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The following reviews were broadcast on Friday, Oct. 1l, 2013. CIUT FRIDAY MORNING, 89.5 FM.: Night of the Living Dead Live at the Theatre Passe Muraille mainspace until Oct…..Les Misérables at the Princess of Wales Theatre until December 22.

 The guest host was Phil Taylor.

 (PHIL)

1) Good Friday morning. It’s time for our theatre fix with Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. Hi Lynn, what’s up for this week?

 (LYNN)

Hi Phil. Two shows, that couldn’t be more different. The first is Night of the Living Dead, Live—based on the cult horror movie of 1968.

 And Les Misérables the hugely successful musical based on the Victor Hugo classic, reimagined.

 (PHIL)

2) As we usually do, let’s go in order. Night of the Living Dead Live doesn’t seem like the kind of play you would normally see.

 (LYNN)

Blame it on our own Daniel Garber. He knew the publicist from his film work and knew that she was also doing publicity for this play of the movie, and I went to see it because of Daniel. And he owes me big time as a result.

 (PHIL)

3) Before you tell us why, tell us about the story.

 (LYNN)

Night of the Living Dead was first a cult horror movie that set the standard for others to come.The play is called Night of the Living Dead Live.

 It’s about a town that seems to be over run with gools, ‘undead’ who lurch around attacking normal people and eating chunks of them.These gools seem to be afraid of fire and can be killed by a gun shot.The sheriff and his side-kick spend their day shooting what they think are gools but also kill normal people by mistake. Ooops.

 A group of normal people find themselves in a house and try to fend off the gools who always seem to be outside that door or window. There are endless endings because the Sherriff comes up with all sorts of ways that these folks could have survived their ordeal—more weapons; if they only got along etc. And with every suggestion the cast regroups and presents the scene again but with a different focus using the suggestion of the Sherriff. It makes for a long evening.

 (PHIL)

4) Why does Daniel owe you big time.

 (LYNN)

Because the whole enterprise is dire. It’s presented by a film company. All the executive producers and producers (in total there are eight of them!) are either in film, television or music videos.

 It’s co-written by Christopher Bond (who also directs), Dale Boyer, and Trevor Martin, all of whom are heavily involved in stand-up comedy, Second City or film.

 There is a program note entitled “About the Play”

Which starts off by saying that Night of the Living Dead Live is a fun and hilarious re-imagining of the classic movie. (They should have been sitting where I was!) Set in 1968 and presented in black and white, it literally feels like the film has been brought to life and placed on stage. The play lovingly examines the movie itself, the period in which it was made, and the film’s undying influence on the horror genre.”

 In a word, drivel. And why are they putting a movie on stage? Why do we need sound effects for every punch, slap or blow? The play re-examines nothing, not the movie or the period in which it was made or the influence on the horror genre.

 What it shows with glaring clarity is that practically none of these people involved in this enterprise has a glimmer of a clue of how theatre actually works.

 I don’t include Michelle Ramsay who does the lights or Richard Feren who does the sound effects. Both these artists toil valiantly in the theatre.

 Christopher Bonds direction is clumsy and awkward. His first scene takes place at the extreme side of the stage where the majority of the audience could not see what was going on. I don’t think that’s a good thing.

 There is a scene in a cemetery that takes place up on a balcony also at the side where, again, most of the audience on the other side couldn’t see what was happening. The acting is declarative and broad. It is not a play.

What it is, is a Second City send-up of the movie. And if it had been presented that way I would have happily passed because I’m not a fan of Second City or that kind of comedy. But when they say it’s a play then I review it as a play.

The best part of it was when the lights went out.

 (PHIL)

5) You better explain that.

 (LYNN)

Close to the end the lighting board died and so did the lights on stage. While they were trying to fix it, the cast—all comedians–gave us some patter, told us about how the show came about; told funny stories.

Then with ingenuity Mr. Bond the director said they would turn the houselights on and continue the show with the lights they had. People shone their cell phones at the stage and got light that way. Loved that ingenuity. And finally the show finished, but the only way we would know that was that “The End” was projected on the back wall.

 As I said, DIRE!!

 (PHIL)

6) And now for something completely different,

Les Misérables. Why is this re-imagined?

 (LYNN)

In 2010 this musical, based on the Victor Hugo classic about the lead-up to the French Revolution, celebrated its 25^th anniversary playing in London.Its brilliant producer, Cameron Mackintosh, decided it should be rethought, re-staged and re-orchestrated for a new audience.

