Lynn

This is a terrific opportunity for Playwrights.

The Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition  

This unique playwrights’ competition recognizes the most outstanding unproduced Canadian plays with a Jewish focus. The winning playwright will receive $1,000 (CDN) and an 8-hour CAEA workshop with a director and up to six actors. This workshop concludes with a public reading. Submission deadline: September 5, 2023. Visit www.mnjcc.org/theatre for details.  

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Live and in person, produced by The County Stage Company at the Eddie Hotel and Farm in Prince Edward County, 15786 Loyalist Parkway, Bloomfield, Ont. Playing until Aug. 6, 2023.

www.countystage.ca

Adapted and written by Patrick Barlow

From the original novel by John Buchan

Directed by Monica Dottor

Set by Steve Lucas

Costumes by Lindsay Forde

Lighting by Kristen Leboeuf

Sound by Rebecca Everett

Cast: Helen Belay

Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster

Brandon McGibbon

Courtenay Stevens

Warning! Alfred Hitchcock directed a taut spy murder thriller called The 39 Steps in 1935. The version at the County Stage Company is nothing like that. While this version of The 39 Steps is loosely based on the original story, Patrick Barlow has adapted it and written it as a fast-paced-farce-full-blown-comedy. There is still murder. But it’s funny.

The Story. Richard Hannay is our dashing hero. He has just returned to London from travels and he’s bored. He decides to do something that is utterly frivolous, useless and nonsensical—outdoor theatre in the country. He goes to the theatre for amusement and to try and relieve his boredom. An attractive woman named Annabella Schmidt sidles up to him and sits beside him. She then fires a gun into the air causing a commotion and then asks if she can go home with him. Being the gentleman that he is, Hannay agrees.

What follows is intrigue, mystery, the makings of a political, spy thriller with thugs dogging Hannay’s every movement. Why is no one dogging Ms Schmidt you might ask? She was stabbed in the back, in the night, in his apartment. Hannay tries to solve who killed her and who is chasing him and why. In truth, all sorts of people are chasing Hannay because they believe he killed Annabella. She knew that there was skullduggery afoot that involved highly sensitive secret information that someone wanted to overthrow the government. Hannay tries to find out who had the information and who was trying to steal it.

The Production. Patrick Barlow adapted the play from a novel by John Buchan and the movie by Alfred Hitchcock. It seems like it’s a cast of hundreds and some sheep.  They are all played by four gifted actors: Helen Belay, Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, Courtenay Stevens and Brandon McGibbon.  Helen Belay, Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster and Courtenay Stevens play multiple parts. Brandon McGibbon plays only Richard Hannay. But has to run away from thugs, climb outside a speeding train, escape being handcuffed to a lovely woman, almost fold his tall body into a small trunk, and look dashing in the process and with aplomb. It’s true he has a plethora of partially placed mustaches, but the result is hilarious.

The other actors are equally accomplished.  Courtney Ch-ng Lancaster plays the mysterious and sophisticated Annabelle Schmidt, sweet and Scottish Margaret, and confident and compelling Pamela. and she does it all with supreme style, detail, nuance and a keen sense of the humour, as do they all. There are two Clown roles played by Helen Belay and Courtenay Stevens. It seems they play 300 parts between them, sometimes playing three parts in the same scene. I exaggerate but the quick changes between characters is impressive. Lots of business with changing hats which changes the characters before your very eye-balls.

As one Clown, Helen Belay plays a shaky memory expert, various policemen with varying accents and all manner of other characters and those sheep.

She is ably matched by Courtenay Stevens as the other clown who is a train conductor, a strange professor and various other characters as well. Both Belay and Stevens are two consummate comedic actors with talent for both the physical agility and that serious-faced ability to float a joke.

Guiding the frivolity with a sure, funny hand is director Monica Dottor. She is also a gifted choreographer, so she knows how to create both the visual and literal joke with finesse and grace.  Every moment is full of comedic invention. The simple matter of walking or standing outside a speeding train on the thinnest of ledges, complete with flipping out a coat tail, is done with style. Sure, we’ve seen this mimed before. This is done with a flourish. I would see anything directed by Monica Dottor. These four actors had me there at ‘hello.’  

Steve Lucas has created a wonderful set that changes with a push of a wall before our eyes, letting us into the wonder of doing theatre, under a tent in a field in idyllic surroundings. The costumes by Lindsay Forde are smart and stylish. For the Clowns alone they look like both pajamas and smart suits, certainly not the obvious for Clowns.

Comment. Richard Hannay got his wish…to do something silly, frivolous and irreverent—theatre outdoors. One embraces the adventure of such a venture, willingly.

Warning! The play takes place outdoors in the idyllic setting of The Eddie Hotel and farm. Bug spray is provided although the bugs get nasty around 9 pm, the show is over before then. Quite considerate of the company to arrange that.  

Produced by Country Stage Company

Plays until Aug. 6, 2023.

Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. (a small intermission)

www.countrystage.ca

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Comment on the 21^st Female Eye Film Festival: July 26-July 30, 2023. At the Hot Docs Rogers Cinema, Toronto, Ont.

www.thefemaleeyefilmfestival.com

A change of pace. I was invited to the 21^st Female Eye Film Festival that played July 26-July 30 at the Hot Docs Rogers Cinema. The festival’s tag line is: “Always Honest, Not Always Pretty.”

They got that right. The selections of films from across the country and around the world were challenging, informative, bracing, hard-hitting, shocking and always relevant. The Director’s Statement from Leslie Ann Coles, the Founder, Executive/Artistic director of The Female Eye, says that this year’s festival is pared down as they recover from the difficulties of COVID. But as a first-time visitor to the festival, what I saw was stunning in scope.

Over the three days I was able to see what was on offer in programs composed of shorts, documentaries and features from North America, Canada and Internationally. They were categorized under such headings as: Redemption, Individuation, The Personal is Political, Excavating Truths Violence Against Women, Lost and Sexual Rights and Liberty. The power, both gentle and full on that poured out of those films was compelling.

Here are some standouts in a festival loaded with them:

Redemption:

American Dream

Directed by Angela Garcia Coombs. From USA

About a recovering addict trying to get ahead while suffering the dangers and indignities of gig work in the luxury homes of the privileged. She showed tenacity, determination and resilience.

Every Day

Directed by Tara Alexandra Brown and Vin Chandra. From USA

A young woman named Maddie takes a job as a tutor and meets and bonds with the nanny. Maddie is recovering from an earlier trauma and the new relationship triggers memories of the earlier trauma. The film evolves slowly and as more and more information is revealed you find yourself gripping the armrest harder and harder.

Individuation:

Tiger Mom

Directed by Munara Muhetaer. From Canada

A Chinese-Canadian teenager is trapped under the thumb of his demanding, controlling mother until he rebels. You think the film might go down a familiar path, but it veers in another direction, just as reasonable and effective. Beautifully done.

The Personal is Political

Touch

Directed by Ragda Alazizi. From Germany/Syria

A short film of stories of women protesting brutal regimes and in particular, one woman imprisoned in Saydnaya Prison in Syria. About women staring down their oppressors. Brutal and powerful.  

Medea

Directed by Riffy Ahmed.

Euripides’s tragedy of a betrayed wife who takes violent revenge as reinterpreted through a BIPOC lens. Poetic, graceful and gripping.

Excavating Truths; Violence against women.

Esmerelda

Directed by Jennifer Greco. From Colombia

A young woman returns home for the funeral of her school friend and to confront her mother about a trauma the young woman endured at the hands of a friend of the family who sexually abused her when she was a child. The mother is generally silent until she gives her own truth.

Again, the resilience of women beautifully portrayed.

Lost

Smokebreak

Directed by Lisa Robertson. From Canada

A woman nervously meets the daughter she gave up for adoption years before.

In this elegant, heartbreaking short film, the questioning daughter wants to know so much about her birth mother, why she gave her up and what happened to her. If ever there was a short film that begged to be expanded into a feature, Smokebreak is it. The subject is deep with questions on both sides for the woman who gave up her child and the child who is now an adult.

Sexual Rights and Liberty (Foreign Shorts and Canadian Documentary)

Koromousso, Big Sister

Directed by Habibata Quarme and Jim Donovan

A group of African-Canadian women challenge cultural taboos surrounding female sexuality, and female genital mutilation. Powerful is an understatement.

All the performances in all the films were stunning.

So glad I was introduced to this worthy festival.

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Live and in person at Here for Now Theatre, Stratford, Ont. Plays until Aug. 12, 2023.

www.herefornowtheatre.com

Book by Taylor Marie Graham

Music by William Rowson

Directed by Liza Balkan

Set and costumes by Bonnie Deakin

Projection Design by Beth Kates

Movement direction by Patrice Bowler

Cast: Darcey Baker

Priya Khatri

Derek Kwan

Ben Skipper

Frog Song Chorus:

Megan Dart

Michael Neale

Lucy Sanci

Charming, sweet, funny and thoughtful.

The Story and production. Pre-teens, Navdeep (Priya Khatri) and her friend Riley (Darcey Baker) are going to Camp Songbird, a music camp for kids who love music of every kind.  Both girls are beautiful singers and very excited to be going to the camp. The camp has a singing competition for the best performance of a song. They hope to win.

There is one problem: Wyatt (Ben Skipper). Wyatt is odd. He’s a misfit who doesn’t even try to fit in. He wears a frog costume and has a hula hoop around his middle which he holds like a security blanket. In its way it protects him by keeping people at a distance. As Wyatt, Ben Skipper is a mix of insecurity, timidity and pushiness, almost daring someone to try and be friends with him.  He’s bossy; always asks questions and doesn’t answer anyone’s questions to him. He carries a book of fairy tales with him that has special meaning to him. Wyatt obviously has his problems but won’t let anybody ‘in’ to help him. To make matters worse, Jay (Derek Kwan), who runs Camp Songbird, has paired Navdeep and Wyatt for the song competition. Navdeep is disappointed.

