Lynn

Hi Folks,

I’m doing a four-part lecture-series for the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, called: SETTING THE SCENE: The Roots of Toronto Theatre.

They will be given both in person and on Zoom.

The dates are:

Monday: November 25, 2024 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Monday: December 2, 2024   1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Monday: December 9, 2024   1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Monday: December 16, 2024  1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

I will be covering the beginnings of the theatre scene in Toronto starting with touring companies to the Royal Alexandra Theatre and the O’Keefe Centre etc.; the creation of home-grown Toronto theatre companies such as Tarragon, Factory and Theatre Passe Muraille; companies with a specific focus such as: Toronto Workshop Productions, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Obsidian Theatre Company and Nightwood for example; I’ll note some Canadian plays that changed the face of Canadian Theatre, and a look at what happened to some of the original companies.

For registration and other information please check out: https://app.amilia.com/store/en/miles-nadal-jcc/shop/programs/103384?subCategoryIds=5317945

I am really looking forward to talking about our theatre beginnings!

Lynn Slotkin

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Live and in person at various venues in Barrie, Ont. Playing until September 29, 2024.

www.tift.ca

I Do, I Don’t I Dare! It’s a festival. This festival is a celebration and subversion of marriage, weddings and commitment. There are instillations of wedding dresses around the city, in unexpected places. There are short pieces of theatre, regular productions, immersive productions that are revelatory about ourselves and others. There are also many surprises. It’s produced by Talk Is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ont. It’s curated by Nathanial Hanula-James.

Here are some of the ‘events’ I saw.

Flash Performance!

In front of Samson’s Salon and Spa, on the balcony, 50 Dunlop Street East, Barrie.

Written by Eden Middleton and Michael Raphael.

Starring: Ryan Cunningham.

In sequins, a black costume and lots of attitude, our performer appears on the balcony of Samson’s Salon and Spa, in a rage. They are railing against straight women taking over gay bars for their wedding showers in which drag queens are the entertainment. Our performer feels it’s a misappropriation of space, identity and safe-haven. And it’s thought that the drag queens don’t work as hard at their craft if performing for a group of giddy, straight women on the town for a wedding shower. The raging was expressive and focused. The message became even more pointed and poignant against the sounds and sights of Dunlop Street in Barrie, namely: a black truck cruising the neighbourhood with two large flags on either side of the vehicle that said, “Fuck Trudeau;” the wizened homeless person pushing his wheelchair ladened with stuff topped by two skulls, up and down the street, taking a peek at the person raging on the balcony across the street; a man on his massive motorcycle with the music cranked up full, drowning out the microphoned performer on the balcony. Life and performance art in the burgeoning metropolis of Barrie, Ont.

An Ojibway Outlander in Glasgow

At Donaleigh’s Iris Public House, 28 Dunlop St. E, Barrie.

Created and performed by Dillan Meighan-Chiblow

Dillan Meighan-Chiblow was a young man in his twenties who felt lost. So, he went to find himself and decided to look in Glasgow, Scotland. He’s not Scots. He’s never been to Glasgow.  He’s Canadian. An Ojibwe. He found love instead, and some bumpy times, but love. Meighan Chiblow has a lovely way with humour, a self-deprecating way with a story, a quirky perception of the world and a wonderful story to tell. And he sings like a dream.

Everyone Is Interesting: The Committed Edition

Beginning at Meridian Place at the Barrie Cenotaph.

Created by Mammalian Diving Reflex.

A community walking project that aims to explore, play with, and unite the individuals who call Barrie and environs, home. Yes audience participation—don’t be afraid, the guides are sweet, kind, curious and caring. The group plays games to get to know each other and bond, to become comfortable in asking and answering questions, and to make the group curious about others. It was a wonderful, eye-opening experience, ending in a picnic of sorts with treats.

White Taffeta Silk (or, Don’t Do It Bestie!)

At the Hampton Inn Guest Laundry Room, 74 Bryne Dr. Barrie.

Written by Nathaniel Hanula-James

Directed by Sadie Berlin

From the program: “In the nowhere town of Peplum, Ont., three days before prom, two teenagers steal a wedding dress and unleash a frightful force. Billed as a ‘claustrophobic horror-comedy about the meaning of marriage, and the desire to keep your loved ones close.”

It’s about spirits and how they poses a person, wedding dress or not.

Charlotte (Helen Belay) and Eunice (Emerjade Simms) are the two friends. Charlotte is the more daring of the two. Eunice does go along with her friend’s plans but she’s wary. Both Helen Belay and Emerjade Simms give lively, bold performances. Nathaniel Hanula-James has a wild imagination and a good sense of story and character. Sadie Berlin directs so that it begins with a bang and never lets the audience relax. Terrific.

Telephone of the Wind

In a solitary corner of Memorial Square in a white structure, is a Wind Phone.

From the programme: “The first Telephone of the Wind was created by the Japanese artist Itaru Sasaki, in 2010, in response to the death of his cousin from cancer. Sasaki purchased a derelict phone booth, installed a disconnected rotary phone, and set it up in his garden.

In 2011, after a tsunami in Japan left over 15,000 dead and over 2,500 missing, Sasaki relocated the phone booth to a hill near the town of Otsuchi: the place with the highest number of recorded missing persons. It has become a place where people from Otsuchi, Japan, and all over the world can come to ‘call’ people they have lost. “

What a heart-squeezing thought. And yes, I made several calls on the phone.

Confess to the Dress

Talk is Free Theatre asked four designers to create wedding dress installations around a theme of their choice. They are placed around the downtown core of Barrie. I found one in a ‘bustling place’. Very art d’eco and stylish; beads, beautiful. You will be asked to write a note expressing whatever, including your first love.

There will also be readings of two new plays in development, next week: Something Old  by Keara Voo and Baby by Iris Rhian. I have heard a reading of Something Old. It’s terrific. Keara Voo is one to watch.

Talk is Free Theatre.

Runs until Sept. 29, 2024.

