Category: Theatre in Canada

Reviews from Stratford 2015: “The Sound Of Music” Can Still Surprise

Reviews from Stratford 2015: “The Sound Of Music” Can Still Surprise

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Photo. Courtesy of the Stratford Festival

STRATFORD, Ont. — Yes, it can have the texture of syrup. Yes, it is
historically questionable when it comes to the allegedly real-life
story it tells. And yes, in the character of Maria, the convent reject
who changes her world and the world of those around her through the power of song, we have a young heroine who is almost too good to be true. Yet, none of this seems to matter when The Sound Of Music receives as good a production as the one that took confident possession of the Stratford’s Festival Theatre Tuesday night. No matter that Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most beloved musical continues to be done to death — indeed Stratford’s previous production was comparatively recent. No matter that it’s by no means Rodgers and Hammerstein’s best show — that honor probably belongs to the dark-hued Carousel, which is also  being mounted at the festival this summer. But this production benefits from Donna Feore’s secure and imaginative direction, a strong visual component and some stellar performances.

Feore seems determined to find some fibre in the sugary confection that constitutes this musical. She wants to give the material more spine. American import Stephanie Rothenberg, who plays Maria, proves to be of prime importance in serving this need. On opening night you were a bit uncertain about Rothenberg at the beginning: her mannered and overly studied rendition of the title song lacked spontaneity and didn’t really jell with the image of the idyllic young postulant, stealing a few heady moments of freedom in her beloved mountains before returning to the cloisters.
But by the time Maria arrives at the widowed Captain Von Trapp’s home to take on the job of governess to his seven unruly children, Rothenberg has relaxed and is taking confident possession of her character. And with that delightfully staged moment when the militaristic-minded captain marches the youngsters on stage, and into the hearts of Maria and the audience, the show’s virtues are firmly taking hold.

 

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Richard III de Brigitte Haentjens. : Une créature archaïque qui émerge des bas-fonds de l’humanité.

Richard III de Brigitte Haentjens. : Une créature archaïque qui émerge des bas-fonds de l’humanité.

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Photos du Théâtre du nouveau monde.

Brigitte Haentjens, l’actuelle  directrice artistique du Théâtre français au Centre national des Arts à Ottawa,  produit, depuis fort longtemps, une esthétique de la souffrance en puisant dans des consciences troublées.  Depuis 1999, elle accompagne l’immigrant de Koltès (la Nuit juste avant les forêts) attaché à la voie ferrée  hurlant  son désespoir et sa solitude.  Elle offre  la scène  à Malina, personnage d’Ingeborg Bachmann, hanté par le cauchemar d’un père, ancien Nazi, qui chercherait à exterminer  sa fille dans  la chambre à gaz. Elle suit la descente vers la mort de la poétesse Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar), hantée par l’image d’un père  qui  alimente son impulsion suicidaire, sans oublier le calvaire d’Ian (Blasted de Sarah Kane)  au moment de la guerre en Yougoslavie. 

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Lipsynch au Festival TransAmériques : le théâtre de Robert Lepage et l’ouverture vers le monde.

Lipsynch au Festival TransAmériques : le théâtre de Robert Lepage et l’ouverture vers le monde.

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Le théâtre québécois s’inscrit désormais dans le réseau des théâtres des Département français des Amériques, depuis que certains artistes ont entrepris des collaborations qui ont fécondé la créativité de part et d’autre. Notons la collaboration exceptionnelle entre Denis Marleau (directeur artistique du Ubu, compagnie théâtrale, Montréal) et José Pliya (Etc Caraïbe, C.D.R. l’Artchipel, Guadeloupe); entre la compagnie de José Exélis (Les Enfants de la mer) et Stéphane Martelly (Départ); entre Diane Pavlovic (de l’école nationale du théâtre à Montréal) et l’Association Textes en Paroles de la Guadeloupe; notons encore plus récemment, la collaboration entre le metteur en scène Sylvain Bélanger (de la troupe québécoise Théâtre du Grand Jour), l’acteur Erwin Wache d’origine haïtienne mais formé au Québec, et le dramaturge martiniquais Bernard Lagier dont la pièce Moi, Chien Créole est déjà programmée pour la rentrée 2007-08 sur les scènes à Montréal et à Ottawa. Et…nous venons d’apprendre que Ruddy Sylaire jouera le rôle principal dans la nouvelle production d’Othello, mise en scène par Denis Marleau. Rien d’étonnant de ces rencontres artistiques entre le Québec et les D.F.A. Plutôt, on se demande pourquoi elles ont mis si longtemps à se réaliser étant donné les affinités linguistiques entre les régions.

