ESUM: An Open-Hearted Multidisciplinary Performance Piece

I’m sitting next to the Maritime Market on Granville Island wondering how on earth I’m going to review the show I just saw. As I sit on the warm wooden bench getting bitten by tiny mosquitoes, a parade of people drift by - there’s the perfect looking couple with matching blonde hair and stylish athletic wear, the upper middle class quartet discussing their latest trip to Tuscany, the group of red-faced and more than slightly tipsy revellers wearing backpacks and flip flops, and the indie hipster fringe volunteers drinking illicit beers. The difference between all of these nonchalant and self-assured people and the ladies I just saw perform is that, back in the narrow stuffy room at the Malaspina Print shop, nobody was trying to be cool or to fit in. Nobody was trying to look cool, act cool, sound cool. 

With the Elegant Ladies Collective, Director Leslie Stark has created a space for her performers where they feel safe enough to reveal something of themselves, a piece of their pain, anger, sorrow, shame, fear, anxiety, joy, soul. 

What this show lacked in professional polish, it made up for in a genuine desire to do good. All the proceeds of this collectively created multi-disciplinary performance piece will go to various arts-based charities.  That alone makes the ticket price worth it. 

Featuring a cast of mostly non-professional actors, ladies with a diverse background in the arts, the purpose of the show was to examine inspiration and art, to ask where art comes from, where our inspiration comes from, and what hinders it.  To do so the Collective created a story about two girls born on the same day: Esum and Muse.  Muse was brilliantly talented at every art she tried, but she lacked inspiration.  Whereas Esum found inspiration in the slightest of things, but had no talent.

The story moves from there into a free-form series of vignettes where women struggling with their art form are rescued by Esum and Muse who help them get back their creative mojo.  It’s a tenuous concept for an entire show, and not enough to create a riveting audience experience. In pieces that come from a place of pure self expression rather than in a burning desire to tell a story that needs to be heard, the audience is often left out of the equation and the resulting work shares more in common with a painting than with a play. Thus while this piece has value as a community project, as a stand alone piece of theatre it doesn’t quite make it.  

Regardless, the courage it took for these women to share a piece of themselves with a public audience should be lauded. If there’s one thing the Elegant Ladies are not, it’s stingy. They share freely of their creativity and compassion.  There’s an innocence to their work that is rarely found in the professional theatre, and it feels a bit like we’ve all been invited into someone’s bedroom rather than a makeshift performance space. 

We don’t know her very well and we’re not entirely sure we want to get to know her. We feel awkward and a little bit exposed. Our anonymity is at risk. But we decide to stay and see what happens. In the end we are rewarded.  Because although this might not be the most engaging show you’ll ever see, it could very well be the most open hearted.