Lincoln and Booth are no longer just two names.

Topdog/Underdog, the award winning play by Suzan-Lori Parks is playing at the Theatre Centre on Queen West till December 4, 2011.

The play was performed in the gymnasium space where The Theatre Centre has been for almost twelve years. The small space allows for a very intimate viewing of two brothers living in a cramped apartment. Kevin Hanchard, who plays the younger brother Booth and Nigel Shawn Williams who plays the older brother Lincoln,  have great chemistry on stage and deliver their lines very poetically.

Directed by Philip Akin, the play had some interesting engaging elements such as the repetitive shuffling performance by the two brothers. The choice to create a broken tiled floor along with the recliner doubling up as Lincoln’s bed, added to the feeling of ruin and poverty in the apartment. The magazines under the bed were useful in hinting at a possible time period. Even though the dialogue was lengthy, the set and actors provided visual interest. One of the most visually interesting scene was the introduction of Lincoln while he erased face paint off himself and changed costume on stage. The music played by Lincoln also added to the already melodic dialogue in the play.

The show was interesting in it’s minimal elements such as the basic lighting and no background music. The focus thus remained on the two brothers and their unique story. I would recommend seeing the show, not just for the talented actors but also how they interact with the unique space of the theatre.

Red shines bright

Teni ZamanThe great thing about staging Red at the Canadian Stage’s Bluma Appal Theatre is that Matthew Jocelyn and Kim Collier had a large space to engage the audience before they even make it to their seats. The choice to keep all promotional material red was quite simple yet effective, however they took it one step further by adding red paintings in the hallway and bathing the hallway in a red hue.

I was amazed by Jim Mezon’s energy and the ability to memorize a long script but occasionally the emotion from the voice would fade to give way to a recitation that sounded like a list of Rothko’s strong opinions. Jim Mezon did an excellent job unleashing his anger as Rothko that almost made me feel bad for his assistant.  The interactions between Mezon and David Coomber felt as intimate as conversation between a renouned artist and his assistant in his studio might be. The scene of the two painting a whole, blank canvas red set to a loud, energetic song was perhaps one of the best moments of the show.

The acting was backed up by an amazing set which was constantly changing due to the many painting supplies and various paintings in the background. The use of an imaginary painting kept the actors facing the audience as well as forced the audience to use their imaginations. The actors also interacted with the stage effectively by mixing different paints, cleaning brushes, throwing paint dyes and changing records on the player. The comfort that the actors had with the set showed through and made their characters more believable.

The lighting not only helped enhance the mood but also added to the plot by becoming brighter to draw attention to specific plot elements. The lighting helped enhance the ideas of Rothko such as the breathing of the paintings and brought them to the forefront whenever they needed to be. The use of soft red light within the stage during longer monologues also added production value to an already amazing play. Although the set changes were handled in an interesting way with the stage screen closing to display a variety of patterns, they had no relevance to the plot. The music on the record player was pleasant to the ears while the music played during scene changes was not.

There were many things i liked about the play, mostly its ability to engage me in through the use of a beautiful set and talented actors. It also left me wishing for a greater knowledge of the arts so that I may better be able to enjoy all the references and ideas made by Rothko. I would definitely recommend seeing this play before it’s closing night on December 17th, as it is both engaging and entertaining.

Listen to ‘how a child’s heart sounds in the presence of adults’ at The Children’s Republic

Listen to how a child’s heart sounds in the presence of adults at The Children’s Republic
Teni Zaman

The Children’s Republic,by Hannah Moscovith and directed by Alisa Palmer is playing at Tarragon Theatre from November 8th to December 18, 2011. The plot was inspired by the life of Janusz Korczak and uses real quotations and historical events to tell the story of an orphanage during the Holocaust.
The serious topic of the play had me expecting a somber night that would be emotional and heart wrenching. This play however was not all serious and the topic of children’s development and empowerment was delivered in a very successful way without ever getting preachy. The show provides more than a few laughs as well as creates awareness about some serious topics.