For further information: www.TIFT.ca

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Live and in person at the Berkeley Street Theatre, a Canadian Stage and Belfry Theatre joint production in association with the Stratford Festival. Playing until Oct. 12, 2024

www.canadianstage.com

Written by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan

Directed by Jani Lauzon

Set by Joanna Yu

Costumes by Asa Benally

Lighting by Louise Guinand

Composer and sound designer, Wayne Kelso

Cast: Brefny Caribou

Merewyn Comeau

Richard Comeau

Catherine Fitch

Nathan Howe

Grace Lamarche

Amanda Lisman

John Wamsley

A gently pointed play in which Indigenous voices give Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well an Indigenous interpretation.

NOTE: The play was performed last year at the Stratford Festival with the same director (Jani Lauzon), the same creatives (Joanna Yu, Asa Benally, Louise Guinand, Wayne Kelso)  and two of the same actors (Richard Comeau and John Walmsley). Of the eight actors, six are new to the production: Brefny Caribou, Merewyn Comeau, Catherine Fitch, Nathan Howe and Amanda Lisman).

The Story. It’s 1939 in an Anglican residential school in northern Ontario. A royal visit from George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth is anticipated and the students are being primed to present a production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well. Their fussy, formidable teacher Miss Sian Ap Dafyyd will direct them. Father Callum Williams will play the King of France.

As the students prepare and struggle with the British accent (of course they have to do the British accent according to Miss Ap Dafyyd, that is the only way to do Shakespeare), they realize that, for them, the story is really an Indigenous story and is about them and their own trials and tribulations. Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well is an orphan and has inherited her late father’s knowledge of medicine and is carrying on his traditions and knowledge. The student playing Helena is certain Helena is Mohawk. The student playing Parolles is certain that this character (Spanish in Shakespeare) is actually Métis. The student playing Bertram is also Indigenous and applies that to Bertram. The students are committed to their interpretation even though there is opposition to the idea from Miss Ap Dafyyd.

Then the press gets wind of the production and that it will be presented as ‘authentically Canadian,’ and matters go from there.

The Production. When we realize the play takes place in a residential school in northern Ontario in 1939, it’s hard not to think of the recent horrifying discovery of the unmarked graves at various residential schools across the country and the heart wrenching stories of what traumatized survivors endured at the hands of the teachers and clergy at those schools.

In 1939 co-writers Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan have taken a subtler way of dealing with what these Indigenous students and their parents etc. endured without sacrificing the power of the story.  The message is clear and resounding without being hard-hitting.     

Joanna Yu has created a set of three blackboards positioned across the small space. The center blackboard has “1939” on it written in chalk. We are in a class room with chairs on their sides on the floor at the top of the play. The chairs will be positioned properly by the arriving students.

During 1939, students write in chalk on those blackboard, sometimes pleading letters (“Mamma, did you get my letter?”), sometimes just a word like “home”. As soon as the message is written and the student leaves the space, either Miss Ap Dafyyd (Catherine Fitch) or Father Callum Williams (Nathan Howe) comes along and rubs out the message with a brush. It’s not done with anger or frustration. It’s just a calmly matter of fact cleaning of a blackboard. The messages are of longing, yearning and homesickness. Some of the students have been there for several years and have not been home.

At the beginning of the play a student is asked who he is and he automatically gives his number and just as quickly corrects himself and gives his name. Giving his number so automatically is a subtle ‘gut-punch’ to those who hear it. Every effort was made to remove their Indigenous language, customs and traditions and make them blend in as “Canadian.”

Every effort was made to break up siblings, but somehow Joseph Summers (Richard Comeau) and his sister Beth (Grace Lamarche) were there in that school and they just never told anyone they were siblings and it never came out. Of course, why would it if they are ‘called’ by number and not their name.  It was also forbidden that the boys and girls should mingle except in the class room.

We learn that if an Indigenous woman marries a white man she loses her ‘Indian’ status and is removed from the reserve. We learn from one student named Jean Delorme (John Wamsley) his Indigenous mother married a white man who later deserted her when she was removed from the reserve.  She prevailed on her own and was determined that her children would have an education.

These revelations are revealed carefully over the course of 1939, as the students rehearse and learn about All’s Well That Ends Well. Here is a play that takes place in Europe but these students find resonance to their own lives in northern Ontario.

Miss Ap Dafyyd (Catherine Fitch) feels strongly about Shakespeare and how to do the play correctly. She insists that the students use a British accent.  She is Welsh. When she was a child growing up she was always made to feel inadequate because she was Welsh.  Miss Ap Dafyyd is played by Catherine Fitch with lots of officiousness and conviction but no Welsh or British accent at all. I thought that odd.  Her speech is clipped and enunciated. If anything, she is harried by the task of doing this play. Ap Dafyyd is not a mean, cruel woman. She just seems out of place in that school and as frustrated as the students are as well. 

Co-writers Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan carefully reveal the developing confidence, resilience and quiet resistance of the students through Shakespeare. Evelyne Rice (Merewyn Comeau ) is cast as Helena and is certain she is Mohawk. Helena knows about medicines, as Evelyne does because of her Indigeneity so the connection is appropriate. As Evelyne Rice, Merewyn Comeau brings out all Evelyne’s curiosity, generosity and joy in playing a character so close to herself. Evelyne is easy going, smart and tenacious in all the right ways. She quietly lets the local newspaper know that the production of All’s Well That Ends Well will be done as ‘authentically Canadian.’ Wonderful. The students find their authentic voice through their parts.

Joseph Summer (Richard Comeau) is cast as Bertram. Richard Comeau plays Joseph with gentle grace but a longing to go home that squeezes the heart.  He pines to return home to the reserve and proudly retain his culture. Joseph’s sister Beth Summers (Grace Lamarche) is devoted to the subject. Beth loves Shakespeare and has read many of his plays. She knows All’s Well That Ends Well. She is championed by Miss Ap Dafyyd but that didn’t lead Miss Ap Dafyyd to cast her as Helena. Still, perhaps Beth is being championed by Miss Ap Dafyyd because Beth wants to be a teacher. Enthusiasm and positivity pour out of Grace Lamarche’s performance.

