Not a Parade to Miss

Parade, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown with book by Alfred Uhry, is not often mounted. The story dramatizes the events around the 1913 trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager in Georgia who was falsely accused and convicted of the rape and murder of thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan, one of his factory floor workers. The material, (script and score) is challenging in every sense of the word, and this production rises to occasion.

Upon taking my seat, I was struck by the set, a simple building frame whose sides subtly evoke a ragged and torn confederate flag. The deceptively simple set was put to good use by director Lorraine Green-Kimsa, who made effective use of every level and isolation pattern available to clearly define locations and moods over the course of the show.

The twenty-something member cast is generally strong, and the ensemble numbers land their mark with a depth and richness that is wonderful to see. Congratulations are due in this respect to the ensemble's talent but also to music director Tom Kerr and his orchestra, who handle a technically difficult and complex score with aplomb.



Individual performances of the cast are a little more of a mixed bag, and though no one is weak as such, there are some that could be stronger.

Andy Ingra as sensationalist reporter Britt Craig has a devilish raspiness to his voice that pays off in his number "Real Big News". Luke Witt as Frankie Epps has wonderfully playful moments early one with Avra Fainer as bright-eyed Mary Phagan. His turn later to vicious anger and vengeance, reflecting the mood of the town, his the mark.

Falling slightly short for me was Will van der Zyl as district attorney Hugh Dorsey, whose populism and opportunism did not ring as solidly as I would have liked. Michael Yaneff as Tom Watson, the charismatic and anti-semitic preacher who promises to make Dorsey governor, delivers the bile but falls just short of being the "dangerous man" he is referred to as in the script. When whipping the ensemble into a vengeful fervour in "Hammer of Justice" I felt him too restrained, needing a bit more of the "holy spirit" to fall upon him.

A stand-out cast member for me was Twaine Ward, in the dual role of Newt Lee and Jim Conley. My one critique of the dual role is that the differentiation between the two characters was not very clear, leading me for a moment to wonder how old Newt (an early suspect in the murder) had somehow become a young man delivering trial evidence. That aside, Ward's voice and presence deliver strongly on all of his numbers and scenes.

But what of the protagonists, Leo and Lucille Frank, played by Scott Labonte and Lauren Lazar respectively? These are difficult and multi-layered roles, and for the most part both Labonte and Lazar do fine work. Despite a couple sour notes at the performance I attended, they are both vocally up to the task of delivering the complex and challenging score. Their character work, primarily in Act I, felt to me as falling just short of unlocking the depth and complexity available in the material. As example, when Frank is first visited in jail by his wife, Labonte delivers a performance rooted more in anger than in fear expressing itself as anger. At a couple points, I actually wondered how the two characters ever managed to marry. The performances of and connection between both actors took far firmer root in the second act, however. By their final scenes, they both delivered an affection and tenderness that was ultimately satisfying.

And ultimately, this was a very satisfying production from what is still a very young company. If putting on this show is likened to scaling a mountain, the production does not quite make it to the peak, but certainly makes it high enough that the air is rarefied and the view is grand.

Recommendation: For people who like their theatre (musical or not) meaty and satisfying, do yourself a tremendous favour and go see this show before it closes.

Parade runs until August 18 at the George Igantieff Theatre with performances Wed-Saturday at 8:00pm and matinee performances Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm.

Tickets can be purchased through www.stageworkstoronto.com

Purgatory in Ingleton

I open with a question:

Why would you purposely produce a place that is linguistically dense, populated by damaged characters, and constructed in a way that is hard to follow? Why would an audience attend?

Answer to at the end of the review.

Purgatory in Ingleton was originally written in 1924 as Fegefeuer in Ingolstadt, by German playwright, Mariuluise Fleißer. The production that went up tonight as part of the Toronto Summerworks festival is a new translation by Birgit Schreyer Duarte, who also serves as director for the piece.

To say what this show is "about" is difficult after one viewing. There is a lot going on, and not all of it clear, or particularly linear. However, among the central goings-on is this:

Olga (Miranda Calderon) is pregnant by her lover, Peps (Benjamin Muir). Peps, no longer wants anything to do with her and is involved with Hemine (Anna Hardwick). Roelle (Jordan Mechano), suffering of what might be religious delusions, is attracted to Olga, who may or may not be attracted back. Olga's "good" sister, Clementine (Helen Juvonen) is jealous... generally.

Oh, and I should mentions that all of these characters are school aged, likely in their mid teens... and the show is bring performed in a church basement... set up to be a full thrust performance area.

The show, written when Fleißer was herself 25, is difficult material, with difficult themes. It takes on the vicious nature of youth. With resonance to many of today's issues, Olga is often sex-shamed by her peers, mentally bullied and abused, while Roelle, also an outsider suffers more physical violence, at one point being stoned when he fails to summon forth an angel for his peers' amusement.

One of the big challenges in this show is that none of the characters clearly communicate with each other, or even themselves. However, there is a desperation and raggedness to their situations such that you know as an audience the stakes are high, even if you're not always sure what they are.

