from Broadway shows to get them prepared.
In Boy Falls From the Sky, Jake Epstein’s joyous, moving autobiographical show, he lets us know that his life changed when he saw Big—the Musical, his first show on Broadway. He realized that kids could be in a Broadway show and Epstein set about planning that for himself.
He auditioned for and was cast in the Soulpepper Theatre Company’s production of Our Town at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1999. It was his professional theatre debut. He was 12-years-old. This led to being cast as the cocky, confident Artful Dodger in a production of the musical, Oliver!for Mirvish Productions, also at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
Epstein also knew that training and education were equally important in his achieving his goals so he auditioned for and was accepted into the Claude Watson School for the Arts. His future wife said she fell in love with him when he played a hot dog going through the digestive system as one of his class exercises. That must have been one terrific performance.
Jake Epstein branched out from musical theatre and landed a role in Degrassi: The Next Generation about the trials and tribulations of teens in a high school. He stayed with the show for five years. He auditioned for Juilliard in New York City and didn’t get accepted. He describes this as ‘devastating. It wouldn’t be the last time he would experience this feeling. And yet as he was feeling despondent on the streets of New York, he was approached by some tourists who recognized him from Degrassi: The Next Generation who loved the show and him in it. It’s one of several moments in Boy Falls From the Sky that beautifully captures the heart-breaking lows and intoxicating highs of being in ‘show business.’
Epstein continued to audition for roles and often was successful. He moved to New York City to be closer to his dream of being in a Broadway musical and then it happened. He was cast as the alternate lead in the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. Never mind that the show had a reputation for being dangerous to actors—many were hurt because of the intense aerial work. Never mind that the show has a special place as a Broadway disaster. This was Jake Epstein’s Broadway debut. He had achieved his dream.
And then he was cast in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical originating the role of Gerry Goffin, Carole King’s ex-husband. Epstein had arrived. Or had he?
While Boy Falls From the Sky is packed with Jake Epstein’s many and various theatre credits it’s much more than a: “And then I was cast in…..” retelling. The show is loaded with Jake Epstein’s beautiful singing of songs from the various musicals he’s been in. It’s full of his endless charm, joy in performing, self-deprecating humour , perceptive observations and irony. This show is suffused with irony. The show’s title, Boy Falls From the Sky, gives a hint—it’s a song from Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark a doomed musical, and the song is about a man searching for himself, dignity in humanity etc.
Epstein begins Boy Falls From the Sky with “Razzle Dazzle” from Chicago about dazzling the audience etc. with flash and grandness. Irony. Epstein takes the audience behind the ‘razzle dazzle’ of the heady world of Broadway and show business and shows them another world.
The show at the Five Points Theatre in Barrie is a smaller version than appeared at the larger Royal Alexandra Theatre last year. Brandon Keiman’s set is laid out on a simple wood platform with instruments laid out around the space. There is a stool, a chair and a coat stand. The evening is arranged like a rehearsal or a jam session. The musicians arrive as if they are coming in from outside. They take off their coats and put them on the coat stand. Jake Epstein arrives in his jacket and hangs up his coat too, to applause. He greets it with a shy smile. If anything this version of Boy Falls From the Sky has more nuance, subtlety and an even more sense of fun. In other words, it’s grow even better.
Boy Falls From the Skyis full of intoxicating euphoria when you get your dream realized. But there’s also the angst, uncertainty, loneliness of touring and needing to hide the truth about it all from a loving family who only want to be happy for you and with you. Each time they asked with a smile how it was to make his debut here or there, he replied, also with a smile that it was great. But the smile got smaller and smaller. The show is seamlessly directed with subtlety by Robert McQueen.
Boy Falls From the Sky is Jake Epstein’s beautiful, heartfelt, funny buoyant show that comes to terms with realizing his dreams and perhaps learning bliss might be elsewhere in performing.
At its heart Boy Falls from the Sky is a wonderful show that lets actors know they are no alone in their hopes, dreams and disappointments, and lets audiences know that the hardest part about acting is not learning all those lines.
Written by Annabel Fitzsimmons, Alison Lawrence and Mary Francis Moore
Directed by Mary Francis Moore
Music Director, Melissa Morris
Set by David Boechler
Costumes by Jessica Pembleton
Lighting by Kevin Fraser
Cast: Lauren Bowler
Mark Harapiak
Sara-Jeanne Hosie
Keely Hutton
Years ago, three friends—Annabel Fitzsimmons, Alison Lawrence and Mary Francis Moore—were dumped by their boyfriends/partners at varying times. They were hurt, unsettled by it, confused about why and finally angry. That anger got them to write about their experiences using humour. Bittergirl—the play was the result in the mid-2000s. Then established songs were added to provide another layer to the story so in 2015/16 Bittergirl—The Musical was born.