 The story is the same: Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving child, got caught and went to jail for 19 years. When he was released one of his jailers, Javert, vowed to hound him because he knew that once a thief always a thief. Jean Valjean had a rough time in the beginning of his freedom but someone had faith in him and he reformed and prospered. But Javert was always there waiting for him to faulter. It’s a huge story involving love, revolution, and being true to oneself.

 (PHIL)

7) You say it’s for a new audience. Who are they?

 (LYNN)

I think it’s for a younger audience; who want to know the story but without lots of detail. I get the sense that there is little time to build character or establish moments. This new audience tweets and want their information fast. They want their music loud. And they have it here. The orchestra is microphoned and so is the cast. On opening night I thought it was perhaps too loud And some of the dialogue and lyrics were lost. The music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and the lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer are stirring. That music just comes at you like a wave…and it’s terrific.

It’s directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell with a fine sense of the theatrical, not just for glitzy techno stuff to impress. There’s effective use of projection that gives a sense of movement. A group of young revolutionaries march singing “One Day More”. At the same time along the sides of the theatre are projections of a street scene moving back wards giving the sense of the revolutionaries marching forward. Projections are used to recreate the sewers of Paris.It’s beautifully, dramatically lit by Paule Constable; she’s a brilliant designer who achieves the mood and sweep of the story with her effective lighting.

(PHIL)

8) Of course a musical needs singers how is this cast?

(LYNN)

Very impressive and mainly Canadian. Leading the way is Ramin Karimloo as Jean Valjean. Born in Canada but has made his career in London’s West End. He has a powerful voice but at the beginning he is so enraged at his plight that a lot of what he sings gets garbled. However he settles as the show goes on and he gives a fine performance of a man in search of salvation. And his singing of “Bring Him Home” is sublime.

 As Javert, Earl Carpenter is driven and focused on getting Jean Valjean again. As Fontine, a woman trying to make money to save her child, Genevieve Leclerc, shows a desperate mother at the mercy of a cruel society.  As the thieving Thénardier, Cliff Saunders has the dextrousness and flexibility of a man who is made of rubber. He propels himself backwards and lands, sitting on a table; he hops from chair to chair. He is a mass of comedic creativity and a joy to watch.

 (PHIL)

10) It sounds as if you like it even with your critical comments.

 (LYNN)

I do. I love the piece as a whole. It’s wonderfully theatrical. The directors know how to manipulate an audience in a good sense to be swept up in the momentum of the story. It’s a dandy story with a strong cast and, who knows, you might even want to read the book after seeing the show. Or tweet someone.

And yes, you should see it.

 (PHIL)

Thanks Lynn. That was Lynn Slotkin our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. You can read Lynn’s blog at www.slotkinletter.com

 Night of the Living Dead Live plays at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace until October 27.

 Les Misérables plays at the Princess of Wales Theatre until Dec. 22.

 

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The following two reviews were recorded on Friday, December 14, 2012. CIUT FRIDAY MORNING, 89.5 FM: THIS LIME TREE BOWER at the Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs until Dec. 22. and DICKENS’ WOMEN at the Young Centre as part of the Word Festival until Dec. 15.

The host was Rose Palmieri.

(ROSE)
1) It’s Friday morning and time for our theatre fix by Lynn Slotkin our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. Hi Lynn what goodies do you have for us today?

(LYNN)
Two interesting plays in which words are hugely important.

The first is This Lime Tree Bower by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. A terrific storyteller.

And Dickens’ Women, devised and written by Miriam Margolyes and Sonia Fraser, Margolyes is a celebrated British actress who also performs the show. Fraser directs.

It’s about many things including various women characters in Charles Dickens’ novels. Dickens of course is another fantastic storyteller.

(ROSE)
2) Let’s start with This Lime Tree Bower. How are words so important here?

(LYNN)
Of course words are important in any play but when Irish playwright Conor McPherson writes them, they just pulse with life, vividness and sadness. The title references a poem from the 18th century that suggests a self-imposed prison. Very evocative.

Three Dublin men tell us their stories in separate monologues. Joe is 17. His hormones are going into overdrive. He’s enamoured of Damien, a new boy in his class but is also besotted with any pretty girl.