Jay is a flamboyant, always smiling man who wears flipflops, shorts. a vest, shirt, bow tie and a gossamer floral dressing gown. He is constantly fanning himself with a formal fan. He told Navdeep to try to understand Wyatt, have compassion for him and help him because he has issues. He thought she would be a good pairing with Wyatt. Jay is one caring, compassionate perceptive person, and all of that goodness and cheer of Jay is brought out in Derek Kwan’s exuberant performance. And he has a wonderful, strong tenor voice to boot.

Director Liza Balkan’s production is full of wit and whimsy that would attract the imagination of any child or adult they are chaperoning. Liza Balkan uses the space inside the tent beautifully and outside in nature, with a natural enthusiasm.  Playing on the name of the camp-Camp Songbird–there are cut outs of birds and other forms of nature all over the tent where the opera is being performed.  Hanging from the trees outside the tent are multi-coloured cut-out parrots.

Needless to say, frogs factor heavily in the story and the production. Navdeep is bedeviled by a trio (chorus?) of “imaginary” frogs. Whyatt is dressed in a frog’s suit. The book of fairy tales that Whyatt clutches references the Princess and the Frog story, in which a princess must fall in love with and kiss the frog to release the prince hidden inside.  The mighty Frog Song Chorus leap and jump around the space (kudos to choreographer/movement director Patrice Bowler). The Frog Song Chorus wear green baseball caps with bulging eye-balls affixed to the top. The chorus of frogs ‘ribbet’ and croak for effect.  Later the chorus will wear baseball caps that are adorned with feathers and bird paraphernalia changing them into chirping birds. Bravo to designer Bonnie Deakin.    

Writer, Taylor Marie Graham is no stranger to writing for a young(ish) audience. She wrote about teens in her Fringe thriller play Corporate Finch, and now she is writing for pre-teens in Frog Song. This is not a rendering of the Princess and the Frog fairy tale. It’s much deeper than that. It’s a work that explores concerns of kids such as: fitting in, yearning, friendship, respect, being brave enough to be oneself and being fortunate to have others who see and value your worth. She has a keen facility with language and expression. One of the recurring lines in the opera is sung by Wyatt: “Once upon a frog, a boy was very afraid.” In one simple line, she conjures the confusion of Wyatt.  

Taylor Marie Graham and her equally brave creative partner composer William Rowson have created a kid’s opera that tackles subjects that occupy young minds, and it does it with wit, humour, kindness, intelligence and respect.

Comment. It’s been noted frequently of late that audiences for theatre and opera are diminishing. It’s alarming. Perhaps the gifted artists who created Frog Song and the wonderful Here for Now Theatre who are presenting it have found a solution: start a person young to love the arts, theatre, opera etc. and you will have them for life.  

Here for Now Theatre presents:

Plays until Aug. 12, 2023.

Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (no intermission)

www.herefornowtheatre.com

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Live and in person at the Blyth Festival, Memorial Hall, Blyth, Ont. Plays until Sept. 2, 2023.

www.blythfestical.com

Adapted by Gil Garratt

Original writer, James Reaney

Directed by Gil Garratt

Set and lighting by Beth Kates

Costumes by Jennifer Triemstra-Johnston

Sound by Lyon Smith

Cast: Geoffrey Armour

Masae Day

Paul Dunn

Randy Hughson

Rachel Jones

Cameron Laurie

Steven McCarthy

Hallie Seline

James Dallas Smith

Mark Uhre

A herculean effort by Gil Garratt to bring this sprawling, gripping tale of the Donnelly family to the stage in three parts. The St. Nicholas Hotel is the second part of the Trilogy. It’s very movement based. It also shows how evil rumor and innuendo can spread to sully a reputation, as happened to the Donnelly family.

Background: If there is a warning on the news of a torrential storm coming with the possibility of developing into a tornado, you stay home. However, I got in my car to drive to Blyth last week to see the second installment of The Donnellys: A Trilogy adapted by Blyth Artistic Director Gil Garratt. They work hard there and were fearless during the pandemic. I know, sure, others do too, but Blyth is different. So I got in the car and set out.  I got an e-mail from the Blyth Festival Press Department to tell me that because of the possibility of a storm/tornado, they were moving the performance from the Harvest Stage (for which it was created) to indoors at the Memorial Hall.

All was good. I brought water to keep me hydrated; wholesome snacks to keep me alert and had good weather until I got to Cambridge. It began raining in Cambridge. Then it began teaming. I kept driving. At the cut-off for Stratford Highway 7 and 8 the traffic was zipping along, until it wasn’t. The rain was coming down so hard, people around me had their flashers on. I put mine on too to alert people not to come too close cause I could not see the lines on the road and was afraid I would veer into another lane. My hands gripped the steering wheel and I think cramped around it. My sphincter was becoming uncontrollable. Turning around was a slight possibility but I was determined to be careful and get there.

I figured, if I could just get to the Nafziger Road turnoff, I’d be ok. It’s a country road. It’s simple. It would be ok. The rain did not pelt as much. It began to ease up. As I got deeper and deeper into back-road-country, the rain let up. There in the distance was clear, blue sky. Perhaps a hint of sun too. My hands stopped gripping the steering wheel. However, I hope I can eventually get the driver’s seat clean.

