Live and in person at Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton, Ont. Playing until Oct. 12, 2024.

www.theatreaquarius.org

Written by Rajiv Joseph

Directed by Haysam Kadri

Set and costumes by Brian Dudkiewicz

Lighting by Louise Guinand

Sound by Maddie Bautista

Cast: Michael Blake

Devin MacKinnon

Diana Reyes (Fly Lady Di)

Two strangers bond over basketball, in particular, the greatness of LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, the play is about friendship, loyalty, helping a friend in need and being a friend in deed.

The Story. Matt is the owner/operator of La Cave wine bar in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He doesn’t like wine. He loves basketball, namely the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James, their star player. Matt has made some bad financial decisions and needs money to get out of debt so he is selling his package of Cleveland Cavalier tickets for the whole season. Shawn is interested and comes to the bar to try and negotiate for the tickets. Shawn doesn’t like wine either so refuses Matt’s offer of a drink. They haggle over the price; rage that LeBron James is going to another team,  trade stories about their pasts and becomes fast friends. The play covers the development of their close friendship over several years but with their love of Basketball and LeBron James, intact.

The Production and comment. Brian Dudkiewicz’s set of the wine bar initially is neat, efficient and sets us in that wine bar nicely. Matt (Devin MacKinnon) is comfortable in work pants and shirt. When Shawn (Michael Blake) arrives he wears a baseball cap backwards, comfortable work wear as well—jeans, perhaps a sweatshirt—comfortable.

Matt is played by Devin MacKinnon, as playful when he’s alone, anxious initially when trying to see the tickets, and then accommodating, friendly, and loyal when bonding with Shawn. Shawn is played with easy grace and consideration by Michael Blake. Matt feels he’s been dealt a bad hand in life, and Shawn, this stranger to his life, gently offers that feeling sorry for himself is not helpful.

When they first meet Matt needs the money from the sale of the tickets. Shawn wants the tickets but can’t pay the whole price. The banter is like basketball with Matt being defensive while still having the tickets, but Shawn is the expert dribbler with the ball. I love that give and take so nicely established by these two lovely actors and their director Haysam Kadri.

Both men have had their personal ups and downs over the years and both have been there for the other. The generosity to the other comes naturally and without an edge.

Playwright Rajiv Joseph has beautifully crafted the play so that we see how the friendship developed and matured through the years. I loved that the bond was initially basketball and LeBron James. But over time, it was a natural connection between the two men who couldn’t have been different. Shawn always wanted to be a writer and he was pushed to go to graduate school by Matt’s father. Matt’s mother urged Shawn to go forward too. Matt loaned Shawn money to go to Los Angeles to ‘take meetings’ with some film/tv executives. And he landed a job on a successful show.

Late in Act II it’s referenced that Shawn is Black and it’s Shawn who says that he is the only Black man in the writing room. He offered some comments to the writers about Black references in the script—because HE WOULD KNOW what it’s like to be Black—only they didn’t listen to him, which was disheartening. I thought that one reference was interesting and that the friendship between the two men never needed to reference it.

Diana Reyes (Fly Lady, DJ) provides the funky music before the show and at intermission to keep the audience in the groove.

Lovely play, nicely produced.

Theatre Aquarius presents:

Plays until Oct. 12, 2024.

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

www.theatreaquarius.org

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Live and in person at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St. Toronto, Ont. Playing until Oct. 20, 2024.

www.mirvish.com

Written by Larissa FastHorse

Directed by Vinetta Strombergs

Set by Anahita Dehbonehie

Costumes and props by Niloufar Ziaee

Lighting by Nick Blais

Videos by Tristan Gough

Cast: Rachel Cairns

Colin Doyle

Craig Lauzon

Jada Rifkin

With Elley Ray Hennessy

Eric Woolfe

Heavy-handedly written for a satire and deliberately over acted. The pace needed attention. Alas a disappointment.

The Story. The Thanksgiving Play is written a satire by Larissa FastHorse, a Native American and a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation. The play references American Thanksgiving which is celebrated in November in the States. But the play is certainly applicable to Canadian Thanksgiving, which is Oct. 14 this year.

