Live and in person at the Mandeville Theatre, Ridley College, St. Catharines, Ont. Part of the Foster Festival. Playing until Aug. 4, 2024.

www.fosterfestival.com

Written by Norm Foster

Directed by Jamie Williams

Set by Beckie Morris

Lighting by Alex Sykes

Costumes by Alex Amini

Cast: Melanie Janzen

Peter Krantz

David Rowan

Caroline Toal

Norm Foster writes plays about people and situations to which we can all relate, and they are very funny. His plays are full of characters with foibles, insecurities, strange notions, kindness, and humour. Bravo to Emily Oriold, the founder and Artistic Director of the Foster Festival for programming plays that show us characters and situations we can all recognize.

Whit (Peter Krantz) has summoned his two adult children, Steven (David Rowan) and Erica (Caroline Toal) to fly from Montreal, where they live, to visit him in Calgary where he lives. He’s paid for the airfare. He hasn’t told them his reason. Whit has been living with his girlfriend Nikki (Melanie Janzen) for 13 months and they plan to move to Kelowna BC. After he retires as a mailperson, which is imminent. The children have no idea about any of this.  

When Erica and Steven arrive, Erica imagines that Whit is sick and won’t be told otherwise. When they are told the information in bits and pieces the children, especially Erica, do not take the information well. She thinks that Nikki is the housekeeper her father has employed to take care of the house. Nikki in fact is a fiduciary. It’s a running gag of the play that Erica can’t remember what Nikki does and consistently mispronounces the word or confuses it with other words.

It’s obvious that Whit has considered Steven the more stable and successful child. He is a pharmaceutical rep. He has had a string of accomplished girlfriends. Erica is not as successful in her father’s eyes and her boyfriends have all been losers. So when both children tell Whit of their new partners Whit has thoughts on each.

 Whit’s End is Norm Foster’s latest play and a world premiere. I’ve enjoyed Foster’s plays over the years for their wisdom about human nature, character flaws and truths about family situations. But I can’t help but feel that Whit’s End is a slight play of repeated jokes that get weaker with each repeat. Nikki uses vintage television shows as references to Whit, in spite of Whit telling her repeatedly he never watched television growing up because his father didn’t want a tv in the house. And yet she continues to use various television references, the point of which eludes Whit. Erica is convinced that Whit is sick in spite of Whit telling her more and more forcefully he is fine. It does wear thin quickly. At two hours the play feels padded. It should be revised and tightened to a brisk 90 minutes with no intermission.

The Foster Festival presents:

Plays until Aug. 4, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours (1 intermission)

www.fosterfestival.com

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Live and in person produced by Canadian Stage at the Amphitheatre of High Park, Toronto, Ont. until Sept. 1, 2024.

www.canadianstage.com

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Jessica Carmichael.

Set and costumes by Joshua Quinlan

Lighting by Logan Raju Cracknell

Sound and composed by Chris Ross-Ewart

Cast: Prince Amponsah

Raquel Duffy

Christo Graham

Stephen Jackman-Torkoff

Sam Khalilieh

Qasim Khan

Breton Lalama

Beck Lloyd

Diego Matamoros

Dan Mousseau

Amelia Sargisson

James Dallas Smith

A concept that is not supported by the play unless it’s cut to pieces, with speeches re-arranged and other references inserted, resulting in a mess. Some good acting though.

The Story. While Hamlet is William Shakespeare’s most famous play, one cannot assume everyone knows the story.  I was surprised when the woman of certain years sitting in front of me said she never saw the play. She never read it but sort of knew the story. So let me give you a precis.

There is turmoil in Denmark. The king, Hamlet Sr. has died suddenly. Within two months, Hamlet Sr.’s wife, Gertrude, has married her husband’s brother, Claudius. Were they having an affair when King Hamlet Sr. was alive? I’ve always assumed that. Was there a tradition that if a man dies, then the brother of the deceased steps in and marries her to protect her?  Some cultures have that tradition. I’ll stick with the former—Gertrude and Claudius were having an affair.  In any case Hamlet Sr. and Gertrude’s son Hamlet has come home from university to attend his father’s funeral. He’s naturally grieving but he’s also angry since his mother re-married so quickly.

Hamlet learns from his friend Horatio and others of the court, that the ghost of Hamlet Sr. has been seen wandering the ramparts of the castle and they are terrified. Hamlet is determined to talk to the ghost. When Hamlet does talk to the ghost, he learns that his father was murdered by Claudius. So Hamlet, the younger, plans to avenge his father’s death.

There are other sub-plots—Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, a young woman of the court, but it’s a fraught relationship. Other friends of Hamlet are in cahoots with Claudius to get rid of Hamlet. So lots of intrigue. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

The Production. The production is directed by Jessica Carmichael.She read an article suggesting that the play is about grief and she has based her whole production on this emotion. Both Hamlet and Ophelia are grieving over the deaths of their fathers. Ophelia is also experiencing confused feelings about Hamlet’s treatment of her. She misses her brother, Laertes, her champion, who has gone to France.

So director Jessica Carmichael has decided that the play is about grief—not revenge as has been the interpretation in the past; not anger, disappointment, seeing both sides of an argument equally and not being able to make a decision on either side of the argument. Nope, grief is what Hamlet is about to Ms Carmichael.

