Monday, November 30, 2015
DOMESTICATED – REVIEW OF BRUCE NORRIS PLAY AT BERKELEY STREET THEATRE
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Tuesday, November 24, 2015
JULIE – REVIEW OF CANADIAN STAGE PRODUCTION OF BOESMANS OPERA
By James Karas
August
Strindberg’s 1888 one–act tragedy Miss Julie has inspired numerous adaptations
and productions including several operas. Belgian composer Philippe Boesmans
composed a one-act chamber opera in 2005 based on a libretto by Swiss director
Luc Bondy and director and playwright Marie-Louise Bischofberger which was
produced in a number of European cities with considerable success.
That did not put
it on the radar of any North American opera or theatre company except for
Matthew Jocelyn, Canadian Stage’s Artistic and General Director. Jocelyn has
made it his mission to expand Torontonians’ theatrical horizons, come hell or
high water and he has seen both over the last five years. But he has not lost
his nerve and is forging full speed ahead.
Lucia Cervoni and Clarence Frazer in Julie. Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann
Julie, as the opera is called, has now received its North American
premiere at the Bluma Appel Theatre in a production by Canadian Stage in
association with Soundstreams, a major presenter of new Canadian music.
The interaction
among the three characters of the play has many layers and complex motivations
but the central issue is sexual attraction. Julie (Lucia Cervoni) is the daughter
of a Count and she is sexually attracted to Jean (Clarence Frazer), the valet.
Jean has a relationship with the servant Christine (Sharleen Joynt) and we have
a ménage á trois with a difference.
Boesmans’
avant-garde music shapes and punctuates the dialogue of the three characters
and it is shaped by it. There is obviously a large variety of musical phrases
but the diction of the dialogue is maintained. Mezzo soprano Cervoni, baritone
Frazer and soprano Joynt handle their roles vocally with ease and their
characterization is sound.
Jean and Julie
consummate their relationship with utter good taste without allowing their lust
to shock the censors and cause them to forbid public performances as it did when
the play was first produced. As may be expected, the relationship does not work
out, and in the play Jean gives Julie a straight razor and she goes off the
stage with it in her hand. In the opera he gives her an extension cord and in
the final tableau we see her in silhouette wrapping the cord around her neck.
Very effective.
Sharleen Joynt and Clarence Frazer in Julie. Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann
Musical Director
Leslie Dala conducts the 18-piece chamber ensemble adroitly through Boesmans’
largely unfamiliar musical style where what we associate with traditional opera
is left out completely. Don’t look for Puccini or Verdi, in other words.
Set Designer Alain
Lagarde provides a black curtain for background which acts as a mirror as well.
The kitchen set is good and it provides the “naturalism” that Strindberg wanted
without being slavishly realistic.
The driving
force behind the production is Matthew Jocelyn for bringing a work that has the
familiarity and approachability of a play that was written in 1888 with the
unknownness of a recent, avant-garde work that is being produced here for the
first time.
Do you want to
compliment or criticise him for this or just leave it hanging?
______
Julie by
Philippe Boesmans (music), Luc Bond and Marie-Louise Bischofberger (libretto)
adapted from August Strindberg play, opened on November 17 and will run until November
29, 2015 at the Bluma Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East , Toronto , Ontario
Monday, November 23, 2015
JACOB TWO-TWO MEETS THE HOODED FANG – REVIEW OF YPT PRODUCTION
By James Karas
As the whole world
knows, Jacob Two-Two is 2+2+2 years old, he has two eyes, two hands, two feet
etc. and he says everything twice.
Young People’s Theatre has produced the wonderful musical, Jacob
Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang 2+2+2+2 times to the delight of young and
not so young alike. This year is the, well, let’s economize, 2 x 20 anniversary
of the publication of Mordecai Richler’s book and I am allowed to say it again
this is a wonderful musical based on the novel.
L-R: Matthew G. Brown, David G. Black and Damien Atkins.
Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.
I attended opening night of the current revival with my Associate
Reviewer, a highly precocious and perceptive seven-year old (“I’m going to be eight in
March!”) to make sure I did not miss any of the nuances of the production.
The play has new music and lyrics by Britta and Anika Johnson that are
tuneful and enjoyable. The production is fast-paced and starts with some amusing
scenes with Jacob’s family and I get an early review.
Associate Reviewer: This is funny.
Jacob is sent to the grocery store to buy some tomatoes and he is
arrested for offending an adult. He is represented by lawyer Louie Loser
(Darrin Baker) in front of Judge Rough (Saccha Dennis) and an even rougher jury.
He is found guilty and thrown in prison. The justice system a drubbing with all
the bad stereotypes of the incompetent lawyer, the bad judge and the abusive
treatment of Jacob but my Associate did not seem to mind. She just found Louie
Loser funny.
L-R: Jeigh Madjus, Drew Davis, Sarah Gibbons and Ensemble.
Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.
Jacob goes through some hair-raising experiences as he meets many very
colourful and some scary characters. Master Fish (Matthew G. Brown) and
Mistress Fowl (Kira Guloien), Artie Octopus (Jacob McInnis) and of course, the
terrifying Hooded Fang (Damien Atkins). This is frightening and my Associate
leaned over.
Associate Reviewer: “Is this a real story?”
Note; My Associate Reviewer saw Hanna’s
Suitcase and I told her that it is “a real story” and Hana’s fate clearly
made an impression on her. I assured her that it is not a real story and that Jacob
was dreaming the whole thing.
David Gregory Black is a lively, funny and just superb Jacob. (He
alternates in the role with Drew Davis.) The rest of the cast take on a couple
of roles or play in the ensemble. It is a fast-moving acting and singing
ensemble.
Co-directors Allen MacInnis and Jen Shuber with Set designer Dana
Osborne and Costume Designer provide some 2 x 35 minutes of fast-paced,
colourful, funny, scary and delightful entertainment. The last words belong to
my Associate:
“When are we coming back?”
______
Jacob
Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler opened on November 19, 2015 and will
play until January 3, 2016 at the Young People’s Theatre, 165 Front Street
East, Toronto, Ontario. 416 862-2222. www.youngpeoplestheatre.ca
Saturday, November 21, 2015
WORMWOOD – REVIEW OF NEW KUSHNIR PLAY AT TARRAGON THEATRE
By James Karas
Wormwood is a new
play by Andrew Kushnir that is now playing at the Tarragon Theatre. The
playwright is a Canadian of Ukrainian descent and he wants to comment on the
sorry state of Ukraine and then some. It is a noble attempt but the result is a
not always focused and as such success is limited.
When the lights go on Scott Wentworth wearing sunglasses is led on the
stage by a young man dressed in a traditional
East European costume. Wentworth is supposed to be a kobzar, a traditional blind
bard who sings epic songs. Wentworth tries to tell some banal jokes and he
looks straight at the audience. This is simple carelessness but Kushnir’s
intention is to bring a deeply rooted Ukrainian tradition that seems akin to
the Homeric bards.
Nancy Palk, Amy Keating, Luke Humphrey and Ben Campbell. Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann
The kobzar, the bandurist (Victor Mishalow) who plays a traditional
stringed instrument and a Cossack (Ken James Stewart) do very little for the
play aside from adding a bit of colour and perhaps pointing to the rich cultural
past of Ukraine. We need more.
The main story centers on Ivan (Luke Humphrey), a young
Ukrainian-Canadian TV salesman who has gone to the land of his fathers to
monitor the presidential elections. Naïve is the politest word one can use for
Ivan. We never learn who sent him or how he is supposed to monitor the elections.
He never does, in any event. He ends up in a house instead of a hotel, his
passport is stolen and he is unable to communicate with most people because
they speak Russian and he speaks Ukrainian. Humphrey is a highly energetic
performer and he can be very amusing but he needs a different role.
