Lucy Peacock as Elora and Nigel Bennett as Julian in The
Thrill. Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann.
*** (out of 5)
Reviewed by James Karas
The Thrill, Judith Thompson’s
new play, premiered at the Stratford Festival’s Studio Theatre. The Festival
commissioned the play some years ago and the result is a creditable piece that
got superb performances.
Thompson takes the issue of euthanasia head
on. Does anyone have the right to end the life of a severely disabled
person? For some people the answer may
be “it depends” and for others a categorical “never.”
Elora (Lucy Peacock) is a brilliant and highly
successful lawyer who was born disabled. She is confined to a wheelchair and she
fights for the rights of the disabled like a tigress.
Julian (Nigel Bennett) is a professor of bioethics
who has written a book that suggests a utilitarian philosophy of life. There
may be situations when death is preferable to life, he suggests. Julian has
written a bestselling book on the subject and he has been exposed to some
approval and a great deal of derision and hatred.
Elora considers Julian as worse than Satan
and in fact assaults him during one of his lectures. But their violent
disagreement seems to be skin-deep. They both agree that disabled people need
care as opposed to institutionalization and unite to fight for greater funding.
Elora does a much better job in pursuing the project but Julian appears to be
in fundamental agreement with their aims.
The two become sexually attracted and fall in
love as they pursue the political aim of providing better care for the disabled.
The thrill of the title refers to Elora’s delight in arguing and having an
orgasm after a lifetime of certainty that it will ever happen.
There is a subplot involving Julian’s mother
Hannah (Patricia Collins) who is descending into dementia and he decides to
send her into an institution, “a gulag” in Elora’s description. Thomson finds
humour in this relationship as she does throughout the play.
The most touching relationship is perhaps
that between Elora and Francis (Robert Persichini), her caregiver. He is a gay,
out-of-work actor who is humane, caring and self-assertive. He and Elora have a
relationship of true love where he is not afraid to criticize her and never
falters in his affection. A marvelous portrayal by Persichini.
The crux of the play is the convergence of
the ways of thinking of Elora and Julian. When Elora’s health starts deteriorating
and the tough lawyer realizes her dreadful future (feeding tubes, loss of
speech and loss of faculties), she has second thoughts about euthanasia. Is
there a point after which life is not worth living? She asks Julian to end her
life.
The play presents its points of view with
very broad brushes instead of nuanced arguments. Even though there are moments
of emotion, the thrust of the play is cerebral.
I was waiting for the climactic moment of emotional intensity and it never
came.
In his “lecture” about a utilitarian
philosophy of life, Julian refers to the Latimer case. Robert Latimer is a
Saskatchewan farmer whose daughter was suffering from severe form of cerebral
palsy. She was quadriplegic, had the
mental capacity of a four-month old baby and had numerous seizures every day.
She suffered a great deal of pain and was completely dependent on others for her
care. She had undergone numerous surgical procedures and more were on the way.
Her father decided to put an end to his daughter’s pain. He connected the
exhaust pipe of his truck to the cab and his daughter died from the carbon
monoxide.
I give only a few facts from the Latimer case
but they illustrate the encounter with the incomprehensible horror of the
situation. Even in the dry analysis of the Supreme Court, what Latimer faced,
what he did and the 10-year jail sentence that he served leave you emotionally
drained.
This is what The Thrill lacked - the ability to leave us emotionally drained.
Even the love relationship between Elora and Julian seemed more contrived than
real and the final resolution struck me as a copout.
Director Dean Gabourie has an excellent cast
and nothing but praise goes to Peacock, Bennett, Persichini and Collins. Nor
can one complain about the directing. The problem I think is with the play
where Thompson fails to find the moment to floor the audience emotionally.
__
The
Thrill
by Judith
Thompson opened on August 13 and will run until September 22, 2013 at the Studio
Theatre, Stratford, Ontario. www.stratfordfestival.ca 1-800-567-1600
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