Lynn

The wonderful WeeFestival of Arts and Culture for Early Years (0-6 years) is on at various venues in the city.

I’ve seen the following:

The Sandbox – Le carré de sable
by Tenon Mortaise (Québec)

June 4 | 11h, 13h & 15h
June 5 | 11h & 13h

at Factory Theatre (No Words / Sans Paroles)

Kids love nothing better than playing in sand. And the two actors in the show, create, play, spread, toss and design with sand, wordlessly. Kids squeal with glee as a wagon slides down the side of a sandbox, dispensing sand along the way. The creations in sand are inventive and each scene flows quickly, always engaging the children in the story. Delightful.

The Friendship Star
by Cheri Maracle (Ontario)

June 4 | 11h & 15h
June 5 | 11h & 13h

at Aki Studio (In English / En Anglais)

Creator/narrator Cheri Maracle tells the Mohawk story of two lonely boys.
In The Friendship Star we meet young Karawakwa and Piquot, little souls gazing into the possibility of a dark night sky and trusting their wishes for friendship are being heard by the Great Mystery that is The Creator. When their wishes are granted, their new friendship blooms but is soon put to the test. They are given a friendship star by The Creator. Each boy treasures and appreciates the glow of he star’s light. But eventually, each boy thinks the star was given to him to have. The glow of the star dulls as each boy tries to take the star for himself. A solution must be found and the two friends find it. The story ends with the most wonderful selfless act of the two friends.

Actor, singer, and songwriter Cheri Maracle shares a tale about the importance of friendship with storytelling and song. She also celebrates the importance of culture, tradition, song, dance, consideration and kindness. A charming, meaningful story.

This WeeFestival Weekend is chock-a-block with amazing events for your children and their grown-up guests!     This weekend, we are so excited to feature amazing artists from across Canada at three fantastic WeeFestival venues: Wood – Bois by Puzzle Théâtre (Québec) June 4 | 11h & 14h June 5 | 14h & 16h at Alliance Française (No Words / Sans Paroles) The Friendship Star by Cheri Maracle (Ontario) June 4 | 11h & 15h June 5 | 11h & 13h at Aki Studio (In English / En Anglais) The Sandbox – Le carré de sable by Tenon Mortaise (Québec) June 4 | 11h, 13h & 15h June 5 | 11h & 13h at Factory Theatre (No Words / Sans Paroles) Wee can’t wait to see you there!   BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW

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Live and in person at the Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Playing until Oct. 8. www.shawfest.com

Written by George Bernard Shaw

Directed by Sanjay Talwar

Set by Sue LePage

Costumes by Joyce Padua

Lighting by Nick Andison

Original music and sound by John Gzowski

Cast: Neil Barclay

Patrick Galligan

Martin Happer

Marla McLean

Travis Seetoo

Donna Soares

Graeme Somerville

Jonathan Tan

Jenny L. Wright

Fascinating play and bracing production.

The Story. The Microbe has happily occupied its time by keeping The Patient (Miss Mopply) bed-ridden with sickness, so much so that The Microbe is now ill. Added to Miss Mopply’s malaise is her fidgety, anxious mother, The Elderly Lady (Mrs. Mopply) who has been distressed because all her children have died from sickness. So to protect her ill daughter, Mrs. Mopply has kept Miss Mopply tucked up in bed, in a dark room, with the blinds closed preventing any light from entering, and the window shut tight, so that nothing resembling fresh air will enter. She has also coerced the frustrated Doctor to give Miss Mopply a new prescription. He knows that fresh air, light and getting out of that bed will do a world of good for Miss Mopply, but Mrs. Mopply is a force, and he has no choice but to acquiesce to her demands.  Mrs. Mopply is not a ‘helicopter mother’—they hover protectively above their children. Mrs. Mopply is a ‘blanket mother’—she lays across her daughter and smothers her with excessive, unhelpful ‘care’.

Added to this scenario are: The Nurse (Susan “Sweetie” Simkins) who is tending to Miss Mopply and The Burglar (“Popsy”) in cahoots with The Nurse. They plot to rob Miss Mopply of her real pearl necklace, fence it and take the money and go flee to a tropical place for fun and relaxation. A twist is that Miss Mopply insists that she be included in the plot as well.

At the end of Act I The Microbe (Travis Seetoo) tells the audience that the play is virtually over but that all concerned will discuss various things and each other for the next two acts. George Bernard Shaw did have a quirky sense of humour.  