Jean Delorme (John Wamsley) plays Parolles and is certain he’s Métis. Parolles gives Jean validation. Jean’s mother is Indigenous and his father is white. His mother lost her ‘Indian’ status because she married a white man, as well as her place on the reserve. To add insult to injury Jean’s mother was deserted by her husband. John Wamsley as Jean Delorme is wonderful in the part. He is wistful, attentive, curious, sweetly humble, watchful and confident.   Father Callum Williams (Nathan Howe) is an awkward, self-absorbed, nervous man in which his nervousness is manifest in flatulence. Not a good thing when your job necessitates you do a lot of public speaking and playing the King of France in All’s Well That Ends Well doesn’t help matters. Rounding out the cast are Brefny Caribou who plays Susan Blackbird with a watchful sadness, and Amanda Lisman who plays Madge Macbeth, a wily journalist who knows how to get a story and make people want to read it.

1939 only touches on the war looming in Europe. The bigger issue for co-writers Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan is looking at the Indigenous students in this residential school and finding a positive way of illuminating their hope, resolve, tenacity and embrace of a Shakespeare play to speak for them and help them find their true voice. Jani Lauzon has directed the play with a quiet vision and a keen way of establishing relationships, a sure hand and with attention to detail and compassion.

The play has a lot to say that is important to hear. The message is quietly resounding and clear.

Comment.  (Bringing a message closer to home). A few years ago, the Shaw Festival programmed a production of Shakespeare’s Henry V (you read that right) interpreted as if it was being performed by a group of soldiers, hunkered down in the trenches during WWI. During the intermission the audience was invited to fill in cards with their memories of war etc. and some would be read during the beginning of the next Act.

At the end of the run there was an instillation of sorts in a field near the theatre. The army boots the cast wore as soldiers during Henry V were positioned around the field and in every boot was a card that had been completed during the run of the show, noting a person’s memory of war, etc. One card stayed with me. The handwriting was perfect and elegant, the message was devastating. The writer said that her father enlisted to fight for Canada during WWII, I believe she said her father thought it was his patriotic duty. When he came back safely from fighting for Canada her father learned that because he enlisted, he was stripped of his ‘Indian’ status. Devastating. The writer was Jani Lauzon.

Canadian Stage and the Belfry Theatre joint production in association with the Stratford Festival present:

Runs until Oct. 12, 2024: 

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

www.canadianstage.com

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Live and in person at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Playing until Oct. 5, 2024.

www.buddiesinbadtimes.com

Written by Bernard-Marie Koltès

Translator, Martin Crimp

Directed by ted witzel

Costume and set designer, Michelle Tracey

Lighting by Logan Raju Cracknell

Composer and sound by Dasha Plett

Cast: Samantha Brown

Jakob Ehman

Fiona Highet

Daniel Macivor

Kwaku Okyere

Oyin Oladejo

Challenging, dazzling, pretentious, compelling, thought-provoking.

The Story. Roberto Zucco is a challenging play by Bernard-Marie Koltès and it’s opening the season at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

It was written in 1989 by Bernard-Marie Koltès a celebrated French playwright who was dying of AIDS that would eventually kill him. In the meantime the play was a hit in Europe and elsewhere.

It’s about a cold-blooded serial killer named Roberto Zucco and it was based on a real serial killer in Paris and later Europe named Roberto Succo. Roberto Zucco has murdered his father and is in prison. He escapes right under the noses of the guards and goes home to collect his fatigues. His mother is there and is afraid of him, naturally. But he quietly gets his clothes from the laundry hamper then he strangles his mother because her angst and nagging annoyed him.

We follow him as he interacts with all sorts of people: a young woman he might have raped but who loves him; an old man who gets lost in a deserted section of a subway and they have an esoteric conversation bordering on the frightening, about being lost; a stylish woman and her son that ends badly and involves a stolen car.

Roberto Zucco is charming, forbidding, philosophical and dangerous. We are both horrified and impressed with him.

The Production. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre caters to LGBTQIA2S stories. The theatre company has had a troubling, contentious last few years with internal squabbling, losing their board, their artistic director etc.

And with Roberto Zucco Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is back with a vengeance with a new Artistic Director in ted witzel, a clear mandate and philosophy and a roster of plays beginning with Roberto Zucco, that will attempt to knock your socks off for many reasons.

Bernard-Marie Koltès apparently saw a wanted poster of the real Roberto Succo in a Paris subway and was intrigued by the handsome face and the horror of what he did. The play seems part hero worship and being intrigued by his many and various escapes from the authorities. There are other characters: the young woman he allegedly raped; her dysfunctional family, the too easy slide into prostitution. I think Koltès writes about this murky world without judgement and definitely compassion, as if Zucco was who he was because of society, his family etc. and not a born psychopath.

The production is dazzling.  It’s directed by ted witzel, the artistic director, and he obviously is making a statement. He packs his production with all the bells and whistles one expects of him. He’s a very compelling director. He has a clear vision of the dark world of the play.

So, Logan Raju Cracknell’s lighting is moody and startling with lots of shadows and blazing light. There are smoke effects, walls come down to reveal characters; Dasha Plett’s composition and sound design, underscore action with a subtly throbbing, pulsing sound. Michelle Tracey has designed a complex set in which set pieces of walls and props are moved and revolved to establish new scenes. There are moments of quiet that are heightened with the sense of impending doom that are beautifully established.

A scene in the deserted subway with Roberto Zucco (Jakob Ehman) and a smartly dressed older man (Daniel Macivor) is one scene in particular that is fraught with possible doom. The two men sit close on a short bench. Daniel Macivor as the older man notes the possibility of danger but also mixes that with a seductive impishness, touching Roberto Zucco’s leg often for effect. Jakob Ehman as Roberto for his part, plays along with the impishness, but there is more than a hint of danger because we know Roberto Zucco’s penchant for killing those who get in his way. Jakob as Roberto Zucco is never anything but compelling. He is soft spoken, seemingly almost wounded by an unjust world, but his cold-blooded behaviour suggests that he is without conscience. He disarms people because he appears shy, awkward, inquisitive and he shakes when he holds a gun to someone’s head. But of course we are also terrified of him.

Roberto says he squashes people in his way, because he doesn’t notice them. It’s a fascinating line from Martin Crimp’s fascinating translation.

There are lovely performances from: Fiona Highet who plays his frightened mother and a cool socialite; Samantha Brown plays an almost innocent young woman who loves him, but is calculated in her way; Daniel MacIvor also plays a witty prison guard along with Oyin Oladejo who has her own confidence; and Kwaku Okyere plays the young woman’s protective brother who coldly ‘sells’ her into prostitution when he learns she’s not as pure as he thought.

