A few weeks back. I had, what is a rare experience for me: I saw two plays, in two different commercial theatres, back to back.
One play featured a star, and one play was about a long dead star.
On the Thursday night, I saw BLITHE SPIRIT at the Princess of Wales Theatre. It's an excellent production, with a uniformly fine cast, and a star of stage, screen, and television: British actress, Angela Lansbury.
Lansbury is known and loved on this side of the pond, primarily for her years as the writer-detective, Jessica Fletcher in a long-in-syndication, '80s who-done-it, MURDER SHE WROTE.
Lansbury is no former television star taking a turn on the stage. Her career on the boards spans six decades, and includes numerous starring roles on Broadway, and in the West End. She has won five Tony awards, and was made a Dame of the British Empire for her distinguished career in the arts.
The theatre was packed, and deservedly so. The famous actress ( who received a spontaneous round of show-stopping applause upon entrance) is part of a superb British ensemble, who more than hold up their part of this internationally successful production.
Charles Edwards makes a note perfect Charles Condimine, the droll and put-upon novelist who organizes a seance as research for his next book, and gets more than he bargained for. Charlotte Parry is lovely as the sensible Ruth, his second wife. She convincingly shows us a sane woman slowly being driven mad by her husband's increasing distractedness and by the exasperating presence of a singularly unwelcome otherworldly house-guest who refuses to drink up and go home.
Jemina Rooper brings an impish charm to Elvira, Charles ghostly first wife, making her a kind of force of Nature. Susan Louise O'Connor nearly steals the show as Edith, a delightfully disastrous klutz of a housemaid. With Simon Jones and Sandra Shipley as the seance/dinner guests, the Bradmans, the entire company works together like a well-oiled machine. They nail Coward's arch tone and quick wit, as well as the style and pacing required to make this drawing room comedy soar.
As to Lansbury, she vigorously embraces the eccentric character of Madame Arcanti, knocking back gin and
calling down the dead with a dance that is part funky chicken, part walk
like an Egyptian, and entirely hilarious.At the same time, she retains
the character's wisdom, and dignity, and works with the rest of the
company like the top-notch team player she is. You don't see that every time someone gets
star billing.
Director Michael Blakemore has struck a successful balance between the madcap aspects of the play and its darker, more stinging notes of cynicism about relations between the sexes, and its uneasy (some might say sexist) view of female aggression.
Coward apparently didn't think much of the institution of marriage. By the end of the play, Charles is less a man, trapped in the impossible situation of trying to keep two wives happy at once, and more in the situation of a a man trying to escape the clutches of two of the Furies. If you've ever dated anyone with an all-too present ex, you'll feel his pain - and Ruth's.
BLITHE SPIRIT is an absolute treat. Hurry up and get a ticket!
The next evening, I saw MARILYN, FOREVER BLONDE, a one-person production about the life and work of film star, and pop culture icon, Marilyn Monroe, featuring a convincing and committed performance by Sunny Thompson. Unfortunately, the script about Monroe's life was nowhere nearly as good as the performer in it.
Sunny Thompson had the necessary aura of vulnerability and charm to play Monroe. As a performer, she has great warmth and vivacity and a lovely singing voice. She effectively recreates Monroe's vocal patterns, inflection, walk and mannerisms. It was a good, well-directed performance, mired in a pretty lame script..
The premise that is set up at the beginning of the play is a good one. Monroe is having a photo shoot at her house in her bedroom - except, this is a one person show. Flashbulbs keep going off , but we never see or meet a photographer, or any of the parade of Monroe's husbands and lovers Thompson discusses in the two act piece. We hear from some in voice-over, Joe DiMaggio, for instance, but inexplicably, not others, like Arthur Miller.
Most of the singing ( which was very good) was weirdly unaccompanied.
The numbers that did have music were far more punchy than the ones that
didn't.
The costumes were not really period, and did not really look like any of the dresses Monroe so famously wore.
The
end of the play alludes to Monroe's death in her own bed, of
an overdose. We see her drink quite a bit, but she never takes a pill.
The set looked good, and director, Stephanie Shine makes effective use of the various playing spaces, but it's not always clear from the script where we are. The film projections were a good idea, but it would have been nice to see more images of the people Monroe describes from her life as she spoke of them, and their impact on her.
Part night club tribute show, part memoir, the play is a little bit of everything one might want from a show about Marilyn Monroe, but not enough of anything to really form a satisfying whole.
If you're a hard-core Marilyn Monroe fan, this might appeal, but I found the production wanting, in spite of Thompson's quite lovely performance. I hope on her next outing, someone writes her a better script, or casts her in AFTER THE FALL and gives her a fair chance to really shine. She deserves it..
MARILYN, FOREVER BLONDE, by Nu Musical Productions was at the Winter Garden Theatre between February 13-16th. BLITHE SPIRIT continues until March 15th at the Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King Street West, from Tuesday to Sunday, with matinee and evening performances. For tickets go to www.mirvish.com or call (416) 872 1212.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
Digging Deep with Duras: SPIEL PLAYERS present a DURAS DOUBLE BILL at FRASER STUDIOS
Last Saturday, on a snowy winter night, I walked over the bridge to a cool, new(ish) performance space in town, Fraser Studios, to catch a double bill of two one-act plays by Marguerite Duras, performed by the Spiel Players.
