ENDGAME – THEATRE FOR THINKING PEOPLE FROM SOULPEPPER

 

Joseph Ziegler & Diego Matamoros

**** (out of five)

Reviewed by James Karas

“Weird” was the word on many lips, as people walked out of the theatre after seeing Samuel Beckett’s Endgame produced by Soulpepper at the Young Centre in Toronto.

There are many other words that can be used to describe the play and the production including complex, simple, absurd, provocative, profound, confusing, unique and the list goes on. The play and the Soulpepper production prove an extraordinary theatrical experience but the aforementioned qualities of the play are sometimes truncated in the single word “weird.”

Endgame has four characters who speak very ordinary words and it has no plot to speak of. The set is a forbiddingly gray room with two small windows and a doorway. Hamm (Joseph Ziegler) is seated in a large, old wheelchair, his head covered. He wears dark glasses. Clov (Diego Matamoros) is his servant. He is a bit nervous as he moves around the stage (the only one that does), answers Hamm’s sharp whistle and chatters with him.

We will meet two more characters, Nagg (Eric Peterson) and Nell (Maria Vacratsis), Hamm’s parents, who reside in garbage cans. To put things in perspective, the characters display the following salient characteristics: Hamm cannot stand; Clov cannot sit; Nagg and Nell have no legs.   

No place is suggested but the play takes place beyond the end of civilization and near the end of all life. The simple conversations of the characters have far-ranging references and provide fertile ground for professors to complete their annual publishing requirements.

People who attend this production will see an outstanding rendering of the play with outstanding performances by the actors. All of them as directed by Daniel Brooks seem to personify the characters completely as one may have imagined them when reading the play that you forget you are watching a particular production.

Ziegler and Matamoros appear as the quintessential Hamm and Clov even if we have no idea what the quintessential representation of these characters ought to be. Nagg and Nell, ashen faces sticking out of the top of the garbage cans, are smaller roles but are done superbly.

Beckett created a distinct world in Endgame and this production captures or reproduces that dreadful (and frequently funny) world in such a way that you are perplexed, amazed, provoked and in the end walk out of the theatre mumbling nothing more intelligible than “that was weird.” Perhaps. But it is also profound and thought-provoking theatre  - a commodity that is not nearly as plentiful as one would like to see in Toronto.       

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Endgame by Samuel Beckett opened on October 31 and will continue until November 17, 2012 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Mill Street, Toronto, Ontario. www.soulpepper.ca  416 866-8666.

TIMON OF ATHENS FROM THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF GREAT BRITAIN TO A MOVIE SCREEN NEAR YOU “LIVE”

A scene from Timon of Athens – foreground Simon Russell Beale – Timon. Photo: Johan Persson

Reviewed by James Karas

Timon of Athens is generally considered low-grade Shakespeare and is produced infrequently. The deduction is that he wrote it in collaboration with Thomas Middleton. The chance to see a production by the National Theatre of Great Britain was not to be missed even if it was on a movie screen in Toronto and (sort of) live from London. It is in fact pre-recorded.

The production is directed by Nicholas Hytner and has some of the most experienced Shakespearean actors of England led by Simon Russell Beale in the title role. Low-grade Shakespeare becomes first-rate theatre in the hands of the National Theatre with some pluses and some minuses for those watching it on the movie screen.

Timon of Athens is a parable about a rich man who gives all his wealth to his friends. When he becomes bankrupt, they turn their backs on him and he becomes a misanthrope. It is an imperfect morality story as a well-constructed play and quite creaky in its development of characters and themes.

Hytner sets the play in London’s financial district of today where the wealthy Timon is first seen being feted as a benefactor of the Timon Gallery. His generosity knows no bounds as he lavishes money and expensive gifts on everyone who approaches him. The sycophants who are milking him are aspiring artists at best and financiers in well-cut suits.

The jolly atmosphere of giving is turned upside down when Timon goes broke and asks his “friends” for assistance. He is turned down cruelly and ends up as a homeless street person pushing a shopping cart.