The Story and production. The Programme information says it best: “With grit, and unbridled ambition, the Donnelly brothers strike out to find their fortunes. When the enterprising William Donnelly starts a stagecoach line running North from London, together the boys drive horses, freight, and passengers to great success. However, they are also drawing the resentment and rage of their rivals. And so begin the fabled Stage Coach Wars.

When barns burn, horses go missing (or worse), the constabulary can’t keep the boys in line, and the courtrooms fail to contain them, others take action. Justice gets meted out ankle-deep in the muddy roads, or above the din in the beer-drenched taverns. Or at least, until some of those stagecoach rivals start forming a secret society of their own in the Cedar Swamp…

High romance, barroom brawls, and an irrepressible instinct to raise hell on the Roman Line.”

The performance moved to the Memorial Hall from the outdoor Harvest Stage in order to ensure all were safe from the impending lousy weather. There was an arrangement of wood chairs upstage across the stage and several trunks in various formations downstage. The trunks would be reconfigured into tables, stagecoaches and various other things, all of which were wonderfully creative. Kudos to Beth Kates, the set and lighting designer.

The Donnelly family of James (Randy Hughson), Johannah (Rachel Jones), James Jr. (Geoffrey Armour), Will (Steven McCarthy), Michael (Mark Uhre), Tom (Cameron Laurie) and Jenny (Hallie Seline) were all industrious, tenacious, and wily. They were successful in business when they formed their stagecoach company. They were unfailingly polite to the costumers, stood their ground with their enemies, like James Carroll (Geoffrey Armour), Andrew Keefe (Paul Dunn), and George Stubb (James Dallas Smith).

Director Gil Garratt created a fluid production that was occasionally movement based, music hall and almost balletic in some instances. For example James Carroll and his stage coach were always racing the Donnelly brothers’ stagecoach to reach their destination first. As James Carroll, Geoffrey Armour suggested the stagecoach by standing on one of the trunks and in an exaggerated bending of his knees, arms out front, flopping, simulated the furious bumping and speed of driving the coach and flipping the reins to urge on the horses.

The Donnelly brothers, Will (Steve McCarthy) and Michael (Mark Uhre) on the other hand, are also on a trunk and their style is more elegant. They are not only smart businessmen, they are accomplished riders and drivers, and without wasting energy, they efficiently get to their destination without incident.

As Will Donnelly, Steve McCarthy strikes an almost dashing pose in a long black coat and a quiet demeanor. While his brother Michael played by Mark Uhre is as self-contained, quiet and watchful. Both men are rather courtly in the behaviour even with their enemies.

But it’s how they treat the women in their lives that also sets them apart. They are respectful of their mother Johanna and sister Jenny. They are tender and caring for their wives. Contrast that with a scene in which James Carroll (Geoffrey Armour) comes to the Donnelly house and threatens Johanna when James isn’t there. He is overbearing, bullying and challenging. Johanna, again a wonderful Rachel Jones, quietly and forcefully stands her ground and turns the intimidation around.

Wonderful work. I’m looking forward to the last instalment of Handcuffs next week.

The Blyth Festival Presents:

Plays until Sept. 2, 2023.

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (1 intermission)

www.blythfestival.com

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Live and in person at the Stratford Festival, Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford, Ont. Plays until Oct. 1, 2023.

www.stratfordfestival.ca

Written by Alice Childress

Directed by Sam White

Set by Richard H. Morris Jr.

Costumes by Sarah Uwadiae

Lighting by Kathy A. Perkins

Composer Beau Dixon

Sound by Debashis Sinha

Cast: Aliya Anthony

Eleanor Beath

Maev Beaty

Joella Chrichton

Ijeoma Emesowum

Liza Huget

Kevin Kruchkywich

Cyrus Lane

Jonathan Mason

Lucy Peacock

Antonette Rudder

Micah Woods

A gut-wrenching play about illicit love in South Carolina, in 1918 between a Black woman and a white man. Alice Childress’ play beautifully illuminates the difficult life experiences of Blacks in America at the time. Sam White’s beautiful production does the play proud.

Note: First a bit of information about playwright Alice Childress (1916-1994). Her 1950 play, Just a Little Simple, was adapted from the Langston Hughes novel Simple Speaks His Mind and was produced in Harlem at the Club Baron Theatre. Her next play, Gold Through the Trees (1952), gave her the distinction of being one of the first African-American women to have worked professionally produced on the New York stage. She was set to be the first African-American woman to have a play on Broadway with her play Trouble in Mind (1955) but the producers wanted her to change the ending to make it more palatable to audiences and she refused. So, Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raison in the Sun has the honour of being the first African-American woman to have her play on Broadway.  Alice Childress’ plays chronicle the racial inequities and social injustices of her time. For consistency, I will use the term “African-American.”

