Lynn

If you want to learn how to write for the theatre, Anusree Roy is the one to learn from. She is the real deal. She has written for the theatre, television, film and radio. She knows her stuff. Check out this fantastic opportunity.

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Live and in person at the Festival Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ont. Plays until Oct. 27, 2023.

www.stratfordfestival.ca

Written by William Shakespeare

Additional text by Erin Shields

Directed by Chris Abraham

Designed by Julie Fox

Lighting by Arun Srinivasan

Composer and sound designer, Thomas Ryder Payne

Choreographer, Adrienne Gould

Cast: Graham Abbey

Anousha Alamian

Akosua Amo-Adem

Maev Beaty

Michael Blake

Déjah Dixon-Green

Austin Eckert

Allison Edward-Crewe

Jakob Ehman

John Kirkpatrick

Kevin Kruchkywich

Josue Laboucane

Cyrus Lane

Patrick McManus

Danté Prince

Glynis Ranney

Anthony Santiago

André Sills

Gordon Patrick White

Rylan Wilkie

Micah Woods

On Stage Musicians:

George Meanwell

Jonathan Rowsell

Stephan Szczesniak

A raucous, riotously funny, wonderfully thought-out production of reluctant love, the power of rumour and innuendo without considering the source of the statement, and finally a few extra speeches to set things straight and in perspective. Chris Abraham has directed a gem of a production. Graham Abbey and Maev Beaty are the crowning jewels of it.

The Story. Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy with some darker moments that are dealt with in a modern way. It’s a story of getting a second chance to do right by people you love.  A group of soldiers led by Don Pedro have just returned from a successful campaign. They are invited to spend a month at the palatial home of Leonato in Messina, in Italy. In the group is Benedick, a confirmed bachelor and Claudio a fellow soldier and a close friend of Benedick. Claudio is in love with and soon engaged to Hero, Leonato’s daughter. Leonato’s niece, Beatrice earlier in her life had a relationship with Benedick, but he jilted her. She has been wounded and angry ever since, and when they meet there is a war of wit and words, each one scoring points on the other.

The friends of both Beatrice and Benedick want to get them together again, and so a trick is played in which Beatrice and Benedick overhear the friends say that Beatrice is in love with Benedick and he is in love with her. This puts the idea in the mind of Beatrice and Benedick that it’s true—they have feelings for the other.

There is another sub-plot—Don Pedro’s half-brother Don John likes to make mischief and sets in motion a plot to discredit Hero’s chaste character. He will have Claudio think that he is actually seeing Hero chat up another man at night, before the wedding. In fact the person chatting up a man at her bedroom window is Margaret, an innocent in this scheme. At the wedding Claudio refuses to marry Hero accusing her of being unfaithful. This stuns everybody, and causes Leonato to even question his own daughter’s integrity. She faints, and it’s believed she has died from the shame. This puts in motion, Benedick declaring he will challenge Claudio to a duel because of this terrible accusation. From this terrible situation, Beatrice and Benedick declare their love.

The Production. Julie Fox’s lush set is full of vegetation, pots of flowers, an orange “bush”, a majestic tree of some kind or other that dominates everything and provides lots of places to climb. Suspended above the stage is a white hoop that slowly revolves in the air. I’m thinking it’s a kind of Dyson air filter/fan thing. I learn what it is later, when the production starts.

The set suggests peace, warmth and quiet, except for the birds chirping in the background. All it lacks is a hammock in which to lounge, read books and imbibe tropical, potent drinks. 

Much Ado About Nothing is directed by Chris Abraham. He is a wonderful director, no matter if it’s a drama or comedy. But comedy is his forte. This production is full of intellectual wit, sight gags that are natural and hilarious, physical humour that comes honestly out of funny moments, and moments that are just packed with jokes and humour that will have you doubling over, gasping for breath.

Chris Abraham is also a thoughtful intellectual artist. Many characters go on a journey of discovery in Much Ado About Nothing. Certainly Beatrice and Benedick go from animosity and hurt to true love. In this case Chris Abraham felt that a few extra speeches were needed to ‘update’, explain and clarify aspects in the play that needed it. So Erin Shields—a wonderful playwright in her own right–was called in to add some speeches, first for Beatrice (Maev Beaty) and lastly for Hero (Allison Edward-Crew).

Beatrice enters and points out Hero, standing above on the balcony of the Festival Theatre. She is admiring herself in the ‘mirror’ suspended above the stage-the white hoop. (Aha!). Hero primps and poses in the mirror. Beatrice notes that her cousin Hero does not have a care in the world. That all that occupies her time is how she looks and appears. Beatrice is not being unkind. As played by Maev Beaty, Beatrice is observant, watchful to the world she lives in. Beatrice is nothing like her cousin, but still can observe, with kindness, the lovely frivolousness of her cousin.  Once that is established, we go on with the production. I also note that that hoop/mirror was revolving in the air to subtly reflect the audience as well.

When the troops come home from the campaign we witness the barbed banter of Beatrice and Benedick (Graham Abbey). As Beatrice, Maev Beaty plays her with the lingering sting of embarrassment that Benedick dumped her years before. He knows of her sharp tongue and tries to counter her with his own barbs. Both Maev Beaty and Graham Abbey have the meaning of Shakespeare in their finger-tips; the cadence and meter of the language on their tongues. They are masters at the effortless delivery, nuance and subtlety of the language. And they are both fearless, with Beatrice beating Benedick by a hair. 

Maev Beaty as Beatrice is feisty, combative—using that misplaced anger at Benedick to get even with him for dumping her years before—and his intellectual equal. Maev Beaty illuminates Beatrice’s wit, smarts, keen intelligence and integrity. And she too is open-hearted with she declares her love for Benedick.  

Graham Abbey plays Benedick as boyish, impish and irreverent. At one point he looks at the laughing audience and says, “there are too many women in this audience.” He might also be commenting on the addition of various women on stage too. In one scene Benedick asks a servant to get him some books—that servant is usually a boy. Here it’s two women, Margaret (Déjah Dixon-Green) and Ursula (Akosua Amo-Adem) and they reluctantly go and get the books and drop them on his stomach and perhaps the hint of a sucking teeth sound, letting Benedick know their contempt for him on a feminist level. Love that bit of business.