Subject to my complaint about the lighting, this is a masterly production by Hytner that makes the play approachable, comprehensible and simply marvellous theatre. Hytner has changed some of the characters from men to women to reflect the modern setting. He finds gold in many places when none seems apparent. The Flaminia-Lucullus scene is a good example. Timon’s servant Flaminius is changed to Flaminia (and played with perfect diction by Olivia Llewellyn). When she approaches Timon’s friend Lucullus of Lucullus Capital (Paul Bental), he makes sexual advances to the attractive Flaminia. There is nothing to indicate this in the text. Hytner is faithful to the original and sees the opportunity to heighten Lucullus’ despicable conduct. A very smart directorial stroke.

Simon Russell Beale gives a stellar performance as Timon. There is a fine line between generosity and denseness and the generous Timon treads on that line before his downfall. When he goes bankrupt, he spews out a torrent of invectives against humanity but he has not learned anything. Beale is brilliant both as the wonderful philanthropist and as the hideous misanthrope.

Hilton McRae plays Apemantus, the cynical philosopher who sees through the vultures who suck up Timon’s wealth. McRae looks like a rumpled academic: smart, decent distrustful and grumpy. Superb work by McRae.

Timon’s steward Flavia provides an example of loyalty and decency in the moral cesspool but she is spat upon by her employer. Parables have no room for people like her, I suppose. In any event Deborah Findlay is a rock-sold steward and does an exceptional job in the role.

The leeches and the servants are almost interchangeable within their group but Tom Robertson does stand out as Ventidius, the drunk, wealthy homosexual who refuses to help Timon even though he had paid for him (Ventidius) to be released from prison.

The play is performed on the large Olivier stage of the National Theatre. We are restricted for most of the production to watching actors perform within the confines of a spotlight. The background is almost always dark and at times all one sees is an actor’s lit face and blackness all around. We get to see a bit more in some of the scenes and in the second half when Timon lives in a pile of garbage and finds gold in the sewer.

The set is sparse. We see a large dining table, a huge window with office towers in the background and a few pieces of furniture. All of it is effective but watching much of the performance in the boundaries of a spotlight I found unsatisfactory.

The close-ups were helpful but the only time we saw the shape of the set and the stage was during intermission.

In the end Hytner does deliver a brilliant recreation of so-so Shakespeare and one could only ask for one more thing: to have been able to see the real thing in London.

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Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare was shown at the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond Street West, Toronto Ontario and other theatres on November 1, 2012. For more information visit http://www.cineplex.com/

 

OTELLO IN GRAND PRODUCTION LIVE FROM THE MET

Johan Botha ansd Renee Fleming (Photo Metropolitan Opera)

Reviewed by James Karas         

The Metropolitan Opera’s current revival of Otello, first staged in 1994, is opera on a grand scale. A huge chorus, monumental sets and three main singers combine to bring a traditional but thrilling production even if it is only on a movie screen for hoi polloi who are not in New York. This is The Met Live in HD and one of the dozen productions that will be broadcast and re-broadcast during the 2012-2013season.

Verdi and director Elijah Moshinsky waste no time in firing up all engines as the curtain opens on a violent storm where Otello’s ship is in danger of foundering. He is coming to repel the Turks from Cyprus but he won’t have to. The enemy ships are sunk by the storm and Otello arrives to victorious exaltation.

An opera company with the orchestral, choral and scenic resources of the Met can do wonders with the opening scene and this production delivers all that you can wish for. The camera shots directed by Barbara Willis Sweete are judiciously focused on parts of the chorus and the main characters and we in the movie houses may have an advantage over the audience at Lincoln Center in being able to follow the scene in detail.

The victory at sea and abatement of the storm are matched by the expression of marital bliss in “Gia nella note,” the love duet between the recently married Otello and the lovely Desdemona. Tenor Johan Botha as Otello and soprano Renee Fleming as Desdemona end the first act on a note of serenity and splendour.  

The turbulence of the storm however returns in the form of the emotional warfare that is soon unleashed by the malignant Iago. He is Otello’s ensign and was passed over for promotion by the callow Cassio and his hatred knows no bounds. Baritone Falk Struckmann is an outstanding Iago. He sneers, scowls, cajoles and spews hatred as he establishes total emotional control over his superior officer and drives him into a state of murderous jealousy. Struckmann maintains vocal and emotional control of the character and dominates the production.