The Story. Wedding Band (written in 1966) takes place in 1918 in a city by the sea in South Carolina. The war is going on in Europe and there is an epidemic of some sort sweeping North America. We are in a part of town where African-American’s live. Julia Augustine has just moved into a house owned by Fanny Johnson, who Alice Childress describes as “the self-appointed fifty-year old representative of her race”. Fanny is nosey about Julia. Julia keeps to herself. She makes a living by doing hand finishing for a store selling ladies garments.

It’s a close-knit community—everybody knows everybody’s business. Other people living in close proximity to Julia besides Fanny are: Mattie and her daughter Teeta; Lulu Green and her son Nelson. Mattie’s husband is off at sea and she waits patiently for his return. Nelson is in the army but is on leave.

Everybody wants to know Julia’s business. All the more reason for Julia to keep private. She has been in a relationship for 10 years with Herman who is white. She walked into his bakery one day to buy some baked goods and he treated her with such respect that a relationship formed and they eventually got together as much as they could. A romantic relationship between a white man and an African-American woman was forbidden by law. So they kept it secret.

Herman’s family also has issues with race—they are of German descent—the war is on—so they endure racist remarks against them. Herman and Julia manage to have their loving time together until Herman collapses on day on Julia’s porch. Of course, we know that the epidemic is the flu (to give it its ‘regular name’ is pejorative and incorrect) and Herman has it.  He needs a doctor but that would reveal the relationship. Matters ramp up.

The Production.  The set by Richard H. Morris Jr. is simple and functional. The back yards of Julia’s (Antonette Rudder) and Lulu’s (Joella Crighton) houses are upstage on the long Tom Patterson stage. A section of Julia’s bedroom floats downstage to be the focus of the scene.

Julia is sleeping in her bed but is disturbed when Teeta is upset that she lost a quarter. Her mother Mattie (Ijeoma Emesowum) is furious because every penny counts in Mattie’s life. The row with mother and daughter wakes Julia from her sleep. She puts on her dressing gown to address her new neighbours.

As Julia Antonette Rudder is graceful, confident and has an air of diplomacy. When she offers Mattie (a forthright Ijeoma Emesowum) a quarter to make up for the one she lost, Antonette Rudder offers it to her with kindness and consideration. She knows Mattie needs that money and Julia can afford to give it to her.

Alice Childress says of Fanny Johnson (Liza Huget) that she is “the self-appointed fifty-year old representative of her race,” Liza Huget plays her with an air of importance complete with head toss to make a point. She has the nosey curiosity of a woman who thinks that everybody’s business is her own and her right to know.

Lulu Green is played by a caring Joelle Crichton. She is protective of her son, Nelson (movingly played by Micah Woods) and frets for his well-being.

And then Herman (Cyrus Lane) arrives bearing pastries. Cyrus Lane plays Herman as a bit awkward, shy, but in his way, confident. He could not find the door to the gate in order to get into the yard, but he kept trying. He is polite but of course awkward with Julia’s neighbours because he doesn’t know them. He’s not secretive about wanting to see her.

The rapport between Cyrus Lane as Herman and Antonette Rudder as Julia is familiar, playful and loving. They gently chide each other. When Herman says that his mother is one ignorant woman, Julia says, “Don’t say that,” as if defending her even though Julia knows Herman’s mother is a racist and refers to Julia (whom she never met) with the ‘n’ word. And when Julia refers to one of the women for whom she worked: “And wasn’t that Miss Bessie one mean white woman?” Herman replies: “Oh, Julia, just say she was mean.” Playwright Alice Childress puts things into calm, fair perspective.  

Matters come to a head when Herman collapses on Julia’s porch; he has to be moved to Julia’s bedroom and his mother (Lucy Peacock) and sister Annabelle (Maev Beaty) are summoned. While the family knew about the affair between Herman and Julia, now it is truly out in the open.

The mother and Annabelle enter the backyard with trepidation under the gaze of Julia’s neighbours. Both Lucy Peacock as Herman’s Mother and Maev Beaty as Annabelle have their arms close to their sides, as if they don’t want to touch anything, and they don’t. Their contempt is palpable.  The mother is an eye-popping racist towards Julia and all African-Americans. His sister Annabelle, is just a timid, blinkered soul.  Lucy Peacock as Herman’s mother spits out her invective to Julia with brutal hatred. She has expressed such disappointment in Herman because he was happy being a baker. One is stunned at the invective and at what Herman must have endured growing up.  Maev Beaty plays Annabelle as such a timid soul—timid around her overbearing mother and for just being in the world. Annabelle volunteers in the war effort, but life frightens her.

Sam White has directed this heart-squeezing, moving production with care, sensitivity and a commanding assurance in seeing that the story is served. Relationships are beautifully established. The racism of some characters is not soft-peddled. Sam White ensures that the message is given full force when needed. But then there are moments of aching love, touching kindness, and that too is conveyed with breathtaking care.

Alice Childress writes with a bristling rage through Julia and thoughtful reflection through Herman. There are angry exchanges between Julia and Herman in Act II that leave you breathless. Julia finally gets to say what she has been yearning to say since they had been together. She talks about all the ills that the whites have done to her people and she lumps Herman into that rage.

Herman: And you blamin’ me for it?