The Production. We get the full force of the pampered and opulent life of Miss Mopply (Donna Soares) in Sue LePage’s Act I bedroom. The bed is covered high with a duvet, pillows, fluff, stuff and gloom. No light from yonder window breaks into this bedroom. The window is closed and no outside light glimmers in.  As Miss Mopply, Donna Soares plays the invalid to the hilt—whiney, petulant, demanding.

We hear Mrs. Mopply (Jenny L. Wright) before we see her: her footfall is loud, insistent and suggests short, sharp footsteps in heels. Every step is full of angst, agitation and worry. If this is director Sanjay Talwar’s suggestion or Jenny L. Wright’s invention, it’s brilliant in establishing the obsessive annoyance of Mrs. Mopply. As anxious as Mrs. Moppy is, that is as laid-back as Marla McLean is as The Nurse. She is cool and has seen it all. Graeme Somerville is The Burglar and he is smooth, articulate and philosophical. He is also the Honourable Aubrey Bagot, a devoted man of religion. The hapless Doctor (Martin Happer) tries his best to tend to his patient but Mrs. Mopply runs interference, and her fierce foot-fall is frightening.

In Act II and III we are in “A sea beach in a mountainous country.” I don’t know how that is possible, but it’s Shaw so you take it on faith. For this Sue LePage has many rocks around, a sturdy wood chair, a trunk and other stuff suggesting someplace primitive.

So far Shaw has discoursed on smothering mothers who know nothing about the benefits of fresh air, good food, sunlight, exercise and getting out of bed first thing in the morning. Then in Act II and Act III he goes for the gusto. There is pompous Colonel Tallboys (Neil Barclay) in charge of the area for the British Empire who knows nothing of the people or the language or how to govern. He would rather paint watercolours. The real person in charge is Private Napoleon, Alexander Trotsky Meek (Jonathan Tan). Naturally being a pompous colonial representative of the governing British Empire, Tallboys has nothing but contempt and exasperation for Meek. As Tallboys, Neil Barclay always seems to be at the end of his tether with the calm insouciance of Meek. Understandable, since Jonathan Tan as Meek has all the answers to all the questions and more. Meek knows the language of the natives, the customs of the people, respects them, has a sense of organization and a keen managerial style. And he carries it off with a slight smile and obsessive agreeableness. Tallboys knows how to mix watercolours.

Added to this, The burglars, now ensconced in this place with the money they got from the pearls, are bored. Susan “Sweetie” Simkins is now passing herself off as The Countess Vabrioni complete with accent. Miss Mopply plays her maid and is fully recovered to robust health. And The Honourable Aubrey Bagot is now free to look dashing in a white suit (kudos to costume designer Joyce Padua) and talk about religion to his heart’s content, that is until his furious father, The Elder (an irascible Patrick Galligan), finds him and tells him how disappointed he is in his religious son. The Elder is a confirmed atheist. Lots of fireworks between father and son on these subjects. There is also Sergeant Fielding (Martin Happer) who has a word or two about duty, women, men, relations, relationships etc.

Director Sanjay Talwar efficiently, effectively establishes each character and their place in that world. He uses the space really well and I note that characters are always on the move in order to command attention. It’s not wasteful movement. It’s effective. His direction if full of whimsy, impish humour, respect for the text and inventiveness in realizing Shaw’s dense philosophy.  

Comment. The cast is very fine and the result is a bracing production that tackles the issues, and gives the actors space to let the arguments breathe and sink in. Sure, Shaw is talky. He wrote this in 1932 when he was 76 years old. He has a lot to say. He always does. And it’s fascinating.

The Shaw Festival Presents:

Plays until: Oct. 8, 2022.

Running Time: 3 hours.

www.shawfest.com

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Heads up for June.

PRESS RELEASE

Harbourfront Centre’s Torque Season Closes with Norway’s winter guests and the Visceral Examination of the Human Condition in– Story, story, die.–

Interdisciplinary performance company returns to Harbourfront Centre stage as part of Nordic Bridges, exploring the relationship between lies and love

Harbourfront Centre presents the Toronto premiere of winter guests’ evocative work, Story, story, die., as part of the contemporary dance series Torque and the year-long Nordic Bridges initiative. Choreographed by winter guests Artistic Director Alan Lucien Øyen, the full-length work will be on stage June 28 and 29, 2022 at 7:30pm at Fleck Dance Theatre.

Through cinematic staging and poignant spoken word, Story, story, die. is a heartrending look at the interdependency between lies and love and the surprising things we do in our everyday lives to present a more likeable narrative of ourselves to the world. 