As innocent and naïve as Joe is that’s how confident and manipulative Damien is and coerces Joe into an unsavoury situation with a young woman. Joe lives with his father, his 20 year old brother Frank and sister Carmel. Their mother is dead. The father owns a fish and chip shop.

Frank works there with little prospects. Their father owes a lot of money to the local loan shark. Frank tells us with a bit of rushed enthusiasm or perhaps fear, how he’s going to solve the problem of the loan. Frank is sweet in his intentions to help but one marvels at the naivety of the enterprise and the fool-hardy daring. These are good sons if a bit lacking in smarts.

Ray is in his early 30s. He’s a quick talking university professor whose main talent is sleeping with his students and thinking nothing of it. He is oversexed, under endowed with moral fibre and also sleeping with Carmel, whom he treats as an afterthought.

His one current goal seems to be preparing for the day when a noted scholar comes to town for a lecture and Ray has visions of challenging his ideas and stopping the scholar in his tracks.

All three characters display big ideas but they come from a small, naïve world. It’s early McPherson but his abilities as a storyteller are right there.

(ROSE)
3) What makes his stories so compelling?

They are told by characters who are flawed and self-deprecating. We just naturally root for them. Each has a facility for telling a story in his own way. Joe is all bouncing hormones and insecurity but he can talk and tell us what’s on his mind. Frank has his own way with a phrase that. He’s rather poetic and pragmatic too when he describes a gun he has. And Ray is just a blowhard who is such a sad scoundrel that for all his bravado, you know it will end badly too. The stories are told by men who carry their wounds out in the open.

(ROSE)
4) You obviously like McPherson’s work. How about the production?

(LYNN)
I was particularly interested because it was directed by Sarah Dodd in her directorial debut. Ms Dodd is an accomplished actress, and she carries that over in this production. McPherson doesn’t make it easy because he has no stage directions. So the director and cast must find their own way. And they do it splendidly.

Each actor is on a raised platform sitting in his own chair. Ray’s is an overstuffed comfy chair. Frank is in one less comfortable. And Joe has a simple straight-backed chair with no padding. Dodd uses light in various brightness to underscore scenes. She knows how to mine each word for its full intent and she knows how to bring out the emotional best in her three actors.

When the lights go up on the three characters in their chairs, they seem startled at first to see the audience—that’s the characters who are startled not the actors. Then they easy into their stories. I like that subtle bit of stage business there.

As Ray, Gray Powell, a Shaw Festival Stalwart, has that confident air as he tells the story, getting more and more into his own cleverness and erudition. But Powell gives Ray and under current of sadness to all that bravado and that works a treat.

As Joe, Anthony MacMahon has that open-faced, boyishness that reveals the lack of guile of Joe. He tells the story with a calmness and a command of the words. And as Frank, Matt Gorman is a loving son who chooses a common way of solving a financial problem.

He doesn’t exude danger, just an endearing naivety. Terrific story-telling, beautifully told, in a lovely production.

(ROSE)
5) And Dickens’ Women, tell us about that. Is it a bunch of scenes strung together?

(LYNN)
It’s part of the Word Festival at the Young Centre celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Dickens birth. There are marathon readings of his books in the lobby—I saw Cynthia Dale reading from one of his books as I came in to get my tickets. There was a staged reading of two of Dickens’ short stories.

And Dickens’ Women….You can’t have a festival celebrating anything to do with Dickens and not have Miriam Margolyes do her show. She’s been doing this show since 1989. I saw it years ago in London and thought it was wonderful. It still is.

Margolyes has picked scenes from various Dickens novels with women at its centre to show of course Dickens’ incredible, vivid writing ability.

Even the names of characters dance out at you: Mrs. Gamp, Mr. Bumble, Martin Chuzzelwit, Mrs. Pinchchin—you get such a clear picture of what they looked and sounded like.

Dickens also created a world in his stories and here Margolyes puts things in context. She tells us how humiliating it was for Dickens’ family to be thrown in the poor house except him. He went to work as a young boy and never, ever forgot that young experience. His books are full of horrors of what is now known as ‘Dickensian’ London. Grinding poverty, desperation for even a crumb of bread. And as she explains linking his life with his books, no one was safe really from being a character in his books.

(ROSE)
6) Give us some examples.