And while I do say the production is ‘dazzling’ something happened on opening night that also put the production in perspective.

Earlier, there was an accident in which the stage manager was hurt so the apprentice stage manager (ASM) had to step up and learn the whole show in a matter of an hour or so.

There was a delay in starting without explanation (except for those who review being told by a very efficient press agent) and the audience was in a holding pattern in the bar. Finally, after 20 minutes past the start time, there was the announcement and explanation that they needed to keep people safe and take the time to guide the ASM through the show.  At half hour past the start time we were let into the theatre by a circuitous route as a ‘part of the experience.’  

As I’m watching the show, seeing many stage crew scurry in the dark taking props on and off the stage, shifting set pieces, revolving walls, I realize that for all the production’s bells and whistles, the smoke billowing, the fans blowing for effect, the constant pulsing of the accompanying music, that the show is over-produced. Dazzling to be sure, and over-designed and over-produced. A director in the very center of the work, making a statement about his work.

I can appreciate that ted witzel wants to make a statement that Buddies in Bad Times is back with a vengeance, but in context the production is at times self-indulgent and dare I say it, pretentious.

As for Bernard-Marie Koltès’ play it reminded me of the “angry young man” type of work. It’s a fascinating story of a serial killer full of esoteric musings, philosophical comments on loneliness, money, commercialism, society, and class. There are witty literary illusions—to Hamlet for example.

Two guards (Daniel Macivor and Oyin Olaejo)  talk about guarding a prison, and one thinks he heard something and the other is not sure—it is a reworking of the first scene in Hamlet in which a noise terrifies the guard. In Roberto Zucco the playwright is being cute with a literary slant. Fine and dandy. That said, I also found swaths of the play self-indulgent with philosophical musings that slowed down the pace.

I was glad that the apprentice stage manager, Kayla Thomas, was brought out for the company bow at the end, but in truth she should have had her own bow separately from everybody else just so we know who she was. It’s the little things that make the difference.

So, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is back with a vengeance. Buckle up.

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents:

Plays until Oct. 5, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours or so (no intermission)

www.buddiesinbadtimes.com

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Live and in person at the Streetcar Crow’s Nest, Toronto, Ont. Plays until Oct. 17, 2024.

www.crowstheatre.com

Written by Henrik Ibsen

A new adaptation by Duncan Macmillan

Directed by Chris Abraham

Set and props by Joshua Quinlan

Costumes by Ming Wong

Lighting by Kimberly Purtell

Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne

Cast: Ben Carlson

Beau Dixon

Virgilia Griffith

Kate Hennig

Diego Matamoros

Jonathan Young

Sturla Alvsvåg

Alicia Richardson

Norman Yeung

Beautifully directed and acted.

The Story. It’s a year after John Rosmer’s wife has died by taking her own life. John Rosmer was a pastor at the local church but he left it because he lost his faith. He felt that his loss of faith led his wife to end her life. He is also the heir to his family’s dynasty. The Rosmer family is one of the leading families in the area. But trouble is brewing. Rebecca West was Rosmer’s wife’s companion when she was dying and Rebecca stayed on in the house after the wife died. She has become very close to John Rosmer and rumours are flying. There is also an impending election about to happen and the divisions in loyalty are forming. Rosmer intends to support the newly elected government following a reformist agenda and not the staid conservatives. But when he announces that to his brother-in-law Andreas Kroll, Kroll is enraged and this defection of the ruling class ideas. Kroll is quite firm in how the classes should behave. Rosmer and Rebecca are haunted by the memory-ghost of Rosmer’s wife; by their love for each other and the guilt they experience because of it; what people will think and the need to move forward but being thwarted.

The Production. Joshua Quinlan’s set takes up the whole room of the theatre. The configuration is similar to Uncle Vanya. The audience sits on four sides of the space. There is little furniture: a large table, a chair etc. On one side are huge glassed doors that look out onto a bridge, a river and scenery. Curtains are on either side of the large glassed doors.

Chris Abraham directs with his customary attention to detail and nuance. There is a heightened emotion to the whole enterprise, indicating the stakes in any instance are high and usually fraught. Governor Andreas Kroll (Ben Carlson) establishes this sense when he arrives in a swirl at Rosmersholm. As Andreas Kroll, Ben Carlson is precise in his clipped speech, commanding and completely confident. Class distinction rules everything he does and with whom he interacts. He holds staunchly to his beliefs and feels that Rosmer has to as well because of his stature in the community. Equally as impassioned is John Rosmer, played with conviction by Jonathan Young. He is also riddled with guilt about the death of his wife and because he loves Rebecca West (Virgilia Griffith). Rebecca West is played by Virgilia Griffith with regal composure, clarity and a steely calmness. She too has strong ideas and holds them close. She also convinces Rosmer to share those ideas. For much of the play there are tugs of war between the ideas and convictions between characters as well as the internal struggles of characters to come to grips with their fears and concerns.

Director Chris Abraham has the confident ability to keep the pace whizzing while subtly ramping up the emotion until the explosive last scene.

That said, I thought that last scene a bit confusing. Something is happening near the bridge and the river and can be seen from the double doors at Rosmersholm. Governor Andreas Kroll bursts into the room looking for Rosmer and can’t find him. He looks around the room and then leaves by another door. I can’t recall him looking out the double doors to see if perhaps Rosmer is there. Without him looking, seeing and being startled by what he is witnessing, the power of that final scene is deflated. I thought that odd-that it didn’t look like Kroll looked out the doors to see what was happening.

Henrik Ibsen wrote Rosmersholm in 1886. It’s interesting how timely the play seems because it talks of an important election coming up and how rancorous it seems, just like our modern times. And there are people in the play who staunchly believe there is only one way to think, just like today. And there is much wisdom too as in Rosmer saying: “Let the people hear all sides” of an argument. There is also this line: “Can’t we disagree without bloodshed?” Wise words ignored because of ignorance.

Comment. I wonder if the people seated in the section beside the wall that has the glassed doors can see anything that happens there. I can see fine. I wonder about the folks in the section to my right—what can they see?