There is a great deal of dialogue in Russian or Ukrainian which may be
unimportant because we do not understand what they are saying or we are to get
the gist of it from the context which is even worse. Let’s just say that
lengthy stretches of dialogue in a language that most of the audience does not
understand is, to put it politely, annoying.
Luke Humphrey, Chala Hunter. Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann
Ivan ends up in the house of The Professor (a very loud Ben Campbell)
who has an even louder Housekeeper (Nancy Palk) and a Daughter (Amy Keating.)
The Housekeeper does not speak English during the first half but she becomes
very fluent after the intermission.
The play moves into surreal territory when Ivan enters a garden adjoining
the house of The Professor. He meets the beautiful Artemisia (Chala Hunter),
the daughter of the Doctor (Scott Wentworth). She does not speak but Ivan and
she eventually establish rapport and fall in love. She finds her tongue in the
second act.
The play does have a climactic scene which is indeed dramatic provided
your attention has not wandered off by then. The mysterious garden and the
isolation of Artemisia are explained by the radioactive poisoning caused by the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. The window adjoining the Professor’s house
to the garden is locked because the garden is contaminated. The Doctor’s wife
was near Chernobyl when the accident happened and she died a horrible death as
a result of radioactive poisoning.
The foolish young Canadian who is to monitor elections that he knows
nothing about; the Professor’s dysfunctional and ludicrous family and the
overprotective doctor and his outlandish daughter are neither representative of
a country in crisis nor even an intelligent comment on it.
Most of them attempt Russian or Ukrainian accents with varying success.
The play, however hard director Richard Rose, tried to make it entertaining, lacks
focus. Kushnir tries to cover too much ground. Bring in the dramaturge.
______
Wormwood by Andrew Kushnir opened on November 18 and continues until December 20, 2015 at the
Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto ,
Ontario .
www.tarragontheatre.com
Monday, November 16, 2015
HERETIC – REVIEW OF SARAH THORPE’S TAKE ON JOAN OF ARC
By James Karas
Sarah Thorpe’s retelling of the story of Joan of Arc opens with a woman
on her knees being asked to confess. She replies in a steady voice that is
neither sanctimonious nor fearful that she has done nothing wrong. The words
are spoken at the opening and closing of the play, moments before Joan, age 19,
is executed.
Thorpe’s curiosity about the young girl who at age 13 claimed to hear
divine voices and became a French military hero has driven her to look for the
young woman behind the saint and retell the story of Joan in her own way.
Sarah Thorpe. Photo: Laura Dittman (LD Photo & Video)
Thorpe is a tall woman who presents a Joan that has courage,
persistence, fearlessness and faith. She is neither overly pious nor
particularly deferential but gets her way by strength of character.
We are given some historical background and follow Joan’s story from a
rebellious 13-year old that is flogged by her father to her confrontations with
French clergy and nobility. We hear the story from a modern standpoint and
Thorpe/Joan admits that she was not perfect and that she made mistakes.
Thorpe acts some of the parts of the people that Joan encounters with
voice changes for some and prerecorded voices
for others.
The show is all Sarah Thorpe. She makes good use of the stage; there is
some humour and she is able to modulate her voice to marvelous effect. Joan of
Arc is probably beyond comprehension but Thorpe’s version is a refreshing
change from the usual image we get of the girl and young woman who was executed
by the Catholic Church and then made a saint by the same institution.
______
Friday, November 13, 2015
THE TROUBLE WITH MR. ADAMS – REVIEW OF TARRAGON THEATRE PRODUCTION
By James Karas
The Trouble with Mr. Adams is a new play by Gord Rand that examines the relationship between a
high school teacher and volleyball coach, and his star player, a pretty
(almost) sixteen-year old girl.
There is plenty of material for a play in that situation and Rand
attacks it head on but with limited success.