Considered one of Norway’s most pioneering artists, writer, director and choreographer, Øyen, has created more than 40 projects and commissions since 2004. In 2006, Øyen founded winter guests to develop a range of interdisciplinary works, including plays, contemporary dance works and hybrid performances, mixing dance with text and movement with actors. Inspired by interactions with strangers, personal anecdotes and pop culture references, each work is produced in collaboration with its performers.  

For tickets and further information, visit: harbourfrontcentre.com

About Nordic Bridges (nordicbridges.ca)

LISTING INFORMATION	Harbourfront Centre presents winter guests’ Story, story, die.
Dates:	June 28 and 29, 2022 at 7:30pm
Price:	Suggested $20-$95, Pay What You Wish
Address:	Fleck Dance Theatre Queen’s Quay Terminal, 3rd Floor 207 Queens Quay West
Ticket Link:	harbourfrontcentre.com
Website:	harbourfrontcentre.com

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Live and in person at Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, Ont. from May 28-June 4.

www.passemuraille.ca

Bâtardes

Created and performed by Chloé and Jade Barshee

With Mathieu Beauséjour

The play is a search for identity by sisters Chloé and Jade Barshee and explores the question: Where are you from? Their father is Tibetan and their mother is Quebecois. They grew up in Quebec but did not have much connection with their Tibetan heritage so they went to find it.

We are told the play will be in French (Quebecois) and Tibetan with English surtitles. If one sat close to the back as I did, you can’t read the surtitles because the font was small and the lighting of the surtitles made them fuzzy in the dark light. Very rarely was the light brighter and one could just about read the surtitles. The Tibetan dialogue was not translated into English. Frustrating if one wanted a glimpse into the conversation in a Tibetan household. Often the surtitles changed quickly because the dialogue between the sisters was fast. Another hinderance to reading them.

We were told that this would be a relaxed performance and there were several efforts to make the performance as inviting as possible. Patrons were welcome to come and go as they wished if they felt at all uncomfortable in the space. The lighting would be dark briefly in two instances. There was a comfort room where a person could go and be calm with blankets etc. There would be a support person to talk to should they need to if something triggered them in the production. There would be references to the Tibetan uprising, torture and the efforts of Tibet to be free from China. There was a character of a ‘Monster’ that represented a yak etc. and was not real but performed by an actor.

One wonders how Bâtardes can be relaxing if there might be so much in the show to cause trauma to one not used to theatre. And contrary to the announcement, most of the show was in darkness and not just two brief scenes. Rarely was there enough light in the theatre for anyone to leave safely if one wanted to go to the comfort room. I had to wonder why anyone would want to come to a performance like this if the possibility of so many triggers were present.

One totally frustrating experience.

Theatre Passe Muraille Presents:

Runs until June 4.

Running Time: 80 minutes

www.passemuraille.ca.

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Live and in person at the Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Playing until October.

www.shawfest.com

Damn Yankees

Words and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross

Book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop

(based on the novel by Douglass Wallop, “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant”)

Directed by Brian Hill

Music direction by Paul Sportelli

Choreography by Allison Plamondon

Set and costumes by Corry Sincennes

Lighting by Mikael Kangas

Sound by John Lott

Magic and illusions by Skylar Fox

Cast: Shane Carty

Élodie Gillett

Patty Jamieson

Gabriel Jones

Allison McCaughey

Mike Nadajewski

Drew Plummer

Kimberley Rampersad

Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane

Jay Turvey

Kelly Wong

And several others.

The Story. Damn Yankees a musical in which a man sells his soul so that his favourite baseball team can beat the Yankees for the Pennant. Damn Yankees is a 1955 musical comedy with words and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, and book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, based on Wallop’s novel “the Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.”

It’s based on the Faustian myth of selling your soul to the devil to get something impossible. Joe Boyd is a middle aged, out of shape salesman who loves the Washington Senators, even though they always lose to the dastardly New York Yankees. He wishes they had a long-ball hitter and would win. Enter Mr. Applegate (also known as The Devil—in flashy clothes).

He offers to change Joe Boyd into a much younger, fitter man named Joe Hardy who is a master at hitting the ball and throwing. But Joe has to leave his wife Meg and go off for the season to do it.  Joe wants an escape clause—if he asks to be let out before the end of the season, then he can go back to his wife as he was before; if not then he is the possession of Applegate forever.

But of course, there are complications. Joe gets homesick for Meg, so he goes back to his old neighbourhood, as this young man, asking to rent a room from her. Of course there is a bond between them, in spite of the age difference. Mr. Applegate sees this bond then plots to break that up by sending in Lola, his best homewrecker to seduce Joe and get him away from Meg and play the game, but then, Applegate will cheat on the bargain as well. Good vs bad; love vs evil, all the supposed deep stuff of musicals.