I love the echoes of similar themes in Ibsen, especially the heartfelt belief, trust in people to do the right thing. Rosmer believes that people will see his way of thinking and will support the radically new government. He is emotionally shattered when that doesn’t turn out to be true.

I’m reminded of other trusting Ibsen characters. Nora in A Doll’s House is totally trusting that her husband will take the blame for her forgery when he finds out why she did it. He doesn’t take the blame and she is shattered, is not sure of anything any more and decides to leave him until she finds out who she is first. She closes the door and seeks a new, open life. Note she does not “slam” the door as has been said for the more than 100 years since the play first appeared. The stage direction says “closed the door.” I reckon some disgruntled man, writer, “critic” ranted out that Nora “slammed” the door when she left and that stuck. It’s wrong. She closed the door. She doesn’t need to slam anything to make her point.

Hedda in Hedda Gabler firmly believes she will have all the things and servants that money can buy because she was brought up to expect it. Boy, did she get that wrong. Dr. Stockmann in An Enemy of the People realizes that the town’s water supply is polluted and expects that the people will shut down the new spa because of it, never mind that the town needs tourists. Stockmann believes he will be hailed a hero for it. Boy, did he get that wrong. All these trusting, decent people (for the most part) live in a dream world when it comes down to it. Still Ibsen keeps writing about them. He’s a fascinating playwright and this production of Rosmersholm is a good indication why.

Crow’s Theatre presents:

Plays until Oct. 17, 2024

Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes (1 intermission)

www.crowstheatre.com

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Live and in person at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto, Ont. playing until Oct. 6, 2024.

www.mirvish.com

Based on the novel by Yann Martel

Adapted for the stage by Lolita Chakrabarti

Directed by Max Webster

Set and costumes by Tim Hatley

Lighting by Tim Lutkin and Tim Deiling

Sound by Carolyn Downing

Composer, Andrew T. Mackay

Video design by Andrzej Goulding

Puppetry and movement by Finn Caldwell

Puppet design by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell

Cast: Divesh Subaskaran

Kazeem Tosin Amore

Antony Antunes

Bhawna Bhawsar

Ameet Chana

Fred Davis

Daisy Franks

Akash Heer

Katie Kennedy-Rose

Aizah Khan

Chand Martinez

Mohit Mathur

Mark Matthews

Goldy Notay

Riya Rajeev

Kate Rowsell

Lilian Tsang

Peter Twose

Vinesh Veerasami

A stunning and magical theatrical rendering of Yann Martel’s celebrated book about story-telling, imagination, savagery, humanity,  faith, belief, and the truth.

The Story. It starts in 1978, in Mexico in a hospital room. Piscine Patel is 17-years-old. He is the lone survivor of a shipwreck in which his family and all the other people on the ship perished. He survived 227 days on a lifeboat, often without food and water, and investigators for the shipping line want to know what happened. Patel then begins to weave the many and various stories that have brought him to this place. He begins with his name. Because cruel schoolmates deliberately mispronounced his first name to sound like an insult, Patel changed his name to “Pi.”

NOTE: FROM WIKIPEDIA: “The number π; spelled out as “pi” is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle‘s circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159.  It is an irrational number, meaning that it cannot be expressed exactly as a ratio of two integers. 227 Consequently, its decimal representation never ends, nor enters a permanently repeating pattern.”

Pi is a perfect name (metaphor?) for Pi Patel because on one level his never-ending stories seem irrational, fantastical and are never repeated, just like an ‘irrational number.’

The Production. Director Max Webster’s production is inventive and eye-popping in its creativity. There is a constant swirl of seamless activity as the story shifts from Pi in the hospital room telling his story, and then back to the past, where the story is enacted.

It begins in India where Pi lives happily with his parents and sister. His father is the manager of a zoo and some of the animals are: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and the prize among them is a huge, forbidding Bengal tiger.

All the animals and later fish and a turtle are portrayed by puppets. Kudos to Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell who are the puppet designers and Finn Caldwell for the puppetry and movement. Puppeteers manipulate and maneuver the puppets around the stage in lifelike movement. With respect to the tiger a puppeteer is inside the structure manipulating the front legs with others maneuvering the back legs, while another might operate the tail. Each puppet has its distinctive movement and ‘personality.’ The audience has a good chance of observing how the puppeteers create the movement and actions of each animal until they just forget those people are there and what they are really looking at are a live hyena, zebra, orangutan and Bengal tiger on stage.

As Pi, Divesh Subaskaran gives a towering performance for this complex character. Pi is a boyish, inquisitive 17-year-old. He is curious about the world and in particular the existence of God, to the point that he looks not only to his Hinduism for signs of God’s existence, but also investigates Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism for ways that those religions believe as well. He quietly notes that to pay respects to those religions he goes to church, the mosque, the synagogue and temple to worship daily.   Interestingly, when Pi is suffering horribly from thirst and hunger over those 227 days at sea, he prays to God (no other name) for solace and hope.  

In both the hospital and negotiating the small lifeboat at sea, Divesh Subaskaran is agile, athletic and almost balletic. He is joined on the boat by the hyena, zebra, orangutan, and suddenly from beneath a tarpaulin, the fearsome Bengal Tiger. Negotiating space with what might be called savage animals requires all of Pi’s wily intelligence and humanity. Eventually, there is only Pi and the forbidding tiger.

Designer Tim Hatley’s set is both simple and efficient. When the storm comes that capsizes the ship on which Pi and his family and the animals are travelling, the ‘walls’ of the ship are rolled away and other parts are slid on to form the lifeboat that is bobbing precariously in the choppy sea along with Pi and the terrified and terrifying animals. Andrew T. Mackay’s video design of a swirling sea and pelting rain are evocative of the challenges that Pi endures.

When the scenes return to the hospital room and Pi weaves his stories, they take on a mystical aura. While he does not discuss the existence of God directly, there is a discussion of believing in something one can’t see. He questions the investigators about his stories, their belief in them and references to faith. And finally, when the investigators need and want to know what really happened at sea, on that boat, Pi gives them two stories to ponder. One is of jaw dropping savagery and the other is a kind of humanity, and deciding which is which is not cut and dried or what you expect.

The Life of Pi is an eloquent and elegant metaphor. Lolita Chakrabarti has taken Yann Martel’s stunning book and adapted it for the stage with sensitivity, muscularity and breathtaking poetry.   