(LYNN)
Any time you read of a sweet, innocent, beautiful young woman of 17 in Dickens’ novels, you are reading about Dickens’ sister-in-law who died at 17. Before she died suddenly in his arms, she lived with Dickens’ and his wife. He was besotted with her and devoted to her. If he could have been buried with her he would have. A little bit, unsettling, that.

At one time Dickens’ was madly in love with a young woman and he thought she returned the affection but she slighted him. He never forgot the humiliation, and made her a rather unpleasant character in one of his books. Time and again his life finds its way into his books and characters.

And the way Margolyes just weaves it all together is beautifully story telling on its own, but her performance of these characters is a thing of beauty to behold.

In her performance Dickens’ characters lurch, limp, scurry, leer, sniff frequently, slur their words when drunk, which is often, or clip their words if they are snooty, which is frequent.

She makes his words sound delicious and she lays it all out for us like a tantalizing eye-popping banquet.

Dickens’ had a troubled life and Margolyes has devoted her life to bringing Dickens to us. She says she loves and hates him but he’s important to listen to.

And in a world where a tweet is considered conversation, listening to Dickens’ intoxicating words, thoughts, ideas, and characters who speak them, has never been so important.

I can’t urge you enough to see Miriam Margolyes, a diminutive volcano of creativity, perform her show, Dickens’ Women. It has been a short run—opened Wednesday, closes tomorrow—but it is so worth it.

(ROSE)
Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. You can read Lynn’s blog at www.slotkinletter.com

THIS LIME TREE BOWER plays at the Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs until Dec. 22.

DICKENS’ WOMEN plays at the Young Centre until Saturday, Dec. 15.

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The Weekend in New York.

I’m just finishing up a weekend in New York where I saw four shows, (Dead Accounts, Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, Golden Boy and The Anarchists) of which three were in previews, and only Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike had opened.

I’m not one of those breathless bottom-feeder-morons who discourse on previews—the worst are those musical theatre trolls who blog at the intermission of the first preview of musicals thinking they are showing some kind of theatre acumen, while in fact they are only showing they are idiots. So I won’t say a word about the three in preview except the stories and who’s in them.

The Anarchists by David Mamet. Starring Patti LuPone and Debra Winger. Directed by David Mamet. A woman in prison for being a part of the Weathermen terrorist group of the 60s, tries to convince her jailer that she should be paroled.

Dead Accounts by Theresa Rebeck. Starring Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes. Directed by Jack O’Brien. A wayward son comes home to Cincinnati from New York. His parents and siblings wonder why. He’s reluctant to say. All he wants to do is eat ice-cream. At the Music Box Theatre.

Golden Boy by Clifford Odets. Starring Seth Numrich, Tony Shalhoub and a cast of more than 20, directed by Bartlett Sher.. About a man named Joe Bonaparte who must decide if he wants to be a classical violinists or a world-class boxer. At the Belasco Theatre.

Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang, directed by Nicholas Martin, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre of Lincoln Center Theater, is Durang’s tip of the hat to Chekhov. It opened earlier this week.

A brother and sister, Vanya and Sonya live in a lovely farmhouse in Buck’s County. Their sister Masha, an actress who has made her money doing schlock movies, owns the house. The parents were university professors who had a weird sense of humour and named the kids after Chekhov characters. When their parents were sick, Vanya and Sonya took care of them while Masha roamed the world doing her movies.

Now she’s come home with her latest toy boy, Spike, a smiling hunk of chiseled muscle, to tell them she’s selling the house. It is full of Durang’s loopy, witty sense of humour. The echoes of Chekhov reverberate throughout the play. If you know your Chekhov so much the better—Sonya saying repeatedly “I am a wild turkey, I am a wild turkey,” is Durang at his most perverse. If you aren’t that familiar with Chekhov, no matter. The play is hilarious on it’s own..

The cast is stellar. David Hyde Pierce plays Vanya with a droopy-eyed fastidiousness. He’s touching, thoughtful, and so understated he’s a riot. As his sister Sonya, Kristine Nielsen is an insecure woman lamenting her sad lot in life but with a certain jollity. Her doing an impersonation of Maggie Smith in California Suite is one of her many surprises. As Masha, Sigourney Weaver gives her whole performance as if she is a vapid movie star, with little connection to reality, which is true and real for this pretentious character.

As Spike, the chiseled toy-boy, Billy Magnussen is a mass of creativity, inventive bits of comedy, seemingly over the top business, which is not over the top, and is a total delight.

