A Midsummer Night's Dream @ Southwark Playhouse

This energetic 85 minute adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was framed uniquely; rather than positioning it as an interpretation of the play, it positioned it as children in a 19th century playroom inventing a story. Through this positioning, the magic of the fairies, as well as the relationship between Fairy land and the Athenians was playful and filled with joy. This positioning also created a space to critique some of the logic challenges in the play, and excuse the silliness of the plot — odd choices were explained through the children inventing the next plot twist.

What was really enjoyable was seeing the audience of over half children (of an array of ages) engaged with the story and text nonstop throughout the 85 minutes. The combination of slapstick performances, audience participation, and magical design created a spell that kept the children excited and attentive.

The premise of the show was innovative, and the design and overall production fed and grew into the innovation exceptionally well. It is really exciting to see work that doesn’t speak down to the young audience, and simultaneously challenges the form and well-loved content.

Second Summer of Love @ Drayton Arms Theatre

Second Summer of Love reflects on what it is like to be a Gen X former raver, now serious responsible adult and parent, and what happened to those joy-filled and optimistic free spirits. Framed around a mom and her teenage daughter who is revising for a Social Studies exam about drug use, the majority of the show exists in a flashback to her experiences as a 16 year old, raving in fields in the South of England. The flashbacks are when the play is strongest, but it really highlights how the script struggles when the other two actors are on stage; which is no disrespect to them, but rather to the impact of the adaptation from solo show to three hander. While this was needed for the actor’s ability to continue performing, the integration of the other characters as separate bodies in space needs more attention to help the script work in this new form.

Despite a strong performance from the lead actor, the injection of the additional characters, along with multiple false endings undermined its overall impact, which is too bad — as in its strong moments, it really had a funny and self-referential spark.

Sing Street - Enda Walsh @Lyric Hammersmith

Note - I saw this in early previews.

The joy in this production is infectious, fuelled by the brilliant young cast, many of whom are making their professional debuts with this production. Built around the same story as the film, Enda Walsh’s adaptation really amps up the energy. There are a few new songs introduced, the best of which are those created for the older brother.

In previews, the production dazzled; the design choices were strong, using the minimalist set and loads of projection to create the space that could alternately be the house, the school, and transform into a concert space as the kids began to feel like rockstars. The pacing in previews was my only real quibble; there is a clear moment of transformation in the script when the band forms. The direction, shape, energy all change — however this shift wasn’t clear enough. It was as if they began too high-energy for that transition and the magic of the band to have its potential impact.

I’m very curious to see if (when?) this transfers and how it evolves.

The Frogs @ Southwark Playhouse

Sondheim’s adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedy is an interesting one, injecting musical theatre and its many tropes into the ancient Greek comedy. Flush with a little self referential star-casting (Glee’s Kevin McHale) the jokes are updated, and the interpretation silly and fun. That said, it struggles to sparkle; the clunkiness of the material betrays the cleverness of the choreography and the earnest performances. You can see some of the ideas that will turn up (far more successfully) in later Sondheim works, however in The Frogs they are still being incubated.

Overall a fun night, but nothing that will stick with you over the years.

Our Cosmic Dust @ Park Theatre

An adaptation of a Japanese story, Our Cosmic Dust is visually stunning. Making use of a massive dynamic projection screen over the back wall, and a reflective floor which at times creates infinite loops of visuals, the story takes you through the experience of a young boy and his mother, following the death of his father. The boy goes on an epic adventure, while the mother follows anxiously hoping for the best for her son.

The script is whimsical to match the design, and the 5 actors move through the space beautifully, supporting the puppet and magical world they create together. They leveraged many techniques common in physical theatre practice, clearly inspired by Complicité, to great effect.

All of that sounds lovely, and it is — but something struck a negative note with me when it came to the direction. While each of the characters were fully realised and unique, they also somehow felt tonally quite different, and not aligned in the mood and character of the play itself. It is definitely disappointing, as so many other elements were simply outstanding.