Spiel Players are an independent theatre collective, with a particular interest in translations and adaptations of plays from around the world. I was excited to have a chance to see Duras' work, performed because it doesn't happen often.
Duras was a French novelist and filmmaker, who also occasionally wrote for the stage. Her screenplays include the iconic HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR. Her work has a enigmatic quality that's entrancing and crazy-making in turns. Here, it works pretty well.
In the first piece, SAVANNAH BAY, Deborah Grover gives a star turn, as a former actress, living in care, who may, or may not have dementia. She is visited by a young woman (a very sweet Lisa Hamalainen), an old tune and an old story from her life. Does she remember? Does she want to? It's a very affecting piece, that asks as many questions as it answers.
In the second half, we get the completely different, LE SHAGA , a delightful bit of absurdist fun concerning the travails of comprehension and communication. Hamalainen and cohorts, Peyton Le Barr and Paulo Santalucia are all hilarious as three people trying to understand each other, when they don't speak the same language.
Both pieces are adroitly directed, on a nearly bare stage by Joanne Williams, who has just left Canadian Stage to function as an interim General Manager at the Toronto Fringe. I hope this will only serve as a pause in her directing career, as she always tackles intelligent scripts with understated assurance.
The theatre is small, but comfortable. My only issue, which I have in many of the indy spaces around town, is sound bleed from the neighbours. The performers deserve better.
There's a lot of shows on in town right now, but if you like literate scripts performed with delicacy and care, this double bill is worth a visit.
Spiel Players present Two Plays by Marguerite Duras at Fraser Studios, 76 Stafford Street, Unit 101 at 8:00 pm , Thus, Fri and Sat and 2:00 pm Sun until March 1st. Tickets and information at www.fraserstudios.net.
Spiel Players are an independent theatre collective, with a particular interest in translations and adaptations of plays from around the world. I was excited to have a chance to see Duras' work, performed because it doesn't happen often.
Duras was a French novelist and filmmaker, who also occasionally wrote for the stage. Her screenplays include the iconic HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR. Her work has a enigmatic quality that's entrancing and crazy-making in turns. Here, it works pretty well.
In the first piece, SAVANNAH BAY, Deborah Grover gives a star turn, as a former actress, living in care, who may, or may not have dementia. She is visited by a young woman (a very sweet Lisa Hamalainen), an old tune and an old story from her life. Does she remember? Does she want to? It's a very affecting piece, that asks as many questions as it answers.
In the second half, we get the completely different, LE SHAGA , a delightful bit of absurdist fun concerning the travails of comprehension and communication. Hamalainen and cohorts, Peyton Le Barr and Paulo Santalucia are all hilarious as three people trying to understand each other, when they don't speak the same language.
Both pieces are adroitly directed, on a nearly bare stage by Joanne Williams, who has just left Canadian Stage to function as an interim General Manager at the Toronto Fringe. I hope this will only serve as a pause in her directing career, as she always tackles intelligent scripts with understated assurance.
The theatre is small, but comfortable. My only issue, which I have in many of the indy spaces around town, is sound bleed from the neighbours. The performers deserve better.
There's a lot of shows on in town right now, but if you like literate scripts performed with delicacy and care, this double bill is worth a visit.
Spiel Players present Two Plays by Marguerite Duras at Fraser Studios, 76 Stafford Street, Unit 101 at 8:00 pm , Thus, Fri and Sat and 2:00 pm Sun until March 1st. Tickets and information at www.fraserstudios.net.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
REVIEW: Down with Dickens: TWISTED at the Factory Theatre
Last night, I saw TWISTED, Charlotte-Corbeil Coleman and Joseph Jomo Pierre's adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel, OLIVER TWIST. The production is a collaboration between b current and the Factory Theatre, as part of the Factory's on-going series of co-productions.
This is an up-to-the minute version, set in a grey, grim, and grimy Toronto, awash in an urbane, hip-hop and rap based score by Hagler.
The narrative is primarily driven by a series of over 100 text messages, between a pair of star-crossed, street-involved lovers, Ollie (Ngabo Nabea) and Nancy (Susanna Fournier). Their texts are projected large, on the back wall of the set, for most of the show. This electronically-delivered epistolary comprises the seminal component of Ollie and Nancy's relationship. Texting drives the action of the plot, which is both a good thing, and a bad thing.
It's a good thing, because it feels real, fresh and immediate.
Ollie is a black, seventeen year-old, CAS run-away, who works as a runner for Dodger, a drug-dealer. Nancy, his crush, is a twenty-three year old drug addict, and "bottom girl" for Sikes, a vicious pimp. Nancy, a.k.a. "Lady Porcelain" earns her keep, and supports her habit, by turning on-line tricks, as well as recruiting, and grooming underage female run-aways, and street-kids to work for Sikes in his on-line sex trade business.