Comment. The Life of Pi is a complex, challenging story of faith, tenacity, cherishing life in all forms and resilience. It is also a dazzling piece of theatre that grabs the imagination and never lets go even until the final, stunning and moving moment.

Mirvish Productions present:

Plays until Oct. 6, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours and 10 minutes (1 intermission)

www.mirvish.com

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Girls Unwanted

Live and in person at the King Black Box Theatre, 1224 King St. W., 3^rd Floor, no elevator, Toronto, Ont.

Playing until Sept. 29, 2024.

https://www.thekingblackbox.com

Written and directed by George F. Walker

Production design by Sophie Ann Rooney

Costumes by Madison Caan

Cast: Louis Akins

Alexandra Floras-Matic

Ziggy Schulting

L.A. Sweeney

Marline Yan

Vintage George F. Walker: marginalized characters trying to get by in a production that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the final curtain.

The Story. Hanna, Kat and Ash are three women living in a half-way house, trying to exist in their troubled world. They are supervised by Maddy who has her own problems. When one of Maddy’s co-workers is murdered no one in the halfway house is safe from suspicion.

The Production. Bravo to the feisty, young company of The King Black Box Theatre who reached out to George F. Walker for a play and he not only ‘offered’ them Girls Unwanted, but he also directs it as well.

George F. Walker is one of the stalwarts of Canadian theatre and yet for all he has contributed to the theatre and keeps on writing, he is rarely produced these days in Toronto. That is a disgrace. You can also add Brad Fraser to that group of playwrights not produced in this city. Disgraceful squared. So, bravo to the gutsy King Black Box Theatre who know and respect their theatre history and the people who create it.

The theatre is on the third floor of a building on King Street just west of Dufferin, in Parkdale. There is no elevator. The space is small—seating about 40 seats. The staff, to a person, is charming, helpful and accommodating. Seeing a play here is an adventure and Girls Unwanted is a wild ride and worth every breathless moment.

The three women who live at the halfway house all have their issues. Hanna (Ziggy Schulting) is abrasive and combative. Kat (Alexandra Floras-Matic) was adopted but then abused by her adoptive parents and left that life to live on the streets. Ash (Marline Yan) is damaged and delusional. Hanna and Kat have a particular animosity towards each other and are usually wrangling over some slight or other, never letting the other get away with anything. Interestingly, Kat is the most compassionate of all the characters and suggests an ability to change, while the others are stuck in their ruts.

Maddy (L.A. Sweeney) is the supervisor of the house. She has her own issues as well. And Max (Louis Akins) is a surprise visitor, being the long-lost brother of one of the women. There has been a murder of one of Maddy’s colleagues and all the people in the house are suspect.

George F. Walker’s dialogue is taut, combative and forceful. His characters have to think quickly on their feet and never let a moment catch them unawares. These women are wily, smart, fierce abrasive and fearless in their dealings with each other. While Hanna and Kat go after each other at every opportunity—bravo to the Ziggy Schulting as Hanna and Alexandra Floras-Matic as Kat—the acting of the whole cast is terrific.

George F. Walker directs with the same energy and grip as his dialogue. Characters are up close in those tight quarters. There is a finesse to maneuvering Sophie Ann Rooney’s functional, seedy set and this cast does it with style.  

The King Black Box Theatre presents:

Plays until Sept. 29, 2024.

Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission)

www.thekingblackbox.com

FIERCE

Live and in person at the Alumnae Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Produced by Moss Theatre Collective and Alumnae Theatre. Playing until Sept. 21, 2024

https://mosstheatrecollective.ca

Written and directed by George F. Walker

Set by Douglas Tiller

Costumes by Fabiana Mercurio

Sound by Shannon Farrell

Lighting by Daniel Shiels

Cast: Liz Best

Elizabeth Friesen

George F. Walker’s production and the acting are indeed fierce but some of the situations in  Walker’s script stretched credulity. Still, it’s a George F. Walker play written and director by Walker and that’s cause for celebration.

The Story. Jayne is an angry, unrepentant druggie who was hit by a truck while she was high. She just walked into traffic, oblivious of the oncoming truck and was hit.  The judge in the case has sent Jayne to see Maggie, a psychiatrist, for assessment to see how to proceed. When they meet there are fireworks. Jayne is perceptive, knows how to zero into a person’s weaknesses and to work them to her advantage. She knows secrets about Maggie (she’s looked her up and done her research). Maggie fights back finding out secrets about Jayne that reveal the cause of her anger. Both women are fierce in their combative wrangling with each other.

The Production. Bravo to Moss Theatre Collective and Alumnae Theatre for having George F. Walker direct Fierce, one of his unpublished plays. Douglas Tiller’s set of Maggie’s office is simple, tasteful and calming.

Jayne (Elizabeth Friesen) wears sweatpants and a stained sweat shirt. Perhaps the stains are blood from her accident.  Her pinky/purple hair is disheveled and unwashed. She stands sizing up Maggie (Liz Best). Jayne is watchful and susses out a situation and people. Jayne thinks the judge was hiding something and is insecure because she used too much makeup. She has looked up information about Maggie’s past and holds that up to her, again, challenging her power. Jayne toys with Maggie about what really happened on the night of the accident, why she takes drugs, and what happened in her life. Maggie struggles to break down Jayne’s defenses, to get to the truth.

Both actresses are fine. Elizabeth Friesen as Jayne is angry, feisty, belligerent, wounded and hurting. Liz Best as Maggie is uptight, self-contained but easily broken. When both actresses wrangle and argue it is ‘fierce’ of course, as expected. When they both try LSD their defenses seem to disappear, as Maggie has a bad trip and Jayne does not.

Director George F. Walker guides the two actresses to their explosive revelations—occasionally as does happen the dialogue is so fast one wonders if the two characters are listening to each other in order to answer. Always a tricky proposition.

 Comment. Playwright, George F. Walker is a champion of the marginalized, not just the underdog. His characters are on the edges of society, but they function well in their own way with their demons. Jayne and Maggie are two such typical Walker characters. Jayne is haunted by a death in her family and is mysterious about revealing who or what that was to Maggie. She obviously has a heart as we see in her dealings with her students when she was a teacher.  Maggie has her own demons she has to live with and has tried to overcome them by moving on and becoming a psychiatrist.

