Category: Photo by Barb Gray

Odyssey theatre cancels Theatre Under the Stars and brings creative magic to the virtual stage!!!

Odyssey theatre cancels Theatre Under the Stars and brings creative magic to the virtual stage!!!

Bonds of Interest   Photo Barb Gray
Arlequin (Mitchel Rose), Crispin (Ross Mullan), El Capitan (Bruce Spinney)

OTTAWA –Odyssey Theatre has made the difficult decision to cancel this summer’s Theatre Under the Stars production in Strathcona Park due to the global health crisis. Rather than going dark, Odyssey will launch A Virtual Odyssey–an innovative digital theatre series to captivateaudiences with creative and interactive online programsfor families, youth, adults and artists.“While we are disappointed not to presentour 35thseason, the safety of our audiences and artists comes first. But I am thrilled to launch an excitingonline theatre series that will bring Odyssey into the homes of our patrons,and reach new audiencesacross Canada. People can help support our artists while enjoyingOdyssey in a whole new way.” says Artistic Director Laurie Steven.

Bringing Professional Theatre Directly Into Your Home Steven, an award-winning director and playwright,along witha talented team of actors, designers and playwrights, are creatingentertaining online programs that will offer something for everyone.Anew podcast seriesis sure to enchant audiences. Odyssey’s Wondrous Talesis an 8-episode podcast where tricksters and sages, villains and heroines will transport you to far away mythic worlds. Writers and actors will perform new Canadian versions of diverse folktales from around the world.

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Lysistrata in the New World: A rereading of the Greek comedy that surpasses its source of inspiration.

Lysistrata in the New World: A rereading of the Greek comedy that surpasses its source of inspiration.

 

Lysistrata and the temple of  Gaia or Apocalyptus interruptus   by David S. Craig. A production of the Odyssey  Theatre in Strathcona Park. David Warburton and Catriona Leger. Photo Barb Gray

Odyssey Theatre has at last been reborn under the stars in this Canadian premier.   After a period of  experimenting, of reflexion spent by Laurie Steven and her talented team of actors, set and costume designers and writers, they have found a  stage esthetic which has allowed them to make a smooth transition  from the use of the Italian Commedia dell’arte that  they so  beautifully integrated from the start,  towards a more flexible, more modern solution to  their stylistic confusion of the last few years.

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Actor Paul Rainville Triumphs in Virginia Woolf — But The Production Is Out Of Whack

Actor Paul Rainville Triumphs in Virginia Woolf — But The Production Is Out Of Whack

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Photo Barb Gray

It’s always rewarding to watch a gifted actor like Paul Rainville
exert his effortless authority on stage.It is, to begin with, a matter of presence — and Rainville always has that in spades. But beyond that, there’s the way he will inhabit and define a character — an approach that well goes beyond mere technical expertise.
Currently at the Gladstone, he’s delivering a fascinating portrayal of George — the middle-aged academic failure who provides one half of the marital battleground that comprises Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? There are surprises in what he does here. There are few glimpses of the passive-aggressive husband who often surfaces in productions of Edward Albee’s 1962 play. This George, for all his vulnerabilities, never seems that much of a victim to the vicious verbal taunting of his wife Martha, a booze-soaked harridan whose mainform of recreation amidst the shambles of a disappointing life is to keep tearing the scabs off an increasingly scarred relationship. In the world of 34-year-old Edward Albee, indulging in this kind of domestic warfare fulfilled his vision of how an awful relationship might be sustained: behave abominably enough to force retaliation from the other side and you achieve some manner of real human contact no matter how emotionally bruising the consequences.

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Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Gladstone: Rainville shines in an unbalanced cast.

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Gladstone: Rainville shines in an unbalanced cast.

woolf3DSC_0028  Photo: Barb Gray

 

All couples play dangerous emotional games, but most of us are like kids with a ball and jacks compared to George and Martha.

The middle-aged couple at the heart of Edward Albee’s 1962 play, now at The Gladstone in a revival whose reach exceeds its grasp, has honed to an art the pastime of taunting, flaying, almost-but-not-quite-mortally wounding each other with words.

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The Barber of Seville : Extraordinary stage business challenges the singers.

The Barber of Seville : Extraordinary stage business challenges the singers.

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Photo: Barb Gray.  Joshua Hopkiins (Figaro) and Marion Newman(Rosina).

Just as Brian MacDonald transformed Gilbert and Sullivan into light opera, just as Steven Sondheim’s musicals could often be considered light opera, why not do the reverse and transform Rossini’s Opera Buffa into musical theatre where all the spoken parts are sung in any case, and comedy dominates the whole event? This production, which originates in Vancouver is a treat for the eye and is clearly aimed at a general even non-opera going audience that just wants an evening of entertainment in the lush setting of the National Arts Centre. Why not? Opera is not the sole possession of specialists. If Opera Lyra has to seduce the audience by setting Count Almaviva’s attempts to declare his love to Rosina on the set of a 1940’s film of Carmen, (Bizet’s version I imagine) – a sort of mise en abyme musical, why not? It was all supported by conductor Giuseppe Pietraroia’s fine direction that emphasized the heightened comic drama of the artists and produced excellent moments of music. The chorus of extras who changed costumes, who ran around trying to get their  hair cut by Figaro, the cheeky foppish barber and stylist of the film crew, sung by Baritone Joshua Hopkins, created an amusing performance. Also film-like with gangster undertones were the two sinister body guards who kept close to Rosina so that her impatient lover Almaviva (Lindoro), could not get near her as Bartolo snorted with anger in the background. Director Dennis Garnhum created numerous stage dramas operating simultaneously and eventually he transformed the whole cast into excellent actors whose timing was impeccable, whose sense of fun worked beautifully. A comedy of near epic proportions!!