Is Nancy just playing Ollie? Can two profoundly damaged kids with self-destructive streaks, escape the maze of street life, and find happiness?
Many aspects of TWISTED work really well. The gritty script, both projected and spoken, has power and lyricism. The play itself is well-constructed. Hagler's music and Simeon Taole's projections add verisimilitude to the performance environment, without overwhelming the story. Director, Nigel Shawn Williams effectively melds the complex productions elements, with understated finesse, into a coherent whole. The 90 minute production is well-paced.
The clever set by Denyse Karn also, largely, enhances the proceedings. The flattened, grey maze, with a retractable platform, functions as projection surface, visual metaphor, and a series of discrete playing spaces for the two performers.
I understood that the precarious position the characters occupy in their lives is mirrored in some of the precarious positions they occupy, at times, on the set. However, some of their movements, from level to level, felt awkward. I thought slightly wider plinths could have remedied this. I also found myself wondering if a show this music-driven, wouldn't have benefited from a choreographer.
Both performances are emotionally engaging and affecting.
Susanna Fournier as Nancy, gives us a well-fleshed out, multidimensional Nancy, showing the character's vulnerability, longing, self-destructiveness, damage and defensiveness, in equal measure.
Newcomer, Ngabo Nabea makes his professional debut in this show. He brings an aura of bewildered charm, and exuberant, youthful heart to his massive role. Like Dickens' Oliver, he's an unabashedly good kid, in a swarm of mostly bad people.
Now, here's why the decision to have the two character write to each other, more than they interact, is a bad thing.
Fournier and Nabea have almost no scenes together, although they are both onstage, for most of the show. As a consequence, we don't get to bond with the two as a couple, in the way we need to, for the powerful ending of the play (and no, I'm not going to tell you what happens at the end) to have the impact it should.
The all text/no touch relationship between Fournier and Nabea creates another problem. Both actors are left in the challenging position of having to engage and hold the audience by delivering 80 uninterrupted minutes of direct address.
The level of vocal technique required to deliver this many lines, and convey all of their inherent beauty, fire, and potency is exquisitely difficult to master. At present, neither actor has enough vocal fluidity or muscularity for the task. Fournier, who is a much more seasoned performer, fares better than Nabea, but she also flounders at times, with both rhythm and cadence.
It is early in the run of this complex show. Hopefully, the performers' suppleness in delivery will increase, as the run progresses.
The good elements of this show decidedly outweigh its issues. There were many young people in the theatre last night, enthusiastically getting down with Dickens, in this lively version of an old, but still potent tale, of two lost kids, at loose on the mean streets.
TWISTED is well worth seeing, for its resonant and committed telling of a powerful story, and for the inventive, stylized production.
TWISTED by b current down with The Factory Theatre, continues at the Factory Theatre Mainstage, 125 Bathurst Street, until February 22, 2015. Tues. - Sat 8: 00 pm, with Pay What You Can matinees Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm. www.factorytheatre.ca for (416) 504 9971 or tickets and information.
This is an up-to-the minute version, set in a grey, grim, and grimy Toronto, awash in an urbane, hip-hop and rap based score by Hagler.
The narrative is primarily driven by a series of over 100 text messages, between a pair of star-crossed, street-involved lovers, Ollie (Ngabo Nabea) and Nancy (Susanna Fournier). Their texts are projected large, on the back wall of the set, for most of the show. This electronically-delivered epistolary comprises the seminal component of Ollie and Nancy's relationship. Texting drives the action of the plot, which is both a good thing, and a bad thing.
It's a good thing, because it feels real, fresh and immediate.
Ollie is a black, seventeen year-old, CAS run-away, who works as a runner for Dodger, a drug-dealer. Nancy, his crush, is a twenty-three year old drug addict, and "bottom girl" for Sikes, a vicious pimp. Nancy, a.k.a. "Lady Porcelain" earns her keep, and supports her habit, by turning on-line tricks, as well as recruiting, and grooming underage female run-aways, and street-kids to work for Sikes in his on-line sex trade business.
Is Nancy just playing Ollie? Can two profoundly damaged kids with self-destructive streaks, escape the maze of street life, and find happiness?
Many aspects of TWISTED work really well. The gritty script, both projected and spoken, has power and lyricism. The play itself is well-constructed. Hagler's music and Simeon Taole's projections add verisimilitude to the performance environment, without overwhelming the story. Director, Nigel Shawn Williams effectively melds the complex productions elements, with understated finesse, into a coherent whole. The 90 minute production is well-paced.
The clever set by Denyse Karn also, largely, enhances the proceedings. The flattened, grey maze, with a retractable platform, functions as projection surface, visual metaphor, and a series of discrete playing spaces for the two performers.
I understood that the precarious position the characters occupy in their lives is mirrored in some of the precarious positions they occupy, at times, on the set. However, some of their movements, from level to level, felt awkward. I thought slightly wider plinths could have remedied this. I also found myself wondering if a show this music-driven, wouldn't have benefited from a choreographer.
Both performances are emotionally engaging and affecting.