Usually a play done in High Park has to be cut down to fit into a 90 minute-no-intermission paying time. An uncut Hamlet is 4 hours and 15 minutes.  This production of Hamletactually runs for 115 minutes, with no intermission. This version of the play is not cut as much as it is hacked to death or chopped up. I get the sense that if a speech does not fit into Jessica Carmichael’s concept/idea, then she cuts it and replaces it with other references that do fit her concept.

She inserted poems or lines from 15 poems often about grief or death. Works by Walt Whitman, Audre Lorde and Prageeta Sharma are referenced. She also used references 10 books including “Lincoln in the Bardo” and “grief/&loss/&love & sex.” Much Ado About Nothingand Richard II are referenced. Such a lot of effort, not to do Shakespeare’s play.

Many of Hamlet’s soliloquys were chopped up and spoken by other characters such as Ophelia and Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern, to Hamlet. Why? It’s not a conversation. It’s a soliloquy for a reason. The result is a conceptual mess.

This has nothing to do with being a purist about Shakespeare. It has everything to do with a concept that is not supported by the play as written. If Carmichael wanted to do a play about grief, there are plenty of them out there, without butchering this one to serve a misguided purpose.

In Shakespeare’s play, the idea of terror is established immediately by the characters on the watch—anticipating the arrival of the ghost. They are terrified.

But in Jessica Carmichael’s production Ophelia (Beck Lloyd) begins the play. She has been wandering around the space and sits at the lip of the stage and talks about how love is important, and loving one’s body and cats. Cats? I think I covered my eyes here.

In the meantime, up stage is Bernardo (Prince Amponsah) on the watch looking rather relaxed (which seemed odd for a terrified character), until Ophelia leaves and those on watch  then continue to be terrified. (sigh). The whole idea of terror is compromised by this ridiculous beginning.

The acting is well intentioned. Qasim Khan is fraught and emotional as Hamlet, flitting from one tense scene to another, but little of this makes sense. So while Qasim Khan as Hamlet is noble; Raquel Duffy as Gertrude is regal; Diego Matamoros as Claudius is devious and Beck Lloyd confident but unsettled, the play suffers because the production makes no sense. Beyond frustrating.

Some warnings that should appear on the Canadian Stage Website:

While High Park is closed to cars on the weekend, that restriction seemed to apply to Thursday July 25 when the production opened. Does City Hall think the weekend starts on Thursday? You could not drive into the park by car from Bloor St. You could enter the park from Parkside Drive. But once there, there was no place to park.

In its infinite wisdom City Hall removed 250 parking spaces and replaced them with bike lanes.

Nuts.

If you park illegally as many of us did in the unused prohibited parking spaces you will be fined $100.

For 41 summers Canadian Stage has been producing theatre in High Park, catering to audiences of upwards of 1500 per night. The decision to remove 250 parking spaces diminishes access to the park and the production by those who do not want to bike to the site or walk the one kilometer to and from the subway.

Perhaps the Canadian Stage Board can lobby the city to make an adjustment for the summer when the “Dream in High Park” is playing.

Once in the park: Sit on the hill or just at the top in a reserved chair to see the whole production.

If you sit further back on the top of the hill, as I was placed, you won’t see any scene staged at the lip of the stage. And there are lots of scenes there.

Canadian Stage presents:

Plays until September 1, 2024.

Running time: 115 minutes (no intermission)

www.canadianstage.com

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Live and in Person at the Hamilton Fringe. Produced  by First Born Theatre Company.  Plays to Sunday, July 28, 2024.

www.hftco.ca

Written by Mercedes Isaza Clunie

Directed by Zoe Marin

Cast: Alejandra Angobaldo

isi bhakhomen

Mercedes Isaza Clunie

Katarina Fiallos

Gloria Freire

Julianna Olave

Rachel Quintanilla

“Warnings: Sexual Content, Coarse Language, Nudity, Mentions of racism, colonialism, death and mental health”.

Generally from the Hamilton Fringe Guide: “After losing their ability to speak Spanish, 7 Latina-teenagers are forced to attend a Spanish only summer camp. Inside cabins, bathing in lakes and breathing in cigarette smoke, these young women are determined to find themselves before the summer is up. This play is a…bi-lingual coming-of-age story that makes you wonder what it means to be Latina-Canadian today.”

The Hamilton Fringe didn’t have a programme for this show—I was told by the front of house person that was the responsibility of the theatre company (First Born Theatre Company—Toronto). Alas there was no poster with a QR code, or a postcard among all the others at the venue, so I can’t identify who was playing whom.  

“Gringa”-Definition

“Often disparaging

a foreign girl or woman in Spain or Latin America especially when of English, American or Canadian origin

broadly: a non-Hispanic girl or woman”.

While the synopsis of Mercedes Isaza Clunie’s play suggests “this play is a bi-lingual coming of age story that makes you wonder what it means to be Latina-Canadian today,” the reality of the play is that it’s about teens trying to fit into their own world first and then a Latina world second. In fact, I found the play about several things, and not just one theme. With the warning of a mention of ‘colonialism’ I thought perhaps the play was about being from a Latina background trying to fit into a Canadian world, but in reality, it’s not.