The Production and comment. It’s 1955. Women are expected to be homebodies by their baseball-loving husbands, and ignored during the six months of baseball season. They are called “old girl” by their husbands as a term of endearment. Meg Boyd and her friends are devoted to their husbands but when the six-month baseball season arrives they can kiss good-bye to any attention from their husbands. They are glued to their tv sets watching the game, cheering and lamenting their beloved Washington Senators and damning the New York Yankees who always beat them.

So often actors are directed to be caricatures: screechy, whiney and anything but believable. Such is the case of Sister Miller (Élodie Gillett) and Doris Miller (Allison McCaughey). Really? We are to believe that women in the 1950s are as witless as these actors are asked to behave? Sad. And the same with the ball players? So disheartening.

Applegate has women on payroll who are home wreckers. The best is Lola and she is called out when Joe gets homesick for Meg and goes to the house to rent a room, not of course telling her who he really is.  

I found the musical, sexist and misogynistic to women—and offensive. If it’s of its time, that’s where it should remain and move over to make room for more applicable and timely musicals.

That said, I thought this production directed by Brian Hill was plodding, slow-moving and dreary with a few bright moments. The choreography by Alison Plamondon is pedestrian and derivative. We all wait for the entrance of Lola, the seductress who will bring Joe back into the fold.

Kimberley Rampersad plays Lola. In a very weird entrance upstage and in gloom, we see two long legs flicking in the air. Then the body of the person appears and the legs touch down on the floor, followed by the rest of the body of Lola in a tight red dress, cut high up the leg. I don’t think Ms. Rampersad is helped by either direction or choreography. There is such an effort to make Lola seductive, after we are told that she is seductive, that it is far from effortless. In fact it is labored, obvious and mannered.

Director Brian Hill tries to inject some modern notes to make this musical seem timely. Some of the casting is gender bending—I note there is a woman subtly cast as a Washington Senator ball player. At the bow several of the ball players bow, as men do and that one lone woman, curtsied. OK we get it.

Many of the Cory Sincennes’ set pieces have photos of many women in 1950s dresses as if they in advertisements—and many of the women are Black. Very admirable, but that would never happen in 1955.  You can’t have it both ways—do a sexist musical and think you can make it ok by adding modern touches.

Not all is lost, though. There are a few bright spots in the production. I thought Brian Hill’s direction of the transition of Joe Boyd (a stalwart Shane Carty) to young Joe Hardy (Drew Plummer) was smooth and impressive. As Meg Boyd, Joe’s devoted wife, Patty Jamieson is true, honest and totally believable as the confused, loving and conflicted wife of this guy who just disappeared without a note or reason. I love the ache of the performance.

As Applegate (the slick Devil) Mike Nadajewski is sublime He is effortlessly seductive, manipulative and sly. He is always thinking of the next plot, he’s dangerous and he sings like a dream. As Joe Hardy, Drew Plummer had to sub in at the last minute as the understudy, and he does an admirable job and has a strong voice as well.

But on the whole, Damn Yankees is a dud.

Presented by The Shaw Festival

Runs until: Oct. 9, 2022

Running Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes, with 1 intermission.

www.shawfest.com

Gaslight

Written by Johnna Wright and Patti Jamieson

(based on the play Angel Street  by Patrick Hamilton)

Directed by Kelli Fox

Set and costumes by Judith Bowden

Lighting by Kimberly Purtell

Original music and sound by Gilles Zolty

Cast: Julia Course

Kate Hennig

Julie Lumsden

André Morin

The Story.  A husband, Jack, tries to drive his wife, Bella, insane, suggesting she is losing her memory of simple things, in order to eventually rob her.

British playwright, Patrick Hamilton wrote a dark mystery called Gas Light (two words) in 1938. When it played in New York the title was then changed to Angel Street and it went through many titles.

Canadians, Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson felt they could revise the play and take out many of the pejorative aspects facing women at the time. The basic story is the same to a point. Jack is trying to drive his wife Bella insane by noting things she has forgotten or lost in the house.

That’s where the phrase gaslighting comes from: the malicious effort in trying to convince you you are imagining things to try and drive one crazy.  Jack notes that Bella’s mother was insane and that Bella is going that way too, in spite of his care of her. Bella believes it too. She hears noises in the attic and no one else in the house does. She senses that the gaslight in the house flickers for no reason in the house. Things disappear and she can’t account for it. She must be going crazy.

