A Doll's House

On June 1, I attended the West End Studio Theatre production of Henrick Ibsen's A Doll's House.

First performed in 1879, A Doll's House follows the protagonist, Nora Helmer, who lives with her husband, Torvald, and their three children. All seems well with the couple until Nils Krogstad, a banker soon to be in the employ of Nils, appears to blackmail Nora as a means of maintaining his position at the bank.

Upon entering the performance space, an intimate and configurable space, in this case set up to hold an audience for forty-five, I was immediately struck by the set, presenting the front room of the couple's apartment. The deep wooden browns and reds of the set pieces evoked a clear location, and a decision to extend the set pieces right to the audience edge, and even into the aisles, really worked to bring the audience right into the living space of the characters.

The lighting, designed by Taylor Sinstadt, served the main action well, but lacked coverage to the edge of the acting space and into the aisles. As a result, there were a number of pockets of shadow, which, invariably, the actors stepped into for significant periods of time. To Sinstadt's credit, however, the gentle dim-light of the third act worked very well to portray a candle-lit space without keeping the audience in the dark.

Kayla Whelan presented an energetic and nervous-as-a-bird Nora Helmer and Mischa Aravena a highly controlling and self-absorbed Torvald. While both performances were individually engaging, Whelan and Aravena never managed to communicate the sense of relationship between their characters. Whelan's performance, though grounded, seemed to be playing for a much larger space than the close and intimate quarters of this production, and Aravena, though commanding in his performance, never quite succeeded in portraying Torvald's playful affection for his precious wife.

Director Paul Groulx, while keeping the action motivated and clear, needed to encourage his lead actors towards a more consistent acting style given the space and demand for naturalism embraced by the rest of the the production. As it stands, the mismatch in performance style between the leads causes Nora's motivations to land more weakly than they should, and causes Torvald's inattentiveness to read (by turns) as either gross ignorance or gas-lighting tendencies that at one moment threaten rape, both of which, I feel, undermine the thrust of the script.

The supporting cast as a whole provided nuanced and naturalistic performances:

Rod McTaggart brings a gruff bitterness to Dr. Rank, but one that gives way to true tenderness when he admits his love for Nora. This tenderness is again beautifully played when he bids his friends farewell, having realized that his death is immanent.

Linda Spence, as Christine Linde, Nora's school-days friend, communicates clearly a woman who has had a life of challenges and now seeks to find someone to care for.

Chris Reid, as Nils Krogstad, the primary antagonist of the piece, gives a stand-out performance. His performance is deeply rooted and clearly brings across the complexity of Krogstad's motivation. Here, truly, is a man who is trying to be good, and is disgusted by the fact that he must sink to blackmail to survive. The scene between Krogstad and Linde at the top of Act III is a standout moment of tenderness and revelation, completely satisfying.

In closing, I must say that the strengths of this production outweigh its shortcomings, and I was always engaged by the action. As this is not a show that I see done often in the GTA (and I feel now that it should be done more often) I would encourage people to see it.

Recommended

A Doll's House runs until June 16, 2018 at the West End Studio Theatre
1109 North Service Road, Oakville, Ontario
Tickets available online at http://www.the-west.ca

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

James King as Hedwig - Photo by Scott Gorman

My first introduction to Hedwig was the movie adaptation, staring author John Cameron Mitchell in the title role. I've been a fan since then, though this was my first time seeing a performance of the stage show.

The Hart House production, while not perfect -- I'll get to that later -- has much more in its favour than against it. So, despite the criticisms below, I'll just be clear and say that I recommend it as worth seeing!

For those not in the know, this show is, for all intents and purposes, a monologue punctuated with rock songs, in which the titular Hedwig discloses her journey from pre-unification East Berlin to America, in search of love and purpose. She also opens up about the failures she has encountered along the way, including the failed sex change operation giving rise to the "angry inch" of the title.

Plot synopsis out of the way, let's look at the execution.

First and foremost, I want to give praise to Jeremy Hutton's sound design and to whomever was running the sound systems opening night. Hart House is not a kind space for musical performances, and I think every musical I've ever seen there has had sound issues. Going in to see what I knew was a rock show, I had doubts as to what sound quality to expect. Whatever Hutton did, however, worked like a charm! The sound was balanced and clear, and helped the material jump to life.

Of course props go out to the band, under direction of Giustin MacLean. It is also worth calling out the strong vocal work of Lauren Mayer as Yitzhak, whose one solo number in the show is moment of calm in the growing frenzy of show's plot and emotional progression.

James King in the role of Hedwig brought the energy, presence, and pipes that the role demands. Interestingly to me, he often chose to go with a softer, more approachable Hedwig, less jaded by her life thus far than I would have expected. It was an interesting choice and worked in most cases. However, I felt the absence of aggression made it unclear why Yitzhak (Hedwig's man Friday.... through Thursday) despised her as much as he does. I also felt that having a bit more of a jaded shell might have made the final payoff of Hedwig's breakdown and transformation carry stronger emotional currency.

