Undercurrents Festival of One Act Plays: And Then It Happens

I confess. I make snap judgments all the time, whether with people or shows. I know it’s not good and we should allow time to make up our minds, but I can’t help it. The truth is, I trust my instinct. Having said that, I love nothing more than being surprised and proven wrong in my judgments. The Two Little Birds’ production of and then it happens, ironically all about the tension between giving the audience what they want while still staying true to oneself, does exactly this.

The piece started with information gathered at last year’s Undercurrents and Wakefest festivals through the group’s interactive installation, The Lab, which asked participants what they liked about theatre and what they wanted to see. and then it happens starts off by choosing an answer for each of the question from The Lab and enacting them. The result is a mess. There are bits of musical theatre, a one woman show, a toy helicopter, and many other unfinished pieces.

Needless to say, I was not a fan. I scribbled all sorts of notes in my book: “trying to pander to everyone,” “only people they already know seem to be laughing,” and the list can go on. But then something changed. All four actors – Sarah Conn, Kierstan Hanly, Laura Astwood, and Guy Marsan – stopped and the tone of the piece transformed. Instead of pleasing the audience, the actors turned to themselves and focused on who they are and what they want.

This is when I stopped taking notes. The moment the show proved my snide reaction and comments wrong, I felt drawn into its midst. From the awed silence in the studio, I highly doubt I was the only one. Sarah Conn and Guy Marsan were mesmerizing in their physicality, presenting raw emotion through their movement.

Although there are parts of the show that could be tightened up for maximum effect, and then it happens is ultimately successful in portraying the tension between the representation of self and the will to please, in theatre as in life. Yes, there will probably be those who don’t like the show, but what it does is important beyond how many tickets are sold. It interrogates the nature of an artistic, collaborative creation and challenges the audience to laugh, think, and question their own place in the process.

And Then It Happens

A Two Little Birds (Ottawa) production

Directed by: Sarah Conn

Design by: Two Little Birds

Videographers: Andy Marleau and Scott Fraser

Video score composer: Chris Humeniuk

Technical director: Robert Forbes

Stage management: Sylvie Recoskie

Created and performed by:

Sarah Conn

Kiersten Hanly

Laura Astwood

Guy Marsan

Reviewed by Maja Stefanovska