The teens arrive in the camp and they say in unison to the audience that they came together as strangers who did not like each other but ended up being friends. Ok. In quick succession one sees that these are ‘mean girls,’ judging each other for any situation. One young woman brought her teddy bear and someone else cast aspersions about it. Two teens had to decide who got the upper bunk bed. One of the two said that she was afraid of falling out of the top bunk and dying. The other teen suggested that that would be a good challenge—to take the top bunk and be careful not to fall out. That seemed a good idea and the teen in the top bunk put notches in the bedpost counting the days she ‘didn’t die.’ The other teen was afraid of heights and in fact tricked the first one to take the top bunk for that reason.

These young women brought their own insecurities from their own families to the camp. It seemed to have little to do with being a Latina-Canadian. You don’t hear stories of how the dominant culture made these teens feel about being Latina.  

I did love the irony of the title Gringas. These women felt ‘other’ within their own Latina culture. One woman from Spain felt her Spanish was authentic and anything from anywhere else was not. Another of Colombian descent felt ‘other’ compared with someone she met who was actually from Colombia. lamented being lighter skinned than a teen she met from Colombia who was darker skinned.   

The company of actors is terrific. Director Zoe Marin has created a clever, stylish production. There are moments of theatrical dance and movement in perfect synch. The actors at times speak in well-rehearsed unison, clearly and crisply. Or they talk sequentially with one teen saying one word in a sentence followed by another teen and another word so that the whole sentence is said smoothly. The acting is strong. There is a speech at the end in Spanish which is a prolonged emotional screed. I assume its purpose is for the Spanish-speaking people in the audience. I can’t tell you the name of the actor who said the speech (no program) but she is impassioned and raw. I found it such an interesting director’s choice? Playwright’s choice, for NONE of these teens to have a cell phone in the play, when the cell phone seems to be a natural extension of almost all teens’ arms it seems.

Should playwright Mercedes Isaza Clunie expand Gringas or revisit it for some reason I would hope some of these questions might be considered:

Why did these teens’ mothers want them to go to Spanish language camp? (I know the answer is obvious….I still want it articulated in the play.)

Why didn’t anyone speak Spanish to these teens at home and instill in them that part of their culture?

If these teens were spoken to in Spanish at home, why didn’t they want to learn the language that would connect them to their culture?

The teens did not want to go to Spanish language camp. Why not?

First Born Theatre Company presents:

Closed, July 28, 2024.

www.slotkinletter.com

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

www.shawfest.com

The Secret Garden

Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Adapted for the stage by Jay Turvey and Paul Sportelli

Directed by Jay Turvey

Music direction by Ryan deSouza

Set by Beyata Hackborn

Costumes by Judith Bowden

Lighting by Kevin Lamotte

Cast: David Adams

David Alan Anderson

Sharry Flett

Patty Jamieson

Gryphyn Karimloo

Tam Martin

Drew Plummer

Gabriella Sundar Singh

Jackqueline Thair

Two unhappy, spoiled children learn the value of generosity to others, respect and the value and healing power of a garden.

The Story.  Mary is an orphan who has come from India to England to live with her uncle Archibald Craven, in his large house on the desolate moors. Mary is a self-absorbed spoiled brat who orders the servants around as if they were underlings not worthy of respect. They treat her much better than she does them.

Her uncle is in deep mourning after the death of his wife and does not want to have anything to do with his niece or the house he shared with his wife. It brings back too many memories. He is often away. Mary is eventually befriended by Martha, a servant in the house and Dickon her brother who knows everything about nature, plants and flowers.

Mary hears about a secret garden on the grounds and is curious to find it. She also hears strange sounds in the house as if it’s a child crying. She is curious to find the cause of the sounds as well.

Mary bonding with Martha and Dickon begins her road to being a decent human being, who is able to love her uncle and others, learn about the world, and the value of any garden, either secret or not.

Production. Director Jay Turvey gives us a sense of the size of Archibald Craven’s (David Alan Anderson) large house when Mary (an excellent Gabriella Sundar Singh) comes to the house and is lead through various imagined doors finally to her room. But I found Beyata Hackborn’s suggested rather than literal set and certainly of the final garden, to be a disappointment. When Mary, her sickly cousin Colin (Gryphyn Karimloo) and  Dickon (a kindly Drew Plummer) decide to rehabilitate the secret garden, various hoops descended with some flowers around it. One would have expected something more lavish for all the build-up. This garden looked paltry. There is a sense of momentum with the cast seeming to be moving for most of this production.

The inclusion of traditional songs to set the tone and atmosphere is clever. I did think that the background song of Mary Quite Contrary could have stood more volume so we can hear the lyrics that set up the description of Mary at the time.

The Secret Garden is a lovely tale of how love and friendship are so powerful in a young person’s life to change them from being sullen and self-absorbed to being open-hearted and generous of spirit. When Mary and Colin have a purpose—to get Colin some fresh air and then get his help with the garden, then there is no stopping them. Gabriella Sunda Singh as Mary is confident, initially haughty and condescending, but then generous, curious, and eventually changed into a lively, creative young person. As Colin, Mary’s sickly cousin, Gryphyn Karimloo initially is irritable and demanding as the bed-ridden kid. But when he is discovered by Mary, he’s roused out of his lethargy and becomes a lively, healthy child.

The story has charm for kids young and old.