As to the story, first let me quote from the website for the play and I’ll add context after: “Good intentions collide with absurd assumptions in Larissa FastHorse’s hilarious comedy.

A high school drama teacher, a history teacher, and two theatre people set out to create a new Thanksgiving show that won’t ruffle any feathers. Their politically correct attempts to update the myth of the first Thanksgiving with today’s social justice issues are served up as a comedic feast. The play asks: How do you do the right thing in an ever-changing world?”

Here are more details:  Logan is a high school teacher, desperate to keep her job, who is the director and the moving force behind the play they will do for Thanksgiving. The play is to honour Native American History Month in the school. The production will be a devised/improvised project. Logan has applied for an won several grants for the project including money to hire a Native American actor for the play for authenticity when playing a Native American.  Logan is joined in the project by her boyfriend Jaxton, a street performer/yoga instructor. Both Logan and Jaxton are scrupulous about being politically correct; from using the correct pronouns to using correct names, to proper gender reference, to classifications etc.

Caden is an elementary school history teacher and has researched the subject of Thanksgiving back 4000 years and has written a 60-page script for the project and is disappointed when he’s told the play will be ‘devised’ as they go.

And there is Alicia, from Los Angeles, who Logan has a grant to hired as the Native American actress, whose acting abilities were honed when she played the third understudy for in a Disney production.  Except that Alicia isn’t Native American.  She’s white, as are the others. She just used a publicity photo in which she played a Native American and this obviously confused Logan. At no time do these white folks consult any Native American about their culture or history. And they seem to have forgotten that the play is for elementary school students.

All the characters are culturally and politically ‘woke’ without sensitivity and intelligence, which makes them laughable; witless when it comes to historical context; and plain dumb when it comes to doing an age-appropriate play. However, I will say that the character of Alicia, who is written as a self-absorbed airhead, is the smartest of the lot because she knows from her work at Disney that the play should only be 20 minutes and not 45 as planned, because the attention span of an elementary school child is 20 minutes. No one pays attention to her.

Playwright Larissa FastHorse is having a dandy time satirizing these well-meaning but clueless white folks.

The Production. The Thanksgiving Play has had a lot of success in the United States. It’s one of the most produced plays in regional theatres in the States. It began in Oregon in 2018. After many workshops etc. it opened Off-Broadway in 2018. It then it opened on Broadway in 2023 (where I saw it).

There’s a lot to chew on with the play.  Let’s start with a definition of Satire:

“The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.”

I think the bare bones of The Thanksgiving Play is fascinating and pointed in exposing the stupidity of the politically correct people without them having a clue about why it’s stupid or inappropriate. But instead of being subtle, Larissa FastHorse bludgeons the points with a sledgehammer to bang them in for effect. There’s lots of talk about pronouns, and chakras, and respecting space etc. But she focuses her abrasive points for the white characters and their ignorance of Native Americans and their culture.

There are two videos that are part of every production—in which white insensitivity is very clear. They suggest the pilgrims were teaching the Native Americans about survival which was not the case. In one quote a teacher says she is dividing her class into “pilgrims and Indians” in which the Pilgrims will teach the Indians to share.”

The audience groans at that.

I get the sense that Larissa FastHorse has written The Thanksgiving Play for those folks who don’t read books in hand. Who don’t know what irony or subtlety is. I think it’s for people who get all their reading, news, and information from their cellphones. Who don’t look up to see the world around them what with being glued to the small screen in their hand in front of them.  So nuance escapes them. In the theatre, it all seems like overkill.

The set by Anahita Dehbonehie is of a school room with some desks, an American flag, and all manner of stuff, reminiscent of a classroom in a school. The costumes by Niloufar Ziaee are casual yoga for Jaxton (Colin A. Doyle); a jumpsuit for Logan (Rachel Cairns), work pants and a shirt for Caden (Craig Lauzon) who always clutches his briefcase to his chest like a security blanket for a kid, and tight jeans and a revealing top for Alicia (Jada Rifkin).

