Jake’s Gift – GCTC Has A Winner
Jake’s Gift is a memory play. And it’s a meditation on the tragedy and triumph of war — the grief, the loss, the anger and ultimately the healing that in itself constitutes a sort of victory. So it can also have the texture of a mood piece.
But ultimately this lovely, 65-minute one-hander is about the kindness of strangers. The stranger in this instance is Isabelle, a 10-year-old French girl who lives in a village near the Normandy beaches and who, through sheer goodness of heart, changes the life of an elderly Canadian named Jake.
This crotchety old veteran has made a reluctant return to France for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. And he seems the quintessential sour-puss — profane and resentful over even being there, yet also consumed with guilt over his failure to have come back sooner.
So first impressions can be deceptive. Jake is more than just a cantankerous old coot as he limps about the stage complaining about his lot. He’s a haunted man whose own life has been troubled for decades by the ghost of his older brother, Chester, who died in that same war. And it becomes clear that he doesn’t really expect any kind of closure to his emotional distress when he finds himself back on these historic beaches.
But then he meets Isabella. And it’s through her friendly, caring intervention in his life that he finds peace.
We are in the presence of two vividly realized characters in the production currently on view at GCTC. Isabella —outgoing, precocious, buoyant in spirit, yet imbued with a natural sensitivity to the emotions of others — is a beautifully realized childhood portrait. Then, there’s Jake: bent in body and spirit, hands given to tremors, quick to anger, suspicious of the world, his very voice rasping with discontent — until the moment he begins changing in the presence of a sweet-natured, caring child.
We believe in both these people, as we do in those minor peripheral characters who also have a role in this story. And, in this production, all are portrayed by the play’s author, Julia Mackey.
One-person shows are becoming so common that they are in danger of wearing out their welcome — even though they are helpful to the budgets of theatre companies struggling to stay in the black. But Jake’s Gift, which has justly enjoyed success both in Canada and abroad, is something special. Even though she has been performing these roles for nearly a decade, Mackey continues to define them superbly and to ensure them a continuing freshness and spontaneity. Her work is astonishing. Furthermore, the very simplicity of Dirk Van Stralen’s production, coupled with the subtlety of Gerald King’s lighting, reflects a confidence that the material can speak for itself — and in a truthful and affecting manner. And it does so — memorably.
Jake’s Gift
Written and performed by Julia Mackey
GCTC To Nov. 15. Special performances in French Nov. 10 and 12.
Director: Dirk Van Stralen
Lighting: Gerald King
French Translator: Gilles Poulin-Denis