Theatre review: The Thrill (Stratford Festival 2013)

It's been a while since my last post. So it's about time that I share my impressions on this year's season in Stratford, Ontario. I've seen 4 plays in total: “The Thrill”, “The Three Musketeers”, “Mary Stuart” and “Measure for Measure”. Let's start with a review of "The Thrill" which I had the pleasure of seeing twice. When someone in the B&B I stayed in heard that I was going to see it twice, he asked if I enjoy stomping my foot with a pole. Well, all I can say is, although it was not a light topic, it was well worth seeing it twice. Of course, the wonderful cast contributed a lot to that effect.

“The Thrill” is a new play written by Judith Thompson. It was commissioned by the Stratford Festival and had its world premiere at the Studio Theatre during the 2013 season. The cast included Lucy Peacock as Elora, Nigel Bennett as Julian, Patricia Collins as Hanna and Robert Persichini as Frances. They were all brilliant! 

Set in Charleston, “The Thrill” focuses on Elora, played by Lucy Peacock, who is confined to a wheelchair since her birth because she is suffering from a degenerative muscle disease. However, this handicap doesn’t stop her from enjoying life to the fullest within her limitations. Elora has become a successful lawyer. Her best friend and confidant is Frances, her gay caregiver, played by Robert Persichini.

When Elora reads about the upcoming visit of activist Julian, she becomes very upset. In her view he is the impersonated devil because he advocates giving parents a choice to decide the fate of their children when they are born with an incurable disease. He is on a tour promoting his book “Wheelbarrow” in which he describes the fate of his sister who died in childhood after years of suffering from a painful disease. Elora regards him as a threat to her existence because she wouldn’t be alive had her parents acted according to Julian’s view. She plans to interrupt Julian’s book-reading at the university with a protest of her own. 

In the next scene we learn that Julian, played by Nigel Bennett, is not the devil as he was described by Elora. He is caring deeply for his mother Hanna, played by Patricia Collins, who is suffering from dementia. 

In the lecture hall, when Julian is talking about his sister and explains his views, Elora runs him over with her wheelchair. In the next scene he visits her at home bringing a cake as a gift. Much to her surprise he apologizes and asks her to join him in a panel discussion. She refuses at first but when Frances asks her which scarf she intends to wear it’s clear that she would accept the challenge.  

During the debate Julian and Elora both point out their views. Later they meet in a restaurant. She is fashionably late. She convinces him to join her in her campaign to get “her” people out of nursing homes which she calls “gulag” and enable them to receive appropriate homecare. He is clearly struck by her beauty and her spirit and she by his charisma. He admires her eyes and her hair and asks for permission to kiss her which she allows. Passions rise and his hand finds his way under her skirt. The following passionate scene was very effective. The lights went down and only their silhouettes were visible in front of a screen. Her accelerated breathing implied what was going on. Then it went completely dark and it was intermission. 

After the intermission 6 months had passed. Julian and Elora have stayed in contact via skype while he went on a world tour to promote his book. However, Elora’s state has deteriorated during this time and she’s now on a feeding tube. Hanna has also taken a turn to the worse, leaving Julian no choice but to send her to a nursing home in order to prevent her from harming herself at home. Elora is angry at him because he made hardly any progress with their mutual project and her time is running out. She asks sarcastically if anyone bought his book in Sansibar. She feels used by him as if he had merely studied her to gain material for a new book, but Frances assures her that Julian’s feelings for her are honest. 

Meanwhile Hanna has passed away. She comes on stage with a walking frame and talks in a chilling monologue about her ordinary life.  

When Julian visits Elora again she asks him to kiss her deeply until she suffocates. He refuses at first but she begs him to do for her what he couldn’t do for his sister. Finally he gives in and, kneeling in front of her, initiates the “kiss of death”. After a while she begins to struggle, but he continues. After what seems a gripping eternity, he lets go, saying he can’t do it. Elora recovers and thanks him for not making her the exception. He wants to stay with her, but she refuses, telling him that Frances will stay with her until the end and see her out. In the final scene she’s with Frances alone on the stage. Music is heard through the window. For a while she moves with her wheelchair in tune to the sounds. Then she asks Frances to pour a little bit of wine into her feeding tube. 