I think director Vinetta Strombergs falls into the trap set by the play to have the cast over-play everything. The acting is earnest and heightened. Rachel Cairns plays Logan as anxious about everything since her job is on the line. Colin Doyle as Jaxton is attentive and overly protective of Logan.  A lot of the body language is exaggerated and thus over-plays the humour.  Craig Lauzon as Caden is enthusiastic about history, but always clutches his briefcase to his chest like a security blanket for a kid. Jada Rifkin smoothly plays Alicia’s sexuality and over accentuated hair flipping and sashaying.  The pace is too slow (glacial?) when it should go like the wind.  Moments just lie there, unfunny.

In Canada we certainly have our own issues with our Indigenous peoples and so The Thanksgiving Play would have resonance with us. I think a Canadian audience would see the irony in a lot of the play, and certainly from the point of view of sharing.  We have a land acknowledgement before most of our theatre performances in which we are told of the Dish with One Spoon Covenant, that we all should share.

There is a plaque at Front and Jarvis Streets in Toronto, commemorating Chief Wabakinine (died 1796) the Head Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. On behalf of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Chief Wabakinine signed multiple land surrender treaties with the colonial British settlers. Chief Wabakinine and the Mississsaugas believed these treaties were being signed with the intention to share the land with the British, but the colonial settlers abused this trust and approached these documents as transfers of land ownership. This exploitation and abuse only worsened from the British. I think a Canadian audience would be aware of these ironies.

As I said I think the bare bones of The Thanksgiving Play is fascinating, but the actual result and this production don’t help in making it the resounding satire it needs or wants to be.

Mirvish Productions presents:

Plays until Oct. 20, 2024.

Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission)

www.mirvish.com

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Played at VideoCabaret, Deanne Taylor Theatre, 10 Busy Street,  Toronto, Ont. Played from Sept. 19-29, 2024.

www.videocab.com

Written and performed by Alan Williams

The show was divided into three parts. Each part played twice over the run of the show with the following schedule as per the website: 

“Part 1: “Once In A Lifetime Sometimes Never” – Thursdays 

A lightly fictionalised fable based on the story of ALAN’s times in Ontario.

Part 2: “Can’t Get There From Mystery Lake” – Fridays 

A lightly fictionalised fable based on the story of ALAN’s times in Manitoba.

Part 3: “A Quiet Time On Busy Street” – Saturdays 

The story of ALAN’s arrival in the strange country he never thought he’d find himself in known as Old Age.”

I was only able to see the final show of Part III, “A Quiet Time On Busy Street,” because the run was short and this is a full theatre season. Part III made me long to have seen Parts I and II. The place was packed. A couch was brought in from the lobby to provide more seating in the theatre. Chairs from backstage were brought in too. Wonderful.

Background: Alan Williams was born and educated in Manchester, England. He got his theatre training with the Hull Truck Theatre. Besides acting he is also a playwright, having written and performed his Cockroach Trilogy at the Bush Theatre in London, Eng. He performed his trilogy at the International Theatre Festival in Toronto in 1981. He stayed in the Toronto first becoming the playwright in residence at the Tarragon Theatre and then working at other Indie theatres when Toronto theatre was blossoming with homegrown work. He moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to teach at the University of Winnipeg. He moved back to England in 1996 where he continued his acting career in theatre (War Horse, Jerusalem) and television (The Crown, Coronation Street, Doc Martin etc.). he was invited to bring his autobiographical trilogy to VideoCabaret by Layne Coleman, interim Artistic Director of VideoCabaret.

Alan Williams is a brilliant story-teller: laid-back, irreverent, perceptive, curious and inquisitive. He appears on the bare stage with no props, no need for a microphone, soft-spoken and the audience was rapt with attention. He wore black pants, a shirt, under-which was a t-shirt that had some design on it with the words “dead bod.”  

He talked about being recently hired to do a three-day reading-workshop of As You Like It by Shakespeare at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. It was a trek for him since he lives about two hours away by train in a little town by the sea. He found cheap digs in London thinking it was a ‘hotel’ when in fact he mis-read it and realized it was a hostel. The place was terrible, cramped, tiny, but he didn’t complain.

At the first day of the reading the cast was assembled. There were a few senior people like him but the rest were young actors. They gave their names and pronouns. Alan Williams tried to keep track of everyone’s name and their pronouns and that was challenging. He was not judgmental about this, only commenting and curious.