In the old version of this play, an old detective, who is wise to the situation, tries to assure Bella she is not going crazy and that her husband is doing this because he knows there are jewels in the house and he’s trying to get her out of the way so he can find them. Bella then trusts the detective to help her.

In this new version of the play writers Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson remove the detective altogether and have Bella fend for herself and solve the mystery and realize the ruse.

Again, we have a dated play that treats a woman as something to drive crazy, full of the misogyny of the time in London and elsewhere, with a well-meaning effort to make the woman self-reliant. I just think it’s fluffing up old dust. Why bother? There are so many more and better plays than this that speak to a women’s issues.

The Production. While I do have issues with the play, I thought the production was terrific, thanks to the thoughtful, sensitive direction of Kelli Fox, and her wonderful cast. The lights in the theatre subtly went down and just as subtly went up on Judith Bowden’s set.  There are dark furnishings, paintings on the wall, a sense of foreboding in the place.

Julie Lumsden plays Bella with a sense of heightened concern. She is obviously anxious and puts in great effort to be calm. She is the psychologically battered wife who is always seeking her husband’s approval and acceptance. She plays up to him. Is attentive, all in an effort to please him so he won’t be critical of her.  As her shifty husband Jack, André Morin is all poise, calm and concern. He rarely loses his temper and always seems so concerned about his wife’s fragile mind. It’s a measured, compelling nuanced performance. Kate Hennig plays Elizabeth, a no-nonsense maid with a sense that something is not right. Elizabeth has a history with Bella’s family and a great sense of justice.  And Julia Course plays Nancy, another maid who is flippant, arrogant and knows how to play Jack to get what she wants.

All in all, a terrific production of a problematic play.  

Comment. The Shaw Festival is dedicated to the works of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries.  George Bernard Shaw was one of the most complex, iconoclastic, irascible, forward thinking, philosophical writers of the 20^th century, or any century for that matter. Among other things he championed women’s writes and issues.  In a world in which women’s rights are under fire, Shaw’s championing of women’s issues is needed more than ever. 

So, it’s mystifying, if not blinkered and tone deaf, to see that the Shaw Festival is opening its 60^th summer season with two dated, misogynistic, sexist clunkers like Damn Yankees and Gaslight. 

The Shaw Festival Present:

Runs until Oct. 8, 2022

Running Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes, 1 intermission.

www.shawfest.com

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Live and in person at Lincoln Center Theater, New York City, until May 29, 2022

www.lct.org

Written by Thornton Wilder

Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz

With additional material by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Sets by Adam Rigg

Costumes by Montana Levi Blanco

Lighting by Yi Zhao

Sound by Palmer Hefferan

Projections by Hannah wasileski

Cast: Gabby Beans

Paige Gilbert

Priscilla Lopez

James Vincen Meredith

Julian Robertson

Roslyn Ruff

Bold, daring and timely.

The Story. This is Thornton Wilder’s allegorical play about the history of civilization? Humanity? through the ages. There is a raging ice storm outside. We are told by Sabina, the maid, that Mr. Antrobus is not home yet and there is concern.  The wooly mammoth and the dinosaur outside are so unsettled by how cold it is that Mrs. Antrobus lets them in the house. The play references (in no order from me): The Bible and creation, Adam, Eve, trouble, jealousy, preferred children, the flood, Noah, jealous children who become violent, the invention of the wheel, lever, mathematics, infidelity, war and some kind of redemption.

The Production. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz has cast the whole production with actors of colour, offering another layer to the already complex play. Adam Rigg’s set is impressive and lush. That lushness is mainly provided by floor to flies green drapes that look like velvet and drape beautifully. The furnishings are simple with cushions on the couch, a coffee table and all around the space are many and various plants. One of the visual jokes is that when Mrs. Antrobus (a calm, collected Roslyn Ruff) enters to water all the plants, she has one of the smallest watering cans I’ve ever seen for such a huge job. And the puppets of the wooly mammoth and the huge dinosaur are brilliant and the puppeteers who manipulate them and give them voice: Jeremy Gallardo, Beau Thom, Alphonso Walker Jr. And Sarin Monae West

