Nhar Moves (Super Bad Moves), written by Richard Harrington, Chris Kauffman and Emily Windover and performed by Chris Kauggman is a lovely, touching show about a depressed warehouse worker who, happens upon a fish he makes his friend. When the fish disappears suddenly one night, he goes on a quest to find him, in the process realizing he must find the strength to pursue a passion that will make him happy regardless of others. It’s a sweet, silent show with beautifully whimsical music and storybook drawings on a projector to set the scene. Kauffman acts with his whole body, and especially with his eyes. He manages to make us feel and root for his character. A mark of his success was that he had the children at the show enthralled, following and laughing at his every move, not an easy feat when your show is basically a mime. If anything, I wish his show had been entirely silent. The couple of times Kauffman broke out into song frankly ruined the magic and the mood. The show is strong and funny enough without it. Having said that, everyone seemed to be having a great time at the show, young and old alike.

Nhar Moves (Super Bad Moves)

Harrington & Kauffman

By Chris Kauffman, Emily Windover & Richard Harrington

Everyone has that voice in the back of their head that preys on their insecurities and whispers demoralizing things. To what extent you give in to this personal bully relies on a variety of things, from strength of character to events in your life at the time. Dead Unicorn Ink has decided to externalize this voice in the form of Chesterfield, a malicious talking couch. Sounds a bit weird? Sure, but that’s what makes the idea so good as well. It’s different and funny, while still talking about something of importance. This is the story of a young married couple, Zach and Sarah (Drake Evans and Gabrielle Lazarovitz) who are going through a hard time in their marriage due, simply, to not communicating enough. Their own fears, already formed somewhere in the back of their minds, are exacerbated by the couch, spinning the situation out of control. This is a show with a lot of potential. Unfortunately the acting was a bit imbalanced, diluting the effect. Lazarovitz gives a strong performance, while Evans and other co-star Aaron Lejeunesse are a bit off with their characterization. Better pacing and subtler changes in tone would go a long way in both of their cases. The lighting could also be fixed up, as there were scenes which were left dark for too long.

Chesterfield

A Dead Unicorn Ink production

Written by: Patrice Ann Forbes

Directed by: Sylvie Recoskie. Cast: Zach: Drake Evans, Donald: Aaron Lejeunesse, , Sarah: Gabrielle Lazarovitz

The Greek poet Sappho, all but erased from history save for fragments of her poetry here and there, has been used as a personification of anything and everything, from the “fallen woman,” to a feminist icon, to champion of lesbian love. Due to her very mystery, people throughout history have put their own frustrations and hopes in her. That is, until now. Sappho… in 9 Fragments, written by Jane Montgomery Griffiths and directed by Jessica Ruano give Sappho her own voice to vent about her appropriation. The set, beautiful in its simplicity, is a cage-like structure with ropes draped across the top and sides. Victoria Grove, who plays Sappho, as well as Atthis, a modern-day chorus girl embarking on her own sapphic romance with an egotistical actress, reminds you why one-person shows can be better than a full-ensemble production. She is what every actress or actor should strive to be. You barely notice as she slides seamlessly, sensually from role to role. Her magnetic stage presence draws you in as she acts with every inch of her body and voice; she has the ability to break your heart with the flick of a finger or the wink of an eye.

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Métis playwright Marie Clements is a gifted storyteller who draws on the traditions of her Aboriginal roots as well as Western theatrical techniques to weave together highly visual stories that link the past and present; personal and collective. Although there are some kinks to be worked out, her latest effort, collaboration with photojournalist Rita Leistner The Edward Curtis Project, manages to situate the extremely complex issue of Aboriginal identity rooted in history, theory and representation into a contemporary sphere that is accessible and touching to watch.
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Although we tend to make fun of ourselves and our attempts to behave in a civilized manner, deep down, we’d all much rather believe that politeness and civilization can and do prevail. To prove our civility, we take comfort in knowing that, while mere children and less fortunate countries struggle with the concept, the adults of the west have mastered the art of decorum. Then along comes a play like Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage and undermines the hypocrisy inherent in this self-congratulation. As director Ross Manson’s production for Third Wall so wonderfully points out, all it takes for total social unraveling is one glitch in the well-oiled machine.

The scene is modern day Paris. Two 11-year old boys have been in a fight. The son of Alain and Annette has broken two teeth of the son of Michel and Véronique, their hosts. The parents, all bourgeois courtesy and genteel grace, meet to discuss the matter and figure out a plan of action. Gradually, tensions emerge between and among the couples and the courteous visit descends into a hysterical, crying, projectile-vomiting mess.

At one point, Michel says, “Children consume and fracture our lives. Children drag us towards disaster, it’s unavoidable.” Indeed, they do reduce their parents to chaos, but what Yasmina Reza’s script, as translated by Christopher Hampton, does so well through its ingenious dialogue is point out just how thin the veneer of manners separating us from our true, “Neanderthal” selves is. …

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Carmen Aguirre doesn’t shy away form touchy or embarassing topics in her passionate monologue, Carmen Aguirre’s Blue Box. The show relays the seemingly disparate stories of Carmen’s distant past as a Chilean resistence fighter against the Pinochet regime and her longstanding affair with a Chicano” television star over a decade later. It’s an exercise in fearless bluntness, whose peppery language would make even the more open-minded blush. Unconiditonal love is at the core of both stories, though it’s Aguirre’s tales of Chile that really capture the audience and contain the emotional crux of the performance. …

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Milne’s Mr. Pim Passes By is a quaint and funny drawing room farce about the rules we all live by and their more often than not absurd nature. The play is quintessentially early 20th century British and is delightfully sharp. Joe O’Brien’s production for the Ottawa Little Theatre stays true to Milne’s fun, light hearted spirit and, despite some off-putting details about the set, provides the audience with an entertaining evening.

The situation is delightfully ridiculous: Mr. Pim, portrayed by a delightfully befuddled  Barry Caiger, comes to the Marden’s residence in Buckinghamshire with a letter of introduction. Through his confused, babbling stories, the Marden’s learn that Mrs. Olivia Marden’s husband, whom she thought dead, is very much alive, making her a bigamist and George Marden, her very conservative, proper current husband, a sinner in the eyes of, according to him heaven and society. Of course, this is a farce and things aren’t always as simple as they seem at first glance. The story unravels with a case of mistaken identities and misunderstandings to its pleasant conclusion. Add to this a subplot of two young lovers, Dinah Marden and Brian Strange, trying to convince Mr. Marden to let them get married and you have a both absurd and fun situation. Though not as biting as the likes of Noel Coward (whose play Hay Fever was also part of the OLT’s 100th season), this is a delightful, pleasant comedy of manners, perfect for chuckling and relaxing to. …

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Photo: Claude Haché

We go see plays for a number of reasons. Sometimes, it’s to take refuge from the real world in fiction. Other times, it’s to laugh or cry. Still other times, we seek to be blown away, gutted, stung by a story and left to pick up the pieces, one by one, for ourselves. Coupled with good directing and acting, these are the latter are stories that stay with us indefinitely, make us question what we think, and burrow themselves into our very being. John Pielmeier’s Agnes of God is just one such story and, under Marc-André Charron’s direction, 9th Hour theatre’s production lives up to the story’s potential.

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