“The Thrill” is certainly one of those plays that stay with you long after the performance is over. It touches topics which everyone is reluctant to talk about. What I liked in particular about the play is the balance of conflicting emotions. While there was a lot of drama, the dialogues were interlaced with lots of humour, prompting the audience to laugh which felt like a relief from all the pent up emotions.  

And the cast was exceptional. Lucy Peacock gave a stunning portrayal of a strong-willed woman confined to a wheelchair. The joy for life she exudes in the first scene is clearly palpable. Her labouring breathing after an asthma attack was as believable as the posture of her limbs that wouldn’t always respond the way she wished. Nigel Bennett gave a very emotional performance as Julian. He was the loving, caring and patient son in the scenes with his mother. He conveyed despair when he talked about the fate of his sister, and he was utterly charming in the scenes with Elora. Since his character was of Irish origin, he used an Irish accent throughout the play. I certainly wish he would get more major roles in Stratford.

Theatre review: The Last Romance (Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton)

Written by Joe DiPietro, The Last Romance is a bittersweet romantic comedy that I've seen in Hamilton's Theatre Aquarius (Ontario) earlier this year.  

Agile widower Ralph (played by Jamie Farr) is in his 80's when he meets the elegant but distant Carol (played by Joan Gregson) on a stroll in a dog park. Carol is in her 70's and feels too old for love. She's convinced that she'd spend the rest of her life giving all her affection to her Chihuahua, Peaches.  

Ralph attempts to woo her with boyish charm and finally succeeds despite her reticence and his lonely sister's jealousy, and they become friends. They share a love for the opera. Ralph tells her that he once wanted to become an opera singer himself, he had even auditioned for the Met, but his career was cut short when he missed the recall. He and his wife had often visited the Met. They always wanted to go to the Scala in Milan, but life always got in the way. They kept postponing it until it was too late and his wife passed away. Carol encourages him to make the trip after all.  

When they decide to see an opera performance, either in the Met, or a local student production, Carol surprises him with tickets for the Scala. On the eve of their departure, Ralph's sister Rose (played by Moira Wylie) warns him that Carol is not the woman she seems to be. Ralph doesn't want to hear it and asks Carol to marry him. She confesses that she is not a widow as Ralph had assumed. Her husband is still alive although hooked up to life supporting machines.

 

Ralph refuses to accompany her under these circumstances. He remains at home with his sister who confesses that she was the one who didn't forward the phone call about the audition to him. He forgives her because he has had a happy life the way it was. Carol flies on her own to Milan, something she wouldn't have dared before she met Ralph.  

There was a fourth actor completing the ensemble, a young man (Michael Nyby) who sang beautiful arias between the scenes. Directed by Ron Ulrich, the play was a pleasure to watch. It was a rollercoaster of laughter and tears, wonderfully life-affirming and heart-warming. It was a joy to see Jamie Farr capturing the stage with a lot of energy. I never watched M*A*S*H, so I had no clue who he was. My friend kind of dragged me along and I am glad I got the chance to see the play.   

Theatre review: Blue/Orange (Theatre Kingston)

Blue/Orange is a play written by Joe Penhall which I had the pleasure of seeing performed in Kingston, Ontario earlier this year. It's about a patient of African origin (Christopher, played by Ayinde Blake) who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and who claims to be the son of an African dictator. His physician Dr. Bruce Flaherty (played by William Matthews) wants to keep him in the psychiatric hospital, but Dr. Flaherty's supervisor, senior consultant Dr. Robert Smith (played brilliantly by Nigel Bennett) insists that he be released because of a bed shortage, and also because he feels the young man is neither a health risk to himself nor to others. What begins as a professional debate between the two doctors evolves into a thrilling Darwinian struggle for power.