As the reading continued, he had ideas and questions but urged himself to “keep quiet” and not cause trouble.  He wondered why they were doing As You Like It at all. He did an analysis of the play and observed that Shakespeare ended his play(s) going back to the status quo? Not a disruption. Alan Williams wondered about that. He noted he had read about Cliff Cardinal’s ‘radical retelling’ of As You Like It and his land acknowledgement in Toronto. He finally saw the production in Brighton, England and was hugely impressed with Cardinal and the piece.  Alan Williams wondered if Cliff Cardinal was happy while still being so angry. An interesting observation.

Alan Williams had played some pretty illustrious theatre in England but he was in a revery when he first came to VideoCabaret’s theatre space on Busy Street in Toronto. It’s in what looks like an old garage. It’s not fancy. The seating is composed of padded chairs on bleachers. The floor is black concrete. People are greeted by people who pitch in. Simplicity is the watchword. Williams loves the place. It’s what a theatre should look like. He gives the impression that if he had a free in any city, he’d seek out theatre, either in a reading or a show. And it would likely be in this kind of hole-in-the-wall kind of theatre.

Someone asked recently, “How long has theatre been dying.” In unison, a friend of mine and I replied, “Since it began thousands of years ago.” And we all laughed. In his own way, Alan Williams addressed that too.

He noted that young children who came to visit him and his wife in his house in England, played in their garden. The kids put on a show and repeated some jokes and gave their idea of a performance. Alan Williams thought it was terrific. He loved the joy, commitment of these kids and their glee at the performance. Williams said, theatre is all around us and in front of our faces, if only we can recognize it. Theatre isn’t dying if children keep wanting to put on shows.

Alan Williams has given a heartfelt, smart, polished musing on the theatre and his life in it for more than 50 years in Once in a Lifetime Sometimes Never.  He has been at the beginning of some exciting theatre in this city and in England. Yet he is still full of the wonder at its existence, creation, transformative abilities, the questions it poses to him that he shares. He does not seem cynical even when he wants to speak his mind. He does not seem judgmental at those just starting out, making the same mistakes he did when he was their age. He is watchful, curious, inquisitive, questioning and joyful about theatre.

The audience who came to his final show was a who’s who of those who were at the beginning of Toronto Indie theatre all those years ago. Contemporaries of Alan Williams. They are the people who made a difference in my introduction to Canadian theatre. The sad thing was that young people starting in the theatre now weren’t there to learn from him and to hear his stories. Alan Williams and those in the room are the shoulders on which our next, younger generation of actors are standing. Williams and his colleagues paved the way for the next generation. It’s a pity that next generation weren’t there to appreciate and carry on his message. The beauty is that we can learn from each other in these fractious times.

Presented by VideoCabaret.

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Live and in person at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, Ont. David and Hannah Mirvish and the National Arts Centre, English Theatre, present. Running until March 2, 2025.

www.mirvish.com

Book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein

Directed by Christopher Ashley

Choreographed by Kelly Devine

Musical director, Bob Foster

Musical supervisor, Ian Eisendrath

Scenic design by Beowulf Boritt

Costumes by Toni-Leslie James

Lighting by Howell Binkley

Sound by Gareth Owen

Cast: Kyle Brown

Saccha Dennis

Steffi Didomenicantonio

Barbara Fulton

Lisa Horner

James Kall

Jeff Madden

Ali Momen

Cory O’Brien

Kristen Peace

David Silvestri

Cailin Stadnyk

The band:

Bob Foster: Music director, keyboard

Richard Evans, keyboard

Bob McAlpine, guitar 1

Kim Ratcliffe, guitar 2

Valerie Li, fiddle

Spencer Murray, whistles, Irish flute, Uileann pipe

Jonathan Maharaj, bass

Sean Kilbride, drums

Greg Hawco, percussion

Come From Away is back with all the power, poignancy and uplifting energy one comes to expect of this exuberant musical that celebrates kindness and resilience.

Background. After playing all over the world and being awarded, applauded and celebrated wherever it played, Come From Away was set to play the Royal Alexandra Theatre for a second extended stay a two and a half years ago. Then COVID hit and shut it down. Tenacity is everything and you can’t keep a dandy show down when resourceful people want to put it on. So Mirvish Productions is presenting the show, again at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. As of this writing it’s been extended to March 2, 2024.