The show started off with an exposed stage; a mud-wall that acted as a separation between the indoors and the out and in big chalk letters on the floor ‘Warsaw 1948’ to help situate the audience in the specific time and place of the play. The stage, although sparse, was transformed into the different rooms (or the courtyard or school class) through the placement of basic furniture brought in between scenes.

The choice of Alisa Palmer to update the audience about the events of the outside world by the chalked words of the children on the wall was interesting. The destruction represented by the loud ripping of the wall into pieces was also successful in keeping with the theme of war and destruction in the play. The ripped wall as the backdrop representing the new orphanage was also accurate as it showed the difference between the two different spaces distinctly.

The lighting was also interesting as the brightness of it helped with the moods of the play. The use of light through the door was also clever as the ending scene made the door almost appear death like and resemble a tombstone. The music added through the violin of Sara had a similar effect as it was both beautiful and haunting at the same time, much like the story unfolding before the audience.

The older actors (Kelli Fox and Petter Hutt) in the play were talented but I most impressed with the children in the play. Katie Frances Cohen made an impressive Mettye with her constant talking and singing. Mark Correia played the role of Isreal, an emotionally damaged child does not speak many words with perfection. The interaction between the children such as the fight scenes was well practiced and appeared very natural on stage. This play might not have been the same great experience without the great acting of all the actors on the stage. They helped create the right mood and lightened things up when the audience required it most.

Before the night began, i thought I was going to learn something about children development and the Holocaust but the play while touching upon these topics stays entertaining in its own story. It kept me engaged the whole time and I would definitely recommend seeing it.

Ghosts of my expectation

Ghosts- Soulpepper at 55 Mill Street, Playing till November 18th.

Ghosts, written by Henrik Ibsen and Directed by Morris Panych, sadly disappointed my expectations being familiar with the playwright’s Doll’s House. The production was held at Soulpepper theatre in the Distillery District. However, after seeing last night’s performance of Ghosts, I realised that a greater playwright does not guarantee an amazing translation to the stage and that I personally do not like just dialogue driven plays.

 

The plot, rotating around the family of Captain Alving and the consequences of his affair as told by his widow to pastor Manders. The stage is set up as the living room in the home of Mrs. Alvings whose son Oswald is suffering from a fatal disease.

 

The stage is set up inside the home of Mrs. Alving with the ‘window’ acting as a backdrop and the dining room and theatre aisles acting as exits. The setup on the stage itself was full of prints from the furniture to the dresses of the Helene Alving and Regina Engstrand. The stage made clever use of a glass screen and various lights and sounds to display events outside the house such as the rain and the orphanage fire. The unravelling of the set to its basic elements towards the outside of the stage was an interesting choice as it helped pull the exits by the audience into the stage as well as  cleared up any obstructions in the audience’s sight of the stage. The setup did however fail as every member of the audience got a partial view of the stage with row CC being blind to the dining room. To be fair, there was not much action that happened within the dining room and it’s function as an exit (which the audience in row CC etc would imagine it to be) worked fine as well.

 

The use of minimalistic music to illuminate changing scenes was a successful choice because it allowed the audience to concentrate on the very dialogue driven plot of the play. The first part of the show was slow in terms of visual movement, there were long dialogues  and the actors remained stagnant on stage with long periods of having their backs turned towards the audience. All the actors on the stage however did a very good job of delivering their speeches with the proper sentiments, expressions and body langauge.

 

The dialogue driven play picked up pace after the intermission and Nancy Palk got more than a few laughs from the audience. The play, even though slow at first, redeemed itself after the break. I would not claim that this is my favourite show but it’s still not one of the worst I’ve seen and that too perhaps is more a matter of personal choice than anything else.

A story you know that will shock you..