Bittergirl—The Musical chronicles how three women are dumped by their boyfriend/partner—they each have a boyfriend or husband who dumps them. The women are all unnamed as is the guy. We can all identify and sympathize. He (Mark Harapiak representing the various men) is sorry, really loves her, but he needs his space/solitude/freedom. The reason varies. The guy is still a bum. (I thought saying he was a ‘shit’ was too indelicate, although appropriate).
The women, also unnamed, go through various stages of shock, grief, regret, confusion, anger, thoughts of revenge and recovery. Insecurity factors heavily. Assuming it’s her fault is also there. Songs such as: “Where Did Our Love Go,” “When Will I See You Again,” “Be My Baby,” and “Always Something There to Remind Me” are some of the songs in Act I. But then in Act II we have a slow recovery: “Love Hurts,” “This is My Life,” and “I Will Survive.”
Director Mary Francis Moore directs a stellar cast: Lauren Bowler, Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Keely Hutton play the three dumped women. They sing beautifully and with heartfelt conviction. They go through all the emotions one would associate with such a devastating event and they go through varying degrees of neediness and strength. Mark Harapiak plays all the fellahs who dumped the women. He swaggers nicely, has all the confidence of a man with little sensitivity but also a lovely sense of humour that makes the guys seem like twits. We, of course, sympathize with the women but we don’t hate the guys because they are so full of themselves and we know the women are better off without them.
Mary Francis Moore stages the actors well around David Boechler’s flashy, efficient set. And Melissa Morris provides the musical direction with a verve and a smile.
Stage Manager, Lili Beaudoin (she is heavily involved in other ways in this epic)
Performers: Bruce Horak
Ellis Lalonde
Rebecca Northan
Three Goblins: Wug, Cragva and Moog discover the horror and humanity of humans when they (the Goblins) discover a copy of the “Complete Works of William Shakespeare.” They decide they will also explore the world of theatre by performing the play Macbeth because it’s the shortest. (Actually, to be pedantic about it, Macbeth is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies. The shortest play by Shakespeare is The Comedy of Errors. Google says so. It never lies. And I’m grateful to the Goblins for making me curious to look it up.)
I note one of the Goblins is sculking furtively around the lobby, making comments in a gravelly voice. This gives the humans in the lobby a chance to become familiar with ‘the look.’ The Goblin wears a mask that tightly covers the head and the face down to the neck. The head is bald with an octagon design etched on that back of the head. The ears are very long and pointed. The nose is very long, broad and pointed. There are black lines on the face and between the brow that give a sense of foreboding or aggravation. The lips are black. There is a little opening for the mouth but for the most part the mask leaves little room for facial expression. The costume is black with black pants and boots.
The other two Goblins are already in the theatre as the audience files in. They are masked the same way but with subtle differences in the face. The third Goblin joins the other two and they flit around the stage which is full of stuff: a boom box, three moveable large mirrors, one of which has a covering over it, a section upstage with lots of musical instruments and a stand microphone.
One cannot tell the gender of these Goblins unless they speak. Two sound like men, one is gruffer than the other. The third sounds like a woman. While the director’s note said that the actors did not want to be associated with any character (for anonymity), one can assume the gruff voiced one is Bruce Horak, the not as gruff voice is Ellis Lalonde (and a hint here is that this is the Goblin who plays all the music, including a French café ditty(!), and the voice that sounds like a woman is Rebecca Northan.
Two women in the front row do something to lead the Goblins to declare that one is a witch and they bow down. They say her feet should be elevated and put a low box down so her feet can rest on it. They also race out to get her another glass of Vino. The improvisation is smooth, imaginative, quick-witted and nimble.
When the show starts, we are told by the Goblins that they find the human’s pre-occupation with gender, amusing. The Goblins say there are in fact 17 genders. That sounds good to me. They say that they have discovered a lot about humans when they discovered “The Collected Works of William Shakespeare,” and certainly Macbeth.
The Goblins begin the story by telling the audience that Scotland is at war with Norway. Macbeth is one of the leading soldiers. Then the three Goblins get ‘into it’ by playing various parts to tell the story.
The action is swift. Witches prophecy the future of Macbeth and Banquo, his companion in arms. When one of the prophecies comes true Macbeth gets antsy for more power; brave and murderous. His wife joins him. Props are used with imagination—those mirrors are twirled for great effect. Music is played for example on accordion and a kazoo—at the same time!! The three Goblins riff off one another—are they improvising? Is it scripted? It’s all accomplished, brilliant and mischievous. They chide each other—one is out there playing three parts, it’s exhausting.
Macbeth is acted with a gruff, strong voice, vigor, conviction and power. Lady Macbeth has a softer voice, has the ability to manipulate and control and does a good job with Macbeth when it comes to the murders of her ‘house guests.’
Matters ramp up when the battle lines are drawn. Macbeth is over there in Dunsinane with his forces and the two Goblins representing the opposing forces are center stage, needing an army. Where will they get an army? They do a slow pan to the audience (this is not a spoiler alert. Where else are you going to get an army on short notice in a small town?). The audience will be engaged in the action.