The Story. The show began in 2015 in La Jolla, San Diego and went on to play in Toronto,  Broadway, the West End in London, England, in Australia, South America, and toured across Canada and the United States etc. The reviews have been ecstatic. Audiences get their exercise in by applauding energetically after various songs and leaping to their feet at the end of each performance. Is there anyone who doesn’t know the story? Ok, for the person who has been hermetically sealed for years in Antarctica with no internet, phone, or means of communication, here’s the background.

On September 11, 2001 the United States was in lockdown when there were terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C, and Pennsylvania. Many planes destined for the States were in the air but were unable to land there for days afterword. Two hundred planes were diverted to various cities across Canada. Thirty-eight of them, carrying 7,000 people were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. Gander had a huge airport that used to be a hub for refueling of transatlantic planes. But that stopped when planes were able to make the crossing and go further on a tank of fuel. Air traffic to Gander was sparce at the best of times. The population of Gander and towns around there was 9,000. What to do with these 38 planes carrying 7,000 anxious and confused people?  The people of Gander and environs went into action: opening up every community center to house them; cooking to feed them; opened their homes to billet them and opened their hearts and arms to comfort them over the five days they were there.

The Production. The people of Newfoundland are different than most people, as exemplified by the ‘islanders’ of Gander and environs. One can understand it if you live on an island called ‘The Rock’ and it’s not unusual to have deep snow in May or even July. You need a sense of humour to cope and odd ways of welcoming people: drinking a potion called “screech” and kissing a cod.  All that and more comes through in Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s book, music and lyrics.

In 2011, on the 10^th anniversary celebration of the landing in Gander of the 7,000 people “from away,” writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein went to Gander to interview those people who were ‘islanders’ and those ‘from away.’ The idea came from Michael Rubinoff, producer-extraordinaire. They culled the interviews and wrote the book, music and lyrics of the experiences of these people. The result is Come From Away.

Twelve gifted actors play many and various characters from the townsfolk of Gander to the cross-section of the plane people. The story chronicles how the ‘islanders’ went from being hosts who had to tear around arranging, cooking, and providing for these folks ‘from away’, to becoming friends invested in caring for then. The ‘plane people’ went from being suspicious and anxious about being in this desolate place where the people talked funny so that ‘they understood about half of what they said, ‘ to relaxing and appreciating how special and different this place was.

Many of the actors in the cast are returning to play the same parts, others are new to the show. All of them create a cohesive ensemble. As Beulah, a teacher and organizer of the endeavor, Lisa Horner is irreverent generally and always caring. She bonds with Hannah played with concern and worry by Saccha Dennis. Hannah’s son is a firefighter in New York and she can’t reach him by phone. Beulah is also a mother of a fireman and gives Hannah much needed kind comfort. Both Lisa Horner and Saccha Dennis are wonderful singers. Bonnie represents the SPCA and is concerned with the animals on the plane—Kristen Peace plays her with determination and resolve to tend to all her furry charges. Ali Momen plays Kevin, an arrogant plane person who wants out of this backwater, and with a quick addition of a skullcap becomes Ali, an Egyptian Muslim, anxious and fearful of the other plane people who look at him with suspicion. The quick change is done with finesse and is unobtrusive. Love blossoms with Diane (a jolly Barbara Fulton) and Nick (a fastidious James Kall)—they meet on the plane. Jeff Madden as the other Jeff in a relationship, is curious and anxious to embrace this place even though his partner is not. Every single actor is worthy of being singled out, but you can see for yourself, when you see the show, and you should.

Director Christopher Ashley and Kelly Devine, his choreographer/musical stager, give a master class in how to seamlessly meld the direction with the movement/dance of the piece to create a piece of theatre that throbs with life. From the snap and stomp of the first song, “Welcome to the Rock,” to the rousing Finale the show explodes with energy. But care is also established in the quieter moments: the stunned concern of “38 Planes” as the islanders watch plane after plane arrive; “Prayer” a beautiful melding of Christian, Hebrew and Arabic languages to express penance of different beliefs; “Something’s Missing” the poignant song expressing a sadness even after the ordeal is over and many are going home.