Orpheus and Eurydice-Tehniat Zaman

If you thought a play was about a good plot and amazing dialogue, Orpheus and Eurydice will make you realise that a play can be very successful even if there is barely any dialogue and the plot isn’t very clear. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice both engages the senses and amazes them through efficient use of basic lighting, dance moves and monosyllable sounds from the performers. The choreography of Marie Chouinard (a Québécois choreographer and the artistic director) is stunning as it tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice through abstract movements and single syllable sounds.

If you are not comfortable with a little bit of nudity or hanging on the edge of your seat waiting to see what direction the play would next take, you should skip the show but for me that was precisely what made the show such an amazing success. The repetitive music and dance moves were long enough to get one accustomed to what was happening on the stage but Chouinard knew when to take that comfort away and replace it with another routine, as unique as the first and sometimes in complete contrast.

The slowly pronounced story of Orpheus, with action playing out on the stage was very effective as it gave the audience a break from the dancing and added a bit of perspective of everything they had experienced on the stage so far. The use of subtitles to help the audience understand what the words meant was just as brilliant as the actor who spoke the words while doing a slow stationary dance himself.

There was so much to see and so many repetitive scenes followed by unique twists that I’m sure I could not be able to explain what happened or remember the order it unfolded in unless  I see the play a few more times. The pauses between each scene were also a good choice as it gave the audience a few moments to reflect on what they had just witnessed and absorb it before being sucked back into the action.

The acting by Valarie Galluccio was amazing as she often stood in one corner of the stage holding a demonic expression while the others around her danced. The sucking of her soul by Dorotea Saykaly accompanied by the odd sounds that expelled with her soul were not just odd but long enough to get a reaction out of the audience, a few times over. The show also used sudden loud noises and flashing lights to successfully elicit reactions out of the audience.

This is the kind of play that people will either love or hate since there is no set but the play is all about the performers, lighting and repetitive sounds. There are very few actual words spoken in the play and it can be seen as an art piece or dance performance as much as it can be seen as a play. The show played at Canstage till November 5^th but I would look out for a return performance so that I may be able to go see the play again.

 

the sound beating of the normal heart

The normal heart, presented by Studio 180 is playing at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre till November 6, 2011. Directed by Joel Greenberg, the play warns of strong language and mature subject matter, as it deals with issues of ‘love, AIDS and New York in the 1980s’. The play follows Ned Weeks, played by Jonathan Wilson, at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic as he struggles to get it recognized by political authorities so that they may pledge money to research a cure for the disease.

The Normal Heart is a mainly autobiographical play that deals with a sombre part of gay history in New York in the 1980s, when AIDS had been merely claimed 41 lives. Deeply political, the play talks about the lack of awareness and funding for AIDS research due to the fact that it was primarily a homosexual disease. As Ned Weeks, a deeply passionate man who creates an agency to raise awareness, looses friends and lovers to the disease, the mood of the play becomes darker as well.

The play used the stage setup very successfully to recreate the mood the play is set in. In the 1980s, the homosexual men were, according to the play, engaged in a lot of sexual activity with multiple partners and had several lovers. The important task of raising awareness about an unknown disease with an exponentially high death-toll amongst homosexual men and the tensions that rise with such a great task are presented in the play through several different means.

The stage setup is interesting because the audience is seated on all four sides of the space where the actors perform. The stage setup helps the audience stay aware that they were watching action unfold in a play as other audience members remain in the line of vision throughout the performance. This reminder of the play as a performance reflected the plot because despite all the noise Ned and his committee makes, the world around them remains quiet and seemingly unmoved by their troubles. The stage setup, and the music that accompanied the scene changes, are also suggestive of a dance floor, reflecting the party-scene where AIDS was apparently being spread. As the play transcended into a darker mood, the music that played in between scenes became less reminiscent of a club. As the play proceeded and the death-toll added up, the voice of Ned became more prominent and loud while the silent part of the dialogue became more pronounced and reflective of the looming death.