The 45-year old Mr. Adams (a passionate Chris Earle), feels that Cupid’s
arrow has struck him and he has fallen in love with Mercedes (Sydney Owchar). Those
are his words. Mr. Adams does have a few issues that should cause him to yank
the arrow out of his heart, to wit: he is married, has two children, he is in a
position of trust vis-à-vis the object of his passion, and the Board of
Education, the Criminal Code, her parents and society in general, may, to put
it very politely, take a dim view of his actions.
None of which register on the self-righteous, blind (by love?) and
perhaps fundamentally stupid Mr. Adams. After spending three hours with
Mercedes in his car during a snowstorm (she missed the bus after a tournament)
he announces to his wife Peggy (Philippa Domville) that he is leaving her.
That is the first of the three confrontations in the play. His wife is
furious and demands to know what happened during those three hours in the car and
his answer is: nothing. The argument takes a strange turn when Peggy seduces
him into a rather graphic sex act which I guess is supposed to convince him
that what he has at home is damn good and it is not worth being branded a pedophile.
Perhaps but Mr. Adams is adamant.
The next confrontation is with Barbara (Allegra Fulton), the union’s
tough lawyer who is also sexually attractive. She takes a prosecutorial
attitude and he acts like a juvenile until he finally gets the message that the
only way he can save his neck is by blackening Mercedes. Paint her as a tart
and put a saintly tint on yourself. We are not sure how well the approach works
because in the next scene, two years later, we find Mr. Adams teaching part time
in St. Catharines, living in a basement apartment and not permitted to coach a
girls’ team. Sounds like a split decision at discipline committee level without
criminal prosecution.
In the final scene Mercedes, who is now 18 years old, and Mr. Adams meet in a motel room where she is staying
during a tournament. He still has idiotic ideas about living with her and
dreams of promoting her career as a volleyball player. She stays for too long
talking with him and finally leaves to bring the play to an end.
I have given a summary of the plot to point out the dramatic possibilities
and some of the creaky aspects of the plot. Rand does not find enough substance
in the relationship or in the characters to make for a satisfying drama.
Whatever Mercedes’s attraction to her teacher, it is all too easy to file it, if not dismiss it, as
a teenage crush or puppy love, if you will.
Mr. Adams, however hard he tries to take the high ground by invoking the
intervention of Fate through the offices of Cupid,
comes out as no more than a horny, middle aged man who breaks the rules rather
stupidly. Rand failed to find substance to create a convincing,
fully-rounded if flawed human who attracts and repels us.
The performances within the confines of the play are very good. Philippa
Domvilles’ furious and hurt wife comes through; Fulton’s Allegra is officious
and finally helpful in suggesting how Mr. Adams can approach his problem;
Owcher is good as the undeveloped character of Mercedes. She has outgrown Adams
but she is still somewhat confused. We do not see her as the sixteen-year old
who “fell in love” with her coach but Owcher’s performance cannot be faulted
for that. Earle is full of passionate intensity like a teenager who has just
discovered love but not common sense.
The same applies to Director Lisa Peterson who puts the best face on a
flawed play.
______
The Trouble with
Mr. Adams by Gord Rand runs
until November 29, 2015 at the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Ave.
Toronto, Ontario. www.tarragontheatre.com
Monday, November 9, 2015
BANANA BOYS – REVIEW OF FACTORY THEATRE PRODUCTION
By James Karas
Banana Boys is a
complex play about Canadians of Asian origin who are neither assimilated nor outsiders to the dominant culture of Canada.
The play’s five characters are smart, articulate young men who speak perfect
English and find themselves in a culture laden with prejudices and preconceptions
about them and their forebears. As the title suggests derisively, these men are
yellow on the outside but white inside. Are they Chinese or are they
“Canadian.” In Canada, the answer should be a resounding “yes” but that may be is
more easily said than practiced.