Shaw Festival presents:

Plays until Oct. 13, 2024

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes (1 intermission)

www.shawfest.com

The House That Will Not Stand

By Marcus Gardley

Directed by Philip Akin

Set and Costumes by Sean Mulcahy

Lighting by Kevin Lamotte

Original music and sound by Jacob Lin

Cast: Deborah Castrilli

Rais Clarke-Mendes

Nehassaiu deGannes

Cheryl Mullings

Ryanne Myers

Monica Parks

Sophia Walker

Note: Hmm this is interesting. The programme for the Shaw Festival production of The House That Will Not Stand says “A drama about the free women of colour in New Orleans, 1813.” Then on the cast page it says: “Faubourg Tremé, New Orleans, Louisiana. One Sunday (24 hours) in the summer of 1813.”

But in a copy of the text of the play it says “A drama about the free women of color in New Orleans, 1836.” And on the Characters page it says: Setting, Faubourg Tremé, New Orleans, Louisiana, twenty-four hours one summer in 1836.” There is also a reference in the play that the date it begins is 1836.

So, the playwright Marcus Gardley says the play takes place in 1836, but the Shaw Festival believes it’s 1813. Confusing.

Beartrice Albans (Monica Parks) is mourning the recent death of Lazare, her common-law husband. She has had three daughters by him even though he was formally married to another woman. Beartrice is a free woman of colour. Lazare was white. Beartrice was a placée, a woman, usually a quadroon who is part of the concubine system of plaçage (the system of concubibinge between free women of colour and white men who were in common-law marriages with them). The initial arrangement usually involved money. As part of the mourning process, Beartrice has declared that  her daughters will stay in the house she Beartrice assumes she will inherit, for seven years of mourning. The daughters balk at this because they want the same advantages of placée as their mother. This is their way out from under her over-bearing authority. These are young women with raging hormones. Beartrice has other plans.

The play is about race, racism, class, passion, reputation and shadism, in which a light skinned daughter has more hope of finding a rich white man to take care of her than a dark-skinned daughter.

The House That Will Not Stand was written by Marcus Gardley in 2014. It is a direct echo of The House of Bernarda Alba by Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca who wrote it in 1936, about a stern, commanding mother with five daughters, who is in morning for her philandering husband. She wants to keep the daughters in the house to mourn for several years. They want to go out and be with their boyfriends, or whom they think are their boyfriends. It ends badly.

Marcus Gardley’s writing is dazzling in many parts, full of colourful turns of phrases of the southern women of the time. Emotions are high and often take on a sense of being one note especially with Beartrice. In other parts of the play, Gardley’s efforts to be poetic are obvious and that tended to bog down the play.

While director Philip Akin keeps the pace and emotions driving forward, I could not help get the sense that the hectoring was relentless and without nuance. Monica Parks as Beartrice is driven with determination.  Sophia Walker as Makeda the servant desperate for her freedom, is the comic relief but imbues it with perception, a wonderful sense of the humour and the cadence of Makeda’s language. Terrific performance.

The Shaw Festival Presents:

Plays until Oct. 12, 2024.

Running time 2 hours and 25 minutes. (1 intermission)

www.shawfest.com

The Orphan of Chao

Based on the Classical Chinese drama, The Great Revenge of the Zhao Orphan by Ji Junxiang

Directed by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster

Set and lighting by Jareth Li

Costumes by Christine Ting-Huan Urquhart

Original music and sound by Heidi Wai Yee Chan

Cast: Eponine Lee

Richard Lee

John Ng

Donna Soares

Jonathan Tan

Lindsay Wu

A stunning and stylish rendering of this ancient Chinese drama of court intrigue, inherited revenge and bracing theatricality. Beautifully directed by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster.

The Story. In very general terms it’s the story of the fall and rise of the Chao family in the state of Jin, in 6^th century BCE. (from the program): “Chao Tun, a minister in the state of Jin is unjustly accused and destroyed by his rival Tu-An Ku who is determined to eliminate the entire Chao Clan. An orphan from the house of Chao survives, however, and grows up to wreak revenge.”

The Production. While the production is only one hour, the story is complex with multiple twists and turns of fate. That said, director Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster ensures the story is clearly told in a pace that gets more and more gripping.

Language here is so interesting. Because I live on this side of the world I use theatrical language that is Eurocentric to describe a completely different kind of theatre with gestures and conventions that come from Chinese opera. To say the story unfolds in a hugely theatrical way, just seems inadequate. The melding of Heidi Wai Yee Chan’s original music  played on what sound like original instruments and sound scape, mixed with the stylized movement and positioning of the body (almost dance) of Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster’s blocking, and the beautiful flow of the costumes of Christine Ting-Huan Urquhart, is to witness how no piece of the production is more important than another. It is all of a piece. Watching this production that pays such attention and respect to the intention and tradition of the theatre and opera from China is a revelation. You get a sense of what it must have been like in the 6^th century—the vibrant coloured silks, what seems like a formal design for the various members of the ruling class and those not etc. The story is brought forward in a way to today with a modern black puff jacket, what look like parachute pants and boots, worn by a character of the Chao clan today.

Tu-An Ku is ruthless in his efforts to wipe out the Chao clan. Tu-An Ku is played by Jonathan Tan. He is stoical, watchful and his calmness makes him terrifying in his cold-blooded pursuit of killing anyone in his way. Eponine Lee plays Cheng Bo the member of the Chao clan that will get revenge for the murder of the family.