Sabina (a lively Gabby Beans) the maid enters with a dust ‘wand’ flicking the furniture here and there, delivering her lines in a staccato voice about how Mr. Antrobus is not home and they are worried, and it’s sold and the ice is creeping etc. As Sabina, Gabby Beans speaks in a sort of elevated pitched voice. I knew it sounded familiar. Then I got it—Eartha Kitt. She was putting on the distinctive voice of Eartha Kitt but without the obvious seduction. The artificiality was all. At one point in the proceedings, Gabby Beans comes forward, breaks ‘the fourth wall’ and speaks in her regular voice, telling the audience that she has no clue about what the play is about; and that she has been in every play by August Wilson to cement her credentials as a serious actor. I loved that ‘break’ with the theatrical and a nice touch of added dialogue by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

As Gabby Beans gives Sabina a heightened theatricality, Roslyn Ruff as Mrs. Antrobus is poised, calm and keeps everything on an even keel. She attends to details, manages all manner of events and is never ruffled. She looks like a ‘typical’ housewife in the 1950s, crisp dress, coiffed hair, but over the millennia she takes charge without anyone knowing and carries on while others rant and rave. She manages her children. She ‘manages’ her commanding, loud-voiced husband, Mr. Antrobus (James Vincent Meredith); she knows of his roving eye. She sees everything.

Act II takes place in Atlantic City at the Boardwalk and Adam Rigg goes to town designing the amusement park rides, especially an impressive slide in which participants slide down the shoot from one end of the stage to the other. Lots going on here. Where does one focus?

Priscilla Lopez plays a blonde seductive Fortune Teller talking about the future. The problem was that with all the noise of the Boardwalk and the activity, it was hard to make out what she was saying, even if she was microphoned.

Act III returns to the Antrobus home after a seven-year war in which Mrs. Antrobus and her daughter Gladys (Paige Gilbert) have been hiding/living in the basement. Gladys emerges, pregnant. Mr. Antrobus and their son Henry (Julian Robertson) are off fighting the war—on opposite sides. The background of a hill at the back is dark, burnt, desolate and depressing, as if a fire scorched the earth. People wander across the back of the land, walking slowly, defeated by war, life, etc.

Mr. Androbus returns, exhausted. Henry returns enraged. Animosity exists, opposition exists. Is it possible to start to rebuild? Is it worth it?

Comment. The plays asks: “Is there any accomplishment or attribute of the human race of enough value that its civilization should be rebuilt?” The play is so timely because it references plague, isolation, feelings of despair, efforts to continue and hold on, moments of feeling despondent—everything we’ve felt and more during the years of the pandemic. The Skin of Our Teeth was written in 1942. Astonishing.

Lincoln Center Theater Presents:

Plays until May 29, 2022.

Running time: 2 hours, 55 minutes.

www.lct.org

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Live and in person at Harbourfront Centre. The JUNIOR Festival of local, national and international works for young audiences 4-14 and their adults. On until May 23.

www.harbourfront.com

Those Who Run in the Sky (Angakkussaq)

From the National Theatre of Greenland (Nunatta Isiginnaartitsisarfia)

Performed in Kalaallisut/Greenlandic English context will be provided (but it wasn’t).

From the novel by Aviaq Johnston

Adapted and directed by Patti Shaughnessy

Movement by Bill Coleman

Cast: Salik Gudmundsen Lennert

Milla Marie Peterse

Josef Tarrak-Petrussen

Dina Fisker Sandgreen

I’m using the detailed story synopsis from the program information to fully describe the story because the show is in Kalaallisut/Greenlandic. The program says that “English context will be provided” but it was not.

“Those Who Run in the Sky is a coming-of-age story that follows a young shaman named Pitu as he learns to use his powers and ultimately makes his way back to the world of the living from the world of spirits. This piece is performed in Kalaallisut/Greenlandic. English context will be provided. 

After a strange blizzard leaves Pitu stranded on the sea ice, without his dog team or any weapons to defend himself, he realizes that he is no longer in the world that he once knew. The storm has carried him into the world of the spirits, one populated with terrifying creatures that want to pull him into the frigid ocean through an ice crack and less frightening – but equally as incredible – creatures, such as a lone giant who can carry Pitu in the palm of her hand and keeps caribou and polar bears as pets.

After stumbling upon a fellow Shaman who has been trapped in the spirit world for many years, Pitu must master all of his powers to make his way back to the world of the living, his family and to the one he loves.”

The story-telling and movement are wonderfully vivid in expression and one can glean some of the story because of the actions. In one wonderful image, Pitu kills an animal and carefully cuts it open and puts his hands in the hot blood of the animal. The look of bliss on his face at the revery is wonderful. Then to pay homage to the animal, Pitu drinks a handful of the animal’s blood. More revery. He shares the bounty with his family/village. When Pitu must go on his journey to learn the lessons of being a shaman, the other cast members sit to the side offering sound effects of the wind, the spirits etc. When Pitu does meet the ‘lost shaman’ that shaman speaks English in two speeches for some reason. And it’s not as if that shaman is offering a translation of what Pitu is saying to the spirits etc.—he isn’t. It would have been helpful if there were in fact English surtitles to guide us through the important details of the story, but none was offered. And there was no English context given.

