The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum Feels Dated
Wendy Lill’s play The Glace Bay Miner’s Museum is set on the East Coast of Canada sometime directly following the Second World War. The story, which is about the tragic lives of Glace Bay miners and their fight for more fair working conditions and wages, may not speak directly to many of us in the audience. After all, I can’t say I know too many people in Ottawa starting their work day down a mine shaft with minimal safety precautions only to be paid below minimum wage. It’s what’s at the heart of The Glace Bay Miner’s Museum that makes it universal. Yes, it speaks of a specific time and place, but the struggle to find happiness in life after a tragedy and the fight for one’s place in the world is universal. Unfortunately, the NAC’s production, marking the opening of the 2012-2013 season, fails to capture this universality and instead delivers a play that feels dated and flat.
Based on a novel by Sheldon Currie, the play lets us in on a slice of the family MacNeil’s lives when they are joined by the charming, music-playing stranger, Neil Currie. The entire family has at some point worked for the mining company, whether cleaning house for the owners or in the mines themselves. Like many families in their community, they have lost loved ones down the dark shafts where workers rights are practically nonexistent. With the last male healthy male, Ian MacNeil, currently working down in the mines, the imminent danger and sense of loss is constantly on the family’s minds as they struggle to live from day to day. As the daughter falls in love with the spirited, rebellious Neil, it is evident the young man brings joy into all of their lives and inspires them to action.
The production is lukewarm and uninspiring. Francine Deschepper, who plays Margaret MacNiel, has some trouble settling into her character and compensates by overacting and over-exaggerating her motions as the awkward young woman. Gil Garratt’s Neil is likewise overacted. Indeed, during his first appearance on stage, it was only when it was explicitly stated he was drunk that I understood the sudden lurches on stage for what they were supposed to be. This kind of portrayal makes caricatures out of the characters, effectively stopping the audience from connecting to them and, by extension, to the story.
The set is functional and cleverly designed, though it didn’t lend itself to much more than utility. The lighting on opening night was haphazard. It went from dim and atmospheric to overly bright with scarcely any transition, which served to distract from the action on stage as the audience was too busy shielding or squinting their eyes from the glare to focus. What’s more, there didn’t seem to be a purpose for the overly-bright lighting, as it didn’t form any part of the story.
That’s not to say the show was without its merits. There were moments, especially toward the end, where real emotion took over and the audience did feel something for the family struggling on stage. David Francis played a very convincing Grandpa, whose lungs had been so decimated by his work in the mines that he had become an invalid constantly sitting in his one chair without the use of his voice.
Overall though, the show could have used some tightening up and scaling back. It was overacted and over-directed to the point where the characters themselves were lost in the confusion. The audience is left out of the deepest emotion shared by the MacNeil family, resulting in a show that feels flat and dated.
CAST
Margaret MacNeil – Francine Deschepper
Grandpa – David Francis
Neil Currie – Gil Garratt
Catherine MacNeil – Martha Irving
Ian MacNeil – Jeff Schwager
CREATIVE TEAM
Director – Mary Vingoe
Set and Costume Designer – Sue LePage
Lighting Designer – Leigh Ann Vardy
Sound Designer – Paul Cram
Fight Consultant – John Koensgen
Stage Manager – Laurie Champagne
Assistant Stage Manager -Loreen Gobson
Voiceover Recording – Ken Ung