Susanna Fournier as Nancy, gives us a well-fleshed out, multidimensional Nancy, showing the character's vulnerability, longing, self-destructiveness, damage and defensiveness, in equal measure.
Newcomer, Ngabo Nabea makes his professional debut in this show. He brings an aura of bewildered charm, and exuberant, youthful heart to his massive role. Like Dickens' Oliver, he's an unabashedly good kid, in a swarm of mostly bad people.
Now, here's why the decision to have the two character write to each other, more than they interact, is a bad thing.
Fournier and Nabea have almost no scenes together, although they are both onstage, for most of the show. As a consequence, we don't get to bond with the two as a couple, in the way we need to, for the powerful ending of the play (and no, I'm not going to tell you what happens at the end) to have the impact it should.
The all text/no touch relationship between Fournier and Nabea creates another problem. Both actors are left in the challenging position of having to engage and hold the audience by delivering 80 uninterrupted minutes of direct address.
The level of vocal technique required to deliver this many lines, and convey all of their inherent beauty, fire, and potency is exquisitely difficult to master. At present, neither actor has enough vocal fluidity or muscularity for the task. Fournier, who is a much more seasoned performer, fares better than Nabea, but she also flounders at times, with both rhythm and cadence.
It is early in the run of this complex show. Hopefully, the performers' suppleness in delivery will increase, as the run progresses.
The good elements of this show decidedly outweigh its issues. There were many young people in the theatre last night, enthusiastically getting down with Dickens, in this lively version of an old, but still potent tale, of two lost kids, at loose on the mean streets.
TWISTED is well worth seeing, for its resonant and committed telling of a powerful story, and for the inventive, stylized production.
TWISTED by b current down with The Factory Theatre, continues at the Factory Theatre Mainstage, 125 Bathurst Street, until February 22, 2015. Tues. - Sat 8: 00 pm, with Pay What You Can matinees Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm. www.factorytheatre.ca for (416) 504 9971 or tickets and information.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
PERFORMING NARCISSISM: 1976 & RECENT FUTURE at DANCEMAKERS
Last weekend, I saw some very challenging new dance that left me with a lot of questions and no easy answers.
Last Friday night, I went to see DANCEMAKERS most recent offering, an evening of contemporary dance/performance art consisting of two pieces: IN TOUCH - 1976 & RECENT FUTURE.
DANCEMAKERS is working on a creation model where two curators offer space, time, and supports to a group of resident artists, who evolve work over a two year period.
The work is processed based, seeking to address the questions: What is dance? Why are we dancing?
The first piece, by Dana Michel, was a solo, 1976.
A headless creature emerges, yellow legged, swaddled in fur, with spectator shoes. Foot and leg movement deconstruct street tap and from the fur embryo, in a black, blow up chair a creature emerges. This performer morphs a few times: the squirming shape-shifts suggesting an uneasy alliance with her own body and the decision to be watched. It is not a comfortable performance, but it is compelling.
In RECENT FUTURE , Zoja Smutney and her collaborator Gunter Kravis perform on a stage divided by long swaths of transparent plastic. The two performers, striped shirts on the top (is this prison?) textured, reptile skin, black mesh hose decorating the legs, are present on stage, as are we, to watch and interact with the performers, and the space. The performance is an elaborate game of 'Simon says" between a man and a woman in an ambiguous relationship, rife with issues of power, and presentation. At one point, he asks her to "perform narcissism".
Both pieces explore the sometimes uncomfortable, and oft-times unholy alliance between the audience and the performer. Do we, the spectators, function as a kind of mirror to the performer? Or, when I want to look away, is it because the performance has held up a mirror to my own zones of discomfort? When a show makes me uncomfortable, is it because of the work, or because of me, because the work is making me think about things I'd rather avoid thinking about? Or, when a show makes me uncomfortable, is it the performers' projecting what they can't, or don't want, or haven't gotten around to processing before displaying, onto the audience; "Hey, I'm not sure how I feel about being exposed physically and psychically out here, or if this is exposure is germane to the work, or even what it means in this context, you figure it out."
This was DANCEMAKERS' first iteration of the process based focus of the resident artists' production model. The work I saw emerge last week was thought-provoking and challenging, if somewhat slippery and yet unformed.
DANCEMAKERS continues this weekend with a larger cast reconstruction of 1976. If you'd like some cool, challenging food for thought about what it means to watch and be watched, while you feed your performance-viewing habit, check this out.
DANCEMAKERS continues until January 31ST at 8:00 PM at Centre for Creation, 9 Trinity St., 3rd floor, in the Distillery. Tickets are $22 and $29 at the door.
Last Friday night, I went to see DANCEMAKERS most recent offering, an evening of contemporary dance/performance art consisting of two pieces: IN TOUCH - 1976 & RECENT FUTURE.
DANCEMAKERS is working on a creation model where two curators offer space, time, and supports to a group of resident artists, who evolve work over a two year period.
The work is processed based, seeking to address the questions: What is dance? Why are we dancing?
The first piece, by Dana Michel, was a solo, 1976.