The play is based on Terry Woo’s novel which has been adapted by Leon
Aureus. It covers a dazzling number of subjects from the obvious concern with
stereotyping immigrants and people of a “different colour” to love, loss,
ambitions, drugs, alcohol, identity and a number of other issues.
The five actors who play an array of characters are Darrel Gamotin,
Matthew Gin, Oliver Koomsatira, Simu Liu and Philip Nozuka. They are an amazing
group of performers. While covering a frequently changing array of topics and
people, they showed astounding versatility and talent. They are almost
acrobatic in their physical agility and their performances are more memorable
than the play.
The set consists of a large table with an opening in the middle. The action
takes place mostly on and around the table, in the square opening with
judicious use of the steps in the auditorium. Director Nina Lee Aquino
maintains a pace and discipline as if this were an Olympic event. Well done.
The word complex may be complimentary but can also mean confusing and both
meanings are applicable to the play. It has a beginning, a middle and an end
somewhere but you would be hard put to find it. Some of the anxieties, torments
and turmoil, be they cultural or personal of the young men, are illustrated
quite well. But there is so much going on, so fast and in such a disarray that
your interest starts fading and you are just as likely to look at your watch as
to try and follow every nuance of the performance.
The play and the novel have achieved success because they deal with
Asian Canadians, a subject largely ignored on the cultural stage. The idea of
the Canadian mosaic, multiculturalism and the avoidance of the American melting-pot
approach to immigrants in favour of an inclusive Canadian ideal are all
commendable if not always achieved or achievable. They are certainly a great
subject for the theatre to explore.
How many plays have you seen recently about different ethnic groups in
Canada? Not many. Now there is a startup that has endless possibilities. Banana Boys and a handful of other plays
that are already around are a damn good start.
_____
Saturday, November 7, 2015
HAMLET – REVIEW OF HART HOUSE PRODUCTION
By James Karas
Hart House
Theatre produces one of Shakespeare’s plays every year and for the current
season it has tackled the big one: Hamlet. The play tests the mettle of
most professional companies and one is not surprised that it gives a tough time
to the mostly young and largely recent acting graduates.
Everyone has his
own Hamlet and director Paolo
Santalucia is no different. He has opted for a modern dress production right
down to the iPhone. There is nothing to indicate royalty or a palace. In fact
Santalucia and Set Designer Nancy Perrin go to great lengths to place the play
in a down market milieu.
Dan Mousseau as Hamlet. Photo: Scott Gorman
The most
prominent feature of the set is a pile of wooden chairs that dominate the right
side of the stage. There are plastic curtains hanging on the left side with
some scaffolding. Claudius (Cameron Johnston) sits on a wooden chair in his
opening scene. The set looks like a basement storage room and one is hard put
to understand what it is supposed to mean. A chair leg came in handy, however,
for Hamlet to bludgeon Polonius with in Gertrude’s bedroom.
Musical Director
Kristen Zara has inserted short pieces of music and songs and they were no
doubt intended to enhance the action. I could not follow the modern music and
could not figure out what a snippet from “Tales of the Vienna Woods” was
supposed to add.
There were some
dramatic scenes but most of the actors were clearly out of their depth. Shakespeare’s
language is difficult at the best of times but a desire to deliver it at a fast
speed without sufficient enunciation resulted in many syllables simply
disappearing.
Hamlet is a very long play
and judicious cuts are the norm rather than the exception. Dramaturge Susan
Bond should have perhaps considered more aggressive deletions to keep the
performance well under three hours and give the actors the luxury of delivering
their line at slower speeds.
Hamlet has plenty of
humour but much of it misfired or the audience laughed at scenes that were not particularly
funny. Rosencrantz (Alan Shonfield) and Guildenstern (Dylan Evans) are usually
good for a few laughs but this time they barely generated a twitter.
Dan Mousseau
played a youthful Hamlet and he registered some dramatic effects. Unfortunately
he has no poetry in him and we got no vocal modulation for Shakespeare’s iambic
pentameters. It was all ordinary prose.