But Benedick can also be open-hearted when he finally admits and accepts that he truly loves Beatrice and says: “I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is that not strange.” He truly sees the hurt that Beatrice is suffering because her cousin Hero is being maligned and he challenges Claudio to a dual to right it.

The biggest journey of discovery is Hero’s.  She goes from being self-absorbed and frivolous to being enlightened and confident in her self-worth as a person. She is wrongly accused of being unfaithful based on a malicious trick played on her by Don John. Immediately Claudio (Austin Eckert who plays him sweet but gullible) and Leonato (a courtly Patrick McManus) believe the lie without questioning the source of it—Don John is a malicious, mean-spirited man. And it’s not the first time that Don John has played his tricks. Initially Claudio feels awkward wooing Hero so Don Pedro says he will do it for him, making it look like he’s wooing Hero for himself but will then reveal it’s really for Claudio. (I love Claudio’s aside to the audience: “Why?” (why indeed does Don Pedro’s scheme make sense??). But then Don John puts doubt in Claudio’s mind—that in fact Don John is wooing Hero for himself. And Claudio believes him! Twice!!!

Hero has another Erin Shields speech at the end, when the truth is revealed, that she is an honourable woman. In the speech, Allison Edward-Crew as Hero chides both Claudio and her father Leonato for quickly believing she is untrue without questioning it. She makes Claudio prove to her that he is worthy to marry her, not the other way around.  She needs to know that he has grown up as well and will not fall into the easy ways of just believing any lie a male friend will tell him. She makes him question everything he believes in to win her trust and her love again. Allison Edward-Crew as Hero is full of conviction, emotional intensity and blazing intelligence

I love that.

The cast from top to bottom are a joy. Besides those I have already mentioned, Michael Blake as Don John makes mischief seem delicious, he does it with such relish. Josue Laboucane plays Dogberry, the leader of the Watch, as a man who never met a malapropism he didn’t love to bits. He is so self-righteous. Jakob Ehman as Borachio is so excited about the trick he’s played on Claudio and Hero he practically twists himself up and exhausts himself with the pushing of the lines. A little less gusto would be perfect and just as funny. As excitable as Borachio is that, is as laid back as Conrad is as played by Cyrus Lane. How does a character move at all if he is tied up from top to bottom? Cyrus Lane gives a masterclass in just such a movement. I must mention George Meanwell. He is such a gifted musician and proves it here, by always enhancing the scene with his presence on guitar, accordion, violin and anything he sets his mind to.

More on Chris Abraham and his attention to detail. He makes the audience see that detail. Margaret (Déjah Dixon-Green) is one of my favourite characters in Much Ado About Nothing. It’s a small but so vital and important a part. Margaret holds the key to the second ruse—in which Don John tries to discredit Hero’s character.

Borachio says that Margaret will do anything for him, so it’s set up that Margaret will be talking to him from a window late at night. Don John suggests to Claudio that Hero is unfaithful and will urge him to watch what transpires from a ‘bedroom’ widow with ‘Hero’. Claudio will not know that it is Margaret he is watching, not Hero. When he sees what happens Claudio humiliates Hero at the wedding the next day.

While one is fixated on how Hero is humiliated by Claudio downstage, upstage is the wedding party, looking on in horror. One of the party is Margaret. It’s fascinating watching Déjah Dixon-Green slowly register that the person being talked about at the window late at night was her. She looks on, stunned, comes forward a step to make sure we see her reacting, then she covers her mouth in emotion and runs off. It’s a small scene, but created with such care and detail by Chris Abraham to quietly reveal the truth.  Later the story is out that it was Margaret, not Hero at that window.

Comment. I love the fact that the 21^st century visits Beatrice and Benedick when they lived to flesh out areas that are not addressed. Shakespeare is always being fiddle with—the play is still there and it’s living and breathing.

The Stratford Festival presents:

Plays until Oct. 27, 2023.

Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes (1 intermission)

www.stratfordfestival.ca

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Toronto Fringe: July 5-16, 2023.

Looking forward to the Toronto Fringe July 5-July 16 for the first time in forever…..Not going to England in the summer anymore…too hot. So Toronto Fringe here I come.

Kudos to the pro-active companies who reached out to me with their own PR and asked me to review them. With pleasure.

I’m seeing so far:

Corporate Finch

Dancer

Dead End

The Man With the Golden Heart

One Night Only

Our Little Secret

Perhaps more to come.

Lynn

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Live and in person at the Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ont. Plays until September 28, 2023.

www.stratfordfestival.ca

Written by William Shakespeare

Adapted by Brad Fraser

Conceived and directed by Jillian Keiley

Choreographer, Cameron Carver

Set by Michael Gianfrancesco

Costumes by Bretta Gerecke

Lighting by Leigh Ann Vardy

Composer, Rhapsodius

Sound by Don Ellis

Cast:

David Collins

Sarah Dodd

Thomas Duplessie

Justine Eddy

Charlie Gallant

Jordan Hall

Stephen Jackman-Torkoff

Matthew Kabwe

Marcus Nance

Sarah Orenstein

Debbie Patterson

Andrew Robinson

Steve Ross

Tyrone Savage

Michael Spencer-Davis

Emilio Viera

John Wamsley

Hannah Wigglesworth

And many others.

A consistent, bold imagining of Shakespeare’s play of power, the dangers of hubris, court intrigue and love and a constant challenge to our perceptions of what a king looks and acts like.

The Story.  Richard II had been king since he was 11 years old, but was hidden away and overseen by advisors etc. When he was 14 years old, he actually quelled an uprising so from then on Richard II had the sense he was invincible. He played favourites at court.

In the play there are clashes between the house of Lancaster and York.  When Richard II is asked to deal with matters of court—settling a conflict between two courtiers, Henry Bolingbroke (the House of York) and Thomas Mowbray—things begin to go off the rails. Richard’s enemies begin to gather and challenge his rule. It goes from there.

The Production and comment. Richard II originally takes place in the 14^th century in England but in Brad Fraser’s adaptation it’s been moved to New York in the 1970s and 80s. Richard II leads a hedonistic gay life of subversion and raunchy dancing parties that are a cross between the Met gala and Studio 54.

Because Richard II is played by Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, who is a Black actor, then Richard is Black, a further challenge of our perceptions of what a king looks and acts like.

The first and last image in the production is a crown held aloft. The first time Richard II wears the crown he makes his entrance in a wild white feathery outfit, followed by leather clad followers as if in some kind of hedonistic bar; a gay bar; a leather bar, use your imagination. Kudos to costume designer Bretta Gerecke, for creating costumes that reflect the schism in Richard’s court: his followers are leather clad, glitter-laden and flamboyant; the other courtiers are in tailored dark coloured suits that are subdued in hue and cut and convey a seriousness to the affairs of state.

The second time the crown is held aloft is at the end of the production, when Henry Bolingbroke’s (Jordin Hall) forces defeat Richard II to become king Henry IV. Again, the crown is held aloft and Henry is crowned.

But to get to that last scene, Richard II has to settle a dispute between Henry Bolingbroke Thomas Mowbray (Tyrone Savage) in which each man accuses the other of treason. They agree to a dual to settle their differences, but Richard II has other plans. Initially he has both men stripped of their shirts and oiled up as if it’s a homoerotic wrestling match as in Women in Love. Both men are startled by this, but then continue the fight.  In the end, Richard exiles both men anyway and thus begins his many problems of governance with court intrigues in abundance.

What Richard wants to do more than anything else is to go off with his cousin Lord Aumerle (Emilio Vieira) with whom he is in love. Matters of court and a war in Ireland prevent that.

Brad Fraser has adapted Shakespeare’s play and the result is bold, brash and daring. Brad Fraser has cut some speeches. The famous John of Gaunt death-bed speech about “this Royal throne of Kings, this sceptered isle…..this England” is cut. But Richard’s speech about “let’s sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings”…..is still there. So speeches about the majesty of England and nationalism are cut, but speeches that reflect Richard’s outlook and perception of his ruling remain.

Brad Fraser’s adaptation is liberal in borrowing speeches from other Shakespeare plays—Troilus and Cressida; the sonnets and my favourite line from Much Ado About Nothing is included here. Richard II says to Lord Aumerle; “I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is that not strange.”  So yes, liberties are taken but this is a deliberate brash adaptation, conceived by director Jillian Keiley, and adapted by Brad Fraser, one of our most iconoclastic, perceptive playwrights, that turns Shakespeare’s play on its ear, but is still true to it, in its way.

Jillian Keiley’s production meets the adaptation in brashness, big time. It is also beautiful, vivid in its imagery and gripping in its intimacy.

Michael Gianfrancesco’s set is sleek and spare. Silver rectangles rise up from traps and are moved to form benches, borders and other formations of the set. In one instance the pieces are pushed together to create a sunken structure. Leather-clad characters on all sides of the structure stretch elastic sheets across the top of the formation. Richard II and Lord Aumerle appear up in between the sheets to the accompaniment of steam billowing up and the sound of water lapping. Voilà a hot tub. In this production Richard and Aumerle are lovers and their intimacy in the hot tub illuminates that love. The kissing is deep and passionate; there are suggestions of physical arousal beneath the water. As Aumerle, Emilio Vieira is as brash as Richard II in their relationship, but he is also conflicted. Aumerle comes from a political family and would know the choppy waters he is in both politically and emotionally with such an erratic, mercurial king.

Interestingly one is aware that there is no nudity. Both actors/characters wear briefs. Theatre is about illusion. In the hot tub there is the illusion of nudity. When they get out of the tub (there is no water, just the lapping sound), we are aware they are wearing tight briefs. The nudity would have taken us out of the illusion and put us in a jarring reality. The fact that they are wearing clothes does the same thing. The magic of theatre.

There are scenes with the other courtiers who are trying to keep a grip on their wild-acting king, and try and head off political disaster. For instance, Edmund, Duke of York and Aumerle’s father, is played by Michael Spencer-Davis wearing a trim fitting suit. Spencer-Davis adds a note of decorum, political savvy and a touch of exasperation at what is happening at court, with the free-wheeling king. The Duke of York’s even temper but occasionally clipped speech suggests a frustration at trying to keep things from exploding. Jordin Hall plays Bolingbroke, level-headed, clear-eyed and the complete opposite of Richard. He will get even with Richard for banishing him from the kingdom and cheating him of his father’s inheritance. Jordin Hall gives a performance of what another type of king looks like, as he will become Henry IV. Sarah Orenstein plays Countess of Northumberland and a supporter of Bolingbroke. She is determined, politically savvy, and formidable. Charlie Gallant plays a dashing Lord Willoughby who gets sicker and sicker with a mysterious disease that no one can diagnose. Remember this is New York in the 1970s and 80s. We know what is making him sick.

At the center of this as Richard II, is Stephen Jackman-Torkoff (they/them). They are supremely confident, playful, impetuous and dangerous. They don’t just walk when they can strut or flounce. they love ‘playing up’ when dealing with courtiers. But they impetuosity makes Richard dangerous. Stephen Jackman-Torkoff is compelling in the part.   

The production is sobering when we see where this sexually free and almost careless life-style will lead.

I loved the commitment of the cast and all those surrounding the production of this brash interpretation of Richard II.

An aside. Isn’t it time that some producer in Toronto steps up and produces any of the many plays that Brad Fraser has written in the last 20 years, the last time he had a play produced in Toronto? For example: Five@ Fifty (about five women at 50 years old creating an intervention for one of their friends); True Love Lies, Kill Me Now?

The Stratford Festival presents:

Plays until September 28, 2023.

Running time: 2 hours, 39 minutes (one intermission)

www.stratfordfestival.ca

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Recently played at Luminato, but now closed.

Time escaped me and I didn’t post comments about offerings at this year’s Luminato Festival before they closed by June 18.

LITTLE AMAL

From the blurb about the creation:

“Little Amal is a 12 foot partly-animatronic giant puppet which was used as the centrepiece of a performance art project called The Walk in 2021. The project was created by the British production companies The Walk Productions and Good Chance in collaboration with the South African Handspring Puppet Company (of War Horse fame).  

Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, who has travelled through 13 countries to 90 cities across Turkey, Europe and New York City.  She arrived in Toronto on June 7. She walked across the region for 5 days looking for hope and her new home. She was welcomed by musicians, dancers, children and elders, civic leaders, community organizers, newcomers, fellow refugees and you in a journey of art and hope.  

See the world through the eyes of a child who was forced to leave her war-torn home.  On behalf of displaced children everywhere, she asks that we take note, offer support and hear her message to the world: “Don’t forget about us”.  

Little Amal had been to Scarborough, Mississauga, other suburbs during her five day stay in Toronto.  On Sat. June 10 she was to appear at Berczy Park between 6:30 and 7:30 after she walked along the Esplanade. I waited for her in Berczy Park, across from the St. Lawrence Centre that was preparing for the opening of Treemonisha, the Scott Joplin opera he wrote in 1911.

The park was buzzing with families enjoying the summer weather; a choir that was singing over there, while I was mesmerized by three couples casually doing the samba to music from a boombox. A man in baggy jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap on backwards, danced with his partner in a form-fitting top, black tights and ballet slippers. The grace of the couple, (and the other two couples) was astonishing. Effortless. Sensual. Sexy. I wondered when one traded in the easy sway of the hips for general creakiness. Perhaps it’s something that creeps up on you.

In the meantime, I kept looking up the street in front of me for a 12-foot puppet. The time was drawing close for her appearance. From behind me, on Wellington Street I saw a charge of people running forward banging boxes and behind them there she was, towering over the crowd, Little Amal. The sight of her is astonishing. She came into the park, graceful, confident, poised, her head turning slowly to the left and right, taking in the crowd. She blinks! Her arms are manipulated by two people, each holding a pole attached to each arm. I noted that inside the structure of the puppet is a person who is manipulating her eye-lids and I guess controlling her walk. That walk was almost like floating. To see this ‘creature’, this creation, was quite moving. She did a turn of the park giving everybody a chance to look at her and take pictures, then she walked off to her next destination. Loved seeing her.

Loss

Created and performed by Ian Kamau

Written by Ian Kamau and Roger McTair

Dramaturg and rehearsal director, Aislinn Rose

Composer, music director, performer, piano and Synth, Bruce A. Russell

Tenor Saxophone, Dennis Passley

Guitar, Dyheim Stewart

Costumes Cat Calica

Filmmaker, Tiffany Hsiung

Co-sound: David Heeney, David Mesiha

Lighting, Shawn Henry

Environment designer, Javid Jah

Video designer, Jeremy Mimnagh

Loss was developed and nurtured at the Theatre Center, as part of the year-long Residency Program.

From the programme: “Loss is a deeply honest, live retelling of an intergenerational family story, written by Ian Kamau and his father Roger McTair.

This multi-media performance begins as a mirror into a winter of depression for Ian Kamau, then slowly unravels the mystery surrounding the death of his paternal grandmother Nora Elutha Rogers.

An orchestration of memories using live music, video, and storytelling—Loss is an exploration of grief in Afro-Caribbean communities, and an immersive experience towards healing shared with the audience.”

The theme of the piece might explore ‘grief in Afro-Caribbean communities’ but there is resonance no matter what the ethnicity. Ah the beauty of theatre to transcend cultural differences and find common ground no matter the ethnicity.

The main audience sits on three sides of the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. A circle of chairs is placed around the main playing area with some audience members sitting there. There are standing microphones inside the circle. The band of keyboard, guitar and saxophone are microphoned. Ian Kamau sits on a stool off to one part of the circle. He speaks into a hand-held microphone. He says that this is a performance and then opens a binder and begins to read his script in a clear, measured voice. What he is reading sounds like poetry to me that will deal with his sorrow, grief, depression, his absent, distant father; his feelings about his father and that his father contributed four poems to the evening, but it’s not actually clear which they are. Some works are introduced on the screen facing part of the audience. Videos of family scenes will be projected on the screen. Because there are people around Ian Kamau he will turn his stool slightly, so that his back is not always ‘facing’ part of the audience.

Often music will underscore the reading, often drowning out the reader. I wonder (yet again) what the sound would be like if the band was not amplified, but just played and Ian Kamau read through his microphone. I bet we would be able to hear every word.

I wonder why we need music for what really is an overproduced and over amplified poetry reading for 1 hour and 45 minutes without intermission.

Played June 14-18.

Dragon Tale

 Co-produced by Tapestry Opera and Soundstreams. Presented by Luminato Festival Toronto and realized in partnership with Harbourfront Centre.

Composer, Chan Ka Nin

Librettist, Mark Brownell

Director, Michael Hidestoshi Mori

Music director, David Fallis

Set and costumes, Jackie Chau

Lighting by Echo Zhou

Cast: Alicia Ault

Mishael Eusebio

Mike Fan

Todd Jang

Evanna Lai

Keith Lam

Grace Lee

Alyssa Nicole Samson

Plus an orchestra and a choir.

Dragon’s Tale is an opera embracing long-held traditions juxtaposed with the need to be free and engage in the world, among other issues.

From the programme synopsis: “Dragon’s Tale is the story of a Xiao Lian, a young Chinese-Canadian woman who faces a difficult choice: Honour her family’s traditional past or embrace a more modern present. Her ailing father wants her to stay home and take care of him and respect tradition. She wants to go off with her friends.

Xiao Lian must travel into the ancient past to answer questions about her own life and future in the modern world. By summoning the spirit of one of China’s greatest poets, Qu Yuan, Xiao Lian learns the significance of the ancient dragon boat festival of Duanwu and her family’s deep connection with Qu Yuan.”

Under the baton of Musical Director, David Fallis the singers and chorus were stirring and compelling. Director Michael Hidetoshi Mori used the whole stage and areas in and around the audience of the Harbourfront Centre Concert Stage to great effect. Set designer Jackie Chau created several moveable platforms that shifted the action from the modern world to the ancient world.

While Mark Brownell’s libretto was in English surtitles were used to ensure the whole audience got the full benefit of the story and the important aspects of the story. While the cast wore body microphones the sound occasionally was fuzzy, when a microphone might have been muffled or compromised, hence how important the surtitles were. How then to explain how banners representing an ancient king were so high on the stage, they obstructed the surtitles, preventing people, either close up or sitting at the back, to actually read the details. Didn’t director Michael Hidetoshi Mori or set designer Jackie Chau sit in the theatre during rehearsals to see if the panels obstructed the area where the surtitles were projected? Frustrating.  

Played June 15-18, 2023.

Treemonisha.

TO Live and Luminato Festival Toronto Present, at the Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto, Ont. A Volcano production, in association with the Canadian Opera Company, Soulpepper and Moveable Beast.

Composed by Scott Joplin

Book and libretto adapted by Leah-Simone Bowen/Co-librettist, Cheryl L. Davis

Arranged and orchestrated by Jessie Montgomery & Jannina Norpoth.

Stage director, Weyni Mengesha

Choreographer, Esie Mensah

Conductor, Kalena Bovell

Set by Camellia Koo

Additional set design by Rachel Forbes

Costumes by Nadine Grant

Lighting by Kimberly Purtell

Cast: Neema Bickersteth

Andrea Baker

Cedric Berry

Nicholas Davis

Ashley Faatoalia

Marvin Lowe

Ineza Mugisha

SATE

Kristin Renee Young

Scott Joplin wrote this opera in 1911 and set it just after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. It has rarely been done. This reimagining of Scott Joplin’s opera does wonders to illuminate how ahead of his time Scott Joplin was.

This production celebrates many ‘firsts’: It has a creative team who are all Black: it has a new book and libretto by Leah-Simone Bowen, with co-librettist, Cheryl L. Davis, new orchestrations by Jessie Montgomery, directed by Weyni Mengesha, choreographed by Esie Mensah, conducted by Kalena Bovell, with an all-Black orchestra and cast lead by the always compelling Neema Bickersteth as Treemonisha.

The story is simple: A runaway slave carrying her baby in her arms, is shot in the back by a slave owner chasing her. The mother struggles to hide her baby in the hollow of a tree for safety, and then dies. Twenty years later there is to be a wedding by a young woman named Treemonisha. She is the baby, grown up. She was found by two decent people and raised as their own. When Treemonisha learns the truth—that the two people who raised her are not her birth parents—Treemonisha is hurt and confused that the truth was held back from her. She leaves to find out who she is and who her mother is. Her betrothed, Remus who belongs to the community of Freemen, goes after her. Treemonisha seeks knowledge of the Maroons, dwellers in the forest, for information. The two communities are always at odds with each other, not trusting them.  In the meantime she falls in love with Zodzerick, a Maroon medicine man. But Remus kills him. Treemonisha returns to her community where she brings both communities together to live in peace. Because of that Treemonisha is chosen as the leader who can bring stability to both.

Because opera/music is not my forte I won’t comment on the opera in specific terms, but will comment on the theatricality. I thought the whole enterprise stirring and beautifully sung, with Neema Bickersteth leading the enterprise with her soaring, crystal voice. She is also an accomplished actor, realizing the anguish of a young woman trying to find her roots and her history.

Camellia Koo’s set of the complex tree and its branches and offshoots is both mysterious, and mythical. Choreographer, Esie Mensah creates vibrant, sensual movement of this accomplished cast that is evocative and arresting. It’s always thrilling seeing her work. The whole endeavor is brought together by director Weyni Mengesha. She has a vivid sense of image, picture and the world of the opera. If I had a quibble it’s that occasionally the production seemed static, but I would offer it’s the piece itself, the story, that is static. But just a quibble. Being in that theatre for this opening night was a thrill.

There is a comment at the end of a note by the Treemonisha Team that is so important to consider. It says: “You, the audience, are encouraged to embrace the music in any way you see fit! Cheer, talk back, applaud—because this is an opera for everyone”. Amen and Hallelujah. If I’ve learned anything by seeing theatre of different ethnicities, different nationalities, different, attitudes, it’s that there is not one way to appreciate the artform, there are many, and they all are valid and important. I think it vital that we all be in the same room to experience the many, different ways of appreciating a form of art and learn from that difference, and not separated into separate groups. That separation just seems regressive.

I loved that the opening night audience of Treemonisha, multi-ethnic, mainly Black, dressed to the nines and ready for celebration, did laugh loudly where they believed something was silly or not right; talked back when they thought something warranted it, and stood and cheered instantaneously at the end, as did we all, in complete celebration at this rarely done work.  

Played June 6-17, 2023.

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Live and in person at the Blyth Memorial Hall, Blyth, Ontario. Plays until July 8, 2023.

www.blythfestival.com

Written by Sophia Fabiilli

Directed by Krista Jackson

Set and costumes by Sue LePage

Lighting by Louise Guinand

Sound by Lyon Smith

Cast: Lucy Hill

Nora McLellan

Justin Otto

Amy Rutherford

Blair Williams

“Buoyant, very funny, lively and leaves you breathless with laughing.”

As Tolstoy said (at the beginning of “Anna Karenina:”) “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” He could be talking about Mavis (Nora McLellan) and her family in Liars at a Funeral.

No one is talking to anyone in the family: Mavis’ daughter, Evelyn (Amy Rutherford), is estranged and living in Montreal; Evelyn’s marriage broke up and her husband Wayne (Blair Williams) married Evelyn’s twin sister Sheila, who has since passed away. Needless to say the sisters didn’t talk to each other. And Mavis’ twin granddaughters, Dee Dee and Mia (both played by Lucy Hill) are not talking to each other as well. There seems to be a curse in that family of twin girls who then don’t talk to each other for whatever reasons. Mavis has to do something drastic to stop the curse and get the family talking to each other again. So she plans her own ‘fake’ death and her funeral too, which, she figures, will get everybody to attend and hence come together. Only her granddaughter Dee Dee (Lucy Hill) and Dee Dee’s friend Quint (Justin Otto) who works at the funeral home, know about the plan.

But things go wrong, as they do, when the funeral home director, Leorah (Amy Rutherford), comes back early after being away.  Things go into overdrive in trying to keep Leorah from seeing Mavis (who spends a lot of time climbing into and out of her casket as she tries to bring off this trick).

Playwright Sophia Fabiilli has written a devilishly funny, complicated farce. Fabiilli has a wonderful facility with language and the jokes come naturally from people who are funny and irreverent. To ramp up the laughs not only do people enter and exit rooms just as someone arrives that they should not see, Fabiilli does it with twins. To further complicated matters and raise the humour bar, almost the whole cast plays two parts. You can imagine…. Doors are always swinging open or shut with characters entering and exiting and it’s done quickly, as farces should move.

Director Krista Jackson has a keen sense of timing, pace and humour. How does one keep it all straight? Who comes in the room just as someone is leaving? What twin is it? Did the actor put on the right costume for the right character? Most important, is this the scene where the ‘zipper’ is up or down? And of course, a neat trick that got my eyes popping—if a twin sister climbs into the casket to hear how things are going ‘out there,’ how did she then get out of the casket (without us seeing her) to play the other twin who just came in the door? I know how it was done, it’s still a neat trick.

And the cast…what a group of established pros and two new comers (new to me). Nora McLellan is Mavis, buoyant, committed, funny, anxious that this scheme work and loving her family. Nora McLellan invests Mavis with such good will and energy you want this to work out even if she might not have been the best of mothers in the past.

Amy Rutherford plays Evelyn the estranged daughter, with a sense of concern at how she will be perceived—she has secrets. She is a caring woman, kind, loving and wary of what is going on around her. As Leorah, the raunchy, sexually charged funeral home director Amy Rutherford is free-spirited, coy and alluring. It’s lovely seeing Blair Williams on stage again. he plays Frank, ‘posing’ as Evelyn’s boyfriend from Montreal, who is attentive and tries hard to appear ‘macho.’ Blair Williams also plays Wayne, Evelyn’s ex-husband. Wayne drinks too much and is a bit of a pushy boor. Lucy Hill plays both Dee Dee and Mia, twin sisters with different attitudes and personalities. Justin Otto plays both Quint the awkward, insecure assistant at the funeral home who is sweet on Dee Dee, and Justin Otto also plays Cam, a lively jock who loves Mia. I look forward to see more work from Lucy Hill and Justin Otto. When an actor plays two characters, they are different in so many details and ways. It shows an acting company at the top of their game.

Sue LePage’s set design of the funeral home is tasteful and efficient. The costumes are witty, sly and slinky in the case of Leorah who wears a form-fitting top and patterned black tights and black boots. Louise Guinand shines a flattering light on the whole enterprise.

Liar’s at a Funeral is a hoot and worth a trip to the Blyth Festival.

Blyth Festival presents:

Runs until July 8, 2023

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes (1 intermission)

www.blythfestival.com

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Live and in person, at the Meridian Arts Centre, Greenwin Theatre Toronto, Ont., produced by Teatron, Toronto Jewish Theatre, plays: June 21, 22, 24, 25.

www.teatrontheatre.com

Written and performed by Ronnie Marmo

Directed by Joe Mantegna

Set by Danny Cistrone

Lighting by Matt Richter

Costume by Nigel Lythgoe

Composer/arranger, Michael NOMAD Ripoli

Iconoclastic, irreverent, provocative comedian-social critic, Lenny Bruce lived from Oct. 13, 1925 until he died of a drug overdose on Aug. 3, 1966. He was active from 1947 to 1966. He reveled in abrasive, scatological language. He influenced many like-minded comedians such as George Carlin (and his wonderful 7 forbidden words routine), Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Joan Rivers and Bill Maher to name just a few.

Actor Ronnie Marmo has written and stars in I’m not a Comedian…I’m Lenny Bruce presenting some of Lenny Bruce’s routines (singing “All Alone” when a relationship broke up), and issues that occupied his time. He believed firmly in free speech and had to fight that right all the way to the Supreme Court because the law at the time felt that he did not have the freedom to use many of the words he did in a public performance. Interestingly Lenny Bruce was charged with using obscenities in his act years ago, while all those words have been heard on public television last month. Succession, anyone, and its plethora of swearwords in many and various combinations, including the ‘c’ word?

Our first sighting of Lenny Bruce (Ronnie Marmo) is sitting on a toilet, naked. It’s the last day of his life and we are led to believe he died there, a needle in his arm. We learn that he might have collapsed on the floor but the police wanted to have a bit of fun and so they propped him on the toilet and posed him there with the needle in his arm. We then go back to the beginning of the making of Lennie Bruce.

Lennie Bruce believed in telling the truth so he tells us at the beginning of the play. He asks members of the audience if they have ever done various things involving parts of the body, their own and others. He gets up close and personal often with the audience and the questions are usually scatological. He believes in freedom of speech and that means using language others might find offensive. He pulls out a Life Magazine with pictures of President Kennedy’s assassination and shows a picture of Jackie Kennedy climbing up the back seat of the car to the top of the trunk. He says that the public has been lied to—that she is not trying to go for help, she is trying to escape, to run away from her dying husband. He is quite adamant about that fact.

Ronnie Marmo believes that Lenny Bruce ‘was the Godfather of Comedy.’ Even Phyllis Feldman, the Artistic Director of Teatron Toronto Jewish Theatre says in her programme note “As the most controversial and undisputed comedic legend of all time, his outspoken repertoire and freestyle comedy paved the way for many future comedians to follow.’ I would challenge that assertion that Lenny Bruce was ‘the most controversial and undisputed comedic legend of all time.’ Perhaps that might be true to those who were around for Lenny Bruce’s hay day, but there have been other comedians after Lenny Bruce who have learned from him and bettered him in the instruction. I would put George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Bill Maher and our own Rick Mercer in that cutting comedian category.

Ronnie Marmo notes in his programme essay that “During these tumultuous times, I believe he (Lenny Bruce) is the voice this country needs. In the 1960s, he exposed many of the ‘untouchable’ subjects that are in the news again now: religion, racism, immigration, xenophobia, gender inequality, sexual identity, the criminal justice system, capital punishment, bail reform, government and police brutality, corrupt capitalism, the opiate epidemic, marijuana legalization, censorship….and over 50 years later, all the issues Lenny was fighting for are still so relevant and even radical.’  

The interesting thing about Ronnie Marmo’s programme note is that precious few of the things Lenny Bruce is supposed to have exposed in his comedy routines, are in Ronnie Marmo’s show I’m Not A Comedian…I’m Lenny Bruce. He provides a rather choppy biography of how Lenny Bruce got his start, dates many women, met his wife, took drugs, etc. and in his act professed to tell the truth about the world and challenged his audience with his language etc. He also got in trouble with the police and the courts because they found his act obscene. It would be tame today. And looking at this show from the lens of more than 50 years ago, Lenny Bruce was not that funny, compared to comedians today. It would be interesting how Lenny Bruce would deal with the vicious rumour-mill of (anti)social media today.

Ronnie Marmo captures Lenny Bruce’s‘ticks’ and physical traits by fluffing his hair frequently, hitching up his pants, straightening his tie, checking his zipper, leaning on his microphone and seemingly dropping the last word(s) of his patter so that one often doesn’t get the full sense of the line, even though he is microphoned. The woman behind me kept asking “What did he say?” And the gentleman next to her kept his finger in his ear trying to regulate his hearing aid only to produce that high piercing sound.

Ronnie Marmo’s director, Joe Mantegna, has him on the move, prowling the stage, talking all the while in Lenny Bruce’s lilting cadence.  Occasionally Ronnie Marmo is out of the range of the lights and it’s hard to see him upstage. At the end of the show, projected on the back wall, are names of comedians who one assumes were influenced by Lenny Bruce. I say ‘assumes’ because there is a microphone centre-stage with a bright light shining at the audience that obstructs what is being projected. Was there no run through of this show with someone in the audience looking at it from all angles, to prevent these kinds of glitches? Frustrating.

Not a funny or bracing night in the theatre.

Teatron Toronto Jewish Theatre presents:

Plays: June 24, 25

Running time: 90 minutes.

www.teatrontheatre.com

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Live and in person at the Factory Theatre, Mainspace, Toronto, Ont. Plays until June 24, 2023.

www.factorytheatre.ca

Written by Colleen Wagner

Directed by Jani Lauzon

Set, props and lighting by Trevor Schwellnus

Costumes by Jawon Kang

Sound by Olivia Wheeler

Cast: Ryan Hollyman

Zorana Sadiq

Paolo Santalucia

Mirabella Sundar Singh

A play within a play. A complex story of love, sex, power, consent, the patriarchy, feminism, and two conflicting ancient Greek myths of the Marriage of Thetis and Peleus, that so overwhelms the narrative that it crushes the point of the exercise into oblivion. Another rewrite with judicious editing is in order.

The Story. From the show’s website: “On a cross-country theatre tour of a new interpretation of the classic Greek myth of the Marriage of Thetis and Peleus, the onstage danger spills into the backstage world as four actors have to navigate the realities of tour life, challenges to patriarchy and the disruption of a new actress performing Thetis halfway through the tour. The chaos she brings forces each to confront how the stories we tell about love, sex, power, and consent shape our everyday lives and interactions.

A provocative and unabashedly feminist new play from Governor General’s Award-winner Colleen Wagner, Armadillos brings audiences beyond the edge of their seats to the edge of the stage and asks us: what stories do we have to leave behind in order to fully and truly love?”

I often quote the show’s blurb because occasionally the story is succinctly expressed and that saves time, or in this case, the actual story is so convoluted and complex, I want to know what ‘they were thinking’ to have a framework to work with against what was actually written. The theatre’s blurb is not the play they are presenting.

The Production and comment. Trevor Schwellnus’ silvery ‘crunchy’ looking set of intertwining shards is provocative of some other world; the world of Greek gods?

We are backstage for a theatrical show? A rehearsal for a play? Jay (Ryan Hollyman) is warming up his vocal cords. Sofia (Zorana Sadiq) is putting on her make-up. Karmyne (Mirabella Sundar Singh) is late for the rehearsal/show for some reason. Dyrk (Paolo Santalucia) is present and seems concerned about Karmyne. Others note that Dyrk is a man of whom to be wary. Hmmmm

In the actual play within a play, Ryan Hollyman plays a ruthless, cold-hearted, easily aroused Zeus. Anything seems to arouse him: young women, his wife Hera (Zorana Sadiq), no doubt selected fruit make him stiff, requiring he turn upstage, bend over and rub up against a wall to give himself relief (just to warn folks). His next planned conquest is the 17-year-old Thetis (a very contained, confident Mirabella Sundar Singh). He is anxious to destroy Thetis’ mother who has amassed support against Zeus. To get Thetis out of the way as a possible rival to her, Hera (Zorana Sadiq) tells Peleus (Paolo Santalucia), a devoted soldier who will do anything for her, he has to marry Thetis, in order to save Thetis from a prophecy. Peleus dutifully agrees. The plan does not work. Thetis is not willing and escapes. When Thetis next appears in Zeus’ court, Zeus rapes her.

In the Second Act we are backstage after the performance. Jay (Ryan Hollyman), Sofia (Zorana Sadiq), Karmyne (Mirabella Sundar Singh) and Dyrk (Paolo Santalucia) all play characters ‘off stage’ totally different from the characters they played in the play within the play. Unlike Zeus, Jay is insecure, awkward with women, fragile even since he has been dumped by his long-time partner. Ryan Hollyman plays Jay with a bit of anxiety. It’s a lovely performance of a man who does not fit in. He tries to date on line and looks at his cell phone and flips to the left and the right trying to find a suitable match. Director Jani Lauzon directs this with care and subtle sensitivity.  As Sofia, Zorana Sadiq, has easy grace, a sense of herself. She is compassionate, understanding, and generally keeps to herself. She agrees to go out for a drink with Jay, perhaps to cheer him up. Karmyne (Mirabella Sundar Singh) is a woman on the hunt. She searches for her dates daily on line. She wants a good time and the consequences are not that important. Mirabella Sundar Singh plays Karmyne with a lot of confidence. If I have a quibble it’s that there can be a bit more of a casual demeanor about Karmyne and less of the contained attitude she used to play Thetis. As Dyrk, Paolo Santalucia is as carefree with women as Karmyne is with men, until they actually meet casually after the performance. And there is a change.

What to make of all this? Just from a nuts and bolts playwrighting point of view there are too many conversations that the characters have ‘off stage’ about their characters in the play within the play, that you wonder what took place in rehearsal at all? All their comments of their characters would have been initiated much earlier in rehearsal and answered.

Amadillos should be stronger in establishing that the actors are on cross-country tour of a new interpretation of the classic Greek myth of the Marriage of Thetis and Peleus and that Karmyne joined them late. Perhaps an explanation as to why she’s joined late. The blurb on the play at the top says they are on a cross-country tour; the actual play does not establish that until late in Act II. Such information should be established earlier. Why is there a “new interpretation of the classic Greek myth of Marriage of Thetis and Peleus at all for this tour? Is there an explanation? In the commonly known myth it’s Peleus who rapes Thetis. In this ‘new interpretation’ it’s Zeus. That should be explored, explained and clarified.       

In her playwright’s note, Colleen Wagner says she uses The Marriage of Thetis and Peleus as her framework for Armadillos and that ‘it has two very different narratives. The more commonly known Greek myth is a story of rape. Peleus, with the assistance of the gods, pursues a fleeing and naked Thetis, overpowers her and claims her.” (I assume that means ‘rapes’ her). “However, an earlier 5^th century BCE vase painting depicts a suppliant Peleus with the goddess Thetis initiating him into marriage….The earlier story is about the marriage of divine and human.

These two myths reveal very different perceptions of the feminine principle. One is about domination over. The other is about union with. These two images were the basis for an exploration into love, power human connection intimacy and consent.”

Great. I look forward to seeing the play (and play within the play) that illuminates and realizes Colleen Wagner’s intention, because as it is, Armadillos isn’t it.

Factory Theatre Presents:

Plays until June 24.

Running time: 2 hours (1 intermission)

www.factorytheatre.ca

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Content Warning

Depictions and conversations of non-consensual sexual violence & incest. Comments about assisted death & suicide. Use of alcohol & drugs.

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Live and in person at Lighthouse Artspace, 1 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ont. An Ouside the March Production, presented by Starvox Entertainment, in Association with Modern Times Stage Company, with support from Hilltop Studios and the BMO Lab. Plays until July 2.

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Creator, performer and co-director, Sébastien Heins

Co-director, Mitchell Cushman

Dramaturg and story editor, Rosamund Small

Set designed by Anahita Dehbonehie

Sound designed by Heidi Chan

Lighting designed by Melissa Joakim

Project designer, Laura Warren

Costume designer, Niloufar Ziaee

Lead game developer, Aidan Wong

A love-letter of a show from a devoted son to his devoted mother, using video games, among other things, to tell the story.

When actor/creator Sébastian Heins was a teenager, his mother bought him his first Game Boy. He was obsessed with playing video games. As his mother drove the car Sébastian Heins sat in the backseat playing video games on his Game Boy.

It’s obvious from the narrative of No Save Points that Heins is devoted to his family, and his mother in particular. From his description Heins’ mother is calm, confident, determined, joyful, loving, pragmatic, accomplished (she sells real estate) and fearless in dealing with her challenges. The most obvious challenge is living with Huntington’s Disease (HD). It’s a progressive brain disorder caused by a defective gene. This disease causes changes in the central area of the brain, which affect movement, mood and thinking skills. There is no cure.  

His mother was born and raised in Jamaica. When Heins was growing up he had no desire to go there and investigate his roots. That changed in his 20s when he went to Jamaica to his mother’s town. He was walking along a street and saw a woman who had the same ‘unusual’ walk as his mother, jerky, seemingly unsteady. As the woman got closer he saw that she looked exactly like his mother. In fact, she was his aunt.

For a time his mother’s unsteady walk was thought to be an inner ear issue affecting balance. When his mother was tested it was discovered she had Huntington’s Disease and so did his aunt. It’s hereditary. To see if the HD gene was passed on to Heins he would have to do a test, and, no, I’m not telling if he had the test or the results—see the show for yourself, and you should.

So what does this all have to do with a show that is heavy on technology and video games?

Sébastian Heins has fashioned a show that is for people familiar with video games and those who are not. In the first segment Heins introduces his love of Game Boy etc. and announces that four people have been picked from the audience, who have indicated a love of the video game format. They are each introduced and are seated on platforms, given their own specially formatted Game Boy and when called upon, will operate the buttons etc. that will then activate a slight ‘charge’ in a belt that he wears that then affects his movements. This gives the audience a sense of the randomness of movement that his Mother experiences.

In another segment Heins introduces four video games that have been especially created for No Save Points, each connected to the issues his Mother experiences. They are named: “Hopeful Monster, co-conspirator, Damien Atkins; Windrush Returns, co-conspirator, Rouvan Silogix; Miasma, co-conspirator, Aylwin Lo; and The Itinerary co-conspirator, Kami King. Heins is involved in each game. He stands behind a scrim (he’s visible to the audience) onto which is projected the video icon of each game. Those who want to be involved in “playing” the game put up their hand in the audience and are given a device to move the icon either left, right or to jump. Heins will copy the movement of the icon behind the scrim, assuming the device works—at one point a participant said, “Move to the right”, the device doesn’t work. It’s a testament to Sébastian Heins’ abilities as an actor that he is so dexterous and present in the game and the show that he can easily adapt to any glitch (including the noise of a cell phone going off at an inopportune time—more on that later).

Some audience members were more adept at the video game than others, knowing when and how to move the icon and therefore Heins, forward, backward and to jump. If I have a quibble it’s that at times the games playing went on a bit too long. The real heart of the show is the heart of Sébastian Heins and his mother. The perfect melding of game and personal story involved “The Itinerary.” Sébastian Heins asked his mother what was on her bucket list when her health started to deteriorate. She wanted to go to Egypt. He would make it happen. He was determined. But the reality was that his mother was not sure she could do it and insisted it be cancelled.

In the video game of “The Itinerary” a character is in outer space and the space ship is hit by a meteor and the air supply is compromised and the character has only so many hours before the air runs out. The itinerary is of how the character spends his last hours. Looking at pictures of himself and his Mother catches ones breath; puts a face to the urgency of the situation and squeezes the heart.

No Save Points is a herculean project of technical complexity, theatrical ingenuity and clever stagecraft thanks to all concerned especially co-director Mitchell Cushman. But the heart and soul of the piece belongs to the grace of Sébastian Heins and his fearless mother. It was an honour to be in your company.

An Ouside the March Production, presented by Starvox Entertainment, in Association with Modern Times Stage Company, with support from Hilltop Studios and the BMO Lab.

Plays until July 2, 2023.

Running time: 2 hours.

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About that annoying cell phone.

God I hate those damned, noisy cellphones going off in a theatre. How can you not hear the announcement to turn them off? In this case there was no announcement but still….

About a half hour into the show a strange beeping sound was heard near me. INFURIATING! It went on and on. “TURN THE DAMNED THING OFF” I’m saying to myself. It stopped then beeped again. Sébastian Heins was gracious about it. The sound was close. It was coming from my feet. From my backpack. MY GOD—the fool with the turned on cell phone was me! I quickly pulled the zip to open it, but I have a tear in the zipper (gotta get that fixed), and it jammed. Until I finally got it open, saw that it was an international call from a friend in Australia where it is tomorrow already and when I tapped the red phone icon to turn it off, nothing happened. (Hello technology). I tapped harder. Nothing. The nice younger person next to me fiddled and finally the offending noise stopped. I am SOOOOO embarrassed and apologetic. All the folks connected to the show who approached me were gracious and classy. Needless to say, it will never happen again. Truly.

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