In a way, Jayne hanging on to her rage through drugs and not wanting to let go of her demons is the fiercer of the two. While Maggie should be the one in control of the situation—seeing a patient in her office for counselling—because of her training, it’s really Jayne who is calling the shots and controlling the proceedings. It’s Jayne who makes a suggestion about their relationship that Maggie seems to go along with.

That’s my problem. I don’t believe the situation in that psychiatrist’s office, or that Maggie is so inept in dealing with such a manipulative, wily character as Jayne. I don’t believe that she would go along with Jayne’s incredible suggestion at the end of the play.

If Jayne can break down her psychiatrist so easily, how is it possible the judge recommended that Jayne see Maggie of all people? If Jayne can find out such details about Maggie’s background as if it’s a secret, how can we believe no one else wouldn’t know? Are we also to believe that no one else would have known about Jayne’s troubled family life before she saw Maggie, her psychiatrist? Sorry, I just don’t believe this.

If there is disbelief in the truth, credibility of the characters, then the whole structure of the play collapses. Truly, what am I supposed to glean from Walker’s play and his fierce characters? Troubling questions, but I’m still glad to have seen this play by this celebrated playwright, who always gets me thinking and pondering.

The Moss Theatre Collective and Alumnae Theatre presents:

Plays until Sept. 21, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours (approx.) (no intermission)

https://mosstheatrecollective.ca

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Qalb (a journey of the Ego) had a short (one week) run at the Tarragon Theatre and closed Sept. 14 but it warrants comment. Any show created and performed by Dawn Jani Birley is worthy of comment.

1S1 Production, co-presented by Why Not Theatre. Presented in ASL and spoken English.

Written by Salla Fagerström, Debbie Z. Rennie, Deb’e Taylor and Dawn Jani Birley.

Directed by Debbie Z. Rennie

Set by Maryam Hafizirad

Costumes by Giedrius Šarkauskas

Lighting by André du Toit

Cast: Dawn Jani Birley

Deb’e Taylor (and Taiko Drummer)

Here is the website blurb in total: We have been asked to quote the language exactly so I am using the whole website blurb about Qalb – A Journey of the Ego-

“Qalb means “heart” in Persian, the native language of the beloved 13th century poet, Rumi. Diving into his world of thoughts and poetry, 1s1 Theatre’s latest production Qalb – A Journey of the Ego is about heart and resilience. Inspired by Dawn Jani Birley’s life as a Deaf person facing audism, her struggle for equity is relatable to all dealing with oppression. Birley turns to the philosophy of Rumi to transform her isolation, anger, and frustration into a force of love in the world.

A completely new and original work, Qalb creates a dynamic communication space for everyone, bringing ASL (along with spoken English) to the stage, celebrating the richness of this vivid, visual language. Following its 2023 ground-breaking debut production, Lady M, 1s1 Theatre continues to forge a new Deaf-led theatre movement in Canada. Their latest work offers Deaf audiences access to Rumi’s poetry in their native language and presents both Deaf and hearing audiences new ways of seeing and understanding the world. Together, following the wisdom of Rumi, we work to become reflections of our true selves and create a world in which we all wish to live.”

One must also note Dawn Jani Birley’s explosive appearance on the Toronto stage in Prince Hamlet, Why Not Theatre’s compelling reworking of Hamlet in which she played Horatio and signed the performance. Horatio became the centre of the production. Birley was magnetic, vivid and arresting in her energy in expression in the part.

While the explanation of Qalb – A Journey of the Ego-is fascinating and conjures how Birley’s isolation, anger and frustration are transformed into a force of love in the world, the actual show is not as convincing.

Anger certainly does drive the show. The despicable phrase “Deaf and dumb” opens the show—describing a person who can’t hear or speak. Birley signs and Deb’e Taylor (who plays Ego) says clearly that she is not ‘dumb.’

One does imagine this old cliché haunting Birley and other deaf people years ago, but one questions its use today, when we are so sensitive to language, definition and application and try scrupulously to ease the way, through respectful language today. Naïve of me? Perhaps, but a valid question. Would an insensitive cretin who would use such a phrase be in this audience? If the phrase is used today it’s clear that the user of the phrase is the ‘dumb’ one. Was its inclusion for the ‘converted?’

There is a scene at a dinner table with family in which the lone deaf person—Dawn Jani Birley—is isolated because the others who are not deaf are not including her because they refuse to learn sign language. This is called the Dinner Table Syndrome.  I found this troubling because Dawn Jani Birley is third generation deaf. Her family would all know American Sigh Language. Is this scene supposed to represent those deaf people in which the family refuses to learn sign to communicate? Shouldn’t that be made clearer? It suggests that Birley experienced that and considering her background, that scene seems disingenuous.

There was a wonderful comment at the beginning of the performance about ‘signing’ and that most of the audience wouldn’t understand it. In fact most of the audience in that last performance were able to understand it because almost all of them were signing in the lobby. I reckon only three of us didn’t understand the signing—it was refreshing to be in ‘the minority’ in this case.

Director Debbie Z. Rennie and her creative team created a beautiful, evocative theatrical production. Surtitles of Rumi poems were projected on a screen in large letters and dissolved with stylish flourishes. I just wished that by the last performance the focus on the projections was sharper so they could be read easily. How could that have been missed? And why Rumi? He is a wonderful poet, but why him for the journey through dealing with the world’s ideas on deafness? I’d love a bit more context.

There were scenes of Dawn Jani Birley and Deb’e Taylor as Ego were intertwined on the floor or danced in connected unison illuminating the wonderful connection of self and ego and the difficulty of separation.

Deb’e Taylor not only vocalized what Dawn Jani Birley was signing, she is also a Taiko drummer and accentuated moments with the amplified drumming. The difficulty was often hearing what she was saying because the drumming drowned her out. We are there to hear, experience, listen and appreciate. Isolating part of the hearing audience? I don’t want to believe that was the intention.