Paradise Lost (Lies Unopened Beside Me) @ Battersea Arts Centre

Lost Dog have remounted their renowned Paradise Lost 10 years on from its original production, with a new cast. Obviously the script, design, and choreography are outstanding — but they were 10 years ago. The new performer Sharif Afifi, however, is exceptional. It is always challenging for a performer to step in to a role that was originated for someone else, and Afifi does this with such effortlessness that you would believe he is the originator of the role.

The play begins with “beginning of show face”, an actor reading from the script, engaging with the audience, lights up. First impression may cause you to think this is a failure of performance, failure to embody, however as Afifi progresses and the piece moves into movement and music, it becomes clear that the awkwardness of the early moments were a distinct choice. His physical performance breathes out the choreography with ease, despite the visible effort, his linen shirt soaked in sweat. The play progresses, and we learn it isn’t just about Milton and Paradise Lost, but also about a man trying to create, and about our relationships with what we create, whether those creations are universes, other humans, or a work of art. What we create becomes unruly despite our best efforts — or indeed perhaps because of them, and the hubris to think we can control things.

In the chaotic world we’re situated in now, 10 years on from its premiere, this production feels all the more timely. Good ideas turn sour, beautiful things erode and fade, and ultimately we are ineffective. This sounds terribly drab but indeed the production is hopeful. Rain washes away the effort, the failure, the disappointment, and we go again. 

The Seagull @ Barbican

There is little that is nice about these people. Ostermeier’s new production of Chekhov’s The Seagull, adapted with Duncan Macmillan, breathes modern ennui and longing into a story over 100 years old. The characters in this play are petty, selfish, petulant, and buffoonish; at no point does Ostermeier try to make them good or admirable, and as a result, we get some exceptional performances from the exquisite cast.

The display of class cues to elicit understanding of the characters’ rank is notable; while these people endure one another, they certainly don’t (for the most part) like one another. Kostya (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) merely tolerates Masha (a pitch perfect Tonya Reynolds), despite her obsession with him. Masha openly disdains Simon (a brilliant Zachary Harris, who in his northern accent, armed with a guitar, is our window into the world).

Emma Corrin’s Nina is heartbreaking; the contrast between her first and second act selves is outstanding, and the thoughtful approach to her breakdown is really quite darkly beautiful. Where many would play Nina’s breakdown in broad melodramatic strokes, Corrin’s Nina appears to be crumbling before our eyes, a porcelain doll teetering at the edge of the shelf.

And what do we say about Trigorin? Tom Burke does not interpret him as an esthete, but rather as a boorish bro, who happened into writing. He is brutish and self centered, making Nina’s love of him more tragic, and his ability to forget about her, the little plaything, all the more believable.

Finally, Cate Blanchett’s Arkadina is a dream. She is a clown, almost bipolar in her swings between desperation for attention and brooding quiet. All the characters have their moments amplified by the microphones on stage, wherein they speak their performative thoughts into amplification, and for Arkadina these are unsurprisingly the most frequent, and the most haunting. The argument where she manipulates Trigorin specifically stands out, as does her breakdown with Kostya.

The willingness to step in and out of the fourth wall, a constant awareness of the act of performance and the presence of the audience makes this Seagull truly powerful. We are all actors, putting on a face, an act, to appear the way we want the world to see us. Some of us are just more aware of it than others.

The Years @ Harold Pinter Theatre

Adapting an epic novel which spans multiple decades is no easy feat, and in particular, one which follows the same woman through phases of her life. Eline Arbo’s adaptation tackles this with seeming ease; with 5 actors portraying the woman at each phase of her life, while also embodying the other people and events in her orbit, there is no artifice of realism. The production’s clever staging brings to life major events, all while making it quite clear we are watching a performance.

Each of the 5 women is given some properly chunky material to work through, the emotional baggage we pick up as we age, the memories of the past. There is no weak link in this production, across the script, performers, direction, and design. It is clearly well conceived — so much so that it makes me wonder whether there could be another production that would do it justice.