Julia: Yes!…for the one thing we never talk about…white folks killin’ me and mine. You wouldn’t let me speak.

Herman: I never stopped you.

Julia: Every time I open my mouth ‘bout what they do…you say…”Kerist, there it is again…” “Whenever somebody was lynched…you ‘n me would eat a very silent supper. It hurts me not to talk…what you don’t say you swallow down.

Herman: I was just glad to close the door ‘gainst what’s out there. You did all the givin’…I failed you in every way.

The speeches are angry, devastating and heartbreaking. Then they both acknowledge the true reality of the relationship.  She knows all the good he has brought to her life and he knows all the good she has brought to him.

The acting by Antonette Rudder as Julia and Cyrus Lane as Herman is terrific. Antonette Rudder walks a fine line as Julia; proud of her work and herself. She is generous but guarded. She knows the world she lives in and treads softly and with confident care. But with Herman, she can be her true self. As Herman, Cyrus Lane continues to show what a gifted actor he is. Herman knows the horror his mother is but contends with her. He knows what horrors Julia has endured and wants to shut that out when they are together. Herman is a humble, thoughtful, perceptive man. He is ground down by the world but buoyed up by Julia and it’s all in Cyrus Lane’s compelling performance.

Comment. Alice Childress has written a play about racism in the deep south in 1918, but it’s so vivid it could be about today. She has written about racism and shown it from various sides of the story: both African-American and white and not made it into a polemic. She has written about the hideousness of racism, and yet when Julia and Herman talk about it and are able to find their love for each other in that world, Childress illuminates her openheartedness when dealing with such a despicable subject. (One can only imagine how effective a training session of diversity, inclusion and equality would be if Alice Childress was still with us to lead it, as opposed to the horror shows we are reading about recently).

Wedding Band is a rarely done play that should be done everywhere because it’s so forward-thinking.

The Stratford Festival presents:

Plays until Oct. 1,

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (approx.) (1 intermission)

www.stratfordfestival.ca

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Live and in person at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope, Ont. Runs until July 30, 2023.

www.capitoltheatre.com

Written by Marie Beath Badian

Directed by Megan Watson

Set and costumes by Jackie Chau

Lighting by Jareth Li

Composer and sound by Jeff Newberry

Cast: Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta

Deborah Drakeford

Ellie Ellwand

David Ferry

Aaron MacPherson

Iain Stewart

Yunike Soedarmasto

The play is growing on me. Perhaps I’m looking at it with a more embracing view. In any case this is a funny, poignant production.

The Story. Marie Beath Badian says Prairie Nurse is fictional but is based on real people, in particular her mother. It’s about two Filipino nurses, Purificacion “Puring” Saberon and Indepencia “Penny” Uy, who came from the Philippines to Tisdale, Saskatchewan in the 1960s to work in a hospital, send money home and eventually bring some of their family to Canada.

The play covers the culture shock both women experience when they arrive in Saskatchewan, as well as the efforts the Canadians have in being welcoming without showing their cultural ignorance. It makes for laughs on both sides.

The Production. Jackie Chau has designed a functional set of the hospital. A door stage right leads outside. Lockers are stage right; a kitchen with microwave and table and chairs is stage left, a door to the hospital is up center with a ramp down from it that accommodates one step up.

Director Megan Watson establishes the comedic tone immediately and never lets up with her pace, attention to detail and timing. Senior nurse, Marie Anne (Deborah Drakeford) pushes open the upstage door from the hospital section. A cigarette dangles from her mouth. The image is hilarious. Marie Anne is anxious.  Deborah Drakeford as Marie Anne does not hesitate to be loud, bossy, irritated or controlling. Frustration is her go to emotion—frustrated with her staff, the patients, the world and Drakeford does it with wonderful skill and humour.

The staff and employees of the hospital are all characters:  Wilf Klassen (Aaron MacPherson) is a star hockey goalie who is also a technician in the hospital. Wilf is a bit of a confused but earnest man as played by Aaron MacPherson.  Dr. Miles MacGreggor (Iain Stewart) would rather hunt and fish than tend to patients. While Iain Stewart plays Dr. Miles MacGreggor with enthusiasm, I did find his Scottish accent a bit thick and incomprehensible at times. Charlie, as played by David Ferry, is a sweet-natured, thoughtful man dispensing advice. He is a handyman-driver.  Patsy (Ellie Ellwand) is a seemingly flighty but really perceptive candy-striper. As played by Ellie Ellwand, Patsy has common sense, heart and honesty.

Mary-Anne, the head nurse, and Patsy the candy-striper put up a welcoming sign that uses both Tagalog (I believe it’s Tagalog, a language of the Philippines) and English. The excitement is high in welcoming the two nurses. The efforts to make them welcome and try and accommodate they are from another country is heart-warming.  They all gather to welcome Purificacion “Puring” Saberon (Yunike Soedarmasto) and Indepencia “Penny” Uy (Kryslyne-Mae Ancheta). Charlie has gone to pick them up at the airport.