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Take Me Back to Jefferson -Faulkner Lives at the NAC

Take Me Back to Jefferson -Faulkner Lives at the NAC

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Photo: Barb Gray.

“Take Me Back to Jefferson” adapted by Michele Smith and Dean Gilmour from William Faulkner’s novel “As I Lay Dying” gradually draws one in and becomes mesmerizing. Played on a bare stage with minimal props, the cast of seven brings to life Faulkner’s gothic tale of a dirt-poor Mississippi family’s odyssey to bury their matriarch Addie in her old home.

This is true ensemble theatre and all the actors are both strong and physically accomplished. The patriarch Anse is powerfully played by Dean Gilmour with the slippery ease of an unconscious natural con man and terrific body language. His oldest son Cash, (Dan Watson), provides his own vocal sound effects as he builds his mother’s coffin, and we come to believe we see it. Next in line Darl, (Julian De Zotti), holds himself in tight control till he finally snaps. Jewel, (Ben Muir), gives a remarkable performance with his beloved horse as he becomes not only the rider but also the horse.

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Take me back to Jefferson: a fascinating corporeal performance that sets this family in competition with all the other living species on the earth.

Take me back to Jefferson: a fascinating corporeal performance that sets this family in competition with all the other living species on the earth.

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Photo: Barb Gray.

This adaptation of the William Faulkner novel As I lay dying…remains fairly close to Faulkner’s 15 interior monologues  performed here by  seven actors who tell the story about a country family living in a fictional town in Mississippi. The Family  has sworn to respect the dying wishes of their mother Addie, a tough old lady who wants to be buried in Jefferson. Even in death she dominates their lives. As they make the difficult journey , the calvary as it were, back to Jefferson, they are almost drowned, burned, destroyed as they drag that coffin across the country with mother in it, just to respect her dying wishes. During the trip we learn about each of the children through their monologues which structure the performance, each one producing  memories of Addie. explaining their feelings about the farm, the other children and their visions of the world. It is all expressed  in a rough but  poetic version of a slightly archaic  hillbilly talk. This most beguiling language transforms them all into larger than life types, all emerging as grotesque beings within a southern gothic style landscape where they become creatures  creating strangely delusional images of their own reality.

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The Best Brothers: A brilliant piece of dramaturgy that speaks as much about theatre as it does about grieving.

The Best Brothers: A brilliant piece of dramaturgy that speaks as much about theatre as it does about grieving.

 

bestDSC_0032 Photo, Barb Gray:  featuring John Ng and  Andy Massingham.

A frontal set made up of overlapping rectangles that establish an endless depth, glowing with interesting colour as the two men standing on either side of the stage, note our position in the audience and prepare us for what is to come. These are the Brothers. On one side Kyle (Andy Massingham), a flamboyant real estate agent trying to convince us and his clients to buy his condo, intoxicated with words as he praises the qualities of his product. The other brother, on the other side of the stage is Hamilton, (John Ng) cool and calm, exceedingly rational, dressed in a suit, an architect who is explaining his recent project to potential buyers. Their phones ring simultaneously. . Reactions on both sides are immediate except that the reactions are not the same. “Just something…” I can take care of it…says Kyle, “a tragedy…” says Hamilton the cool architect who tries not to appear upset but is very moved. Lights down then back up as all the rituals that accompany death and its closure for the family, structure the rest of the show. What we see emerging , under the stress of their mother’s campy accident is a the whole grieving process which underlies both the comedy and the strained relationship between the two sons, where jealousy rears its ugly head more than once and where the extraordinary Bunny (or Mommy) is recreated as the focal point of their lives.

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The Best Brothers at GCTC IS the Best

The Best Brothers at GCTC IS the Best

Photo: Barbara Grey
John Ng and Andy Massingham
Photo: Barb Gray

GCTC has a hit on their hands with their production of “The Best Brothers” by award-winning Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor.  MacIvor’s plays are so tightly woven that they’re difficult to write about without giving away quirky plot surprises and wonderful jokes.

“The Best Brothers” is a play about family and family relationships.  Hamilton Best, played by John Ng, and his younger brother Kyle, played by Andy Massingham, are faced with coping with the sudden death of their mother.  She was killed in a bizarre accident at a Pride Parade – one of the surprises I won’t give away.  They have to deal with long-buried resentments, sibling rivalry and what to do about their “other brother” Enzo, another surprise.

These two are very good actors and are well matched. John Ng’s Hamilton, almost always appearing in a suit, is an uptight architect whose wife is about to leave him.  Andy Massingham’s Kyle is more of a free spirit whose current boyfriend is a sex worker.  They bump heads over the obituary and Kyle’s proposal to have their Mother’s visitation catered.  Andy Massingham’s impeccable comic timing is on display in a hilarious scene at the visitation.  Each actor at times dons white gloves and gives us poignant and funny glimpses of their Mother, Bunny.

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Obaaberima : a corporeal performance that expresses it all!

Obaaberima : a corporeal performance that expresses it all!

DSC_0027(1)Tawiah M`Carthey. Photo Barb Gray.

Questions of identity have become one of the focal points of recent theatre in Canada. In Ottawa we have seen performances in French by Mani Soleymanlou  whose recent plays “Un”, “Deux” et “Trois” have focussed on his Persian identity as a construction produced by the interiorization of the gaze of Quebecers who saw him as the Middle eastern immigrant he never knew he was, given the fact his family was Iranian and he arrived here when he was very young. Other more recent immigrants such as Wajdi Mouawad, have used theatre to reflect on their immigrant condition and their sense of identity within their new Canadian/Quebec surroundings. Recently in Ottawa, we have seen other such performances by artists asking similar questions through performance.

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