As you can imagine, covering the life of a woman who was born during WW2 through the many radical shifts of female rights and public existence in this time, from illegal back room abortions to the feminist movement and increase of divorce rates covers a lot of ground. In what definitely didn’t seem like the first time (from the swift professionalism of stage management and the exceptional technique of the performers to pause and then drop back in) the show had to be stopped due to someone in the audience being overwhelmed by the abortion scene. While it is risque as far as West End performance, it was brilliant to see materials that was modern, feminist, and intellectually challenging on a West End stage.

A very good production of a good script - definitely worth your evening.

Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead - Complicité at Bristol Old Vic

Complicité’s whimsical and highly theatrical approach to plays lends itself beautifully to adaptations of novels, to the creation of worlds that morph and jump in ways that most play scripts can only dream of. The company’s latest offering is no different, adapting the 2009 novel Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead. Unlike previous Complicité adaptations I have seen previously, this one was (I’m told) quite faithful to the book, and relied on a central narrator in a manner that was quite effective. The incredible Kathryn Hunter was the primary voice as Janina, a self-described lone wolf living alone in the Polish countryside, protecting the animals in the forest.

As is to be expected with Complicité, the use of sound and visual projection was integral - and in this case used to create some truly beautiful imagery. Birds flying above, fire engulfing a building, but also more simple images like a secondhand shop whose clothes were embodied later on in the play as we met an increasing number of characters. In particular, the use of a glass wall was used to great effect to create various spaces and effects, distancing the speaking characters at times, or showing the severe isolation that Janina is experiencing.

While for the most part the wizardry supported the story, there were a couple of moments which felt superfluous - a “dance break” of sorts accompanied by hard electronic music, for example. Additionally, the final image of the play (I won’t ruin it for you) did seem to undermine Janina’s power, for me. We spent 3+ hours admiring this woman as we learned more and more about her activities and how she was taking control of the increasingly unruly situation around her, only for it to be undermined making her appear helpless in the final moments of the play.

All of this said, the latest Complicité offering is well worth seeing, if only to witness the incredible physical and text performance put on by Kathryn Hunter and the supporting actors. Beyond that, however, it is an exciting and challenging story, presented in a deeply theatrical manner which frankly, we need right now after years of Netflix dramas and social distancing.

Age of Rage - International Theatre Amsterdam @ Barbican

Mud, steel pipes, a metal band. Blood from the ceiling. Mud on the ground, and thrown at one another. Not deus ex machina but dead children rising from the ground. Ivo Von Hove’s Age of Rage is a marathon of familial betrayal, ancient Greek style. Starting with Agamemnon and the gods’ edict to sacrifice Iphigenia to secure victory and retrieve Helen from Troy, and ending with Orestes and Electra’s murder of their mother and her new husband, the production traces the linkage across the family tree. What normally spans multiple plays and a good 20+ years in storyline is served to us in a driving 3 hrs 45 minutes.

The production employs a metal band live on stage, accompanying the action like a musical score to great effect, and choreography which takes place on the main stage area and also on a far upstage area, obscured by a lit scrim which also serves as the door — to another room, to outside, to the afterlife. Bodies move about the stage in writhing choreography, but the production works best when it strips back the chorus dancers and is just solo actors in extended monologues, wailing at the injustice of the world.

It was at times too long. I could have done with fewer dance interludes, and occasionally a faster pace, however these quibbles are outshone by an unnerving commitment to the concept. My only other complaint is simply that given the choice of aesthetic, some performances almost felt too tidy. Clytemnestra stood out for me as a beautifully messy performance. Mud covered, sweaty, dress nearly falling off and toppling across the mud in knee high heeled boots, the absurdity of this woman and her situation were undeniable.

The impact of combining the stories, however, was a powerful one — quite simply, it reminded us that Greek Tragedy is mainly men doing stupid things which cause pain and suffering to the women and children around them, who in turn overreact, and enact stupidity on others. On and on and on.