What a terrific experience it was to see The Orphan of Chao produced with such attention to the detail and history of the piece; to learn of its background; to get just a hint of this rich culture.   

The Shaw Festival presents:

Running until Oct. 5, 2024.

Running time: 60 minutes (no intermission)

www.shawfest.com

One Man, Two Guvnors

Written by Richard Bean

Based on the Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni

With songs by Grant Olding

Directed by Chris Abraham

Set and Costumes by Julie Fox

Lighting by Kimberly Purtell

Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne

Cast: Matt Alfano

Fiona Byrne

Peter Fernandes

Patrick Galligan

Martin Happer

Andrew Lawrie

Lawrence Libor

Allan Louis

Allison McCaughey

Andre Morin

Jade Repeta

Tom Rooney

Kiera Sangster

Graeme Somerville

Frantically hilarious.

The Story. Francis Henshall is always hungry. He spends most of his time looking for a meal. To get the money for the food, he seems to have lucked into two jobs. Both ‘guvnors’ (or bosses) are shady folks and Francis doesn’t want to annoy either of them. The guvnors don’t know about the other. They think Francis only works for them. Added to this is the twin sister of a shady character posing as her diseased brother to connect with her true love. It’s complicated.

The Production. One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean is based on the commedia dell’arte play The Servant of Two Masters—a raucous type of Italian comedy beginning in the 16^th century in Europe. The action is fast, physical, farcical and hilarious.

With One Man, Two Guvnors a Skiffle Band warms us up, sets the tone and gets us in the mood. The band plays homemade instruments for the most part; a washboard, a pole with strings stuck in a bucket and played like a double bass alongside a guitar etc. The band looks like a motley crew until one looks closely and sees Patrick Galligan, Martin Happer, Graeme Somerville, Lawrence Libor, Jade Repeta and Matt Alfano.

The play is set in Brighton in 1963. There are lots of places selling food. Francis (Peter Fernandes) can take his pick if only he had the money. Even when he gets hired by two guvnors, Francis is asking for food. Peter Fernandes as Francis plays the audience. He asks people if they have anything to eat. One woman offers him her sandwich. “What kind is it?” he asks. “Hummus” she replies. “Hummus!!!” he says in horror. “No wonder you wanna give it away.” Even Francis has his limits.

Director Chris Abraham is a master of comedy in his productions and he ramps it up to warp speed here, ably helped by Peter Fernandes as Francis. In a restaurant scene, both guvnors are there in their own private room, unbeknownst to each other, and so Francis has to flit from each room to the other bringing food, taking it away, bringing more food, plates etc. Peter Fernandes as Francis is brimming with comedic invention, timing and most important, seriousness. Fernandes plays the laughs seriously, as does the whole cast, which makes it all so hilarious.

Francis is sort of helped by Alfie (a comic genius in Matt Alfano) who is an aged, shaky, unsteady waiter, on his first day of work. Unsuspecting audience members are engaged; water is showered on characters; doors are slammed as characters appear from over there through other doors.

Laughter is the constant sound one hears in this buoyant, bracing, gut-sore production.

The Shaw Festival presents:

Plays until Oct. 13, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes. (1 intermission)

www.shawfest.com

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Live and in person at the Hamilton Fringe Festival, Hamilton, Ont. Playing until July 27, 2024.

www.hft.co

Written and starring David M. Proctor

Directed by Marlon Burnley and David M. Proctor

Costumes by Karen Marie

Scenic and lighting design by Tatiana Magloire

Sound by Moise Laporte

A stirring, heartfelt story of redemption and forgiveness with some hands-on information about being a trucker.

Matt Cooke has had a difficult life. He’s thoughtful, tempered and has devoted his life for working for the betterment of others. In the various jobs he’s had, he reads the manuals of the companies and notes when management skips details that disadvantage the workers. His diligence has gotten rid of sloppy managers while he keeps his job.

He spent three semesters at university studying philosophy and religion. He wanted to be an actor but never seemed to go past the call-back. He got a job as a trucker where he spent most of his life. We learn that ‘the hammer lane’ is the left lane used for passing. That lane is forbidden to truckers. This never stops Matt who used it often, until perhaps he had a near fatal situation where he thought he might have caused the death of a minister. Matt told his mother that God was looking out for that minister. His mother said that God was looking out for Matt.

Matt has always lived outside of the rules, good intentions notwithstanding. Perhaps that’s why when we meet him, he’s seeing his third therapist. He tells his story and deflects parts of it that are too painful to deal with at the time.

We also meet Matt’s father Clarence, both played with detail and nuance by David M. Proctor, who also wrote this play. Clarence has always been hard on Matt, chiding him for taking such dangerous chances in life (going out in a thunderstorm to look at lightening, for example) and generally being a disappointment—never keeping in touch etc.  One wonders if Matt was absent because his father was so critical.

David M. Proctor’s writing  for Matt is vivid, smart and so erudite—this is a man who thinks before he speaks and is mindful of how important it is to represent his colleagues in arbitration. His writing for Clarence creates the beautiful expressions of an elderly Blackman, it’s almost a patois, with interesting turns of phrases. While David M. Proctor is Black and the characters are Black,  the story is universal—a son desperate for his father’s approval and always coming up short.

Grabbing the Hammer Lane—A trucker narrative presents a balanced unfolding of the story. David M. Proctor presents it with dignity, grace and compassion.

