In The Eyes of Stone Dogs. A problematic staging of Daniel Danis translated into English.

In The Eyes of Stone Dogs. A problematic staging of Daniel Danis translated into English.

The adventurous and talented Christopher Bedford has chosen one of the most difficult playwrights currently in vogue in Quebec, to give a group of students from the Ottawa Theatre School, professional experience on stage.  The project is in itself a perilous exercise as we have already seen with Third Wall Theatre which fell soundly on its face when they used a  mixed cast of professionals and students in their version of Tartuffe several years ago, in spite of David Whitely’s excellent translation. Last year, Andy Massingham staged a magnificent version of Shakespeare,s Twelfth Night using students from the Ottawa Theatre School as well as seasoned professionals  but he had the good taste to give all the main roles to professionals. As a result,  that performance  worked beautifully.  Added to the cast was the very brilliant Greg Kramer as Malvolio who created a performance we will never forget.

Daniel Danis is another kettle of fish…so to speak.

 

This playwright  has gleaned international respect because of his extremely original form of French, nothing to do with joual,  which creates new words, which renovates French syntax and completely transports us  to another universe of language that constitutes the basis of his theatre.

Linda Gaboriau’s translation has captured that poetic and liberated language most beautifully, the only problem is that the actors had no idea how to speak that language and  most of its  strange poetry   was completely garbled in an ultra-realistic reading of the text which went squarely against the esthetics of Danis’  theatre.

Apart from the fact that the young actors already had trouble articulating a  text  that needed a more stylized form of pronunciation, the general reading had to project a world of heightened unreality because what Danis puts on stage here has nothing to do with the everyday world in which we live.

This is the story of a human “pack”, a strange extended  family of individuals who share life on an isolated island, apparently in the middle of the Saint Laurent but it could be anywhere at all. They share a life that is in many ways archaic, pre-western civilisation, also suggested by the references to  a residue of native  populations  who have left their mark on this tiny society of  creatures.  Set off by the howl of symbolic dogs that echo far away in the distance (which is why the dogs must not be on stage), they have carved their lives out of  the rocks of this cruel nature where they live like a pack of human animals. The howl of the  dogs symbolises  the constant threat of unbridled instincts:  violence,  brutality and all the wildness of a life close to a wild nature  that thrives on brutal impulse.

And that is  what we see.  Constantly in heat, constantly ready to lash out, to beat  others up, to howl, to challenge  their bodies, to brutalize and kill, the members of this community lead a precarious life in this rocky hole. According to archaic civilisations, the  pack is led by a patriarch, the old father Leo (Andy Massingham)who is driven  by one single animal  impulse, to  protect his young.  There is the young alpha male who already threatens the leadership of the old man, the wild Coyote , played by Andrew Moore who had moments of strength mainly because his role is so well written. For him, all the  women are  there to be taken when it suits him.  All the other men  must affirm themselves or be destroyed.

A similar  hierarchy works itself out among the women, where Goddess  (Catriona Leger) struts her body,  gives herself to the alpha male and spits on the others.

This production did not at all capture the highly stylized form of performance that such a play requires.  It did not have enough vocal or physical muscle. It was flabby and weak. It was of course hampered by the lack of experience of most of the cast – only Massingham and  Leger are professionals – but one had the impression that director Bedford was so hampered by the young actors that he could not even pretend to elicit the kind of performance that he should have from the professionals. They certainly could have done much better but they were drowned in the  general  insignificance of the voices, the bodies and the whole flabby energy of the show.

Mitchel Rose gave us a few strong minutes when he describes the massacre he experienced in the war. That was very strong but it lost its impact because it was supposed to be a moment of depth and  human recognition  in the general  chaos of the wild pack which  never materialized.

Andrew Moore might have been able to adapt to something a bit less realistic and Catriona Leger showed us all her sexual animality which was very good. Pierre  Ducharme’s set, showing  precarious living  quarters carved out of the dry dusty  rock, enhanced by  eery lighting effects,  was excellent and clearly the best  part of the evening.

It is very clear that Bedford could not have paid  11 professionals to act in this play, which was another reason for bringing in the students but it is also clear that he might not have realized the immense difficulty of this play and the quasi Impossibility of staging this work with people who have no idea how to modulate their physical and vocal performances.

It’s too bad. Daniel Danis is an important playwright, he has been translated into many languages .  Ottawa has missed its chance to see something that could have been memorable.

In the Eyes  of Stone Dogs plays at Arts Court until November 26, 2011

Ottawa, Alvina Ruprecht

19 Novembre, 2011

In the Eyes of Stone Dogs

at the Arts Court Theatre/ a production of Evolution Theatre.

By Daniel Danis

Translated by Linda Gaboriau

Directed by Christopher Bedford

Set and lighting: Pierre Ducharme

Costumes and props: Patrice-Ann tremblay

Sound design:  Stewart Matthews

Mask design: Andy Massingham

Mask/dog choreographer: Alix Sideris

CAST

Niki :  Jonah Allingham

Joelle : Caitlin Alexis Corbett

Djoukie :  Dyna Ibrahim

Goddess : Catriona Leger

Mureille:  Victoria Elizabeth Luloff

Leo :  Andy Massingham

Coyote :  Andrew Moore

Simon :   Mitchel Rose

Charles  :  James Mcartin Smith

Chorus  : Jazmine Campanale, Adam Pierre

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