Festen: a different kind of celebration

Festen, eric peterson celebrates or is he in the corner (with) gas?

Movies adapted from the stage are nothing new. The Sound of Music, Glengarry Glen Ross and Amadeus are just a handful of examples. It’s adaptions from screen to stage that are more rare.

Although Fringe Festivals have nurtured an entirely new genre of loving movie send-ups such as Evil Dead: The Musical, and Top Gun: The Musical, adaptations of dramatic material are still under-represented. One can thank playwright David Eldridge for helping to fill that void by adapting Thomas Vinterberg’s groundbreaking movie, Festen (known in English as The Celebration), into an equally compelling and unsettling stage version of the same name.

One may remember The Celebration as the best known example of the ‘Dogme 95' film making movement founded by Vinterberg and fellow Danish director Lars Von Trier. Dogme 95 emphasizes naturalism and bare essentials through its rules which forbid the use of any lighting, props, or sound not captured or found on set, and state that all shooting be hand-held. The end result is a raw and unpolished product, a contrast to the theatrical medium where planning and choreography play critical roles. Fortunately, the Company Theatre, whose production of Festen is now playing at the Berkely Street Theatre in Toronto, is able to marry those contradictory facets with creativity and elegance.

Festen is the story of a motley Danish family that reunites for a lavish feast to celebrate their father Helge’s 60th birthday. Despite their best efforts to be festive, a cloud hangs over the proceedings due to the recent suicide of one of Helge’s grown children, Linda. When Helge’s eldest son and Linda’s twin brother, Christian, delivers a speech to his father accusing him of being indirectly responsible for Linda’s death, it sets off a series of confrontations and revelations that pushes the family’s solidarity and sanity to the limit.

Although the script has plenty to offer, it’s Company Theatre’s treatment that sends this production over the top. The first thing one notices is the exposed nature of the stage. No effort is made to hide the brick walls of the theatre and various set pieces alluding to different narrative locations share the same space without barriers, including a handful of incongruous film set-style lights. The lights are a particularly layered touch as they serve to remind the audience that they are witnessing a fabrication, as well as to allude to the material’s origin - an allusion with an ironic twist since Vinterberg did not use any such lights in the making of his film due to his self imposed rules.

Director Jason Byrne uses a light touch, not forcing the story into an artificial rhythm, but allowing it to build slowly and steadily. His crafting of the conflict between Helge and Christian is carefully balanced, leaving the audience to debate whose version of the truth will prevail. One particularly effective technique is the use of simultaneously-occurring scenes to create emotional contrast and a tennis match-like viewing experience. Another is the use of overlapping dialogue which enhances the ‘documentary’ style of the piece greatly. I’m sure Byrne would appreciate getting credit for the daring use of the performance space - such as when two lone characters have a conversation from extreme ends of the stage, creating a powerful visual and emotional cue - but he cannot, as the blocking and choreography is largely improvised by the performers. Yet another nod to the raw and organic nature of the original work.

 

There are no weak performances, but it’s some of the secondary characters that stand out most for their limited but memorable roles. Earl Pastko gives a stoic and calculating performance as Lars the manservant, Gray Powell is refreshingly passionate as Kim, the chef and Christian’s childhood friend, and Gary Reineke adds well needed and well delivered levity as Helge’s senile father. The principal characters are played by a star studded cast which includes Nicholas Campbell, Rosemary Dunsmore, Eric Peterson and Tara Rosling. Among them, Peterson and Rosling stand out; Peterson for his restrained and enigmatic performance as Helge, and Rosling for her timid and unsettled portrayal of Helene, Helge’s younger daughter.

In this, the season of schmaltzy television specials and endless loops of Christmas music, a piece of sober, gripping, and near perfectly executed theatre might well be the perfect reprieve (or the perfect gift). And when one’s turkey dinner is ruined by the eruption of a petty quarrel or a drunk uncle, one can always think to one’s self “At least it isn’t Festen.”

The Company Theatre presents Festen by David Eldridge; Directed by Jason Byrne; Based on the Dogme film and play by Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov & Bo hr. Hansen; Starring Eric Peterson, Nicholas Campbell, Rosemary Dunsmore, Philip Riccio, Allan Hawco, Tara Rosling, Caroline Cave, Richard Clarkin, Earl Pastko, Milton Barnes, Gray Powell, Isabella Lobo & Alex Paxton-Beesley; Set & Costume by John Thompson; Lighting by Andrea Lundy; Sound by Michael Laird; running at the Berkeley Street Theatre (Downstairs), 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto until December 13, 2008. For more information party over
here.

 

By Justin Haigh