Small Island adapted by Helen Edmundson - National Theatre [recorded 2019]

I watched the recording of the 2019 production via The National Theatre here - you can too until June 25.

First things first; Leah Harvey is an absolutely charming performer. Without question, her liveliness and tenacity propel this story, and demand our attention. This is a truly outstanding feat, considering the size of the production (40 actors!! The Olivier!!!) and a stunning visual design, accompanied by strong ensemble performances. Somehow Harvey manages to sparkle through it all, the glint in her eye or the pain she is feeling superseding every ounce of the highly impressive stagecraft going on around her.

On the whole, the movement of this production - the people, objects, everything - was fluid and captivating. Rooms merging in and out of one another, spaces transforming before our eyes.

The play tells one story of the Windrush generation, Black Jamaicans who moved to the UK in the post-war period, sold the story of a better life, better opportunities — and met with racism and prejudice that persists in today. The story itself, adapted from Andrea Levy’s epic novel, is compelling, insightful, and heartbreaking. It is rare that an adaptation fulfils, and yet makes me hungry to read the original — I immediately put the book on my “to read” list.

The magnitude of this story, the scope and breadth of it, were beautifully apparent throughout the production. While Small Island focuses on 4 key individuals and their journeys, the overall feeling - with a largely empty stage filled with mapped projections, bodies, shadows, reminds us that this is just one storyline of hundreds.

Try to catch this one if you can.

Othello - Beau Theatre Company @ RMTC ShakespeareFest

Beau Theatre Company share Kevin Klassen’s razor sharp adaptation of Othello, tightening the story to a cast of 6 actors, and just the essentials. Klassen plays the villainous Iago, and is almost nonchalant in his scheming, which serves to underscore the tragedy beautifully. Ray Strachan’s Othello has a wonderful range of emotions, and Olivia Raine’s Desdemona is sweet and charming. An absolute standout is Haley Vincent’s Emilia, who in a smart choice is dressed to indicate she is one of the soldiers, but still Desdemona’s lady in waiting - enabling the sense of duty Emilia feels toward Desdemona to take on a new perspective.

Staged in Dalnavert’s visitors centre, director Brenda McLean creates a thrust space, and has action taking place all over the visible space as well as behind the audience at times, giving a depth to the experience. Subtle moments of direct address keep the audience engaged and complicit, while simple choices for actor movement and stillness created tension throughout the performance.

Overall a nice adaptation with some strong performances, and well worth adding to your ShakespeareFest list!

Romeo + Juliet @ RMTC ShakespeareFest - Pocket Frock Productions

I was thrilled to kick off my ShakespeareFest adventure with a local adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, from Winnipeg collective Pocket Frock. The adaptation is described as a “hot take” on the story, it felt like an R&J for the instagram generation.

Smart edits trimmed the production down to a tight 90 minutes; the audience are lit along with the actors for the majority of the time, as the company use the small studio space to great effect. Locations are malleable, and time expands and contracts with the young lovers. Some cleverly selected and then adapted pop songs further serve to create this feeling (and are performed beautifully by the multi-talented cast).

Many casting decisions are smart here, notably Jane Burpee, whose Friar Lawrence becomes a caring grandmother type, as well as Hera Nalam who delightfully inhabits young Romeo, perfectly capturing the tempestuous and highly emotional teen. By eliminating the majority of adult characters, this production served to underscore that these are just kids, who make impetuous and seemingly irrational decisions that have huge consequences.

There were some moments that could have been even more clearly created, in particular Romeo’s first meeting of Juliet, and the ongoing beef between Tybalt and Mercutio, however on the whole this was a smart adaptation and clever production.

review. Iphigenia and the Furies (on Taurian Land) by Ho Ka Hei @ Saga Collectif

I’m always here for a great adaptation or re-think of the ancient Greeks; the plays deal with such fundamental questions of family and legacy, and our relationship to a place, that it is impossible not to see the relevance to current times. Saga Collectif present the World Premiere of this new adaptation by Ho Ka Hei (Jeff Ho), which slims the myth down to 4 actors, including a chorus represented by one actor.