A headless creature emerges, yellow legged, swaddled in fur, with spectator shoes. Foot and leg movement deconstruct street tap and from the fur embryo, in a black, blow up chair a creature emerges. This performer morphs a few times: the squirming shape-shifts suggesting an uneasy alliance with her own body and the decision to be watched. It is not a comfortable performance, but it is compelling.
In RECENT FUTURE , Zoja Smutney and her collaborator Gunter Kravis perform on a stage divided by long swaths of transparent plastic. The two performers, striped shirts on the top (is this prison?) textured, reptile skin, black mesh hose decorating the legs, are present on stage, as are we, to watch and interact with the performers, and the space. The performance is an elaborate game of 'Simon says" between a man and a woman in an ambiguous relationship, rife with issues of power, and presentation. At one point, he asks her to "perform narcissism".
Both pieces explore the sometimes uncomfortable, and oft-times unholy alliance between the audience and the performer. Do we, the spectators, function as a kind of mirror to the performer? Or, when I want to look away, is it because the performance has held up a mirror to my own zones of discomfort? When a show makes me uncomfortable, is it because of the work, or because of me, because the work is making me think about things I'd rather avoid thinking about? Or, when a show makes me uncomfortable, is it the performers' projecting what they can't, or don't want, or haven't gotten around to processing before displaying, onto the audience; "Hey, I'm not sure how I feel about being exposed physically and psychically out here, or if this is exposure is germane to the work, or even what it means in this context, you figure it out."
This was DANCEMAKERS' first iteration of the process based focus of the resident artists' production model. The work I saw emerge last week was thought-provoking and challenging, if somewhat slippery and yet unformed.
DANCEMAKERS continues this weekend with a larger cast reconstruction of 1976. If you'd like some cool, challenging food for thought about what it means to watch and be watched, while you feed your performance-viewing habit, check this out.
DANCEMAKERS continues until January 31ST at 8:00 PM at Centre for Creation, 9 Trinity St., 3rd floor, in the Distillery. Tickets are $22 and $29 at the door.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
NSTF 2015: News from the Heated Beer Tent
NEXT STAGE THEATRE FESTIVAl, the Fringe of Toronto's juried series of 10 winter offerings in the Factory Theatre, opened last Wednesday and is now at the half-way mark.
I have seen two shows so far, both on the Mainstage: FOR A GOOD TIME CALL KATHY BLANCHARD, a comedy by OUTSIDE INSIDE, and a contemporary dance show set to Motown music, PULSE by JASMYN FYFFE DANCE COLLECTIVE.
PULSE began with performers in the audience encouraging patrons to get up and join them in the aisles for the first number. The company then hopped and skipped onto the stage to continue the performance. More audience participation takes place at the end.
The dancers, Jonna Abrams, Bretonie Burchell, Irvin Chow, Julia Consentino, Jasmyn Fyffe, Roney Lewis,Alyssa Petrolo,Steven Smith, Jessica Tomasone are young, engaged and energetic. Their charm and playfulness went a long way towards wallpapering over some pretty ubiquitous choreography by Fyffe and made the forced gaiety of this type of audience participation somewhat easier to handle.
There were two stand out numbers in the 60 minute show: a duet about an abusive relationship set to an a capella version of NEITHER ONE OF US WANTS TO BE THE FIRST TO SAY GOODBYE. Gladys Knight's achingly lovely voice soared over two damaged people trapped in a cycle of escalating violence, punctuated by moments of tenderness and remorse. That duet was well worth the price of admission.
A piece performed without music by three young men in the company was also charged with energy and danger, and was performed without music. I only wish the rest of the program had tried less hard to please and been as focused, intense and dynamic as those two sections.
It's very challenging to create a dance piece of this length, that holds together thematically. PULSE is uneven, but it's worth a look.
Then I was back Monday night to see FOR A GOOD TIME CALL KATHY BLANCHARD. After Tony Nappo's star turn as coke-addled enforcer John Kordic in SUDDEN DEATH at NSTF two winters back, it would be tough to come up with an equally compelling hockey story. FOR A GOOD TIME ...isn't it.
Michael Ross Albert's script isn't really about hockey. It reminded me of those '70s kitchen sink Canadian dramedies I sat through way too many of, back in the day. It churns out plot, leaving the actors to spew exposition, while most of the action takes place off-stage and, yes, there is an actual kitchen sink, downstage left.
The parental home in which the show is set is supposed to be under re-construction after a fire, but the cluttered, too bright set is more distraction than help to the production.
Watching the game has only a tenuous connection to the many threaded plot revolving around a musician/slacker Lawrence (a delightful Daniel Pagett) and the travails of his massive, extended family. We meet his endearingly over-functioning cousin Mary who, as played by Jennifer Dzialoszynski, was my favourite thing about this show. His girlfriend Amanda, a gawkily charming Caroline Toal, making the best of a bad business and the very funny Geoffrey Pounsett as Sky, get thrown into the mix along with affairs,a marriage proposal, house-fires, play-off hockey, dying parents,competing career objectives and an old flame in cottage country.