As I said, the performances and the movement and direction, the projections etc. created that mysterious world. Glad to see it, but a bit more clarity should have been offered regarding the language.

Harbourfront Centre Presents:

Closes, May 23, 2022.

Running time: 1 hour.

www.harbourfront.com

A Story of a House That Turned into A Dot

Teatret Gruppe 38

Denmark

Written by Bodil Alling

Directed by Catherine Poher

Composer, sound designer, Søren Søndberg

Lighting designed by Søren La Cour

Cast: Bodil Alling

Søren La Cour

Søren Søndberg

She became so hopping mad

 She became so fizzling furious

She became so livid with rage

that she opened the window and climbed down the ladder and then she ran.

She ran and ran and ran

And ran, ran, ran

And she ran there and she ran around

And ran over and ran under

And ran down, down, down, down, down

And ran up, up, up, up, up

And ran forward and ran along

And ran off, off, off,

And when she turned

The house had turned into a dot.

The poem as explanation says a lot, but it was the strawberries that set her off. It was summer. Bees buzzed, birds chirped, trees rustled, the sun shone and strawberries were plump and luscious. The little girl’s mother brought a lot of the strawberries home for her three children. There was the older brother who got a strawberry, the younger brother got one and the young sister got one as well. In turn the siblings showed off their strawberry until somehow the little girl lost hers. We don’t know how. We don’t know if she ate it and forgot. We know she lost it and her brothers and mother didn’t put too much concern on its loss. They said it didn’t matter etc. But it mattered to the little girl who became so upset and enraged that she left home and ran off. She ran to a place that was very cold. She met animals that made noise. She was totally alone. Her anger subsided and all she wanted was her mother. She found her way home where she was met with a warm house, clean sheets on the bed, a bedtime story and a kiss on the forehead.

Bodil Alling is the Artistic Leader of Teatret Gruppe 38 from Denmark, the creator of the piece and the narrator of the story. Her manner is quiet, compelling and expressive. She says that it’s summer and her two colleagues bring out malleable poles with birds on them; sound effects of bees, birds chirping and trees rustling to suggest the gentle noises of summer. Projections appear on a screen at the back. A large wood table with drawers and shelves hide props, masks and other stuff. To give a sense of the imagination of the group in drawing the audience into this world, there are many glass vases clumped together on the table and both assistants shine flashlights at the vases. The sparkling, stark light suggests the cold that the little girl experiences as she runs away from home. So simple and so effective.

This is the second company from Denmark in as many days that have presented work at JUNIOR. Kitt Johnson X-Act presented SPOIIIIIIIIING that I saw yesterday and they were terrific. Is there something in the water in Denmark that produces such imaginative, creative work? Can we import some here?

Wonderful.

Harbourfront Centre Presents:

Played only until May 22, 2022

Running Time: 40 minutes

www.harbourfront.com

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Live and in person at Harbourfront Centre, The Brigantine Room, part of JUNIOR, a festival for children 4-14. Until May 23, 2022. Toronto, Ont.

www.harbourfront.com

Created by Kitt Johnson

Lighting by Mogens Kjempff

Cast: Sture Ericson

Samuel Gustavsson

Samuel and Ericson are garbage collectors extraordinaire. First Samuel appears outside the Brigantine Room, carrying several black garbage bags and a pole on which is one bag, that falls off. He meets Ericson with his own bags. Samuel frets because he’s lost Accent, a pet. We follow the two men into the Brigantine Room. Children are invited to sit on the colourful covering on the floor, bordering the stage.

By this time Samuel and Ericson have emptied all the bags of stuff and tried to divide the contents into: paper, plastics, metal, electronics, keepers, and other stuff. Kids love to call out what category an item should be put in.

Samuel is active, curious, full of tricks and magic. I loved his sense of wonder. He juggles, plays slight of hand tricks with several cups that hide balls etc. I loved the mess of the garbage, scattering it, collecting it, sweeping it and organizing it. I wish it was that easy at home.  Ericson, on the other hand, is like the ‘grown-up’ of the two. He creates sounds on a console stage right or plays an instrument that could sound like a saxophone.