The update to the text is delightfully wry, with brilliant steps in and out of an ancient sounding heightened language, cut with a more modern contemporary heightened language of our own, as if sub-tweeting the text. Ho’s adaptation underscores the challenges of our relationship to and feelings of ownership of a place. We are invited (encouraged even!) to empathize with Iphigenia and Orestes in their re-unification, to the point where we forget that in order for them to succeed, those whose land they are on (and property they attempt to steal) will be victims, and the ritual neglected in favour of self interest. I could go on for quite awhile on the symbolic role of the pharmakos and the elimination (or displacement) of this scapegoat in contemporary thought…

I thought the script was brilliant and insightful, and best captured by Virgillia Griffith’s Iphigenia, who embodied the perfect blend of regal ancient Princess/Priestess and Instagram celebrity. The production was well served by the live sound design provided by Heidi Chan, creating a hyper-real world for the characters to inhabit. While I enjoyed each of the performances individually, I did feel as though there was a disjointedness from a style perspective; as if each character was representing their own style of performance. It is tough to say whether this was intentional, but for me, it didn’t quite feel overt enough to really work as an addition to the production (so much to say that if it is intended….REALLY underscore it — like in the moments where Orestes re-tells his instructions from Apollo).

That quibble aside, I found the production to be thought provoking and intelligent. We could do with far more of this kind of theatre around here.

review. Idomeneus @ Soulpepper

I love seeing this kind of work on Canadian stages, particularly stages of this size and reputation, and not just relegated to an indie company with a 50 seat capacity. Soulpepper's production of Idomeneus challenges the audience with form, providing a starkly minimalist, brutal set, with actors in anachronistic modern costume. The adaptation by German Roland Schimmelpfennig (which premiered at Bavarian Staatsschauspiel in 2008) plays both with an irreverence to the language itself, injecting modern phrases within the more traditional speeches and images, and also with a take on the unreliability of memory and how stories are told -- poignant in our "post-truth" times. At times the irreverent language feels out of sorts (I wonder whether it was smoother in German), but as a whole, it is a relevant update to the ancient text. 

The production itself was uneven, at times feeling like there was no clear sense from the company on what the tone should be; some actors spoke the text with a classical & declamatory style, while others spoke it in a more colloquial and contemporary manner, with still others in between. Couple this with a rather static choreography (the only real movement seemed to occur in the dark, or in vague and displaced choreographed movement scenes devoid of text), and unfortunately despite the electricity of the language and imagery in this brutalist space, the production fell short of leaving me electrified. In some sense, it felt like the idea of a German production, actualized by Canadians not steeped in the postdramatic style. 

All this said, in no way do I discourage people seeing it, as it is boldly un-like work you will see on major stages elsewhere in this country, and for that reason alone it should be on your list. Now, for us to make more....and do it even more successfully. 

news. Our Sister Duchess to read at the Carol Shields Festival of New Works

I am very excited to announce that my adaptation of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, called Our Sister Duchess, will have its first public reading at the Carol Shields Festival of New Works in Winnipeg May 14th. 

“Adapted from Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, this new piece is a feminist re-focus of the play on the injustice of the her persecution. Our Sister Duchess is a victim of obsession and misogynistic rage manifest within her family in a world contemporary to ours, consumed by technology, image, and reputation. ”

The reading is presented by Theatre By The River, and will be directed by Heidi Malazdrewicz.  Casting announcements, along with the schedule for the festival will follow shortly. Watch my blog, or www.theatrebytheriver.com for more information. For details on the Carol Shields Festival which will also feature readings of new work by Ginny Collins and Kevin Klassen, please visit http://www.pte.mb.ca/about/shields_festival.htm