The escalading emotions of Ned are shown as literally out of control when he throws groceries around. The exploding carton of milk was a great visual representation of the moment where Ned’s own resolve breaks and his anger explodes and shows his defeat.

All in all, the play dealt with a serious topic in a very effective way. You will leave the play knowledgeable and moved by the sad event that take place in the 1980s.

Let’s go In The Next Room for a pleasurable time

By Teni Zaman

The Vibrator Play; In the Next Room written by Sarah Ruhl and awarded the Glickman Prize (Finalist for Pulitzer Prize, 2010 and Tony nomination for Best Play) is playing at Tarragon Theatre till October 23, 2011. In co-production with The Royal Manitoba Theatre Center, the play is directed by Richard Rose, who was presented with the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence, for his services as an art director at the beginning of the production.

The play takes place after Thomas Edison discovered electricity, in the living room of Dr & Mrs. Givings home and the operating room attached to it. The audience watches the doctor treat women for hysteria through the use of a vibrator in his operating room while his unsuspecting wife listens in the living room. Mrs. Givings curiosity leads her into the operating room itself which leads her to an amazing discovery that would change her relationship with her husband.

The design of the stage is very interesting as the stage is divided down the middle to show the two separate rooms and is successful in splitting the space into two separate spheres that are both complementary and contrasting of one another and played up on the theme of the different genders.  The separation of the stage is set up so that the placement of the furniture within each room is a reflection of the other; the settee in the middle is divided by two different clothes on it, green and bright on the living room side and a sombre pattern in a dark colour on the operating room side and the placement of the couch mirrors the bed in the operating room. Similarly, the wallpaper used in the rooms was of a similar design with the colours switched with one another; white on black for the domestic space while black on white for the doctor’s room.

The actors similarly, added to the gender separation as the males kept their tones stiff while the women were dramatic and emotional in their delivery. The best performance however was that of Jonathan Watton who married the two genders because as an artist, his sensitivities were meant to give him female qualities. The gender differences were also reflected in the costumes, with the women wearing elaborate, colourful gowns while the men wore reserved, tailored suits. The use of subtle puns that only a contemporary audience understood added an extra layer of hilarity to an already comedic plot.

The production was amazing in its delivery of a hilarious plot and the energy of the actors filled up the intimate theatre with laughter throughout the play. The play could perhaps have used some background music as some scenes were void of any sound but the success of all the other elements in the play more than made up for it. All in all, the play did not disappoint and made for a great evening full of laughter. I would recommend the show to anyone who can possibly get tickets for the Sunday matinee before the show closes.

Another Africa? Maybe another day….

Another Africa? Maybe another day

Another Africa, playing at the Bluma Appel Theatre till October 22, 2011 is part of Volcano theatre’s the Africa trilogy.  The play is divided into three parts; the stranger (the prologue), Shine your eye and Peggy Pickit sees the face of god. Each part is done as an individual play with its own writer, director and with the exception of the first part, which features the entire cast, their own cast. The show runs for a lengthy 2 hours and 10 minutes with a much needed 20-minute interval before Peggy Pickit sees the face of god.

The play starts with a short welcome speech with all the actors of the play lined up together. Shine your eye (the second part) is set in Nigeria and is about the identity crisis of Gbene Beka, a smart and technologically savvy girl, who is trying to fight the shadow of her father, a great African leader.  Peggy Pickit sees the face of god (the second part) takes place in one set entirely, the house of a couple who are hosting a dinner party for their friends who have just returned from Africa.

The fact that an entirely different team had created each play is evident as the plays are completely unique in both their plots and their presentations. While, the two small plays carried strong political messages and tried to raise awareness about issues in Africa that is where the similarities stopped. Despite the refreshing juxtapositioning of the comedic dinner party with the serious story of Beka, the audience was left wondering as to why the two plays had been presented as part of one longer play.