The Hamilton Fringe Presents:

Plays until July 25, 26, 27.

Running time: 60 minutes.

www.hft.co

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Live and in person at the Studio Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, as part of the Hamilton Fringe, running until July 28.

www.hftco.ca

Written and performed by Izad Etemadi

Directed by Matt White

The audience advisory warning in the program should give you an idea of the serious and loopy mind we are dealing with in Izad Etemadi’s wonderful show: “Let Me Explain.”

“The play discusses racism, homophobia, terrorism, religion, and features a fare share of swearing. Viewers may experience therapeutic laughter and should not start the show with a full bladder. Recommended for age 13+ years. “

Izad (pronounced: eee-zad) Etemadi (pronounced: Eht- eh-mahdi with the accent on the last syllable), describes himself as a “queer Iranian-Canadian immigrant born in German (in a refugee camp). Much of his efforts growing up were spent in explaining how to pronounce his name to people; ‘where he REALLY came from;’ dealing with racist boorish teachers who thought he was a terrorist, and trying to fit in in a quiet way. He has given up trying to correct people who get his name wrong; who think it’s too hard to grasp; or perhaps who are fundamentally stupid and too lazy to try. This is regrettable. It’s his name. It’s important to get it right, and certainly when we learn what the name “Izad” means.

Izad Etemadi is an irreverent, funny, graceful comedian and performer in this case (he’s also a gifted actor), who takes his life experiences and finds the humour and truth in each moment. He knows how to read the room and engage immediately with those in the audience and include them in his observations. He is ably directed by Matt White who has a keen eye and a light touch in directing.

He was consumed with fear when he came out to his parents: what would these traditional folks think? Would his being gay be culturally unacceptable? Surprises abound in “Let Me Explain.” It’s a show filled with perceptions of attitudes towards immigrants; the difference between someone who says they are from Iran or from Persia; auditions, and proud parents who want what’s right for their kid.

For those who got his name wrong try and wrap your tongue around the Welsh town named:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which sounds like so many sneezes, coughs and ‘horks’ to dislodge something deep in the throat. Izad Etemadi on the other hand is a name full of music. And the man who owns it is one talented comedic actor who has created in “Let Me Explain,” a gift of a show.

The Hamilton Fringe Festival and Green Light Arts Present:

Playing: July 21, 23, 26, 27, 28.

Running time: 55 minutes (no intermission)

www.hftco.ca

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Live and in person at the Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend, Ont. Playing until July 28, 2024.

www.draytonentertainment.com

Written by Norm Foster

Directed by David Nairn

Set by Beckie Morris

Costumes by Joanna Lee

Lighting by Jeff JohnstonCollins

Cast: Valerie Boyle

Elva Mai Hoover

Rob McClure

Norm Foster is an equal opportunity writer, with a huge heart. He first wrote a play called: Jonas and Barry in the Home about two vastly different men who meet in a senior’s home and become friends. He says he had such fun writing it he wrote another play, Doris and Ivy in the Home, this time focusing on two women. The plays are not carbon copies of the other.

Doris and Ivy in the Home is about two women, who couldn’t be more different, but manage to find themselves living in Paradise Village, a retirement home in Alberta. Doris Mooney is a boisterous, fun-loving retired prison guard from Alberta.  Ivy Hoffbauer is a disgraced former Olympic skier originally from Austria. These two women are as different as the day is long, but as always happens, life throws us a curve and we befriend people we never expected to get close to, just like Doris and Ivy.

Both women were married at one point. Doris stayed married to her husband but it seemed a loveless marriage until he died. Ivy married often and not successfully. Ivy is being pursued in the home by Arthur but she is not ready to accept his ardent advances, but they are friendly.

As with all his plays, Norm Foster sees the humour and humanity in the ordinary, easy-going situations in life. Doris, as played by Valerie Boyle is lively, irreverent, and sees humour in everything. Often the humour comes from Doris’s robust laugh at most things. As Ivy, Elva Mai Hoover is very proper almost stand-offish,  except when having to correct Doris when she keeps thinking Ivy is from Germany and not Austria. Ivy is still smarting at the humiliation she endured at the Olympics when she had an accident on the run. She has never lived it down. So, yes, she’s a bit stand-offish. Both women form a bond that plays off the other. They find a common ground and appreciation of the other. As Arthur, Rob McClure is always smiling and pleasant. He is smitten by Ivy and gently but steadily pursues her.

The whole production is directed with impish delight by David Nairn. He has meticulously realized the humour in the play. For example, there is an extended scene with Doris and Ivy standing side by side looking off into the distance, observing a man and a woman ‘going at it’ in the bushes. Both are residents of the Seniors Home. Both Valerie Boyle as Doris and Elva Mai Hoover as Ivy watch in amazement, horror, disbelief and hilarity at the two in the distance. Boyle and Hoover react in unison and with little touches that add to the humour of the scene, all under the watchful eye of director David Nairn.

Beckie Morris has designed an imposing set of the patio of the Seniors Home, along with comfortable furniture. I did find it odd that there were no plants out there. Just a quibble. The costumes by Joanne Lee are comfortable and stylish for the three seniors, with the garb for Doris is more sporty and flowing.

Doris and Ivy in the Home is a sweet play about two characters you would never imagine would be friends, and when they do, it’s as natural as anything.