The structure of the show, at least as realized in this production, echoes the raggedness of the characters, giving an overall feel of connected vignettes, but lacking the glue that would make it better. This aesthetic is echoed in in the production elements, which evoke the emotional distance and missing connection between the characters. C. J. Astronomo's lighting design rises to the challenge lighting a basement while creating a sense of emotional space, if not definite location. I found her use of darkness particularly interesting, including one scene lit only by a lantern and a couple LED lights on a wheelchair. Helen Yung's set, though generally bare, provides a subtle sense of frayed "wrongness" through its sculptural pieces. The standout element for me, however, was the costume choices of Amanda Wong. She uses simple devices such as shirts worn backwards, some badly buttoned, or textured and detailed to evoke straight jackets. The effect, is to effectively externalize the internal dissaray of the characters.

As a translator, I think Duarte brings forward an atmosphere and poetry in the text, and her obviously close relationship with the text pays off in the vocal performance of her actors. Their pacing, timing, and delivery working to serve the bleak poetry of the text. Duarte's blocking, however, struck me as much weaker. Blocking was often awkward, as she arranged actors in lines perpendicular to the audience. A few moments, in particular struck me as very "proscenium" in nature, even tough the show was, for all intense and purposes, in the round. As a result, significant moments, and a couple prolonged passages, suffered from blocked sight lines. It is hard to determine if this was a conscious choice or not, but the result, I feel, worked against the production more than in its favour.

But what about the performances?

The cast as a whole does an excellent job of working through this dense, complicated text, which at some points comes across more as discordant spoken choral work than what we would typically have as traditional dialog. Stand out mentions, however, must go to Mechano and Calderon who have a clear emotional and wonderfully physicalised presence from the moment they appear on stage to the moment they take their curtain call. In weaker hands, this show could be ninety minutes of an audience dumbfounded by an impossible to follow script. In the hands of this cast, however, I was continually engaged and drawn into what was going on, even if I didn't always follow it.

This show demands a lot from its performers, and a lot from its audience. In a world of entertainment that spoon-feeds easy enjoyments, this is a show that challenges its audience to actively engage and be present. For an audience who is willing to do so, this is an evening of worth spending time at.

So, back to my original question. Why would someone put on such a challenging play, in a challenging space? Why would an audience member want to see it? Want to "work" with the performance instead of just consuming it?

Because sometimes, like this time, it is worth it.

Purgatory in Ingleton is part of the SummerWorks theatre festival, and runs August 8-12 and 14-18 at the Anglican Church of the Epihapny and St. Mark at 201 Cowan Avenue. Performances begin at 9pm.

Tickets can be purchased online at http://summerworks.ca

Fringe Day Ten

Tea for two

This is a joyful and touching bit of physical theatre with a turn toward the absurd.

Tea for Two is a tea party with James and Jamsie (Tetley Red Tea aka Rooibus is served if you care to have some.) Of course, the parties grow beyond dialog to include things such as delivering tea to the front lines of the British Army, and creating a family reunion with the audience.

And yes, there is audience participation. I am not usually a fan of audience participation. However, in this case, the performers handle it well, and establish their own characters so strongly that their world is not disrupted by inviting outsiders into it. At my performance, these invited outsiders were more than happy to participate in the frivolous world on stage.

Aaron Malkin & Alastair Knowles both have excellent physical comedy skills, brilliant timing, and a tremendous sense for the absurd. It is no wonder that this show has become the patron's pick.

Two shows left! Patrons pick performance! See it!


Fuck Shakespeare

I saw this show as a fill-in for The Show Must Go On, which I missed by showing up at the wrong theatre. I will be seeing Show Must Go On at tomorrow's late night showing.

Fuck Shakespeare actually has very little to do with Shakespeare other than stealing some of its female protagonists to use as antagonists in this unskilled script. Other characters (and caricatures) are lifted from Chinese folklore and Disney's Alladin.

What is claimed to be existentialist discussion comes across more as college angst and the search for the purpose of love. 

There are some cute moments (the Weird Sisters are a high point), but the overly linear plot often devolves into the sort of dialog one hears at first-year watering holes.


Not recommended.

Polly Polly

This is a wonderful one woman show about the search for yourself.
Jessica Moss is Polly, a telemarketer who loves movies and who wakes one day to find her live being narrated, and rather unkindly. After a strange telephone call with a woman claiming to be herself, Polly concludes (to borrow from Lewis Carrol) that she is not herself. The real her must be out there, having a much more exciting life, if only she can, quite literally, find herself.

Moss provides excellent characterization and balances the humour of the piece with the tender care of its protagonist. The ending is wholly satisfying!

If you miss it at the Fringe, be sure to check it out at the Best of Fringe, where it is being remounted!

Highly recommended.

Much Ado About Nothing

I got my ticket for this as soon as I saw it was bring produced. After seeing their production of Taming of the Shrew last year, I knew this would be a good bet. I was not disappointed.

The company,  Shakespeare BASH'd, delivers a text-focused, high energy, and very funny performance. When not laughing out loud, a smile was certainly on my face.

What continues to impress me with this company is their skill at editing the text. I have been in a production of this show; it is longer than ninety minutes. However, in this company's skillful hands, it comes in right at the hour and a half, and I would be hard pressed to tel you where any cuts were made.

There are two performances left of this show, and I highly recommend taking it in! This Shakespeare is fresh and vibrant!

I am also long forward to their upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet. It will be interesting to see how this company, so successful with their comedy productions, handles a tragedy.

See it! See it now! And tip your bartender!