It’s a new country for the two nurses and it is a rocky beginning. Puring is hysterical and crying and Penny is upset when they arrive.  On the ride from the airport Puring saw a sign that said: “Welcome to Tisdale, Land of Rape and Honey” and wondered what she had signed up for.  Mary-Anne told her ‘rape’ was a crop and not the other thing. Puring is overcome with emotion, passes out and when she revives, she looks in the face of Wilf Klassen and he looks in hers and it’s instant love.

In their own way the staff are all welcoming of the two nurses but sometimes they confuse who is Puring and who is Penny, playing up the (racist) stereotype that one can’t tell South Asians etc. apart. Playwright Marie Beath Badian also has the same thoughts voiced by the two visiting nurses—they can’t tell the (white) staff apart. I love that equal opportunity blinkered assumption. When the programme says that the play is about confusion, they aren’t kidding. To reveal more would be a spoiler.

Penny, as well played by Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta, fancies herself an entitled, sophisticated women because she comes from Manila from a monied family. Penny lauds her privilege over Puring, who comes from a small village and is not as well off as Penny. Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta as Penny has a slight sneer that adds another touch of Penny’s haughty attitude that is so perfect for the character. But Penny has her own family issues. She loves a young man of whom her family does not approve.

Marie Beath Badian’s play is gentle in recollecting her mother’s immigrant experience where the sight of the word ‘rape’ in the Tisdale sign is the most anxiety Puring experienced. After that Puring, played with confidence and level-headedness by Yunike Soedarmastro, coped with every kind of curve ball with style. Yunike Soedarmastro as Puring is a sweet, agreeable, very efficient and caring woman.  

Marie Beath Badian writes about the immigrant experience in Prairie Nurse. She writes about cultural stereotypes, prejudices, unintended insensitive blunders of language and cultural assumptions, and she does it with humour and grace. Her characters are generally kind, (well Penny could do with less arrogance, although she does appreciate Charlie’s generosity.) And the story is wonderful. It’s about being welcome in a new country, braving the unknown of the new country and through tenacity and generosity, making a go of it. I’m so glad I saw this production.  

The Capitol Theatre presents:

Plays until July 30, 2023.

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes approx. (1 intermission)

www.capitoltheatre.com

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Live and in person produced by the Here for Now Theatre, at the Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford, Ont. Playing until July 29, 2023.

www.herefornowtheatre.com

Written by Madeleine Brown

Directed and designed by Monique Lund

Cast: Carmen Grant

Bethany Jillard

Louriza Tronco

In Margaret Reid playwright Madeleine Brown has created a wild, absurdist comedy with a touch of unsettling mystery.

Cora (Louriza Tronco) and Debbie (Bethany Jillard) are 12-year-olds who meet at a public speaking competition. Debbie is exuberantly played by Bethany Jillard; lively, enthusiastic, animated. She talks about The Wizard of Oz. Cora as played by Louriza Tronco is more subdued, somber even. She talks about her lategrandmother who had three legs and died ‘in 9/11’. We aren’t sure if that meant she was in the twin towers or on one of the planes, or if she just died on that day and it had nothing to do with the disaster. We aren’t told. In her presentation Cora wore an artificial leg hanging down her front, held on by a rope around her waist. The presentation must have impressed the judges because she won the big trophy for the best speech.

Over the next 10 years the two ‘non-friends’ meet twice (in five-year increments). The first time Debbie is preparing for a world public speaking competition and Cora says she is not participating. Cora reveals a truth about the first competition that rattles Debbie.

When they meet five years after that, Debbie is working a job in a restaurant and Cora is a successful motivational speaker. Again, Cora tells Debbie some information that happened five years before. Cora has a penchant for lying and Debbie just continues to believe her.

Enmeshed in their lives is Margaret Reid (played with a compelling smile and formidable presence by Carmen Grant). Debbie baby-sat Margaret Reid’s child. Something horrible happened in that house and both Debbie and Cora were present and it’s haunted Debbie and perhaps Cora ever since.

Director/designer Monique Lund gets right into the absurdist whimsy of Margaret Reid. The set is strewn with toys for all ages. The artificial leg lays over the edge of the entrance to the tent where the play is performed. There is a plunger and a toilet on the other side of the opening—both will be used later. There is a radio and other colourful stuff that suggest fun and games. It’s a ploy to keep us unsettled when things turn serious.

To show the extent to which Margaret Reid is involved in Cora and Debbie’s lives, Monique Lund has the three characters on stage, Cora and Debbie appear to be robot-like. Margaret Reid (Carmen Grant) appears behind them and arranges their arms and heads just so, in a pose. She gives them clothing they hold as she arranges their arms in front of them. They will put on the clothing and then go into their scene and Margaret Reid will disappear. But she reappears when they, and certainly Debbie, don’t expect it—in her thoughts, dreams, subconscious.

As Debbie, Bethany Jillard is particularly good at showing how unsettled she is with the news that Cora has told her and with the specter of Margaret Reid just about to appear when she least expects it. As Cora Louriza Tronco has that coolness of an obsessive liar, always assuming that the trusting Debbie would know that Cora had been lying and Debbie never caught on.