Any one of the pairings of characters could have furnished enough material for an hour-long play, especially with actors this good. There's some funny material here, some good dialogue, and some really fine acting, but the whole thing is far from ready to make a run for the play-offs.
The seminal issue with both these pieces is they tried far too hard to be likeable. I don't go to the Fringe to see people blatantly pandering for that elusive feel-good commercial hit, though I'm glad if that happens. I go to see compelling, often idiosyncratic and challenging work.
Speaking of feel-good, I've heard lots of good buzz about two comedies, UNBRIDLED AND UNHINGED and GRAHAM SMITH READS THE PHONEBOOK. I'm going to try get a ticket for BIG SHOT, which was recommended by a writer and performer I respect, who had seen it on tour.
I have tickets to see DINK and MYTH OF THE OSTRICH this weekend. Fingers crossed for some unique, high-risk theatre this weekend. By the way, the rummy cider is terrific and the tent is nice and warm!
Next Stage Theatre Festival continues at the Factory Theatre until Sunday, January 18th. www.fringetoronto.com for tickets and schedules. Tickets are also available in person onsite in the heated tent at 125 Bathurst Street.
I have seen two shows so far, both on the Mainstage: FOR A GOOD TIME CALL KATHY BLANCHARD, a comedy by OUTSIDE INSIDE, and a contemporary dance show set to Motown music, PULSE by JASMYN FYFFE DANCE COLLECTIVE.
PULSE began with performers in the audience encouraging patrons to get up and join them in the aisles for the first number. The company then hopped and skipped onto the stage to continue the performance. More audience participation takes place at the end.
The dancers, Jonna Abrams, Bretonie Burchell, Irvin Chow, Julia Consentino, Jasmyn Fyffe, Roney Lewis,Alyssa Petrolo,Steven Smith, Jessica Tomasone are young, engaged and energetic. Their charm and playfulness went a long way towards wallpapering over some pretty ubiquitous choreography by Fyffe and made the forced gaiety of this type of audience participation somewhat easier to handle.
There were two stand out numbers in the 60 minute show: a duet about an abusive relationship set to an a capella version of NEITHER ONE OF US WANTS TO BE THE FIRST TO SAY GOODBYE. Gladys Knight's achingly lovely voice soared over two damaged people trapped in a cycle of escalating violence, punctuated by moments of tenderness and remorse. That duet was well worth the price of admission.
A piece performed without music by three young men in the company was also charged with energy and danger, and was performed without music. I only wish the rest of the program had tried less hard to please and been as focused, intense and dynamic as those two sections.
It's very challenging to create a dance piece of this length, that holds together thematically. PULSE is uneven, but it's worth a look.
Then I was back Monday night to see FOR A GOOD TIME CALL KATHY BLANCHARD. After Tony Nappo's star turn as coke-addled enforcer John Kordic in SUDDEN DEATH at NSTF two winters back, it would be tough to come up with an equally compelling hockey story. FOR A GOOD TIME ...isn't it.
Michael Ross Albert's script isn't really about hockey. It reminded me of those '70s kitchen sink Canadian dramedies I sat through way too many of, back in the day. It churns out plot, leaving the actors to spew exposition, while most of the action takes place off-stage and, yes, there is an actual kitchen sink, downstage left.
The parental home in which the show is set is supposed to be under re-construction after a fire, but the cluttered, too bright set is more distraction than help to the production.
Watching the game has only a tenuous connection to the many threaded plot revolving around a musician/slacker Lawrence (a delightful Daniel Pagett) and the travails of his massive, extended family. We meet his endearingly over-functioning cousin Mary who, as played by Jennifer Dzialoszynski, was my favourite thing about this show. His girlfriend Amanda, a gawkily charming Caroline Toal, making the best of a bad business and the very funny Geoffrey Pounsett as Sky, get thrown into the mix along with affairs,a marriage proposal, house-fires, play-off hockey, dying parents,competing career objectives and an old flame in cottage country.
Any one of the pairings of characters could have furnished enough material for an hour-long play, especially with actors this good. There's some funny material here, some good dialogue, and some really fine acting, but the whole thing is far from ready to make a run for the play-offs.
The seminal issue with both these pieces is they tried far too hard to be likeable. I don't go to the Fringe to see people blatantly pandering for that elusive feel-good commercial hit, though I'm glad if that happens. I go to see compelling, often idiosyncratic and challenging work.
Speaking of feel-good, I've heard lots of good buzz about two comedies, UNBRIDLED AND UNHINGED and GRAHAM SMITH READS THE PHONEBOOK. I'm going to try get a ticket for BIG SHOT, which was recommended by a writer and performer I respect, who had seen it on tour.
I have tickets to see DINK and MYTH OF THE OSTRICH this weekend. Fingers crossed for some unique, high-risk theatre this weekend. By the way, the rummy cider is terrific and the tent is nice and warm!