Iago’s counterpart is the pure and beautiful Desdemona. Fleming has a luminous voice and emotional range that makes her an excellent Desdemona. She may not be quite as young as Verdi and Shakespeare imagined her but most of the singers in the production are middle-aged.   

Fleming’s work as Desdemona is cut out for her throughout the opera but her ultimate moment comes in Act IV where she goes through a variety of intense emotions in the Willow Song and “Ave Maria.” An amazing performance by Fleming.

The third member of the emotional combat is, of course, Otello. Botha is a big man and when he raises his arms he presents a commanding sight indeed. Botha has a big tenor voice that stood him well in his tender moments and in his rages. Iago drives him into madness and the heavily perspiring Botha, eyes darting, indeed looks as if his Otello has gone around the bend.

Shakespeare’s Othello stabs himself “to die upon a kiss” and falls on the bed beside Desdemona. Otello’s life also supposed to ends upon a “bacio” but there is some awkwardness here. Desdemona lies dead on the steps at the foot of their bed instead of on the bed. Otello is singing his final wrenching notes of recognition and repentance and aks for a kiss and another kiss and one more kiss. But the way the two singers are positioned there is no “bacio” and it looks as if the voluminous Botha could not reach Fleming’s face even if he wanted too. Sloppy staging. Even if this Otello did not die upon a kiss, we should have been able to believe that he could have kissed her.

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Otello  by Giuseppe Verdi was shown Live in HD on October 27, 2012  at The Beach Cinemas , 1651 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON, M4L 1G5 and other theatres. For more information: www.cineplex.com/events

DER FREISCHÜTZ – OPERA ATELIER LEAPS INTO ROMANTIC ERA WITH SPECTACULAR PRODUCTION

Meghan Lindsay as Agathe and Krešimir Špicer as Max with the company. Photo by Bruce Zinger.

Reviewed by James Karas

**** (out of 5)

Opera Atelier has made its reputation as a producer of 17^th and 18^th century operas for more than a quarter of a century and, since 2000, at the elegant Elgin Theatre in Toronto. This year it has made a leap into another era and another century with a gorgeous production of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz.

The production features stunning scenic designs, beautiful singing and enough dancing to qualify as almost an evening of ballet in the bargain.

My full review of this production may be read here:

http://www.bachtrack.com/review-toronto-opera-atelier-freischutz-pynkoski

RIGOLETTO AS MODERN OFFICE DRAMA FROM OPERA HAMILTON

 

 

Jason Howard as Rigoletto and Simone Osborne as Gilda

Reviewed by James Karas

 *** (out of five)

Can you set Rigoletto, in a high-rise apartment building, in modern dress, without popping any of your credulity strings? Probably not but that is what Opera Hamilton has done in its production directed by Michael Cavanagh.

During the overture, Rigoletto, a court jester, walks on stage dragging a large duffel bag from which he pulls out a puppet that he will use to mock the courtiers. We will see the duffel bag again.

The opening scene of the opera is a ball in the Duke of Mantua’s palace. In this production we are in an apartment or office in a high-rise building with a view of a city’s skyline in the back. A bunch of businessmen change from their black suits into Halloween costumes. They are going to have a wild party. Women are sexual objects, at best, and morality does not exist even as a word.

My full review of this production may be read here:

http://www.bachtrack.com/review-opera-hamilton-rigoletto-michael-cavanagh

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Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi opened on October 20 and will be performed four times until October 27, 2012 at The Dofasco Centre for the Arts, Hamilton, Ontario

DIE FLEDERMAUS - DREARY OPERETTA FOR SNOBS FROM CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY

Michael Schade and Laura Tucker. Photo: Michael Cooper

 

Reviewed by James Karas

** (out of five)

         

A huge pocket watch swings ominously stage right and a woman is tossing in a large, fancy bed, stage left. Time or watches will play a significant role in this production. The woman is obviously dreaming but what about? She may be dreaming about what is happening in her life or having a nightmare about the production of Die Fledermaus by the Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto.