One trick revealed the true power and talent of these two performers. Samuel does a trick that reveals a cup of marbles. And then he tips the cup and the marbles fall all over the playing space. Then magically, the marbles did what marbles do to children–they become magnets. Each child sitting on the covering, leaned forward, reached out and grabbed some marbles. Samuel looked at Erickson. Ericson looked back. Samuel said to Ericson, “Are they yours?” (meaning the marbles.). Then slowly, each child leaned forward again and returned the marbles to the ‘stage’.

SPOIIIIIIIIING is a wonderful, funny magical romp using stuff we take for granted–garbage. You have to be young enough or old enough to buy into the magic of it, or at least appreciate the skill in doing the tricks, not the least of which is respecting and managing the young audience. Samuel and Ericson are masters at that too. Just terrific.

Harbourfront Centre presents, Kitt Johnson X-Act:

Runs May 21-May 23, 2022.

Running Time: 45 minutes, no intermission

www.harbourfront.com

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Live and in person at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Ont. until May 22, 2022.

https://tickets.youngcentre.ca

Written by Emma Haché

Directed by Ash Knight

Choreography by Nicola Pantin

Set and costumes by Jackie Chau

Lighting by Arun Srinivasan

Sound and composition by Marissa Orjalo

Projection design by Denyse Karn

Cast: Ma-Anne Dionisio

Andrew Moodie

Reese Cowley

A man known only as HE (Andrew Moodie) has been in a horrific accident causing a catastrophic head injury. He remembers almost nothing of the accident or who he is or his world, but he does remember that he loves his wife, SHE (Ma-Anne Dionisio), fiercely. HE spends his time in a hospital, where he is cared for. SHE visits him every day. SHE gives him memory exercises showing him pictures of things. For all of them HE says it’s a chicken, except the picture of the Queen. He gets that one correct. There is no improvement there.

HE and SHE profess their love for each other. SHE says they have a daughter Adele (or is it Alice—both names are given). Adele is a dancer. HE can’t remember Adele, Alice or that he has a daughter.

What SHE wants more than anything is for HE to forget how much he loves her and thus allow her to go and make her life without him. But HE doesn’t forget and gradually as Emma Haché’s play evolves it’s clear that it’s SHE who can’t let go of being needed by HE or so she thinks. She vows to leave for a few days and not visit. HE says that’s good. SHE returns after a few days and it’s obvious HE didn’t notice her absence and SHE did. There is a glimmer that HE might remember something of their former life, but just a glimmer.

Director Ash Knight’s production references bits, pieces and shards of memory in many ways. Jackie Chau’s set is composed of various separate pieces set on the floor. Some slope, others are high enough to sit on. Each can represent the broken bits of HE’S memory. On either end of Jackie Chau’s set are screens on which are projected images, leaves, etc. The audience sits on either side of this playing area. I am not sure of the point of this configuration because, at times, with the projections going on and the extended narration (Reese Cowley), it proves a distraction if both HE and SHE are also there, in various poses of hugging or embracing.

Also problematic is that both Ma-Anne Dionisio as SHE and Andrew Moodie as HE very often speak so quietly to each other, it’s hard to hear them. And if they turn away to the other side of the audience, then hearing what they are saying is almost impossible. I can appreciate intimate conversation, but it’s also important to remember that an audience is there, trying to hang onto every word. Speak up please a bit so we can hear you! As SHE Ma-Anne Dionisio is earnest and committed. Andrew Moodie as HE has moments of absolute stillness when HE is lost in his absent memory, and when he is reminded of the accident, he is horrified. This plays out often, but it doesn’t mean that HE has recall.

Ash Knight has added the character of the Narrator and Adele/Alice played by Reece Cowley. Cowley narrates a poem about dead leaves at the beginning that symbolizes the death of the relationship/memory/a former life, etc. But the placement of this poem comes right after the sound of the horrific crash, without explanation, until much later in the play. Whether this is the placement in the play of the playwright, Emma Haché or not, it seems a bit awkward.

We see how graceful Adele/Alice is when she dances Nicola Pantin’s choreography. But again, I don’t see the point of this character when the essence of Lesson in Forgetting is that HE can’t remember anything about his life at all without prompts from SHE.

I can appreciate the care that Ash Night has taken with his direction in trying to create such a delicate production of such a delicate play. I fear that with the added character and perhaps the projections, it is all a bit fussy and weighed down the production.

Produced by Pleiades Theatre

Plays until: May 22, 2022.

I saw it, May 18, 2022.

Running Time: 75 minutes.

https://tickets.youngcentre.ca

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