Durang also has a waif-like character named Nina, who, yes, wants to be an actress—Genevieve Angelson is divine. And a maid named Cassandra who, yes, can read the future and no one pays any attention to her, but recalls the ancient Greeks, foresees hurricanes, the arrival of annoying guests, and is adept at voodoo. Shalita Grant is a whirlwind. This cast is a dream.

While Durang has filled his play with his typical kind of humour, he has given each character a kind of aria that let’s them rip about their world. Vanya has a speech in Act II that laments the lack of manners in the modern world, as people tweet and text when they are bored and should be watching a play—this is focused at Spike. He goes on to lament the loss of writing thank you notes by hand, and licking the stamps to put on the letter; the lack of reading; peace and quiet. It’s a rant to our insensitive times and I wouldn’t mind hearing that speech every day for years, as long as David Hyde Pierce says it.

Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike is a love letter to Chekhov, the theatre, comedy, humour and the foibles of humanity. It’s terrific.

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The following reviews were broadcast Friday May 11, 2012 on CIUT FRIDAY MORNING, CIUT 89.5 FM. BEYOND THE CUCKOO’S NEST at Young People’s Theatre until May 17. THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS (And the Repudiation and Redemption of Mike Daisey) until Sunday May 13 at various locations.

(ROSE)
1) Good Friday Morning. It’s time for a little theatre with Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer.

Hi Lynn.

What’s up for today theatre-wise?

(LYNN)
Hi Rose. I have two really provocative plays. First BEYOND THE CUCKOO’S NEST by Edward Roy, is at Young People’s Theatre and is about mental illness in teens.

And THE AGONY AND THE ECSTACY OF STEVE JOBS (and the repudiation and redemption of Mike Daisey). at various locations until Sunday. It’s the one person show that monologist Mike Daisey created about the dastardly working conditions in China of Foxcon, the company that makes all the Apple electronics and the accusation of the piece is that Steve Jobs the CEO of Apple, knew.

(ROSE)
2) Let’s start with BEYOND THE CUCKOO’S NEST. Mental illness in teens—you’re right, mental illness is a provocative subject.

(LYNN)
And Young People’s Theatre is never shy about producing plays that reflect what’s going on in the lives of young people.

I love this theatre to bits for having the guts to address issues that are affecting young people. This year they did plays about bullying, homophobia, overbearing parents, abandonment, and a musical (Seussical) about a loyal elephant who watched over an egg until the chick hatched.

With BEYOND THE CUCKOO’S NEST they deal with mental illness.

(ROSE)
3) How does the story deal with it?

(LYNN)
Three teens, Patricia, Jude and Trey meet regularly to talk about their problems with a therapist named Cathy. Patricia has issues of self-esteem; Jude is schizophrenic; and Trey suffers from anxiety and panic attacks.

Both Jude and Trey are sweet on Patricia. Jude is loquacious, argumentative, needy and pushes all Patricia’s buttons. She thinks that Jude is just annoying. She doesn’t see that he likes her. Trey has to do an oral presentation and is terrified because he has an anxiety attach before doing such things.

He refuses to tell the teacher of his difficulty and hates the teacher for being tough. Cathy the therapist urges Trey to talk to the teacher for consideration. Then Patricia offers to help Trey with his public speaking.

Over the course of preparing, both Patricia and Trey bond.

(ROSE)
4) Does Cathy treat them with kid gloves because they are mentally fragile?

(LYNN)
No and that’s one of the many beauties of Edward Roy’s play. Cathy doesn’t coddle them. She is considerate but firm. Through it all Cathy keeps the three in check and able to function. She insists they respect each other. She knows their tricks and at one point tells Trey to stop using his illness as an excuse of his not trying or being disappointed.

I love the way Edward Roy deals with the mental illness. Cathy doesn’t let them feel sorry for themselves.

She makes them face their issues and deal with them. Arguments are given and dealt with but not in a facile way. And Roy’s dialogue crackles with the lingo of teens, and since the play is for teens this is crucial. I also appreciated that the story does not end all neatly and with everybody happy.

The title, BEYOND THE CUCKOO’S NEST refers to a group of mentally challenged kids who go into schools to talk to young people about their mental illnesses.

Brave and true.

(ROSE)
5) And the production?

