The Shadow Cutter:a world premiere that did not live up to expectations
Pierre Brault has become a legendary writer /performer of theatrical monologues. In his Portrait of An Unidentified man (directed by Brian Quirt) he plays Elmyr de Hory, the gifted art forger; in his staging of Blood on the Moon, he becomes James Patrick Whelan, the assassin of D’Arcy McGee; more recently in Five O’Clock Bells he became Canadian guitarist Lenny Breau. All these performances testify to Brault’s great talent as a writer, an actor and a mimic.
The resurrection of all these figures also shows to what extent Brault is seriously engaged in staging moments of Canadian history that have not had the attention they deserve. It is not surprising then that this world première of the life of Canadian magician Dai Vernon produced great expectations among the theatre going public in Ottawa. We were, however, sadly disappointed.