P@SW: the Steve Fisher Files 2
Through his Gracing the Stage newsletter, Steve Fisher is an institution on the Toronto performing arts scene. We’re thrilled to provide Steve’s mini-reviews on this year’s SummerWorks Festival.
Sex and The Saudi: Some of the amateur performers in this piece were actually quite charming, particularly Sasha Braganza's Samia (who did get the lion's share of the laugh lines). And I was willing to overlook the obvious pandering to a perceived audience (the religious fundamentalists) that would normally never attend an indie theatre performance (though I doubt most of that audience got past the title), because the topic material in this play was genuinely interesting - the lives of three Muslim girls in a La-La Land high school. But I left this play completely clueless as to the fate of lead Jenna Nelson due to some abysmally bad staging, and a little disappointed with the cheap capitulation of Samia to the 2-dimensional school tramp Judy (Emmy Marshall-Hill); writer/director Christopher Lee needed to take another few passes at his final act (and another proofread of his unintentionally hilarious program).
If We Were Birds: Erin Shields, so willing to dive headlong into the darkest recesses of evil as a performer in "Fewer Emergencies", has written an equally disturbing and thought provoking adaptation of Ovid's "Tereus, Philomela, & Pracne", focusing on the prevalence of rape in times of war and strife. The cast is excellent, with harrowing stories by the Chorus, recounting how they've suffered at the hands of rapists, and standout performances by Tara Rosling as the bright and innocent young Philomela, and Geoffrey Pounsett as the seemingly disciplined general who is ultimately governed by his darkest impulses.
The Kente Cloth: A young Ghanaian man immigrates to Canada, where his homosexuality is more accepted, but struggles to maintain his connection to his family back home. Writer/performer Taiwah Ben McCarthy possesses a supple and graceful physical presence, and the best parts of this show are those with as much focus on movement as on text. There were also several strong scenes when he interacts with other characters, such as when he meets his future husband for the first time at a dance club. But too many scenes had him talking in a vague manner to characters not clearly placed on stage, and it wasn't always clear from scene to scene where (and when) he was, which is deadly in a one person show; a performer in a solo show must project clearly who they're speaking to, and where they are.
In Darfur: This politically motivated thriller about the genocide in Darfur seems a little familiar, as it has more than a passing familiarity to feature films like "Blood Diamond", but the script is sharp, the subtle and no-nonsense set is the best at the fest I've seen, the cast is uniformly excellent, and the staging, save for some curiously limp staged violence, is tight and well paced. I'd be very surprised if this play isn't picked up by one of the larger theatres in Toronto; it deserves a longer run, and to be seen by a wider audience.
Arm's Length: There was some fascinating ideas about the impressions we leave on a place, the idea of home, and the parallels between our bodies' physiology and our sense of place and self. Too bad the cast of this show failed to animate their characters to sufficiently bring all these ideas to life. I never once saw any spark of chemistry between the couple played by Mikaela Dyke and Mark Purvis, and while Dawn Nearing's obsessive-compulsive boarder got a few chuckles, her characterization was almost as pallid and two dimensional. The most charismatic and interesting character on stage, projectionist (and art director) Serena Lee, never spoke a word of dialogue. I'd be interested in seeing this script produced again, but it badly needs a more attuned and insightful cast.
All these shows are part of the 2008 SummerWorks Festival. If you’re curious, you can find out more information including show times by clicking on the word here.