Death of a Playwright – A Play within a Play on Multiple Planes of Existence
Death of a Playwright is a Play within a Play on Multiple Planes of Existence with ghosts and maybe even God? Quimera Theatre presents the premiere of Death of a Playwright the new play by Matthew Willis.
Now I will be honest with you – when I see a write up that offers the promise of a play within a play about a theatre production, filled with inside jokes about theatre, I usually run for the hills…and I am a theatre person. Thus when I walked into Studio 16 my expectations were quite low and I remember thinking this better be entertaining as the theatre was very hot and I was tired. I couldn’t help but notice that one of the characters was onstage watching us as we entered…hmm I wonder how involved the audience is going to be in this show? I mean when you are writing a review it is nice to be in a dark corner of the audience and not have lights on you…well that’s not happening in this show…the audience is a character (**Note: Don’t be afraid it is not an “audience participation show” – but the audience is definitely involved.)
As the show began – I thought my worst fears were coming to life – the empty blank stage, the campy acting, the stereotypical ideas and attitudes of what people think it is like to be in the theatre – complete with backstabbing, ladder climbing, theatre superstitions and divas. There were laughs but many felt like inside jokes or quick jabs at humour. In a matter of minutes it felt like the entire play was set before us – like you knew what was going to happen…I mean it was pretty clear…right?...Oh and BTW I was so wrong!
As the story unfolded and then twisted and then folded in on itself again, it went to places that I did not see it going and the campy characters evolved into multidimensional people and then into evermore entertaining archetypes of theatre folk right in front of us – the Actor, the Director, the Playwright and the Dramaturge.
The introduction of the Ghosts takes the show to an entirely different level both in the plane of existence and also because they rocked It on an otherworldly level. Leo “the ghost” (Nick Rinke) is hilarious from the moment he enters the stage. He is preparing for his Great Haunt & has assembled an amazing Ghost Cast in hopes that he can get into the union “Nether” after only two years in the dead theatre biz …however he is about to be schooled by Hecate the Poltergeist and Technician (Caitlin Docking) who has been working towards her union card to “Nether” for 250 years and she wasn’t letting Leo just waltz in and take over the show (I guess the Performer / Technician, love/hate rivalry goes on into the next life and then hundreds of years beyond.) This is where the show really takes off and the laughs build on each other as the story becomes clear to the audience and then to the characters and then to the other characters that didn’t get it the first time. The complications come faster and faster until it is almost out of control until Leo the ghost speculates “I think we broke the theatre” and they almost did.
An entertaining exploration of who is in charge in theatre or in life…who is really in control…the Playwright, the Dramaturge, the Director, the Actress, the Technician, the Audience or the Theatre Ghost. Is it art, is it created by one person, a collective combination of people or ultimately the hand of God? I guess it depends on who you ask – so you might as well have some fun campy laughs along the way.