Next Stage Theatre Festival continues at the Factory Theatre until Sunday, January 18th. www.fringetoronto.com for tickets and schedules. Tickets are also available in person onsite in the heated tent at 125 Bathurst Street.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Oh, Babies: LUNGS at the Tarragon Theatre
I missed LUNGS, the critical hit, when it was staged last spring at the Tarragon. It's currently being revived at the Tarragon.
Everyone I spoke to raved about it: the writing, the acting, the subject matter, the direction. Today, I went with a regular theatre-going friend of mine, to see what the fuss was about.
LUNGS is a two-hander that takes place in 70 minutes, on a minimal set: a bare room with nice, wood paneled walls, and floor, designed by Ken MacKenzie. British playwright, Duncan MacMillan apparently insists on this bare room stricture, along with "no mime, no props, no lighting changes." Kimberly Purtell lights it like a Fringe show, with subtle tonal shifts, but no specials.
This leaves the director, Weyni Mengesha and the actors, to bring the dense text to life, and they do so adeptly.
A 30-something straight couple: the gratingly loquacious and neurotic W, (Lesley Faulkner) and her long-suffering mister, M (Brendan Gall) are trying to decide whether or not to procreate. They are good people, they tell us. They are educated. They recycle.
What about the carbon foot-print? What about money? What about the over-populated planet?
After a lot of agonizing, they decide to go ahead and get pregnant. Complications ensue.
LUNGS is well-acted, with solid physical and vocal work from both actors. It is well written, if kind of pretentious, and overly talky. It's well-directed, within the constraints imposed on the director by the playwright.
I just didn't like it very much.
There's a lot of great dialogue, but when you really dislike one partner in a couple, it is hard to root for them as a pair, and hope they'll stay together. I had moments when I felt compassion for both of them, but W was so annoying, I just couldn't believe M didn't run out of the room screaming early on in the courtship. After a great, gut-wrenching plot twist late in the play, the feel-good ending felt like a tacked-on, pandering, rom-com style cop-out.
LUNGS is worth seeing for the performances, and some of the witty and thought-provoking dialogue. It's a worthy effort, just not great.
LUNGS continues at the TARRAGON EXTRA SPACE until January 25, 2015. www.tarragontheatre.com for more information and tickets.
Everyone I spoke to raved about it: the writing, the acting, the subject matter, the direction. Today, I went with a regular theatre-going friend of mine, to see what the fuss was about.
LUNGS is a two-hander that takes place in 70 minutes, on a minimal set: a bare room with nice, wood paneled walls, and floor, designed by Ken MacKenzie. British playwright, Duncan MacMillan apparently insists on this bare room stricture, along with "no mime, no props, no lighting changes." Kimberly Purtell lights it like a Fringe show, with subtle tonal shifts, but no specials.
This leaves the director, Weyni Mengesha and the actors, to bring the dense text to life, and they do so adeptly.
A 30-something straight couple: the gratingly loquacious and neurotic W, (Lesley Faulkner) and her long-suffering mister, M (Brendan Gall) are trying to decide whether or not to procreate. They are good people, they tell us. They are educated. They recycle.
What about the carbon foot-print? What about money? What about the over-populated planet?
After a lot of agonizing, they decide to go ahead and get pregnant. Complications ensue.
LUNGS is well-acted, with solid physical and vocal work from both actors. It is well written, if kind of pretentious, and overly talky. It's well-directed, within the constraints imposed on the director by the playwright.
I just didn't like it very much.
There's a lot of great dialogue, but when you really dislike one partner in a couple, it is hard to root for them as a pair, and hope they'll stay together. I had moments when I felt compassion for both of them, but W was so annoying, I just couldn't believe M didn't run out of the room screaming early on in the courtship. After a great, gut-wrenching plot twist late in the play, the feel-good ending felt like a tacked-on, pandering, rom-com style cop-out.
LUNGS is worth seeing for the performances, and some of the witty and thought-provoking dialogue. It's a worthy effort, just not great.
LUNGS continues at the TARRAGON EXTRA SPACE until January 25, 2015. www.tarragontheatre.com for more information and tickets.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
A TART & SWEET HOLIDAY TREAT - CINDERELLA at The Elgin Theatre
Last Thursday night, my god-daughter and I bailed out of a taxi and joined the throng outside the Elgin Theatre, queuing up for the opening night of CINDERELLA - The Gags to Riches Musical.
I freely confess that I love pantomimes. The venerable English Christmas tradition has a history going back to the Saturnalia pageants of the ancient Romans. Ross Petty's 19th incarnation of his annual holiday production did not disappoint.
The show began with two Wayne's World types, Dwayne and Zane ( Panto stalwart Eddie Glen and fine panto writer, Reid Janisse, respectively) who are wizards in training at a magic academy that bears a passing resemblance to Hogwarts. The dudes steal their pompous Professor Yongenbloor's (Dan Chameroy, who re-appears as an utterly delightful Plumbum, the Fairy Godmother) magic wand and use it to transform the old French fairytale of Cinderella into a pop musical, set in present-day Toronto.
Singing, dancing, satire, sight gags, double entendres, loud booing of villains and all manner of merry mayhem ensues.