I was struck at how the show is structured not to get applause after many songs, but to continue the scene without disruption. I thought that was classy.

After seeing the show often and in various productions I looked at moments closely and wondered why was it so moving? How was it possible that when one least expected it, tears? When the ‘plane people’ had access to two televisions they were shown what happened. They watched the tv screens, mouths agape, standing absolutely still, then at the same moment they all reacted in horror at what they were seeing. And we understood and with them, relived the unimaginable. This is only one moment. The production if full of them that take simple moments and leave us breathless and tearful.  The wonder and power of theatre.

Comment. Come from Away is a musical that shows humanity at its best and its worst. In our angry, fractious world it has lessons of kindness from which we can all learn. It doesn’t sugar coat the ‘uglier’ moments. For example, Ali was always looked at with suspicion by those on the plane because he was Egyptian and a Muslim. Because of that he reacted with fear and trepidation. That didn’t change when they all returned home. He was still shunned.   But when he was shown kindness by Beulah and the other ‘islanders’ he blossomed, warmed to it and offered his help when they needed it. One might offer that in the darkest moments, kindness is possible and needed. Like now. Come From Away is special. See it.  

David and Hannah Mirvish, and the National Arts Centre, English Theatre present:

Plays until March 2, 2025

Running time: 100 minutes (no intermission)

www.mirvish.com

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Live and in person at the Theatre Centre, Toronto, Ont. Presented by CORPUS and the KIO Company. Playing until Sept. 29, 2024.

boxoffice@theatrecentre.org

Conceived and directed by David Danzon
Created with the Ensemble: Kohey Nakadachi, Sakura Korin, Takako Segawa, Kaitlin Torrance
Lighting and Set Design by Yann Becker
Costume Design by Atsuko Kiyokawa
Music Composition and Sound Design by Anika Johnson
Additional Choreography by Matt O’Connor

Performed in Japanese and English with English and French Surtitles.

From the Programme information: “Conceived and directed by CORPUS’ artistic director David Danzon, Mukashi, Mukashiexplores two iconic characters of Western and Japanese folklore: The Wolf and the Crane. Both carry deep roots in the collective consciousness of each culture. Their unlikely meeting sets the stage for a conflictual then harmonious relationship that blossoms through a transformative journey. The work uses traditional and contemporary Japanese art forms (Origami, Kyōgen, Bunraku, Manga), mixed with old and newer Western practices such as pantomime and the comedy traditions of Looney Tunes and TV talk shows.

Like all of CORPUS’ work, Mukashi, Mukashi will speak to children and adults alike. It introduces the poetic and intriguing world of Japanese folk tales and blends it with the dark and comedic undertones of western fairytales, all with a CORPUS twist and cross-cultural sensibility.”

Mukashi, Mukashi in Japanese translates as “Once upon a time” in English. The show starts with the Wolf from the Brothers Grimm. We have come to consider the Wolf a sinister character, dangerous and deceptive Four actors dressed in stylish black (Kudos to costume designer, Atsuko Kiyokawa) stand still growling like a wolf. They kneel on the floor side by side and begin folding a square piece of paper in front of them, in the Japanese tradition of paper folding. Occasionally one would look to his/her neighbour to see what they were doing. The neighbour then turned around and faced up stage revealing that each was ‘wearing’ a bushy wolf’s tail.  When they turned back to face us, they had finished their creations, a bird (a crane?) that was then affixed to each performer’s hair.

The presentation of the Wolf was goofy, overplayed and like a silly situation comedy. Kohey Nakadachi is the performer most associated with the Wolf. The Wolf came to a feisty grandmother’s house wanting to come in from the cold. The grandmother knew to mistrust the Wolf. She knew that he wanted to eat her. They banter. There is talk of Little Red Riding Hood.

There are twists and turns with the story, but for our purposes, the playing was loud, boisterous and quirky. The Wolf did not have it easy. That grandmother gave it a run for its money.

The story of the Crane from Japanese folklore is more poignant, elegantly presented and spare in its presentation. The Crane is representative of loyalty, longevity and good fortune. A young man saves a Crane from a trap and lets it go. He is rewarded for his kindness in an artful, balletic, symbolic way, which I won’t say so as not to spoil the meaning. Kaitlin Torrance plays the Crane and is grace personified.