Drayton Entertainment Presents:

Plays until July 28, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes (1 intermission).

www.draytonentertainment.com

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Live and in person at the Capitol Theatre, Port Hope, Ont. Playing until July 28, 2024.

www.capitoltheatre.com

Book by Terrance McNally

Music and lyrics by David Yazbeck

Directed and choreographed by Julie Tomaino

Music direction by Paul Moody.

Set by Scott Penner

Costumes by Joyce Padua

Lighting by Jareth Li

Sound by Emily Porter

Cast: Gaelan Beatty

Darren Burkett

Autumn-Joy Dames

August Fox

Donna Garner

Gavin Hope

Julia Juhas

Jacob MacInnis

Jamie McRoberts

Ian Simpson

Tahirih Vejdani

Alex Wierzbicki

Daniel Williston

Band: Paul Moody (Piano)

Tami Sorovaiski (Bass)

Matt Ray (Guitar)

David Schotzko (Percussion)

The Full Monty (the musical) is moving, lively and set in the late 1990s, a time that dwelt on what it was to be a “man” and a good father and the production is true to that notion. The cast is talented but I so wished the small band was not so over amplified that it drowned out the singers. Frustrating trying to make out the lyrics.

Background. This musical is based on the 1997 film that was set in Sheffield, England. For the purposes of the musical, the location was changed to Buffalo, New York

The Story. The musical is about six men who worked at the local steel mill but are now unemployed. It covers the trials and tribulations of being an unemployed man, trying to hold on to one’s self-respect; being a man, being a father and a good husband. Jerry is divorced and has joint custody of his son Nathan with his ex-wife Pam. But Jerry is behind in his child payments and might loose joint custody unless he gets the money quickly. Dave is Jerry’s best friend. He’s also unemployed, overweight and married to Georgie. Harold was in management and hides his unemployment from his hugely materialistic wife, Vickie.

When Jerry and Dave realize their working wives are eager to spend their hard earn money seeing a male strip show with the Chippendales, Jerry gets an idea. He decides to wrangle his friends and other men to do a strip show for money and go the ‘full monty’– fully naked. The money they will make will mean he can pay Pam his arears payments and still see Nathan regularly.

The Production and comment. Scott Penner has designed a simple set with a lazy-boy chair, some sports equipment at the back, two urinals on a wall stage left and pictures of buff men stage right.  David Yazbeck, the composer-lyricist of the musical sets the tone and attitude at the get-go with the song “Scrap.” It is both a lament and a song of anger sung by the unemployed men about their lot in life; how their self-confidence is at an all-time-low and how they feel like ‘scrap’ that has been left behind.

Director/Choreographer, Julie Tomaino has deliberately set the musical at the time the film came out—late 1990s. She was unapologetic in focusing on the idea of masculinity and what is a man of the times. In our present day, very aware, dare one say, ‘woke’ world when the word ‘masculinity’ is always preceded by the word ‘toxic’, it’s fascinating and even touching watching these men go through such mood swings about their definition of a man, and they are failing because they are not making money and supporting their families. They turn down work such as working in a fast-food joint or stocking shelves in a supermarket because it’s ‘women’s work’. They feel inadequate sexually because they can’t financially provide for their family. Julie Tomaino has directed her cast to bring out the masculinity as well as the uncertainty of what that might mean at the time. The results are true. As Jerry, Gaelan Beatty is energetic, ‘macho’, irreverent, insecure and a loving father trying his best. Daniel Williston as Dave has sunk into a food-eating depression who has not had sex with his wife because he feels inadequate. Dave is also overweight and feels his caring wife Georgie (a lovely performance by Jamie McRoberts) could not possibly find him attractive.  

David Yazbeck’s score runs the gamut from songs about self-worth (“Scrap”), a wife’s love of her husband (“Life with Harold), basketball (“Michael Jordan’s Ball”) so the would-be-strippers have some grace when disrobing, and a wonderful love song between two men (“You Walk with Me”). Yazbeck’s music is varied, melodic and evocative. The cast serve the music and ‘sell’ the songs with panache. As Jeanette, Donna Garner is sarcastic, laid-back, ironic and has seen it all. “Jeanette’s Showbiz Number” is just that—a litany of the woman’s experience dealing with difficult situations as she sings, “Things Could Be Better.” The show deals with the stereotypes of the times—men should be macho etc—and Black men are physically ideal. Gavin Hope plays Horse, a nickname that plays on a physical stereotype, and he sings “Big Black Man”—“There ain’t nothin in the world like a big Black Man.” Gavin Hope performs with enthusiasm and energy, but he really doesn’t have to work that hard to sell the song—the lyrics do it for him as do the assumptions and stereotype. Jacob MacInnis plays Malcolm, a man coming to grips with his sexuality, dealing with his suffocating, ill mother, and trying to cope with depression and feelings of inadequacy. But he finds his love with Ethan played well and with humour by Darren Burkett. Jacob MacInnis sings the achingly beautiful song “You Walk with Me” and it’s a poem of stillness, nuance and delicacy. Jacob MacInnis is one gifted actor.