The actors in Shine your eye were amazing in the way they carried their strong voices but their accents, although helpful for originality, sometimes interfered with my ability to understand them. The Nigerian boys, usually in the background, also made for interesting visual elements as they performed a kind of dance, during otherwise long monologues.

The actors in the Peggy Pickit successfully carried on their conversation naturally, making me feel almost invasive for listening into their dinner party. The most impressive part of the play was the ability of the actors in Peggy Picket to freeze during thought tracking and then start off from their original positions. While the actors were talented in the freeze frame scenes, the director could have taken more than a few of the repeating sequences out, as they got repetitive.

Overall, the play could have done with a significant reduction in its length and a better connection between the two short plays.  The problem lay mostly in the plots as Shine your eye’s lengthy monologues and Peggy Pickit’s repetition of scenes became cumbersome. The two short plays also seemed to have used too many elements that were not given a chance to flourish and establish.  Despite some good elements and humorous parts, the play felt like it was stretched to fit its time slot.  It might have been a better play if I wasn’t subjected to 2.5 hours of it.

What is The Maids made of?

The Maids, written by Jean Genet and based on real events is performing at the buddies in bad times theatre till October 9, 2011.  Jean Genet is “[a] true queer warrior[1]” and the choice to perform The Maids at Buddies, “the largest facility-based queer production company in the world”[2] is very fitting. Brendan Healy, the artistic director, has also done an excellent job of presenting Genet’s vision to the audience through the choices made on the set. The show is both interesting in its dialogues as well as its visual representation.

The play, written in 1947, is inspired by the story of two maids in France who killed their mistress. The play shows us two maids who regularly fanaticize about murdering their horrible mistress. The fantasy is played out by the two maids, where one of them dresses up in the mistresses clothes while the other pretends to murder her.  While the play was mostly about the emotions of the maids, there was a secondary storyline about the mistress and her lover that added a layer of interest and complexity to the plot.

The minimalistic set and music were incredible in the way they enhanced the plot and focused in on the emotions of the characters. The stage was set up so that the audience was looking into the mistress’s bedroom with very little furniture; a big bed in the center and a couple of expensively decorated side tables pushed to the two side walls. It also made good use of the doors as the balcony, closet and an exit from the bedroom to the rest of the house. This allowed for the focus to remain on the characters rather than be distracted by the furniture around them.

The music remained soft and part of the background during most of the play which made any change in the sound distinguishable and highly effective in creating the desired effects. At times the music slowed down to a steady drum beat resembling a nervous heart beat and foreshadowing disaster while the maids listened in for the mistress. The use of sound was also interesting when everything on stage paused and was taken over by one clear noise. It was an interesting way to highlight important aspects of the play, such as the doorbell, representing doom, when the mistress arrives home. Concentration on sounds like the omniscient dropping of a key into a glass bowl enhanced the mood of the play greatly. The opera music playing during the death scene and the lack of background noise while the volume of the actors voices rose to represent a rise in their emotion are just a few examples of how the sounds of the play enhanced the plot and effected the audience.

Ron Kennell was an excellent performer, changing costumes and roles in a flash and taking charge of each role so perfectly.  Diane D’Aquila made excellent use of her voice and body language to convey an array of emotions that the maid felt through the play.  The acting was superb as all three actors (Maria Ricossa played a small role as the mistress) made use of a full range of expressions so that their emotions were obvious even in dim lighting.

The line ‘what are maids made of’ is repeated in the play a few times giving an interesting parallel between what is being acted out on stage and the main theme of the play. Throughout the play, we see what the maids are made of in terms of their emotions and feelings. Through this line Genet reminds us to focus on the maids which the bare set, music and incredible acting all help the audience focus in on.

 

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[1] Brendan Healy, Artistic Director in The Maids program

[2]Buddies in Bad Times Theatre website [http://www.buddiesinbadtimes.com/about.cfm]