Besides open-heart surgery or a trip to the dentist, nothing strikes terror in the hearts of an audience more than these two words: “audience participation.” Goblin:Macbeth has audience participation. Lots of it. DO NOT RUN AWAY!!! You are in good hands here.
Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak are master improvisors. They know how to engage an audience with consideration, care and respect. They have perfected the ability to look at an audience and sensitively know who is eager to participate (the hopeful eyes, the eager looks, the smile that says, “PICK ME!!!!”) and who does not want you anywhere near them in their ‘safe space’ in the audience (eyes averted, head down, telegraphing the thought: “Come near me under peril of your privates!”) These Goblins will not make you feel uncomfortable or awkward. These Goblins will make you eager to participate if you want to. That is one of their many gifts.
The Goblin who sounds like Rebecca Northan scurries up the steep stairs of the theatre to the middle of the audience. She asks the whole group if they are familiar with the name of this forest. Many put up their hands. She asks: “Are they familiar with that place over there?” They are and say the name. She asks: “What can we do to rally and charge that place over there?” Again, not a spoiler alert, it’s in the wonderful trailer…..(lighten up!) The suggestions come fast and loose. Props are provided by an eager audience. Momentum builds. Lighting flashes and changes to accompany the battle and the resolution.
The Goblins teach us a lesson about humanity and the power of theatre in their witty, irreverent, and committed presentation of this glorious production. They talk about how we all came in with our own individual stories, our own separate lives and in the end we were all breathing at the same time and our hearts were beating as one as well, a unified community. I found that observation so moving it took my breath away.
Goblin:Macbeth is a theatrical gift.
The Meighen Form of the Stratford Festival presents:
Live and in person at the Deanne Taylor Theatre, 10 Busy St., Toronto, Ont. A VideoCabaret Production in Association with Crow’s Theatre. Plays until Nov. 12, 2023.
Original music by The Rob Clutton Trio featuring Karen Ng and Nick Fraser.
Original music by End.
In his newest one person play, Cliff Cardial, actor, playwright, observer of humanity, has created a solo show about a man who feels he is cursed. He (we learn his name only at the end), lists the people he has loved, beginning when he was a young kid in school, who have then met a terrible fate. The fates vary in seriousness depending on how old our Narrator is: young people tend to exaggerate the awfulness of a situation because they don’t have much in the way of life’s experiences with which to compare the terrible fates.
The itemization of horrible accidents and death keeps mounting as our Narrator gets older. Because he feels this curse is his fault, he decides to stop loving and hate everybody and therefore prevent a terrible fate to befall anyone else. His life is full of people and incidents and quirkiness. Affection happens. Terrible fates pile up. One person suggests she can lift the curse but that is not attended to immediately. There is more ruminating on the world, discoursing, philosophizing, bristling observations.
JB Nelles has created an intriguing set with props. There is a backdrop that is an abstract painting. In front are three different chairs over which is a different sign: Love-Cursed-Fate. Under LOVE is a hard backed chair, under CURSED is a comfortable chair like you would find in an airplane, and under FATE is a ‘basket’ chair that looks comfortable but not as comfortable as the “CURSED” chair. There is a slab behind each chair with a symbolic painting for each. For example, “CURSED” has a sword stuck in a red structure that could be a heart.
Sage Paul has designed a stylish but rumpled suit in purple with a purple shirt for our Narrator. Raha Javanfar has created an evocative lighting design that draws us into the stories and Alex Williams’ sound adds texture and atmosphere.
Cliff Cardinal has created an engaging Narrator. His manner is contained, thoughtful, gracious, gentle, and occasionally lively. He varies his position either sitting in one of the chairs, standing and talking, taking of and putting on his jacket, for variation. He listens intently and interacts with his audience, aware of any reaction and reacting to that reaction. Karin Randoja, the gifted director of the piece, has meticulously directed (Everyone I Love Has) A Terrible Fate (Befall Them) with nuance and detail. Cardinal has crafted a script that is poetic, lyrical in his observations, full of esoteric musings, references to the Northern White Rhinoceros which might be extinct and symbolic references.
Cardinal’s story is dense with characters, incidents and ideas—occasionally it’s difficult keeping up with who is whom. It’s perhaps a trap to get bogged down in the details and lose sight of the story. When he rounds back to one of the characters, one has to recall what that person’s story was. I think the story is a stretch at 80 minutes. A tightening and shortening of the very detailed story is in order—Cardinal stumbled a few times on the opening remembering the dense dialogue.
While the premise is interesting—to hate everybody in order to save them from a terrible fate—the beauty of (Everyone I Love Has) A Terrible Fate (Befall Them) is that the Narrator contradicts himself by always looking for that which he is missing—LOVE. He is constantly searching for it. The search in itself is hopeful.
A VideoCabaret Production in Association with Crow’s Theatre presents:
