Lynn

Live reading at The Red Sandcastle Theatre produced by the Chekhov Collective. Closed.

Written by Anton Chekhov

Directed by Rena Polley

Cast: Rena Polley

Brenda Robin

David Storch

Helen Taylor

The Chekhov Collective is a small but feisty group of actors who are devoted to the teachings of Michael Chekhov. Michael Chekhov was the nephew of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, and a student of Stanislavski.

The Chekhov Collective gives readings of Anton Chekhov’s short stories among others and their latest effort was a very short run (now closed) of “The Fiancée.”

Nadya Shumina is 23 years old and lives in the country on her grandmother’s estate with her mother. She is engaged to Andrey Andreyevich, a well-meaning, but shallow young man. He lacks ambition and occupies his time by playing the violin.  Nadya begins to dread the approaching wedding day and decides to follow her cousin Sasha’s advice and turn her life upside down. She runs away to create her own life and not one created by a husband.

The readings by The Chekhov Collective are always interesting, lively and ‘read’ by a group of gifted actors. This reading was no different. Rena Polley directed with a sure hand and the result was loaded with detail. David Storch read all the men’s parts and infused all manner of reactions and context in his reading. Brenda Robins read the part of the narrator and Helen Taylor read the part of Nadya.

If I have a quibble/concern it’s that there was too much shifting of chairs, music stands and folding and unfolding of a screen in an effort to suggest new locations and scenes. Too time consuming and really unnecessary.

As usual, the story illuminated Chekhov’s world of indolent characters with little to do and no ambition to do more, generally. It’s rich in the flavour of the time, and the sifting attitudes of the people. Not keen on the fussy moving of the chairs etc. Loved being there to hear this short story

Presented by The Chekhov Collective.

Now closed after a short run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre.

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Live and in person at the Streetcar Crowsnest theatre, The Howland Company in association with Crow’s Theatre, plays until March 12, 2023.

www.crowstheatre.com

Written and directed by Paolo Santalucia

Set by Mark Hockin

Costumes by Laura Delchiaro

Lighting by Logan Raju Cracknell

Sound by Jacob Lin

Cast: Michael Ayres

Veronica Hortiguella

Cameron Laurie

Dan Mousseau

Nancy Palk

Rick Roberts

Hallie Saline

Meghan Swaby

Shauna Thompson

Jeff Yung

Prodigal is about a wayward young man who has come home to his rich, privileged family, after being cut off from any inheritance. The fallout from his return is explosive. The writing is sharp, complex and challenging about: privilege, redemption, forgiveness and responsibility. The production is gripping.

The Story. Prodigal was written and directed by Paolo Santalucia. He has written a terrific play about privilege and wealth, proving that money can’t buy happiness, but it sure can make misery palatable, sort of. The title references the prodigal son, from the Bible: a son leaves his family but is given his share of the inheritance and squanders it. He then returns home looking for redemption etc. His brother, who has remained and been dutiful, is now upset by this turn of events, is jealous of his brother and his treatment and finds it unfair.

Rowan Clark is a very rich man about to have one of his dreams come true. He’s getting a prestige job. His wife Marilyn is supportive and ecstatic.  But there is trouble lurking. Rowan and Marilyn’s profligate son Edmund has been cut out of the family and he left, although his father sent him money every month.  Edmund led a dissolute life of drugs.  Then the money was cut off so Edmund has returned to have a reckoning. He arrives on the evening when his brother Henry and Henry’s fiancée Sadie are having their engagement party.

Henry is the brother who stayed, was responsible and is angered at Edmund’s return. There are all sorts of revelations that change each relationship and the precarious balance of power in that family. While Rowan appears to be generous and wants to do good by helping the brother of his personal assistant, his reasons are more troubling than altruistic. There is also a daughter, Violet, who seems to have been forgotten after her two brothers get all the attention. She is accomplished, able, responsible and has scruples. But it’s Henry who is embraced and consulted by his father Rowan.  

The Production. The production begins with a Preacher (a convincing Shauna Thompson) talking about the parable of the Prodigal son as well as redemption and forgiveness, subjects that occupy a lot of our consciousness. The Preacher also begins Act II with an etymological discourse on “The Prodigal” complete with reference to the word “prodigious.” I think that’s one of the play’s beauties. Mark Hockin has designed a set that is spare but beautifully illuminates the rich lifestyle of Rowan Clark and his family. The design of the flooring looks like it’s marble. There is a small round table stage right with three plush chairs; an island with a sink stage left, and up from that is a white wall with a door that looks like it will lead to other parts of the house. In fact, that is the door to the large fridge. Love that surprise. One doesn’t need more to present the rarified world of that family.

The engagement party is going on in the house. The two caterers, Pauline (a confident, proud Meghan Swaby) and Quentin (an anxious, harried Jeff Yung), Pauline’s partner in business and life. Pauline is the chef and Quentin is the waiter and perhaps public face of the company. Playwright Paolo Santalucia does a beautiful job of delineating the classes/social strata here. Pauline does not like working for these rich people. Someone sent back a perfectly made steak saying it wasn’t cooked properly. Pauline was blamed. Is it because she’s a woman? Is it because she’s Black (although it’s never referenced—Meghan Swaby, the actress, is Black)? In any case, Pauline reads the situation perfectly. She gives the steak back to Quentin to (re)-present it to the ‘offended’ person saying the steak is now properly cooked, although Pauline has done nothing to it. We can hear the squeals of glee at the now ‘perfectly’ perfect steak. Pauline knows ‘phony’ when she sees it.  

Sadie, (Veronica Hortiguela) is the very stylish bride-to-be of Henry. Sadie is an influencer who always wants to take pictures for her site.  As Sadie, Veronica Hortiguela is ingratiating, smiling, and a bit demanding. She wants to take a picture of Pauline who is prickly at the notion. Words are said and Sadie is offended. She references the latest self-care process and her therapist who helps her cope with what we might consider every day life issues, like disappointment.

In Sadie, Paolo Santalucia has written a deliciously annoying character, so self-absorbed and fragile, one is tempted to cover one’s eyes in disbelief. But wait. Santalucia is not a sloppy, facile writer. He is nuanced, subtle and detailed in writing deeply complex, flawed characters who are therefore, hugely alive.  Sadie surprises later on. Veronica Hortiguela illuminates the many and various aspects to Sadie’s character, and one of them is that she is not as flakey and frivolous as initially thought. Hortiguela peels away the layers of her character little by little, fooling us to believe one thing, and then changing up and revealing something else.

Her fiancé, Henry (a buttoned down, appropriately tense Cameron Laurie), has something to prove at all times. He is a bit of a hot-head because he has to show his father he is in charge and can make things happen. It’s a lovely performance that in its way breaks the heart. There is also Henry’s and Edmund’s sister, Violet (Hallie Seline). With these two brothers fighting for attention of their father, Violet seems to have been left to fend for herself. She is every bit as accomplished as her clean-cut brother Henry, but she is barely noticed by father and brother.

As the head of the family, Rowan Clark (Rick Roberts) is smooth, quiet speaking for the most part, secretive and laid-back. He saves his ire for the arrival of Edmund Clark, his wayward son, played with blazing fierceness by Dan Mousseau. Edmund has all sorts of issues: drug-addled, emotionally wounded by the family and desperate. He is manipulative and he’s learned that from his family. They feed off each other.

Nancy Palk plays Marilyn Clark, Rowan’s stylish wife and support. Matters are complicated by Rowan Clark. He’s having an affair with his assistant, Simone, a watchful, careful Shauna Thompson. All of Simone’s conflicted feelings are in Shauna Thompson’s clear, detailed performance. Added to this is Simone’s brother Levi (Michael Ayres, who coincidentally met Edmund on the same plane. Levi is in some kind of trouble and Rowan offers to fix it. He wants to be seen as a good man, but his motives are less than altruistic.

Comment. Paolo Santalucia has written a really smart, challenging play that leaves you with so many ideas to unpack and dissect. I love the issues that Paolo Santalucia introduces with each character. He does not offer solutions, just the issue that we all turn over in our minds based on what each character says. We consider the source of a statement; we see how they interact with each other; we listen to their arguments—and there are plenty in this family—and we come to conclusions, perhaps.

It takes the whole play to appropriately say everything that needs to be said, leaving us with the challenges right up to the last word, to work out the parable, and any of the other issues of the play. I like that there is nothing neat about it. Santalucia gets us to consider redemption and forgiveness; can you have one without the other? If a person apologizes in an empty room, is that reason for redemption? Is the person worthy of forgiveness?  Who is worthy? Questions we also ponder in life. Paolo Santalucia has done a sterling job of directing this. It’s a stylish, elegant, often volatile production and totally engaging.

The Howland Company is association with Crow’s Theatre Presents,

Playing until March 12, 2023.

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

www.crowstheatre.com

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Live and in person at Young People’s Theater, Toronto, Ont. Playing until April, 2, 2023.

www.youngpeoplestheatre.org.

Based on the book by Chris Hadfield and Kate Fillion

Adapted by Jim Millan and Ian MacIntyre

Directed by Jim Millan

Sets and costumes by Anna Treusch

Lighting by Bonnie Beecher

Sound design and composer, Deanna H. Choi

Video designer, Daniele Guevara

Cast: Hannah Forest Briand

Aurora Browne

Craig Lauzon

Ziska Louis

Shaquille Pottinger

Evelyn Wiebe

A sweet play about a nine-year-old boy who wants to be an astronaut but ironically, is afraid of the dark. A play about facing your fears in a production bursting with colour and energy.

The Story. The Darkest Dark is about a nine-year-old boy named Chris who is afraid of the dark and struggles to overcome it. The irony is that Chris loves everything to do with space and wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. And he did because Chris is Chris Hadfield Canada’s own astronaut.

It’s the summer of 1969. Chris, his older sister Cindy and their parents are at their cottage on Stag Island. They are all preparing to watch the moon landing that will happen in July. The problem for Chris is that he can’t sleep because he is bedeviled with being afraid of the dark. He was afraid of the dark when going to bed in the city and seemed to get a handle on it. But that fear comes back to him in the country. He imagines every shadow and noise to be some kind of danger or monster. His mother gave him a bell to ring if something scared him as he lay in bed. He rang it all the time. His parents were understanding and compassionate. His sister was not. It got so that one of the parents had to sleep with Chris to get him to calm down, relax and slumber. That meant his parents didn’t get much sleep at all.

He did have two friends on the island—Herbie and Jane– who shared his adventures. They had their own issues. In their way they help each other to resolve their issues.

They are taking canoe lessons with a young instructor named Keith—who is a hippy—and his relaxed, philosophical attitude towards life helps them all face their demons and move on. I guess it’s always the way—you need someone completely separate from family and friends to get a clear idea of how to solve the problem.

The Production. The play, The Darkest Dark is based on Chris Hadfield’s kid’s book “The Darkest Dark”. It’s been adapted for the stage specifically for Young People’s Theatre by Jim Millan and Ian MacIntyre.

I think the adaptation is sweet, whimsical, informative in illuminating Chris’s (Ziska Louis) curiosity about space, knowledge of rockets, the workings of space ships, and all manner of stuff in the heavens. I love that the adaptors illuminated Chris’s parents’ kindness and understanding. The parents kiss him good night, especially his father.

As Chris, Ziska Louis is full of curiosity, energy, determination, and concern about his on-going problems of facing his demons in the dark. When Chris is just a kid playing with his friends, he is confident, in control, energetic, creative—he makes all sorts of space-helmets and other necessities and creates many space games that challenge and keep them forward thinking. Chris is a natural born leader.

Aurora Browne plays Chris’s mother, with kindness, compassion for his issues, but at times her consideration wanes. She is a lovely presence as the mother, but with a hint of exasperation. As Chris’s Dad, Craig Lauzon is caring, understanding, and he too shows compassion for this young kid who is terrified at night. He is never chiding or ‘critical’ but always tries to find a gentle way to get Chris to change his behaviour.

Jim Millan’s direction is lively, energetic, poignant, funny and smart. He keeps the pace up but also illuminates exquisitely intimate moments, in particular those with Craig Lauzon as Chris’s Dad was loving and kind, trying to convince Craig to calm down and sleep so he would be well rested for his friends.

It’s always interesting to see a show with the audience it was meant for—kids—young teens. There were moments when the kids fidgeted—always a true marker that their attention was waning. But there were moments that also got them jumping out of their seats, so I guess it evens out.

Anna Treusch’s colourful, neon-vibrant looking set is one long dazzle and that goes for her costumes as well. Interspersed are Daniele Guevara videos/newsreels of the times to give it an authentic flavour. Certainly seeing the newsreel of Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon for the first time was moving for those who were alive to see it firsthand in 1969. And there are videos of Chris Hadfield going into his spaceship.   

Comment. If there is a moral to this show, it’s that we all must have dreams of what we want to become etc.  And we must do everything to make our dreams come true, no matter the difficulty.

Young People’s Theatre

Plays until April 2, 2023.

Running time: 70 minutes

www.youngpeoplestheatre.org

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It’s been three years since I was able to go to London with a group of theatre lovers. This is the first play in a week of terrific theatre.

Live and in person at the Garrick Theatre, London, England until Feb. 25.

Adapted by Neil Bartlett

From the novel by Virginia Woolf

Directed by Michael Grandage

Set and costumes by Peter McKintosh

Lighting by Howard Hudson

Composer and sound designed by Alex Baranowski

Cast: Jessica Alade

Debra Baker

Akuc Bol

Lucy Briers

Richard Cant

Emma Corrin

Melissa Lowe

Jodie McNee

Oliver Wickham

Millicent Wong

A wild ride through history of gender issues, identity, misogyny, the subjugation of women, the exalted place of men through the ages and how clothes can make and hide ‘the man’. Terrific performance by Emma Corrin as Orlando.

Background: Virginia Woolf calls this fanciful work of fiction, “A Biography” and she uses her great friend and lover Vita Sackville-West as her model. Both women were devoted to their respective husbands but Vita and Virginia had a particularly close and passionate relationship. It produced a vibrant book of love letters between them and of course with Virginia Woolf, we have the literary masterpiece, “Orlando.” Gender fluidity, gender issues, non-binary….Virginia Woolf was writing about these hot-button topics almost 100 years ago and making reference to them five centuries ago.   

The Story. Virginia Woolf wrote the novel, “Orlando,” in 1928, the year women won the vote in Britain. This is part of the first line of the novel: “He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it–…..” Virginia Woolf began her novel in the 16^th century. With that first line, Ms. Woolf could have been talking about the present day in the 21^st century. The novel has been described as “A brilliantly imagined pageant of English  history, society and literature, “Orlando” is also a witty, feminist reappraisal of the nature of the sexes.”

Orlando is born in the Elizabethan age to wealth and position. He is a lusty young nobleman at the beginning of the novel and three centuries later is a modern woman living under the dictates of society’s rules of how a woman should behave, meaning she should be at home tending the house, having babies and being beholden to her husband.

The Production. Playwright Neil Bartlett adapted Virginia Woolf’s novel into a swift play of 90 minutes without losing any of the novel’s freshness, whimsy, topicality, historical references or the timeliness of the subject matter. The language is bracing and witty.

A tall, slim woman enters. She is dressed in a long skirt, simple blouse and a long sweater. She wears sensible shoes. She carries a book and a pencil. She is followed by another woman dressed exactly the same way. And another and another, until there are eight actors dressed the same way.  Ahha, they are all Virginia Woolf and they are making notes for a future novel. Perhaps “Orlando” is the novel she is working on. Each person playing Virginia Woolf has a word or two and then one more person speaks the lines and one is startled. While this Virginia Woolf is graceful and the hands embrace and caress the air, the voice is decidedly male. Aha, a look at the program reveals that Richard Cant plays one of the Virginia Woolfs. Cant’s hands are terrific in capturing the femininity and elegance of Virginia Woolf. Oliver Wickham plays one of the Virginias as well and understudies the role of Orlando. I love the gender fluidity of casting and in playing Virginia absolutely ‘straight’ (no pun intended). In all cases the actors are being true to Neil Bartlett’s idea of the character of Virginia.

Orlando (Emma Corrin) makes his entrance (for at this point in the play, 1600, Orlando is a young, vibrant man) wearing a shortish, white night shirt. He stretches his hands upward, revealing a prodigious appendage poking out. You’re not sure you saw what you just saw, but you did. Beautiful silk breeches and fitted finery are put on him by various attendants. Emma Corrin as Orlando is fine-featured, confident and inquisitive about everything. Orlando as this compelling young man is also keenly aware of his alure and effect on women. He continues for 100 years being the center of his universe until one day he goes to sleep for seven days and wakes up a woman.

At this point Emma Corrin as Orlando who is now a woman has a softer voice, more delicate ways and is aware of a different world for women. This continues for another three hundred years. One example of the new world is when Orlando marries the love of her life and is appalled that part of the marriage ceremony is the requirement for her to love, honour and obey her husband. She yells out, “obey?” in horror…

Guiding both the male and female Orlando through the centuries is Mrs. Grimsditch (Debra Baker), a kind of narrator/chorus about the changing worlds Orlando journeys through. At one Mrs. Grimsditch comments that “The nineteenth century did nothing for women.” It’s a terrific line. Ordinarily the part of Mrs. Grimsditch is played by the wondrous Deborah Findlay. But she was indisposed so her understudy, Debra Baker did the role with sass, verve and an off-handed directness. She was terrific.  Also compelling is Millicent Wong as one of the Virginias but especially Sasha, a mysterious Russian woman Orlando (the man) met and was besotted by. As Sasha, Millicent Wong plays her with such confidence and arrogance it was fascinating watching her toy with Orlando who spent decades toying with others.

Director Michael Grandage directs with assurance. Much of the staging is almost balletic it’s so beautifully choreographed. Orlando (both as a man and as a woman) is dressed and undressed with ease as he/she is surrounded by characters who create a sense of mystery—we never see him/her naked. In one instance Orlando puts her arms up, and a frock cascades over the arms covering the body, followed by other adornments that complete the look of whatever century we are in. The dressing/undressing is quick, efficient and also theatrical.

Comment. Orlando is a smart, brisk, witty adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s dense, challenging, brilliantly perceptive novel. And in Emma Corrin we have an actor of such beguiling charm and ability that they (Emma Corrin is non-binary) are convincing as Orlando as both a man and a woman.

Closed: Feb. 25, 2023.

Running Time: 90 minutes (no intermission).

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Live and in person at the Theatre Center, Franco Boni Theatre, Produced by Theatre Conspiracy. Plays until Feb. 25, 2023.

www.theatrecentre.org

Created by David Mesiha

This is how the show is described: “This boundary-pushing piece utilizes mirrors, immersive projection and surround sound to bathe, and sometimes plunge, audiences into ever-shifting cognitive and spatial perspectives. Audiences are encouraged to move through this dynamic installation to witness a variety of signs and sounds that continually alter the participant’s experience.”

They aren’t kidding, this show is ‘boundary-pushing.’ We enter the space one by one, asked if we want to have a picture/video taken for future use. We are then led into the performing space. If one is sight impaired the very low light might be an issue until one becomes used to the dark that is illuminated in patches at various points in the installation. We can look in mirrors and see our face illuminated. If we look again, we see our whole body.

Pools of light are inviting. As I stand in the center of the light, I hear a faint sound. On the floor  is a speaker and if you crouch down and listen it’s a man talking about his immigrant experience. Depending on where you stand in the light the sound is either faint or louder. In one pool of light I was crouching down and someone said to stand away from it where he was and the sound was louder and clear. There were recordings of people who were forced to leave their countries and move somewhere else. There were beams of light that almost looked like artwork in themselves. Light formed squares on the floor that then changed into pulsing overlapping patterns.

Questions were asked: What do you look like? How did you come to look like that? How do you walk? Questions that make us wonder at the answer. We are mindful of where we are in the dark and who is around us. Movements are careful, respectful, and awareness of our space, heightened.

Photos were flashed on screens in various configurations. They changed and perhaps remained the same. Some were hazy some were not. If one revisited a section the view/perception was different because the installation was always changing as was our perception.

David Mesiha has created a complex, subtle, provocative installation to challenge our every perception. Wonderful.

The Theatre Centre Presents a Theater Conspiracy installation

Opened: Feb. 15, 2023.

Closes: Feb. 25, 2023.

Running time: 1 hour.

www.theatrecentre.org

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Live and in person at the Theatre Centre, Toronto, Ont. Playing from Feb. 16-26, 2023.

www.shakespearebashd.com

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by James Wallis

Sound design by Matt Nish-Lapidus

Cast: Mairi Babb

Daniel Briere

Tristan Claxton

Steven Hao

Madelaine Hodges

Melanie Leon

David Mackett

Ngabo Nabea

Julia Nish-Lapidus

Deivan Steele

Breanne Tice

Scott Wentworth

Ben Yaganathan

A clear, precise interpretation of the play with a fierce, poignant and very moving performance by Scott Wentworth as King Lear.

It’s been three years since Shakespeare BASH’d has done a production, and they have come back with a vengeance with this production of The Tragedy of King Lear after being shut down by COVID.

Co-artistic directors, James Wallis and Julia Nish-Lapidus love Shakespeare. They formed Shakespeare BASH’d in 2010 and have produced over 20 productions. Their focus is to make classical theatre ‘welcoming, inviting and social.’ They also “seek to synthesize the classical with the modern, to look at the plays from a place of curiosity, joy, investigation, truth, and love.”

The sets are spare but the productions are fully explored, developed, thought-through, researched and totally engaging. James Wallis and Julia Nish-Lapidus don’t do anything weird with their productions, like set it on the moon, played in tomato aspic, or performed by three actors and a turtle. They might change the gender of a character but it’s done with integrity and intelligence.

The Tragedy of King Lear is a case in point. James Wallis directs the production at the Theatre Centre, in the Incubator. The playing space is square and ‘sunken’ by two steps, with the audience sitting on all four sides. The stage is bare except for furniture that is covered with a white sheet at the stage right side. Under the sheet is a sturdy chair (Lear’s throne) and some benches. That is the only furniture. The clothes are modern with the men in pants shirts and tops. Lear’s three daughters are in stylish slacks and heels or a dress and higher heels.

I assume you know the story so won’t review—high school English class is sometimes indelible. Scott Wentworth, as King Lear, needs no introduction—he is a stalwart of the Stratford Festival. Shakespeare’s words swirl around his mouth as if he’s eating something delicious. He conveys that joy of the ‘chewing’ to the audience. This is an actor who ponders and polishes every single word he speaks. An inflection on a word we don’t expect produces a whole new meaning. We think we know the play and then Wentworth has his way with us and takes us deeper into the character and the play.

Scott Wentworth is so clear in his journey from being a robust King, in command of everything he does, to gradually being diminished as his courtiers challenge him, and Goneril and Regan (a dandy Melanie Leon and Madelaine Hodges respectively), try to reason with him about visiting them monthly with a retinue they can’t sustain. The doubt about his sanity appears subtly in a furrowed brow, a questioning in the eyes. He becomes impatient with the need to explain and ‘reason.’ And then he swirls deeper down the rabbit hole of uncertainty, madness and finally clarity. It’s a masterful performance.

James Wallis directs with a sure hand and a dandy sense of the whimsical. When the Fool (a lively, thoughtful Julia Nish-Lapidus) brings on an umbrella in the storm scene, she pushes the button on the umbrella and the clear plastic umbrella pops up, sort of. It’s actually squished. It does unfurl, but rather than a bubble, it’s a bit squished at the top—a perfect umbrella for the Fool. It takes the ordinary and makes it noticeable.

In the scene when Gloucester (a serious, forthright David Mackett) is about to be blinded by Cornwall (a dangerous Daniel Briere), there is much screaming and leg-raising by Gloucester to give us a gut-wrenching sense of what is going on. Then Cornwall goes after the second eye, this time with a knife. This is not a spoiler alert. This is a WARNING!!!!! And it’s finished with a flourish resulting in a sound like EWWWWWW from us. Perfect.  

When Lear carries on the dead Cordelia (come on, you knew this!) Wentworth is strong in holding Breanne Tice as the loving Cordelia. But he is at the landing of the stage. Two steps lead him down into the playing area. It can be treacherous carrying a person, and having to go down two steps. James Wallis solves this beautifully. Kent (a forceful, loyal Mairi Babb), Albany (an honourable Ben Yoganathan) and Edgar (a courtly Ngabo Nabea) all come forward to take Cordelia out of his arms and carry her to the stage and also lead the grieving Lear down the two stairs. Wallis has created a sense of loving community in that heartbreaking scene. Terrific.

This is a wonderful production of The Tragedy of King Lear.

Shakespeare BASH’d presents:

Opened: Feb. 16, 2023

Closes: Feb. 26, 2023.

Running time: 3 hours, (1 intermission)

www.shakespearebashd.com

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Live and in person at the Tarragon Theatre, Mainspace, Toronto, Ont. A Rolling world premiere of Redbone Coonhound. An Arts Club Silver Commission as part of a rolling world premiere with Tarragon Theatre and Imago Theatre (Montreal). Playing at Tarragon until March 5, 2023.

Written by Amy Lee Lavoie and Omari Newton

Directed by Micheline Chevrier with Kwaku Okyere

Set by Jawon Kang

Costumes by Nalo Soyini Bruce

Lighting by Michelle Ramsay

Projections by Frank Donato

Animator, Dezmond Arnkvarn

Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne

Cast: Christopher Allen

Kwesi Ameyaw

Lucinda David

Brian Dooley

Deborah Drakeford

Jesse Dwyre

 Chala Hunter

A deliberately broadly performed and directed, often emotionally heightened production that is less a fully realized play and more a check-list of issues, tropes and clichéd characters that will provoke, challenge, trigger and unsettle the audience without actually exploring the issues.

Background: Redbone Coonhound is co-written by Amy Lee Lavoie and Omari Newton who are an interracial couple in real life.  They have this interesting note in the programme: “Navigating life through an intersectional lens means the constant exchange of vastly different lived experiences. We are a daily witness to each other’s growth, joy and heartaches, and as writers we document, mold and repurpose these experiences and memories in ways that help us understand the world around us a bit better. We laugh a lot, too.”

The Story. This is what the synopsis says of the play-I quote it here, because I want to see what they think the play is about:

“Mike and Marissa are an interracial couple, out for a walk in their West End Vancouver neighborhood. (Mike is Black and Marissa is white). They meet a dog with an unfortunate breed name: Redbone Coonhound. This small detail unleashes a cascading debate between them about race and their relationship that manifests as a series of micro-plays, each satirizing contemporary perspectives on modern culture.

Through its hard-hitting comedic elements, Redbone Coonhound explores the intricacies of subtle and overt polemics of race, systemic power, and privilege, in remarkable, surprising and hilarious ways. A wild and subversive journey back through history and into the future, Redbone Coonhound reveals deep fears, rage, insecurities, and ultimately, hope.”

I just wish that Amy Lee Lavoie and Omari Newton actually wrote that play they describe above.

Instead, what the playwrights cover here is a checklist of topics, tropes and cliched characters without actually exploring the issues. It’s like flicking a red flag to engage, but that doesn’t make it a play.

To expand on the story, production and comment. While the play takes place in Vancouver and there are references to the beautiful landscape, Jawon Kang’s stark, brutalist set suggests an ultra-modern setting without any warmth or beauty.  Nalo Soyini Bruce’s costumes are stylish and hip, and I’m sure there is symbolism in that everybody wears red trainers, but the message escapes me.

When Mike (Christopher Allen) and Marissa (Chala Hunter) are out walking they meet the frisky, friendly dog named John and his two owners, Jeffrey (Brian Dooley) and Camille (Deborah Drakeford). Jeffrey and Camille are text-book thoughtless fools with a dog. The dog is not trained nor on a leash. When someone tells them to put their dog on a leash, Camille of yells “Fascist.”

The owners yell “JOHN!!” for the dog to come and he ignores them until they are screaming JOHN!!!!! for him to come and he finally does. When John sees Mike he smells him, is all over him, surrounding him, sniffing, licking, etc. and Mike is terrified. Note: There is no actual dog on stage. With careful choreography/staging from director Micheline Chevrier, with Kwaku Okyere and Christopher Allen’s energetic movement as Mike, it’s suggested that John is all over Mike, and Mike is terrified as his movement gets more and more exaggerated. Thomas Ryder Payne’s sound of a dog barking, gives a sense of John’s size and how Mike would be terrified. Wonderfully done.  

Jeffrey and Camille are insensitive to Mike’s terror, saying that John is really a friendly dog. Marissa tries to be supportive but somehow Mike rebuffs her. When Mike asks what kind of dog it is—and hears Redbone Coonhound, he is horrified. He’s horrified first because of its offensive but actual name and then because it conjures all sorts of images of that kind of dog being used to hunt not only, small animals like a racoon, but also larger ones and it’s suggested, fugitives during the time of slavery in the United States, where the breed was ‘perfected’. This incident stays with Mike. He is testy with Marissa. She says she understands what he must be going through—I’m wondering how she could even imagine what he is going through.

They bicker. It’s a fight that seems odd—surely they would have had this discussion about people’s insensitivity, veiled racism, and systemic power before? Or is Mike’s anger, lingering from elsewhere and is misplaced anger.

In his first appearance with Marissa Mike laments that once again he is engaged to talk about Black History Month to a class of school children who are clueless about the history of Black people in Canada or racism or anything else that pertains to his life. He is tired and done with trying to educate about Black History month. No mention is made of why that is or how it can be changed.  

Mike seems constantly testy about the way he’s treated and Marissa can do nothing to calm him. Mike has conversations with Black friends who also chide him. Aisha (a commanding Lucinda Davis) challenges every complaint of Mike’s. He complains about the power of whites, but she counters by saying that he married a white woman. Mike says that Marissa is different. He says there were no Black women that he found compatible. Aisha notes that she’s standing right there. She has found a Black man as her partner with no trouble and brings him to Mike and Marissa’s house for an evening get together.

That man is Gerald (Kwesi Ameyaw), a police officer who listens patiently to Mike but finally can’t take it anymore and who accuses Mike of being a narcissist in which every problem affects only him. It’s the only conversation in the production that is equally balanced with Gerald being thoughtful in his arguments and Mike never seeing any side of the story but his own. If any idea should be developed, that is certainly it. Mike then calls Gerald a horrible pejorative name and it’s not the ‘n’ word. It’s a word full of contempt. (it’s in the title of the play).

As Mike, Christopher Allen imbues Mike with quiet pride but a constant simmering anger at what he must endure as a Black man in the world. Chala Hunter as Marissa is the ever accommodating partner who is rebuffed and tries to stand up for her rights, and can’t win. Lucinda Davis in various roles is commanding, confident and impressive. Kwesi Ameyaw offers another voice of reason that is clear and perceptive in dealing with Mike and his constant anger.

There are several ‘mini-playlets’ that try to illuminate some aspect of the check-list of issues. Rather than being ‘satiric’ as is described I found them merely laboured and deliberately broadly directed.

There is a scene with a run-away slave looking for Harriet Tubman and her underground railroad. Two over-accented characters—one a man trying to be an ally, the other his female companion, who is demeaned as a woman and treated like a pack horse. Subtext laid on with a trowel.

Another playlet involves the parents of a white girl who has brought home a boyfriend she wants to marry, who is—horrors—white. The parents, also white did not raise her that way. They raised her to go to a Black college (Howard), and marry interracially. Matters spiral out of DNA control as they try to find some trace of Black ancestry in the young man’s family.

Then there is the playlet that takes place in the future, in outer space on a spaceship with only Black personnel to create a pure colony of Black people without a trace of racism.

It’s as if the playwrights wanted to dissect each subject from racism, to internal racism, to misogyny to allyship to Harriet Tubman, or relationships as points of debate. What is missing is a cohesive whole to make the play look like something other than just a checklist of complaints, whines, hurts, insults, and sufferings at the insensitivity of thoughtless people. I also think it wishful thinking that the play ends on a hopeful note—it is a lovely thought but the ending is not earned in the context of what went before.

While I found the synopsis of the play intriguing I also was captivated by the description of how the playwrights navigate and discuss their own many and various experiences, and learn from each other. Now wouldn’t that make an interesting play? All in all, I think Redbone Coonhound needs another go round of thinking, discussion of the two playwrights and then another draft of an actual play.

Tarragon Theatre in collaboration with Imago Theatre (Montreal) in an Arts Club Silver Commission, presents:

Opened: Feb. 15, 2023.

Closes: March 5, 2023.

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

Redbone Coonhound plays at the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace until March 5.

www.tarragontheatre.com

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Live and in person at Factory Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Playing until Feb. 18, 2023.

www.factorytheatre.ca

Written and performed by Beryl Bain

Directed by Marcel Stewart

Set by Michael Gordon Spence

Costume design by Des’ree Gray

Lighting by Shawn Henry

Sound by Floydd Ricketts

Projections by Jason J. Brown

Playwright/performer Beryl Bain and her director, Marcel Stewart have presented an intriguing dip into the eventful but short life of Bessie Coleman, the first Black-Indigenous American woman to get her pilot’s license. She took that love of flying and performed at various fairs and exhibitions.

Bessie Coleman was born in 1892 to sharecroppers. Her father left the family which meant that Bessie had to take care of her little sister, which their mother earned a living. Her mother taught Bessie about tenacity, responsibility, and the value of work.

Playwright Beryl Bain focused her play The Flight in the Roaring 20s with its heady atmosphere and endless possibilities.

The play begins with a projection of a newsreel of Bessie Coleman standing beside a plane. As the commentator talks about Bessie there is a commotion in the theatre where we are watching the newsreel. A woman in breeches, a fitted jacket and hair tied back gets up objecting to what we are watching, saying that isn’t the real Bessie Coleman, that’s an actress. The woman making the fuss says she is the real Bessie Coleman (Beryl Bain). She goes up onto the stage and begins to tell us of her life.

Director Marcel Stewart  uses a simple ladder to suggest those scenes where Bessie flies. Beryl Bain as Bessie climbs the ladder, sits on the top of it and Jason J. Brown’s various projections of Bessie flying are projected on the back wall. The projections create a great sweep of the sky and the freedom Bessie must have felt being up there.

Beryl Bain is a commanding presence as Bessie Coleman. Coleman had a patron who helped with funding that got her to Paris where she got her pilot’s license. She performed for the public by flying. She survived one crash. She saved money working at a manicurist so she could buy her own plane. She was finally successful in having her own plane but it was faulty and she crashed during a show in Florida in 1926, and didn’t survive. She was 34.

I say at the beginning that this is an intriguing dip into the life of Bessie Coleman because what Beryl Bain has written and explored seems to skim the surface. She has whetted our appetite for more information and I hope she expands her play. I’d like to know more about Bessie Coleman’s parents and especially her absent father. What did Bessie study at university when she went for a year and why did she only study for a year. I would love the idea of discovering aviation explored and expanded. How did she meet her patron and why did he take a chance on this unknown, but determined young woman. What about the racism Bessie endured, there is slight reference to that. Was the person in the newsreel really an actress and not the real Bessie? That’s confusing. I think Bessie’s life and her stint in Chicago in the Roaring 20s can be explored as well. Lots of possibilities. I look forward to Beryl Bain’s next incarnation of The Flight.

Queen Bess Productions in association with Theatre Gargantua, b.current Performing Arts, and Roseneath Theatre present:

Opened: Feb. 10, 2023.

Closes: Feb. 18, 2023

Running time: 1 hour

www.factorytheatre.ca

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Live and in Person at Theatre Orangeville, Orangeville, Ont. Plays until February 26, 2023.

www.theatreorangeville.ca

Written by Beau Dixon

Music and lyrics by Rob Fortin and Susan Newman

Directed by Bobby Garcia

Set by Beckie Morris

Costumes by Alex Amini

Lighting by Louise Guinand

Sound by Malcolm Dow

Cast: Jeremiah Sparks

A moving play about the Springhill, Nova Scotia mining disaster and how one man, Maurice Ruddick, saved five of his fellow miners. A play about resilience and faith.

The Story. Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story takes place in late October 1958. Maurice Ruddick is a charming, happy African-Canadian man of mixed race. He’s 46. He always wanted to be a musician. He played guitar and wrote songs. But musicians don’t make a lot of money and Maurice is married with 12 children.  He needed to make money so he worked in the Springhill mine. And it was dangerous.

Maurice and six of his co-workers were working two miles underground. It took them 20 minutes to get down to their site by an ‘elevator.’

On Oct. 23, 1958 there was a ‘bump’ a disturbance in the mine and rather than the walls collapsing in, the floor in the mine in fact blew upward. Maurice and his co-workers were trapped down there for a week. One was seriously hurt. His arm was caught under huge rocks and the other miners could not budge it off him. Maurice was instrumental in rallying the men: singing to them, making sure they shared any food they had and encouraging them when they lost hope.

The Production. Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story is a play with music.Designer Beckie Morris has created the opening of the mine shaft with a kind of train track with slats, that leads up stage into the ‘mine.’ It looks forbidding. The walls at the side of the set suggest that shaft, two miles below the surface. The set captures the precarious world of Nova Scotia mining at the time. 

Jeremiah Sparks plays all the parts especially Maurice Ruddick. The joy in Maurice’s life comes from his music and the love of his family. He always seemed to be singing or remembering moments in his family’s life that gave him joy. He was also a church-going man and his faith was instrumental in keeping his spirits up and those of his fellow miners, trapped with him down there. Sparks sings and plays the guitar wonderfully. He gives Maurice Ruddick great dignity and joy. And his faith comes shining through in this work.

When Jeremiah Sparks changed from playing Maurice to playing either a CBC reporter or some of the other men in the mine, director Bobby Garcia conveyed this simply and efficiently. As the CBC reporter, Jeremiah Sparks would stand stiffly, assumed a deliberate way of speaking and Louise Guinand would illuminate him with different lighting. Later when Sparks had to quickly assume the identity of other miners trapped along with Maurice, Sparks assumed a different voice and Guinand changed the lighting again, to a more shadowy hew. Each character was distinct and clear.

If I had a quibble it’s that at times Sparks was not easy to understand; either the diction or projection was a bit off. But most of the times, he illuminated the struggle those men had of holding on to hope that after a week they would survive and be found alive. The gradual loss of energy as they ran out of food and water was quite moving. Jeremiah kept his faith and made his fellow miners keep those. He even got a racist bigot to see that there is no difference in people because of skin colour.

The play touches on the racism Maurice endured and the lack of bitterness he had when dealing with it. He passed that work ethic onto his children. So by the time the men go down into the mine on that fateful day, we know the kind of man Maurice is and his strong character and we embrace him and have a stake in his survival.

Comment. Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story talks about a horrific disaster in Canadian history. It also talks about the hero of that ordeal, Maurice Ruddick, a man who wanted to be a musician, but was a miner to support his family. In that disaster, he was the guiding light, the hope and the salvation of his fellow miners. He never gave up hope and faith. It save them in the end.

Theatre Orangeville Presents:

Opened: Feb. 10, 2023

Closes: Feb. 26, 2023

Running Time: 75 minutes (no intermission)

www.theatreorangeville.ca

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