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Alice through the Looking Glass : Like Tim Burton on Uppers

Alice through the Looking Glass : Like Tim Burton on Uppers

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DSC_0027Photo. Barb Gray. Natasha Greenblatt as Alice, Herbie Barnes and Darrell Dennis as TweedleDum and TweedleDee

Jillian Keiley’s production of “Alice Through the Looking-Glass,” adapted by James Reaney from the Lewis Carroll classic, is awash with ingenious and colorful sets and costumes, audience participation and good music. However Carroll’s thoughtful and philosophical parts of the story, even the fact that it’s a coming of age for Alice, are drowned out by all the bells and whistles. I’m afraid Alice purists will be dismayed, but this version is great fun and undoubtedly entertaining.

A co-production with the Stratford Festival where it played last summer, it uses the all the technical aspects of that production, but with different actors. Bretta Gerecke’s chess board floor slopes upward toward the back, perfect for the Red and White Queens to slide down. The squares even light up as Alice makes her moves.

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Phèdre de Jérémie Niel: Une lecture jeune et fiévreuse qui remonte au passé pour cerner le présent.

Phèdre de Jérémie Niel: Une lecture jeune et fiévreuse qui remonte au passé pour cerner le présent.

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Marie Brassard, Benoît Lachambre, Emmanuel Schwartz

Photo. Alexandre de Bellefeuille

Cette interprétation de Phèdre, sombre et inquiétante, évoque un monde de dieux cruels qui interviennent directement contre les trois protagonistes qui incarnent les pulsions pures, manifestations des forces d’origine de l’humanité. L’œuvre s’inspire de Sénèque (Hippolyte) et surtout de Racine (Phèdre). Cette version commence par Thésée (Benoit Lachambre) qui pleure la mort de son fils Hippolyte et de sa femme Phèdre, dont les cadavres gisent à ses pieds. La suite devient un retour en arrière cauchemardesque, orchestré par le Coryphée (Mani Soleymanlou). Assis dans la salle, il remonte à la scène, regarde l’espace du jeu un peu perplexe, consulte les textes jonchant le sol pour organiser la sélection des extraits et donne des indications d’éclairage aux techniciens. Cette impression de mise en abyme donne au personnage du coryphée une fonction peu habituelle. Il est celui qui gère le spectacle, parlant à peine mais il est aussi celui qui invite les protagonistes mythiques sur scène, des figures à mi-chemin entre le visible et l’invisible, propulsées par des sonorités vrombissantes et la respiration terrifiante des dieux qui surveillent chacun de leurs gestes. Le concepteur et metteur en scène Jérémie Niel a éliminé les confidents ainsi que la princesse Aricie pour ne garder que les trois figures essentielles de la catharsis, celles qui doivent toucher les spectateurs et les transformer par la pitié et la frayeur. Le jeu commence bien!

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Atlantic Fringe Festival in Halifax.

Atlantic Fringe Festival in Halifax.

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Notes by Patrick Langston.  Running Aug. 28-Sept 7, this year’s Atlantic Fringe Festival in Halifax features about 60 companies and 300 shows. Most of the companies seem to be from Nova Scotia although the program fails to identify the origin or, frequently, even the name of the company (the website appears to have most of the missing information but is cumbersome).

Ottawa shows include Kavalier’s Kuriosities (Dead Unicorn Ink) and Mabel’s Last Performance (written by Megan Piercey Monafu and performed by Kathi Langston).

Unlike the centralized Ottawa Fringe Festival, venues in Halifax are widely disbursed. That’s a plus in that the city’s attractiveness makes the travelling around a pleasure but a minus in that the festival has no physical focus or, as far as I could determine, anywhere that artists and audiences can readily gather – somewhere like, say, the Ottawa fringe’s popular courtyard.