(LYNN)
Edward Roy also directs and it’s with a muscular arm. Rock music throbs in the first few scenes as Jude tries to get Patricia to come with him to see some ‘really sick’ graffiti.

Andy Moro has designed a multi-levelled set onto which the three teens bound, hop, jump and dance. He has also done the projections which are busy and beautifully conjure that world of the teen—bursting with movement, images, and things to distract.

There are terrific performances from Miranda Edwards as Patricia—very confident, hopeful and yet anxious to do well in this new school and not repeat the problems at her other school. As Jude, David Patrick Flemming is a ball of fire and energy, attitude, in your face annoying and perfectly so. As Trey, Brendan McMurtry-Howlett is beautifully awkward, insecure, brow-beaten by his father. And as Cathy the therapist, Soo Garay is firm, thoughtful, considerate and fair.

Beautiful performances and a really compelling production.

(ROSE)
6) And now THE AGONY AND THE ECSTACY OF STEVE JOBS (and the Repudiation and Redemption of Mike Daisey). There’s been a lot of controversy about the show in general. Briefly tell us what the show is about.

(LYNN)
THE AGONY AND THE ECSTACY OF STEVE JOBS is a one man show originally written and performed by a wonderful, prickly monologist named Mike Daisey. In it he tells how he loves any kind of electronic device produced by Apple. He reads about them. He goes to their website to watch demos. Totally devoted.

But then doubt comes in. There are stories about horrible working conditions in China where every one of these devices is made. He decides to go to China to find out the truth.

He has an interpreter. He stands outside the Foxcon Factory in Shenzhen, China—a huge complex that makes these devices. He interviews workers, some as young as 12. He hears about the suicides of the workers because of long hours and grinding repetitive work.

He talks about the workers whose hands are gnarled crippled because of the chemicals used to clean the screens of he iphones etc. He is furious because he says that Steve Jobs knew about these horrible conditions. He had to. He wasn’t a micro-manager. He was a nano-manager.

So from all that comes this show—THE AGONY AND THE ECSTACY OF STEVE JOBS. Daisey is interviewed on NPR….lots of notoriety. But then it was revealed that Daisey lied.

(ROSE)
7) What did he lie about?

(LYNN)
He didn’t actually talk to any workers. He couldn’t confirm that a person he talked to was 12. He didn’t talk to anyone whose hands were crippled because of the work. So then he was vilified in the press and on the NPR program.

Lots of controversy—if he lied then his show is a lie. Daisey issues an apology saying it’s theatre not journalism. He allows other theatre artists to download his script for free.

Enter director/producer Mitchell Cushman and actor David Ferry who take advantage of the offer and produce their own provocative production of it. Only they add a bit that addresses the controversy and they call it …and the Repudiation and Redemption of Mike Daisey.

(ROSE)
8) Why is the production provocative?

(LYNN)
The run is very short—until Sunday—and each show is in a secret location you learn about by getting a message on your iphone on the day. The first show was in a hackers’s work space.

I saw it yesterday in a garage in the Dovercourt/Queen area—brilliant since Apple started in a garage. We were told to keep our cell phones, pump up the volume, tweet, answer calls etc.

Mitchell Cushman directs this and keeps a tally of the calls and texts. Our total was 32.

David Ferry is not Mike Daisey but he is doing his script. Ferry is vivid, vibrant, raging, engaging and sucks us into that compelling story.

The repudiation and redemption part is Ferry reading many quotes from the press etc. vilifying Daisey for what he did and Daisey apologizing and trying to explain.

I love being unsettled by this show and its implication.

When Mitchell Cushman and David Ferry were on our show a few weeks ago Ferry said that all theatre is a lie. And he said that we know that everything Daisey said is true. Because of the show and the bad press on their Foxcon factory, Apple has improved the working conditions.

People now don’t work 16 hours a day any more. The pay is better. Ultimately, the show does what it’s supposed to—it illuminates a reality and leaves it to us to decide if it’s right or not.

I loved the whole theatricality of this production. Beautifully done.

(ROSE)
Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. You can check out Lynn’s blog at www.slotkinletter.com

BEYOND THE CUCKOO’S NEST plays at Young People’s Theatre until June 17.
Tickets: youngpeoplestheatre.ca

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS (and the Repudiation and Redemption of Mike Daisey) at various locations until Sunday May 13.
Tickets: otmtheatre@gmail.com

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The following three plays were reviewed on Friday, November 11, 2011, CIUT 89.5 FM on the as yet no named show: word!sound!powah! at Tarragon Extra Space; LIKE THE FIRST TIME at the Walmer Centre Theatre and LOVE LIES BLEEDING at the Sony Centre. Rose Palmieri was the host sitting in for Damon Scheffer.