I found the collaboration between the Canadian and Japanese companies an interesting mix. The realization of the Wolf story seemed over long, overplayed and laboured in its intent to be funny.  Although at the beginning of the scene, the banter between the Wolf and the grandmother is hilarious.

Surtitles in English were somewhat helpful but hard to read because the light made the font fuzzy. When more light shone on the surtitle, it was clearer. I can’t comment on the French surtitles because I wasn’t reading them.

The Japanese story of the Crane is more successful in its intent because the presentation is spare, economical and achingly beautiful. We get to see the full origami creation of the Crane folded in front of us, which is then put into the hair of the character—seeing how it’s done is always fascinating.

During the show several Japanese songs are sung but not translated in surtitles so the audience has context. I thought that lapse odd and an opportunity missed.

The cast of four is agile, funny, nuanced and nimble.

The program says that the show is for both children and adults. Hmmmm. The Wolf story overplays to children and the Crane story seems too esoteric for them. I was grateful to see this collaboration but I could do with less of the boisterous, over-long Wolf story and more of the elegant Crane story.

A CORPUS and KIO co-production.

Plays to Sept. 29, 2024.

Running time: 1 hour (no intermission)

boxoffice@theatrecentre.org

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Alas closed: Sept. 22. Played at Lighthouse Festival, Port Colborne, Ont. but worth a comment.

Written by Norm Foster

Directed by Jeffrey Wetsch

Set by Eric Bunnell

Costumes by Alex Amini

Lighting by Kevin Fraser

Starring: Terry Barna (who jumped in for Ralph Small who injured his knee)

Melodee Finlay

Derek Ritschel

Imagine it, a comedy about senior citizens? Whoda thought it? Well, playwright Norm Foster of course. And artistic director, Derek Ritschel who was wise enough to programme it for the Lighthouse Festival.

Christine (Melodee Finlay) and Robert (Terry Barna) are strangers who meet at a wedding. Both are single and lonely. They seem to hit it off, although we are told that there was ‘some’ liquid refreshment that made them brave. They decided so see if they were still sexy and attractive to the other and planned to take off two days and spend it together in a rustic cabin by a Lakefront. Sex was the object. One doubted they were there to discuss Schopenhauer.

We meet them as they arrive at the cabin and are shown around by Duane, the buoyant but awkward son of the owners who are away. Duane seems to burst into the place at inopportune times. That’s part of his charm and the humour of the piece. We learn that Robert is 70 and divorced and Christine is 68. The place is called Lakefront although one can’t see the lake from the cabin. Duane says that the lake receded eons ago, but the name stuck.

While Robert and Christine are a bit awkward, they are also intelligent, funny characters who have life experience on their side. They know why they are there. They have easy and believable banter and both have a keen sense of humour. It does help that their creator is Norm Foster, who knows his way around a quip and a funny laugh-line.

The production is directed with a wonderful sense of wit by Jeffrey Wetsch. The humour of Robert and Christine is never forced thanks to the wonderful performances of Terry Barna as Robert and Melodee Finlay as Christine. A note: Robert was originally to be played by Ralph Small but a few days before he injured his knee and had to leave the show. Terry Barna saved the day and with two days notice began doing the show, with the script in his hand. For my performance (two days after jumping in) Terry Barna hardly consulted the script at all. His manner is easy, funny, laid-back and full of nuance. As Christine, Melodee Finlay matches him with finesse and understatement and that makes her all the funnier. Rounding out the cast is Derek Ritschel as Duane, who pops into the cabin without knocking, without a clue and full of awkward humour. Lovely.

The set by Eric Bunnell is quirky and appropriate for a play that is quirky too. Alex Amini’s costumes are casual for Robert and Christine. Duane always wears over-warm hat and clothes and is so wide-eyed odd, he’s hilarious.

There is a sweet gentleness to Lakefront. It’s full of the wisdom and humour of people looking to get on with life as joyfully as possible, ideally with someone as searching and as funny as Robert and Christine.

The play Sept. 22,  but it deserved comment

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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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