Right from the beginning the covered band is so amplified that it’s drowning out the singers, and these folks singing the song are strong singers. I spend too much time thinking that if the volume on the band was lowered by a third, and lowered just a bit on the cast, one could actually hear the music and the lyrics clearly, and one’s ears wouldn’t hurt. Hmmmmm, all that time and money spent on building an original set, and good costumes (thanks Joyce Padua), and smart lighting (ditto Jareth Li), and what the audience has to listen to—the VOLUME—gets short shrift, if at all. Odd, that.

That aside, The Full Monty is an uplifting musical about men trying to cope in hard times; the women who love them; and the resilience of them all to find a way through. In this case it just happens to be stripping—going ‘the full monty.’

The Capitol Theatre Presents:

Plays until July 28 2024.

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

www.capitoltheatre.com

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Live and in person at Here for Now Theatre, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford Ont. Playing until Aug. 3, 2024

www.herefornowtheatre.com

Written by Steve Ross

Directed by Jan Alexandra Smith

Set by Darren Burkett

Costumes by Monique Lund

Cast: Geoffrey Pounsett

Ben Skipper

Jane Spidell

Deeply personal, moving, funny, revelatory and beautifully done.

12 Dinners is described as “autobiographical.” So this play is part of actor-playwright Steve Ross’s story.

Over twelve-monthly dinners we see how Steve (Ben Skipper) interacts with his parents, Jim (Geoffrey Pounsett) and Bettye (Jane Spidell), they with him, and they with one another. Steve visits from the city. The parents live in the country. Jim is quiet and accommodating. He greets Steve at the door with handshake and a “how are you, old man?” No hug here, perhaps there is a reluctance to show emotion. Steve is pleasant, smiling and upbeat. Then Bettye enters and the mood seems to tense. Bettye is dour. She is critical of Steve for a variety of reasons. She flings quips, stinging comments and complaints almost in passing. He takes it with a smile, no sass and no backtalk, because one never knows what will send Bettye off again.

Over the course of the twelve dinners, we get the clear sense of what it must have been like in that marriage, in that family and for Steve. Bettye never met a positive statement she could not twist out of proportion so that she felt slighted. Either Jim was too silent and buried in his newspaper, ignoring her or Steve said something that offended or disappointed her. He was not the success she envisioned. We learn of her depression and reluctance to get proper help. And with every dinner Bettye gets more brittle, sullen and wounded; the facial expressions of hurt are chiseled on her face.  

Theatre is ‘life lived on purpose.’ This is what it was like in that family over the years, shown to us over 12 dinners. It’s no wonder Steve only went to dinner there once a month; more would be debilitating. While watching the production, one wonders how much more the audience can take of this unfortunate woman’s negativity.

And then, just at the perfect point, playwright Steve Ross has his character Steve give ‘the speech.’ It’s ‘the speech’ the audience needs, that will have Steve explode (one imagines for the first time) with the truth about growing up lonely in that house and why; the truth about Bettye’s depression and his. The speech is like rain clearing away a debilitating, oppressive heat. It gives context to the family dynamic and now understanding about Bettye’s plight in life. After that, we look at her differently, this time with compassion and understanding. We look at them all in a different light.

Jan Alexandra Smith has directed a wonderful, detailed and subtly complex production. Darren Burkett has designed a set of a formal dining room table and credenza that holds the various dishes and cutlery for all those dinners. This family ‘dines’ (no other word for it) at the dining room table. In almost choreographed movement, Jan Alexandra Smith has each family member either putting the padding down first, then the formal table cloth and place mats over that, or putting down dishes with napkins, knives and forks. Dishes are taken off as well in a set, choreographed order. Eating and drinking is mimed.

The relationships of the characters are also beautifully established under the guiding vision of Jan Alexandra Smith.  Because Bettye is so highly strung, father and son are watchful of her to ensure they are careful not to offend her. As Jim, Geoffrey Pounsett keeps his head down, his mouth shut and his reactions in control. Jim is quick to praise the food. He does not respond to a barb. Ben Skipper plays Steve and looks like Steve Ross. Skipper even assumes Steve Ross’ speaking cadences. But Ben Skipper is not giving an impersonation of Steve Ross, he is giving a performance of a character named Steve. As Steve, Ben Skipper is charming, eager to please, caring, funny, observant and often resigned. For all of Steve’s good nature, Ben Skipper lets loose with ‘the speech’ that is forceful, angry, urgent and yet loving. As Bettye, Jane Spidell is astonishing. There is not one shred of sentiment in this fierce, compelling performance. Spidell is not afraid to be unliked and ‘ugly’ as Bettye and she does it with tight body language, varying grimaces and perfectly placed zingers.  Bettye carries a lot of baggage and resentment around with her. Both Bettye and Steve have depression. Both handle it in a different way.

 A quibble; at the beginning of the play the music of the Beach Boys continued to play ‘under’ Steve’s first speech for several seconds. I hope this was just a glitch on opening night, but that music has to be cut off when Steve starts to speak. We need to hear every word without underscoring.

Steve Ross has written a play about a troubled family tangled up in the mother’s depression and unhappiness. Perhaps because of the generational stigma of mental illness, Bettye did not know how to help herself or why she should.  Steve has inherited depression too only he knew how to get help and take care of himself. Steve Ross illuminates the generational divide between the way the Mother and the son sought help. And of course, 12 Dinners is about forgiveness and forcefully reaching out in love and compassion.    

Here for Now Theatre presents:

Plays until Aug. 3, 2024.

Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission)

www.herefornowtheatre.com

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