Dawn Jani Birley is a force of creation and a great spokesperson for the deaf community. She has travelled the world and been celebrated for her artistry. One doesn’t doubt the tremendous difficulties she and other deaf people have endured to get to where they want to go. And she got there in spite of insensitive cretins in the way. I appreciate her work. I will always want to see it. I just wished that Qalb -A Journey of the Ego- told a clearer, more genuine story, with more attention to the technical glitches.

The show closed Sept. 14 after performing for a week.

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Live and in person at Here for Now Theatre, at the Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford, Ont. Playing until Sept. 28, 2024.

www.herefornowtheatre.com

Written by Nick Green

Directed by Kelli Fox

Set by Darren Burkett

Costumes by Monique Lund

Cast: David Keeley

Rosie Simon

Jan Alexandra Smith

Bracingly written, exquisitely directed and acted. A play about legacy, being remembered, celebrity and the truth.

I first saw a version of Dinner with the DUCHESS in 2019 at the Next Stage Festival in Toronto. Nick Green has rewritten, expanded, solidified and refocused his play since then, and the difference is marked. The result is gripping, layered in subtext, and delves into the world of music and celebrity with precision and keen observation.

The Story. From the programme: “Fame. Power. Sexism. At the end of a storied career, a violin virtuoso Margaret gives her final interview to Helen, a young, savvy reporter. Aided by her ever-charming husband, David, Margaret must confront secrets and ghosts of the past to face the impossible question: how will she be remembered?”

The Production. Classical violin music plays as the audience files in. I assume it’s one of Margaret’s records playing, which is dispelled when the play starts. Margaret says she never plays music in the house and doesn’t own any of her records. We learn that’s not true.

As Margaret, Jan Alexandra Smith enters quickly, a bit agitated, flipping her perfectly coiffed hair back in nervous gestures. She wears a stunning black neck to toe dress/coat of sorts. It looks like she’s cocooned in it, protecting her against the outside world.  She nervously lights a cigarette, takes a few puffs and puts it out when she goes to meet Helen. Kudos to Monique Lund for the costumes which beautifully complete the characters.

The interview takes place in the condo Margaret (Jan Alexandra Smith) shares with her husband David (David Keeley). Margaret gives Helen (Rosie Simon) a tour of the condo, as if this is a very informal situation, friendly even. Hmmm. Margaret is trying to ease Helen into liking her, her home etc.

Darren Burkett has designed a very chic, minimalist set of the dining room/kitchen; a round glass table with black placemats is off from the kitchen, with three black candleholders with white candles.  There is a colourful bold painting on the wall of the ‘dining room.”  A grey bank with black high chairs separates the kitchen from the rest of the room. I assume people can eat at the ‘bank’ as easily as the round table.

Margaret’s speeches are peppered with little darts of comments that are self-deprecating, playful and very telling as the play goes on. David enters wearing beige linen: a loose shirt and comfortable pants. As David, David Keeley is buoyant, charming, watchful of Margaret and liberal with some snide remarks. Margaret shoots back a barb, with a smile. It’s the kind of cutting conversation that makes the observer suck air and hold on tight to something sturdy, as these two bait each other.  This is not the example of a loving couple that Margaret wants to convey to Helen.  

As Helen, Rosie Simon is smartly dressed in a top, skirt and stylish flat shoes. She has a notepad and tape-recorder. (Note: Rosie Simon also played in the previous production of Dinner with the DUCHESS that I saw in 2019. Her performance has grown and it was terrific in 2019.) Rosie Simon as Helen is also watchful of the situation, assessing what is going on with a clear eye. Helen has done buckets of research and knows deep background on Margaret that she might want to keep private.

To continue this up-close-and-personal-let’s-get-to-know-each-other tack, Helen is invited to dinner that is store bought but David will add his little touches, lemons and their zest factor. Margaret has snide comments about that too.

Helen has pitched the idea to her editors to do this interview. With no fanfare, announcement or celebratory party, Margaret is retiring from performing both in the orchestra where she is first violin and performing solo etc.

Margaret is assuming the interview will be easy and unchallenging but with questions that veer away from the usually banal, “how did you get started?” etc. We soon learn Helen has other ideas. Helen is very cool, confident and focused. She is not an easy pushover. She asks Margaret uncomfortable questions. At the top Helen asks: “How did she get the nickname “The Duchess”? Margaret is startled by the question and won’t answer it. Margaret’s demeanor becomes wary and cold. We are therefore curious about what is beneath Margaret’s charming veneer. Margaret is hiding a lot of secrets. She feels that she has fought tooth and nail against the men for her position in the music world. She feels she has been slighted and not given her due. This is a bitter woman who wants to control the agenda for this last interview about her legacy and Helen won’t let her.  

Kelli Fox has directed an exquisite production that is sensitive yet bristling with shimmering emotions, bitterness, regret and the search for the truth. While Margaret and Helen challenge each other in the interview, David Keeley as David is in the kitchen, but he is riveting as he watches the arguments. His stillness is compelling. The subtle touches of a character’s side-long glance at something being said speaks volumes.

Jan Alexandra Smith plays the part of Margaret with sleek sophistication and classiness that slowly gives way to the cracks in her veneer. This is a character driven by perceived slights and humiliations, both real and imagined. Her arguments about a woman in a man’s world are convincing, but the play goes deeper. But when Margaret goes into rapturous ecstasy in describing a piece of music and her playing of it, Jan Alexandra Smith takes her character into another world of musical perfection.  

As David, David Keeley is a charming man who is not timid about lobbing a well-placed cutting remark. As I said, all is not rosy in that relationship. Rosie Simon is quietly fierce as Helen. She senses a story there—a virtuoso musician retires without fanfare, is a story that goes deeper than credits and recordings. Rosie hears rumours about Margaret and hunts down the sources and the truth. The truth drives Helen, but she is not without compassion.

Nick Green has fashioned a fascinating story of an artist obsessed with playing and making music and what she had to endure to get to the top. His dialogue is bracing. He writes about the artist and the glorious music they make. He also makes us question if we can separate the glorious music from the less than generous, bitter person who makes it; and their lack of acknowledging that they might also be responsible for their situation.

Nick Green’s development of his play is a powerhouse work about art, music, beauty and the harshness of the truth. It is both eloquent and elegantly written. Terrific.

Here for Now Theatre presents:

Plays until September 28, 2024.

Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes (no intermission)

www.herefornowtheatre.com

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