Directed by Alan Dilworth, the entire play is set in the narrow consultation room which makes it very intimate and intense, especially in a small venue like the Baby Grand Theatre in Kingston with its 80-seat auditorium. The first act begins with Bruce and Christopher facing each other in the consultation room. Bruce reminds him why coffee is not good for him. Later Dr. Smith joins them, entering with a coffee mug. We learn that Bruce had asked him to sit in on the session in order to back up his assessment of the patient. Dr. Smith hands the coffee over to Christopher and lights a cigarette. He also passes on several to Christopher, thus undermining all that Bruce has accomplished. In the first act Dr. Smith wears a cardigan which gives him an air of the good natured doctor who cares about his patient. As the play continues we learn that Dr. Smith is currently writing a book, a continuation of his thesis. He believes that people are biased and treat Christopher as a result of his skin colour. The book is almost finished except for one chapter, for which he is looking for something special, and Christopher's case would just provide the kind of research he requires.

Act 2 begins with Dr. Smith and Christopher alone in the consultation room. Dr. Smith has discarded his cardigan. The light is dimmed and this scene is very intimate as we listen in on the conversation. It starts with a monologue which is wonderfully delivered by Nigel. It becomes apparent that Christopher's case is exactly what Dr. Smith is looking for. He wants to take over the case and monitor Christopher from outside the hospital.

In the third act, Dr. Smith is wearing a posh suit jacket with his name tag attached to it and a bow-tie. He's all his authoritative self that Nigel does so well. We learn that there has been a board meeting to which Bruce was oblivious. A complaint has been filed against Bruce by Christopher for influencing him, and Bruce is basically fired from the hospital.

Ayinde Blake portrayed the young patient very well, believably switching from eager to get home to completely out of sorts. William Matthews was appropriately soft in line with the character he played. And Nigel was brilliant, playing the role of Dr. Smith with smug superiority. There was one scene in which he suddenly shouts at Bruce, causing the entire theatre to fall silent at his outburst. It was a delight to see him in a leading role again.

Theatre review: The Magistrate (National Theatre, London)

The National Theatre, London, has established a wonderful method to reach a greater audience by broadcasting live performances to cinemas around the world. I was fortunate to live in one of the four German cities included in this programme. On January 17, 2013 Arthur Wing Pinero’s farce "The Magistrate" was broadcast, starring John Lithgow. 

"The Magistrate" is set in Victorian London. When the widowed Agatha Posket (Nancy Carroll) meets a respectable magistrate (John Lithgow) and agrees to marry him, she knocks five years off her age. In consequence, her 19-year-old son, Cis (Joshua McGuire), is made to pass for an unusually forward 14-year-old.  

And this has unfortunate repercussions when the smoking, gambling Cis takes his upright stepfather for a dinner to a slightly shady hotel only to find his mother and aunt turning up at the same establishment. A police raid on the place forces the magistrate to make a narrow escape. When he turns up at court the next morning, battered and bruised, he has to pass judgement on his partners in crime which turn out to be his wife and sister-in-law. 

I’ve known John Lithgow from the comedy show "Third Rock from the Sun", which I enjoyed very much. He didn’t disappoint my expectations on stage. He was outright funny in the role of the Magistrate with perfect timing for the punchlines. Nancy Carroll was also wonderful as the wife who ends up in distress by her own doing. 

The stage design was marvellous. The four sets were arranged like a pop-up book and there were musical interludes while the stage was switched to the next set. 

During intermission a short film was shown about the rehearsals and preparation of the play. While that offered interesting background information, it also showed parts from the second act, which gave way a bit of the surprises yet to come. There was also wine and snacks offered in the lobby during intermission just as if you were really attending the theatre. Overall, a great opportunity to experience British theatre without having to travel. 

The next play that will be broadcast live is Alan Bennett’s "People" on March 21, 2013. I’ll probably go again.

Hello world

I've decided to start this blog in order to share my impressions from venues I've visisted, like art exhibitions, concerts, movies, plays, etc.