Johnston’s
Claudius came out as a pretty ordinary fellow and, with a wig and a long shirt
the Ghost (played by Johnstone) looked pretty ridiculous. They showed a large
portrait of King Hamlet in the bedroom scene and he was a long way from looking
like Hyperion.
One can quibble,
criticize and argue about many aspects of every production of Hamlet. However it behooves us to keep
in mind that these are young actors who got the chance to sink their teeth into
one of the greatest plays in the world.
The audience
sensed that and gave the production an enthusiastic approval.
__________
Hamlet by William Shakespeare opened on November 4 and
will play until November 21, 2015 at Hart House Theatre, 7 Hart House Circle,
Toronto, Ontario. www.harthousetheatre.ca Telephone (416) 978-8849
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
TANNHÄUSER – REVIEW OF LIVE FROM THE MET PRODUCTION
Reviewed by James
Karas
Otto Schenk’s production of Tannhäuser for The Metropolitan
Opera is 38 years old and it may be a throwback to a style that is more derided
than emulated these days. It may be called loosely “realistic” but it is opera
on a grand scale and a production that is a thrill to watch.
Wagner’s fifth opera opens in Venusberg, the abode of the goddess of
love where the knight Tannhäuser has spent a year having the time of his life.
Set Designer Gunther Schneider-Siemssen provides a grandiose grotto with rising
bluffs in the background. The lighting was not perfect and we missed the full
effect of the set in the movie house. This is a place for carnal pleasure and
perhaps even orgies.
Choreographer Norbert Vesak gives a sensuous ballet sequence that is
erotic to the point of decadence. Muscular men and gorgeous women dance with erotic
wildness and Dionysian abandon.
The scene in the valley near Wartburg castle is equally grandiose.
Mountains can be seen in the distance and there is a dirt road leading upward
into the mountains and down into the valley. The castle of the next act is
drawn on a similar scale. This is grand opera on a grand budget.
The singing is generally outstanding. Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek has a
mellifluous voice and her Elisabeth shows passion and compassion. She scales
the Wagnerian heights and appears to sing quite effortlessly.
Tenor Johan Botha has a fine voice but his Tannhäuser is problematic.
Botha’s acting skills can charitably be described as limited. His facial
expression remains practically unchanged through most of his performance. He
does break into a mirthless smile on occasion and he attempts some emotional
expression near the end of the opera with very little success. His body language is almost non-existent and
he barely moves his arms when singing. In other words he looks like a lump that
can sing.
Botha suffers in comparison to baritone Peter Mattei in the role
Wolfram. Mattei has an impressive and expressive voice but he is also an
effective actor. He sings and moves with ease. His face and body movements
express what he is singing and he gives us a sympathetic characterization. On
the other hand, Botha’s Tannhäuser never gains our sympathy.
Mezzo soprano Michelle DeYoung made a visually and vocally stunning
Venus. The goddess dominates the first act of the opera and the singer must do some
impressive vocal somersaults that require unerring agility and amplitude.
Wagner composed some stunning and some loud choruses for Tannhäuser and
the Met chorus does quite a stupendous job.
The Met Opera Orchestra under James Levine deserves to be described as
mighty. Hearing the overture to Tannhäuser
alone is almost worth the price of admission. Well, I exaggerate but not by
much.
Tannhäuser has some unpleasant aspects. The knight’s trip
from a life of carnal pleasure in it to practically a brothel to severe piety
is unconvincing not to say nauseating. Then there is Elizabeth’s faith in him
and let’s not forget his pilgrimage to Rome to seek absolution from the Pope
and coming home empty-handed! Are we supposed to take these things seriously?
Schenk’s production, the outstanding singing and the mostly fine performances
of the singers and the great Met Orchestra iron out many of the problems and
you end up enjoying the opera despite some of its shortcomings.
_____