James King as Hedwig - Photo by Scott Gorman

The costuming by Kathleen Black was hit and miss. Her costuming of Hedwig and Yitzhak was excellent, and felt right. Her costuming of the rest of the band felt a little off-genre to me. In my mind, Hedwig's aesthetic draws from 70s glam rock and punk inspiration. The band costumes, however, felt like they erred to the side of 80's metal and hair bands. It wasn't distracting, but did feel a bit off to me.

Rebecca Ballarin's direction was clear, honored the moments on the script appropriately, and has resulted in a strong overall production. That said, a few pushes could have elevated it from strong to spectacular:

Preshow: the band is on stage, but isn't doing anything to establish the production. Even just going through the motions of a sound check, or having a pre-show drink would have helped establish what we were about to see.

Hedwig's breakdown (aka Exquisite Corpse): This number is the emotional storm before the ultimate catharsis of the show. As presented, it served exactly the purpose it needed to, but I found myself wanting it to just be punched up a bit more. It never quite felt, for lack of a better word, dangerous. I really wanted to feel as if Hedwig might at any moment destroy the set, or even the theatre. A fight choreographer for just that number might have helped elevate the moment.

Choreography: There is no choreographer listed in the program. As full of energy and power as King was on stage, his stock of movement patterns started to feel repetitious after a while. A choreographer could have helped tighten up some of the more performative numbers and made a good show even better.

Now, I want to be clear that as much as I am offering critique, I fully enjoyed this show, left with a big smile on my face, and re-listened to the sound track the next day.

In all, this is a strong production, worth taking in!

Recommended

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Book by John Cameron Mitchell, Music and Lyrics by Stephan Trask, runs at Hart House until Oct 7.

Tickets at http://harthouse.ca/hart-house-theatre/

Miss

Miss is the latest offering from the pen of Michael Ross Albert, whose play Tough Jews garnered well deserved accolades last year.

It was with high expectations, then, that I anticipated the curtain rising on this production.

Miss is a play in one act, centered on Laura (the eponymous Miss of the title, played by Nola Martin).  Nola is a high school English teacher at an unspecified Canadian boarding school for the jet set. We very quickly meet her one-time fiancée, Gill (Trevor Hayes) – now distanced from Miss due to circumstances revealed as the play unfolds, and her student Tyler (Wayne Burns), undergoing expulsion hearings for a fight that has had serious repercussions.

Nola Martin as Laura in Miss (Photo by Michael Osuszek)

Not much happens in the 75 minute run time of Miss with the majority of the dialog being a slow revelation of details which occurred well before action. The script moves things forward by fits and starts: quite literally, characters leave the set only to come in a moment later, having not finished what they wanted to say.

The characters felt similarly uneven, displaying or dropping traits moment by moment. It was almost as if the characters were driven by the dramatic need of the moment, instead of having the moments driven by the clashes and needs of the characters. This felt most apparent in character of Tyler, who is lauded repeatedly by Laura as being "impressive." At times, he is, displaying a cutting (if hurtful) wit, and speaking poetically of haunting the halls of the school and the numbers in the locker combinations. More often, however, his eloquence is replaced with statements typical of a fifteen-year-old who hates school. In the wash, I didn't see how he could have obtained the respect and affection he had from his teacher.

David Lafontaine's direction is well and good, but doesn't manage to smooth over the gaps in the material he is working with. Transitions between beats did not always flow easily as the actors navigated the desk rows in Adam Belanger's impressively naturalistic set.  A couple times, I felt as if actors were just moving into position on stage rather than moving through a classroom. I also felt some blocking choices robbed the audience of emotional impact. In particular, the aftermath of an excellently choreographed fight by Jeff Hanson is placed so far downstage that only the front row could really take in the full intensity.

As for the actors: Nola Martin brings a focus to her role as Laura, even as Laura's lapses in judgment bring her world coming down around her. Wayne Burns brings pathos and tenderness to his role as the fifteen-year-old Tyler. And Hayes bring intensity to his Martin, the oldest characters of the piece, and arguably the least mature. Unfortunately, as a company, the relationships between the three never read as fully or clearly developed.

Despite my critiques, I can happily report that I was at no time bored or disinterested in the action taking place. I was mostly just disappointing that I could "see the seams" of the piece more often than I would have liked.

Miss is certainly a piece that holds attention, and Mr. Albert is a voice that I hope to hear from again and often.

Overall rating: Neutral

Miss plays until Oct 1 at The Assembly Theatre - 1479 Queen Street West

Details and tickets available here: https://www.unit102actors.com/