A put-upon Cinderella (Danielle Wade) struggles to save her organic market from the clutches of Revolta Bulldoza ( Ross Petty), her evil stepmother, and her awful step-sisters, Nastine ( Bryn McAuley) and Shakiki (Cleopatra Williams).
Petty shoe-horns on the Spanx, and coats himself with the contents of an entire MAC counter to concoct a deliciously nasty Wicked Stepmother. He delivered some of the best lines - scripted, and otherwise - of the night. Revolta's offspring, Williams and McAuley channel a combo-platter of Kardashian and Jersey Shore to create their fun-to-watch Mean Girls.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a handsome and successful Prince of Pop (Jeff Lillico) is stalked by groupies, but seeks a significant other who shares his love of healthy organic food. A reality television ball on the CBC gives him a chance to find a girl he can give a rose to. Lillico is perfectly cast as a soulful, singing and dancing Prince.
Danielle Wade makes a lovely Cinderella. With the help of her dear friend Buttons, (panto stalwart and charmer, Eddie Glen) some garden gnomes, and a fabulously unbalanced Fairy Godmother, good triumphs over Evil, and Cinderella gets her fella - and a ride to the ball in a show-stopper of a horse-drawn carriage. My young charge and I gasped in delight when it appeared, as did the rest of the audience.
This is a stylish production, with a well-crafted and funny script, solidly directed by Tracey Flye. There's more than enough satire to keep this fairy tale out of saccharine territory . Bob Foster keeps the musical numbers going at an energetic clip. Michael Gianfrancesco designed some lovely costumes and makes clever use of projections to create an appealing and uncluttered set. Both the cast and the audience had a lot of fun during the proceedings.
If you've never made a panto part of your holiday tradition, this is an absolutely excellent way to waste some time and money with young people you love during this festive season.
My god-daughter was still talking about the show a week later. And we both got a pony for Christmas - without having to try and convince her parents to let us turn their garage into a barn! Have an ice-cream in the interval, and go look at the mechanical windows at the Bay and the lights at City Hall after the show. Holiday magic in the city doesn't get much better than this.
Cinderella at the Elgin Theatre continues until January 4th 2015 RossPetty.com
I freely confess that I love pantomimes. The venerable English Christmas tradition has a history going back to the Saturnalia pageants of the ancient Romans. Ross Petty's 19th incarnation of his annual holiday production did not disappoint.
The show began with two Wayne's World types, Dwayne and Zane ( Panto stalwart Eddie Glen and fine panto writer, Reid Janisse, respectively) who are wizards in training at a magic academy that bears a passing resemblance to Hogwarts. The dudes steal their pompous Professor Yongenbloor's (Dan Chameroy, who re-appears as an utterly delightful Plumbum, the Fairy Godmother) magic wand and use it to transform the old French fairytale of Cinderella into a pop musical, set in present-day Toronto.
Singing, dancing, satire, sight gags, double entendres, loud booing of villains and all manner of merry mayhem ensues.
A put-upon Cinderella (Danielle Wade) struggles to save her organic market from the clutches of Revolta Bulldoza ( Ross Petty), her evil stepmother, and her awful step-sisters, Nastine ( Bryn McAuley) and Shakiki (Cleopatra Williams).
Petty shoe-horns on the Spanx, and coats himself with the contents of an entire MAC counter to concoct a deliciously nasty Wicked Stepmother. He delivered some of the best lines - scripted, and otherwise - of the night. Revolta's offspring, Williams and McAuley channel a combo-platter of Kardashian and Jersey Shore to create their fun-to-watch Mean Girls.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a handsome and successful Prince of Pop (Jeff Lillico) is stalked by groupies, but seeks a significant other who shares his love of healthy organic food. A reality television ball on the CBC gives him a chance to find a girl he can give a rose to. Lillico is perfectly cast as a soulful, singing and dancing Prince.
Danielle Wade makes a lovely Cinderella. With the help of her dear friend Buttons, (panto stalwart and charmer, Eddie Glen) some garden gnomes, and a fabulously unbalanced Fairy Godmother, good triumphs over Evil, and Cinderella gets her fella - and a ride to the ball in a show-stopper of a horse-drawn carriage. My young charge and I gasped in delight when it appeared, as did the rest of the audience.
This is a stylish production, with a well-crafted and funny script, solidly directed by Tracey Flye. There's more than enough satire to keep this fairy tale out of saccharine territory . Bob Foster keeps the musical numbers going at an energetic clip. Michael Gianfrancesco designed some lovely costumes and makes clever use of projections to create an appealing and uncluttered set. Both the cast and the audience had a lot of fun during the proceedings.
If you've never made a panto part of your holiday tradition, this is an absolutely excellent way to waste some time and money with young people you love during this festive season.
My god-daughter was still talking about the show a week later. And we both got a pony for Christmas - without having to try and convince her parents to let us turn their garage into a barn! Have an ice-cream in the interval, and go look at the mechanical windows at the Bay and the lights at City Hall after the show. Holiday magic in the city doesn't get much better than this.
Cinderella at the Elgin Theatre continues until January 4th 2015 RossPetty.com
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