That absence of a physical centre also militates against the excitement that typifies a centralized festival where attendees constantly bump into each other and talk about shows. You can always text, of course, but that’s no match for face-to-face chatter.

Even so, the 24-year-old festival pulls in over 10,000 patrons annually and, with admission to shows costing as little as $3, it’s eminently affordable.

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Stratford Ends Its Season On A High Note with The Beaux Stratagem:

Stratford Ends Its Season On A High Note with The Beaux Stratagem:

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Photo: Michael Cooper

STRATFORD — We’re only minutes into the Stratford Festival’s splendid revival of George Farquhar’s 1707 comedy, The Beaux Stratagem when we’re presented with the first of many sublimely funny moments.

Mike Shara (extreme right of the photo)  one of those rare actors who can wear fancy dress with confidence, is an amiable opportunist named Aimwell whose mission in life is to find and marry a wealthy heiress. At this moment, he’s in an inn and brooking danger to his health by sampling a flagon of the local ale. Shara’s reaction to his first taste of this lethal brew is all flaying limbs and gasping, gulping horror — yet it’s carried out with the kind of spontaneity that underlines this fine actor’s mastery of physical comedy.

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Stratford’s Antony And Cleopatra: The Whole is Lesser Than The Parts.

Stratford’s Antony And Cleopatra: The Whole is Lesser Than The Parts.

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Yanna McIntosh as Cleopatra, Geraint Wyn Davies as  Antony. Photo David Hou.

STRATFORD — There’s no denying the memorable moments in the Stratford Festival’s new production of Antony And Cleopatra.

For example — the ferocious outburst of sexual rage from Yanna McIntosh’s Cleopatra when she learns that Antony, the love of her life, has married someone else. Director Gary Griffin shows a keen sense of dramatic timing here, extracting a mounting tension from the scene before Cleopatra explodes into fury.

That sequence is splendidly theatrical. But, in contrast, we also get displays of tender intimacy. A lovely scene where McIntosh helps the aging and weary Antony of Geraint Wyn Davies into his armour has an easy familiarity about it: these are two lovers who know each other well, who are comfortable with each other, who respond to each other naturally.

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Christina Casts its Spell At Stratford Despite Problematic Script:

Christina Casts its Spell At Stratford Despite Problematic Script:

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Jenny Young and Graham Abbey. Photo Cylla Von Tiedemann

STRATFORD — She bursts onto the stage of the Tom Patterson Theatre with cyclonic force, a female fury in the elegant garb of a male. But don’t assume we’re getting another variation of a trouser role here.
This not a case of actress Jenny Young simply dressing up like a man. She’s not just making like a 17th Century tomboy. It’s a moot point as to whether she voraciously inhabits the character of Sweden’s endlessly fascinating Queen Christina or whether Christina has taken occupancy of her. The bottom line is that she seizes our attention immediately as — all attitude — she starts berating a hapless court booby named Karl Gustav for his attempts to ravish her.
What comes through here with burning intensity is the forthright young queen’s revulsion at the thought of any intimate contact with a male. Indeed, as Young’s Christina spells out details of Karl’s attempted seduction, we wouldn’t be surprised if she upchucked before our eyes at any moment.

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A Lovely Sunday for Crève Coeur is a curious hybrid that suggests Williams is wrestling with his own demons.

A Lovely Sunday for Crève Coeur is a curious hybrid that suggests Williams is wrestling with his own demons.

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Photo. David Cooper. Julain Molnar as Miss Gluck

In the Shaw Festival programme, professor/critic Annette J. Saddik writes that in the 1960’s , after his last complete full length play, Williams was exploring “anti-realistic styles, embracing contradictions (…) shifting between minimalism and excess, the tragic and the comic”. This comment certainly introduces us to A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur where the contradiction is already inscribed in the title of the play. However, I would certainly not define Williams’ earlier work as “realistic” by any means with its strong tendency towards expressionism (Streetcar) and even elements of symbolist drama (Menagerie) that he himself has explained in several of his introductions. Nevertheless the anti-realism is very clear in this work and if  Creve Coeur is noted for its “tragicomic playfulness” by  Saddik,  the play as well as this staging, pinpoint the problems that arise with Williams’ attempts at comedy.

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