ROSE

1) It’s Friday morning and I’m here with Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer.

Hi Lynn

You’re going to talk about three shows this week: word!sound!powah!; LIKE THE FIRST TIME, and LOVE LIES BLEEDING. What caught your fancy about them?

LYNN

It is an eclectic mix.

word!sound!powah! is a one woman play that is written and performed by d’bi.young anitafrika and is the third part in the sankofa trilogy.

LIKE THE FIRST TIME is written and directed by Adam Seelig and is based on a play by Luigi Pirandello.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING is Alberta Ballet’s homage to the music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

ROSE

2) An eclectic mix indeed. Let’s go in order as you usually do: word!sound!powah! On the page the title is in all small letters.

Is this deliberate?

LYNN

It is.

The playwright and performer is d’bi.young anitafrika, all in small letters, and she writes about the Jamaican experience.

young anitafrika is a Jamaican Canadian writer/performer now travelling the world and performing her work.

The trilogy was first nurtured at Theatre Passe Muraille and Andy McKim, its Artistic Director.

word!sound!powah! is the third part of the sankofa trilogy— The other two plays, blood.claat and benu will open later in the month.

The trilogy covers almost 40 years in the lives of three generations of women in the sankofa family, namely Benu, her mother and grandmother.

These women are poets and political activists.

The plays are set in Jamaica and in their way look at the politics and corruption of government and the people who want to make a change.

This is certainly true of word!sound!powah!

ROSE

3) If word!sound!powah! is the third part of the trilogy and it’s opening this run at Tarragon, is that confusing?

Will people get a sense of where this play fits in the trilogy?

LYNN
A good question.

I’ve seen the first two plays and was familiar with the characters mentioned in
word!sound!powah! But if I came to it fresh, I would think that it was confusing even though young anitafrika’s performance is compelling. Is that the assumption, that she thinks that people would have seen the other two plays and would automatically know who she was talking about? I don’t think that’s a reasonable assumption.

word!sound!powah! is a mix of dub poetry, story-telling, song, traditional music and sound effects made by three musicians.

Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry that originated in Jamaica or the West Indies at least, involving spoken word said over music.

ROSE

4) Let’s talk about the production. What makes the performance so compelling?

LYNN

d’bi.young anitafrika is just such an engaging performer. She a moving force of expression, flitting seamlessly from scene to scene.

In one scene she is a character brutally interrogated about a recent protest. Then she goes back in time to her grandmother’s day, then back to the present.

young anitafrika gives a powah-house performance that is vibrant, fearless and joyful in a play that is confusing if you don’t know the other two plays.

That said, I think the piece needs trimming. And I think it’s overproduced for a one person show.

d’bi.young anitafrika has said that she envisioned that the trilogy would be huge in production scope.

That’s a mistake, as the production overpowers the piece.

There is a really impressive set by Camellia Koo of a huge tree with branches that spread all through the small Extra Space.

There are three musicians that sing and create the soundscape.

Too much.

And interestingly, there is no mention of a director. It needs one, to help shape the show and young anitafrika’s performance. A performance, no matter how grand, can always use a good director.

So I have issues with word!sound!powah! from its placement in the performance schedule and the piece as a whole.

But I look forward to the other two shows: blood.claatand benu.

ROSE

5) Moving on, what about LIKE THE FIRST TIME?

LYNN

It’s written and directed by Adam Seelig, the Artistic Director of One Little Goat Theatre Company.

It describes itself as a theatre company devoted to modern and contemporary poetic theatre. Theatre that tries to find clarity through ambiguity.

A bit pretentious, that.

I have found their productions in the past hard going in the context of clarity, but I always go.

LIKE THE FIRST TIME is a refreshing change.

It’s based on a play by Luigi Pirandello. An Italian playwright who wrote in the early 20th century and dealt in a metaphysical way with reality, appearance.

His best known play is 6 Characters in Search of An Author. My favourite is Right You Are, (If you think you are).

The premise of LIKE THE FIRST TIME is fascinating and mysterious.

