DISSONANT SPECIES – REVIEW OF 2025 PRODUCTION BY THEATRE GARGANTUA AT FACTORY THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

The title Dissonant Species may have the benefit of honesty, assuming it refers to humankind, and much of the music that we hear during the performance. It ends with the five performers screaming at the audience as loudly and harshly as they could for an inordinately long time.  I have no idea why.

In a program note, Theatre Gargantua states that “our productions explore compelling subjects and meld compelling physicality with striking designs underpinned by live original music.”

The musical begins with a soundwave floating in the air at the back of the playing area. There are numerous instruments on the walls and we are treated to a technical Music 101 lecture, talk of musical experiments and information about the beneficial effects of music. The lecture is technical and mostly incomprehensible. The talk of the structure of music is either technical, or difficult to follow, again, except perhaps to students of music.

We are told that exposing your fetus to music during pregnancy may help him/her with language learning. Music can be useful in retarding the effects of dementia. Indeed, the mother of one of the performers who is suffering from dementia responds to music and in her case, it is to the song “Over the Rainbow.” It was also the only recognizable piece that I heard. They mention Bach but do not play even a few bars of his music. They ignore classical music entirely and I am not sure what type of music they have in mind. But it is all original. 

The ensemble of Dissonant Species.Photo: Michael Cooper

The ensemble consists of Heather Marie Annis, Nicholas Eddie, Malia Rogers, Michael Gordon Spence and Hannah Sunley-Paisley.

In one segment. Michael Gordon Spence, the senior musician of the ensemble, we see him address the students in a disastrous lecture. Then we see hum having a nightmare where he is attacked by his students.

One of the  students/players is pregnant and there are two young women and in one segment we Nicholas Eddie as an obnoxious young man.

The cast engaged in some gymnastics and it may have been intended as some kind of dance routine. They wore white lab coats for the Experiment scenes and I got very little of the jargon that they were using.

The play is written by Heather Marie Annis and Michael Gordon Spence, no doubt for knowledgeable musicians, and they want to show us their musical learning and talent. Spence also designed the set. The sound designers and original compositions are by Christopher-Elizabeth and Richard Lam with additional original compositions by The Ensemble and Heidi Chan.   

The play is directed by Jacquie P.A. Thomas, the founder and artistic director of Theatre Gargantua.

Music majors will no doubt get a lot more out of the show than I did. For hoi polloi like me, it is not a very good night at the theatre.
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DISSONANT SPECIES by Heather Marie Annis and Michael Gordon Spence, in a production by Theatre Gargantua, opened on November 7 and will run until November 23, 2025, at the Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario. www.factorytheatre.ca.

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press, Toronto