I didn’t find Margaret Reid as funny as the rest of my audience did. I thought that playwright Madeleine Brown tried too hard to be absurd. But I appreciate the inventive imagination of Madeleine Brown and her quirky characters. I also found Monique Lund’s gusto in her direction impressive—she really got into the humour of the piece and also realized those moments when characters (and the audience) would be unhinged.

Here for Now Theatre Presents:

Plays until July 29, 2023.

Running time: 1 hour and 12 minutes (no intermission)

www.herefornowtheatre.com   

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Live and in person at the Coal Mine Theatre, 2076 Danforth Ave, Toronto, Ont. Plays until July 30, 2023.

www.coalminetheatre.com

Written by Lucy Prebble

Directed by Mitchell Cushman

Lighting, set, and props by Nick Blais

Costumes by Cindy Dzib

Projection design by Jack Considine

Sound and composition by James Smith

Cast: Aris Athanasopoulos

Leah Doz

Jordan Pettle

Aviva Armour-Ostroff

Described as “a clinical romance” between two volunteers in a pharmaceutical drugs trial. The play explores the physical effects of love, ethics of medical experiments, trust and truth.

The Story. Tristan Frey and Connie Hall are two strangers who meet when both volunteer for a five week pharmaceutical trial of an anti-depressant drug. One of the conditions of the trial is that they cannot be depressed. The trial is to see the effect of the drug on a healthy person. Conducting the trial is Dr. Lorna James. She is meticulous in her experiments and objective in her demeanor. She reports to Dr. Toby Sealey, who does not take part in the trials, but looks over the data. Over the course of the trial Tristan and Connie fall in love. There are physical effects. Is it the drug or emotions or both?

The Production. The audience sits on both sides of the playing area. There is a screen on the stage left and right side of the space on which will be projections and notes made. Designer Nick Blais has done triple duty designing the lighting, set and props. The chairs for this are particularly inventive in that they can be reconfigured into other set pieces quickly and efficiently.

Dr. Lorna James (Aviva Armour-Ostroff) asks Connie (Leah Doz) a list of questions about her health and if she has depression or is pregnant. As played by Aviva Armour-Ostroff, Dr. James is matter of fact, perhaps almost humourless because she is so focused on being meticulous with her questions and investigation. As Connie, Leah Doz is understated—perhaps too much so initially because it was hard to hear what she was saying. She got louder as the play went along, but audibility at the beginning is important too. Connie seemed guarded at first and created a mystery about the character.

Dr. James then interviews Tristan (Aris Athanasopoulos). He is engaging, funny, impish and has the confidence of a person who knows the drill—he’s done the trials before. Dr. James knows when he’s joking but still keeps a straight face and cool demeanor.

Tristan and Connie meet and are attracted to each other when they have to ‘prepare’ a urine sample. He is more engaging that she is. Again, Connie is guarded. But over time, her defenses come down. They bond. The dose of the drug is increased. Both Connie and Tristan are experiencing rapid heart-rate, increased temperature, anxiety, perhaps lightheadedness. Are these the effects of the drug, falling in love or both? Connie and Tristan get reckless. They want to be together, but the rules say no. Is this feeling the drug or passion for the other? Interesting questions for the experiment and the play. Then matters ramp up. It’s no spoiler alert that one of them is on a placebo. But which one of Tristan or Connie is it?

Dr. Toby Sealey (Jordan Pettle) is a smooth ‘operator’, and Dr. James’ boss in the trials. She does the leg work and he reviews the data and doesn’t really get involved with the nitty gritty of the process. But there is still a piece of information that comes in Act II that would be a spoiler alert. What Dr. Sealey wants is the glory of the results. He seems to be the darling of conferences, attending them often, getting involved in dalliances and moving on. He’s divorced but announces to Dr. James that he’s engaged. It seems that Dr. James was one of his conquests years before. There is history between them, and lingering hurt on her side.

Jordan Pettle as Dr. Sealey is that gifted charmer who can excuse anything under the name of science. His lackadaisical attitude towards the experiments and how they might affect people  doesn’t interest him, as long as his reputation remains intact. He also knows how to ‘play’ and maneuver a person and that’s clear with regards to Dr. James. Again, Aviva Armour-Ostroff as Dr. James is a well of emotions that roil and overflow when her integrity and that of the experiments are in question. The acting to a person is excellent.

Mitchell Cushman directs this play with his usual depth of perception. There is an elegance and simplicity to Cushman’s direction. He realizes the complexity of the play with his clear direction of his cast and the production. He raises the bar on artistry and he takes his audience with him. Terrific all round.  

Comment. Playwright Lucy Pebble has written successfully for theatre: The Sugar Syndrome (2004), ENRON (2009), The Effect (2012); andtelevision: Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Since 2018 she went to ‘the dark side’ and became a co-executive producer of the television series Succession. She has a keen eye and a sharp sense of observation and story. With The Effect particularly, she knows how to engage the audience in the story and twists the guts while doing it. Bracing.

The Coal Mine Theatre presents:

Plays until July 30, 2023.

Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes, approx. (1 intermission)

www.coalminetheatre.com

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