The woman is Rosalinde Eisenstein (Tamara Wilson), one of the main characters in Johann Strauss II’s comic operetta directed by Christopher Alden. Did I say “comic? Alden believes that the word “comic” is inapplicable to this dark, Freudian psychodrama and proceeds to prove it over the next couple of hours.

Let’s get back to the bed (or is it a psychiatrist’s couch) and keep a keen eye on it. It will be on stage almost all evening.

There is great turmoil in the well-off Eisenstein house.  Rosalinde’s husband Gabriel (Michael Schade) is about to go to jail for a few nights.  Her feisty maid Adele (Mireille Asselin) wants to go to a party and fibs about having to see a sick aunt in order to get the night off. Alfred (David Pomeroy), a horny opera tenor is courting Rosalinde with Italian passion (and arias) and has in fact made it to her bed. To make things worse, he is wearing her husband’s dressing gown.  That is what you call comic confusion – sorry, make that a dark, shadowy plot for Freudian analysis.

The Eisensteins have a friend called Dr. Falke (Peter Barrett) and a bad lawyer called Dr. Blind (David Cangelosi). The latter is the papier-mâché type of bumbling fool who manages to sneak in a few laughs in the psychodrama.

Amid the dark shades, the shadows of bats and Dr. Falke dressed up as a bat, we see a crack in the back wall of the stage and a party breaks out (or is supposed to break out) in Prince Orlofsky’s (played by Laura Tucker) pad. Even here Alden does his best to make sure that the jollity is kept within bounds and laughter is limited to a few twitters.

Operetta is perceived by some as “popular” entertainment – good for the masses but lacking the hauteur and cultural superiority of opera. Light, effervescent, melodic music, a silly but funny plot, broad humour – those are the ingredients that some of us look for in an operetta. If it lacks the snobbish appeal of opera, we have the strength of character to enjoy it.

Alden and perhaps the COC want to have it both ways. They want us to keep our snobbery by producing an operetta at a high-toned opera house and make sure we do not enjoy it too much by removing most of the elements that make operetta such fun.

Happily, there is rebellion in the ranks. The first to rebel against Alden’s deadly approach is Strauss himself. Those marvelous tunes, wonderful waltzes and some of the humour simply breaks through and you find yourself enjoying the piece.

Tamara Wilson as Roselinde is fairly irrepressible and Mireille Asselin is funny and sings well as the maid. Michael Schade can sing but he falls a bit short in his comic acting as Eisenstein. There are lots of opportunities for broad humour with James Westman as Frank, the prison warden, Jan Pohl as the jailer and Claire de Sevigne as Adele’s sister Ida but most of them are squashed.

The plot is based on mistaken identities, farcical situations and verbal humour. Humour rarely survives surtitles and Alden goes for the jugular by doing the production in German. This is enough to give snobbery a bad name and laughter the door.

The Canadian Company Chorus was corralled around the stage for reasons that escaped me. Alden gives them a pillow fight for reasons best known to him but effectively hidden from me. They rebelled by singing well Conductor Johannes Debus and the COC Orchestra ignored all Freudian problems and stuck to the lively music. 

For Sigmund Freud everything in human conduct was caused, or affected by, sex. Almost everything. The cigar-smoking psychiatrist was once asked if the big stogie in his mouth was not a sexual symbol.

The astute Freud replied that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Alden should have listened to the old master: sometimes an operetta is just an operetta.

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Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II opened on October 4 and will be performed eleven times until November 3, 2012 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. www.coc.ca

IL TROVATORE – CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY’S MOSTLY WELL-SUNG PRODUCTION ON SPARTAN SETS

Reviewed by James Karas

*** (out of five)      

What do you get when you have a woman being burnt on the stake and her daughter tosses a baby – the wrong baby – on the pyre? The correct answer is Giuseppe Verdi’s incredible melodrama, Il Trovatore. 

The Canadian Opera Company’s production (borrowed from Opéra de Marseille) eschews melodramatic displays but does provide some thrills. There are also a few gaffes but overall the production does credit to Verdi.


My full review of this production may be read here:

 http://www.bachtrack.com/review-canadian-opera-company-il-trovatore-roubaud