A woman named Fulvia, is involved with two men. She has one child and is pregnant with
another and the father here is a mystery.

At the beginning of the play Fulvia is attempting suicide by hanging herself. Her husband, Marco, has left her for another woman but returns when it doesn’t work out. Fulvia is saved by Marco but leaves for a former lover, a dangerous fellah named Sylvio.

She hasn’t seen him in 13 years because she left him. He raised their three year old daughter.

The two men vie for Fulvia’s affections. She tries to win the love of her now 16 year old
daughter who doesn’t know that she is her mother.

Welcome to Pirandello country.

ROSE

6) You say that Seelig has used Pirandello’s play as a guide, how does he do?

LYNN

Well there is the mystery of who the father of the baby is. There is a lot of games playing with names. Fulvia is sometimes called Flora by Marco. She also refers to him by other names.

In a program note Seeling says the text is written with no punctuation. The actors chose how to emphasize the text.

(A bit dangerous, that)

Seeling also includes a note from Pirandello on the text of a play and the nature of theatre: .. ”The work of art in the theatre is no longer the work of a writer… but an act of life to be created moment by moment on the stage and together with the spectators”

One assumes that that act of life is created by the actor and the director. And here is where this production is a mixed bag.

ROSE

7) How so?

LYNN

As a director Seeling’s productions are beautiful to look at—the scene with Fulvia attempting suicide is beautiful and elegant.

She stands on a table with black gown that billows over the table and a black scarf hanging down from the ceiling that is loosely wrapped around her neck.

But the productions are rather static in the direction.

Seelig belongs to the school of directing that tells actors to move downstage three steps and look out, after they say a certain word.

It gives the productions a stilted feel. Hardly life-like.

The performances here make the difference and are interesting with one glaring exception.

As Marco, Dov Mickelson is dangerous and desperate for Fulvia. He seethes with life.

As Fulvia, Cathy Murphy is almost sphinx-like. I can see why these two men would find her appealing.

Sylvio, the former lover, is supposed to be mysterious and dangerous too, but you would never know it from Andrew Moodie’s wooden, stultifying performance. Comotose, unexpressive and he acts by rote.

The only action of this character is putting his hands in his pockets, walking three steps here or there, and breathing melodramatically.

Awful.

There is much to recommend the production, but this performance really makes it hard to recommend.

ROSE

8) OUCH.

And now for something completely different. A ballet. LOVE LIES BLEEDING.

Last week you said you generally didn’t review opera or ballet. How come you’re doing this one?

LYNN

True.

I don’t generally review these because I don’t have the vocabulary for ballet. So I am looking at this Alberta Ballet production as a theatrical event.

Artistic director/choreographer Jean Grand-Maitre has created ballets using the music of pop/folk composers. He did the popular and award winning FIDDLE and THE DRUM using the music of Joni Mitchell.

He’s created a ballet using the music of Sarah McLaughlin.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING is Alberta Ballet’s homage to the music of Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

In his curtain speech seemed geared towards the person who knew the music but not necessarily the artform.

So he sold it not as a ballet but as a rock concert. There a a lot of lighting effects; bombarding video images and all manner of stuff associated with a rock concert.

Grand-Maitre uses 14 of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s songs from “Goodby Yellow Brick Road to Rocket Man to, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, to Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.

And he encouraged people to tweet and text.

What I was looking at was a muscular, hip-thrusting sexually charged work that is based in sex-drugs-rock and roll and love.

There is not a tutu in sight.

The costumes referenced a lot of the flamboyance of Elton John.

But I also saw a tip of the bowler hat to Broadway director-choreographer Bob Fossie.

His choreography always used lots of hip thrusting. And his dancers wore bowler hats which they always tipped.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING Has lots of that.

And in the middle of this rocking, dazzling work is a number between two men that referenceswar, homophobia and love, that is startling in how moving it is.

ROSE

9) Do you think the non-ballet fans might be converted?

LYNN

I think they might when they see how this music is applied to this athletic choreography.

Is it good ballet?

I don’t know, but the effect on the audience certainly was evident.

ROSE

Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer.

word!sound!powah! is part of the sankofa trilogy which plays at the Tarragon Extra Space until Dec. 4.

LIKE THE FIRST TIME plays at the Walmer Centre Theatre until Nov. 13.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING plays at the Sony Centre until November 12.

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