America has a weather ray... and a theatre review
I spent most of the day today hiding from the rays... thinking there must be something more productive that I can do, or should do. Hanging out on the internet surrounded by fans with a wet towel on top of my head is a visual I'm sure you all can imagine. 8:30 seems to have hit and now it seems that the ambient temperature has dropped sufficiently that I can actually blog, rather than just have "How are you?" conversations on MSN and operate Bit Torrent.
So let's be useful.
"Untold Crimes of Insomniacs" A Review by Derek Rawlings
Ahh, the daunting task of talking critically about a play directed and constructed by friends of mine... Fair Trade Theatre's premier offering is Allard's "Untold Crimes of Insomniacs", a so called "unmistakably modern myth" about "seven characters that, over the course of a single night, embark on various quests taking them across the concrete jungle". Rather than give us names, the play gives us templates to understand the characters, from the elusively named "Ghostboy" to the ironically named "Entrepreneur" to the more concretely named "Actor". These in all ways suffice... names would only reduce the characters to people when something more Jungian is called for.
The set is somewhat cramped, with a bedroom doubling as a graveyard and a bus stop doubling for a bank of computers. Take a few steps in one direction and you'd accidentally wander into another part of the universe, where undoubtedly something else was going on. That being said though, the space was used optimally, despite the unusual angles that seem inherent to the theatre space. I wanted the actors to move around a little more, rather than have multiple groups on stage that start and stop to exercise my eyes. The Graveyard backdrop was particularly impressive, establishing a fine ambiance while also amusingly existing through "Gothgirl's" window.
Technically speaking the show did not seem overly rich; there was little reason for spectacle and maybe one or two uses of fantastical lighting, but this seems precisely what the script called for. A few cues were missed along the way, but being the opening night that I decided to view the play I can forgive... they seem like the kind of mistakes only made once. In general the use of props was minimal, a sandwich here, a remote control there, but again nothing stood out as extraneous or missing.
The one thing establishing us in a sense of reality are chronological messages projected onto the rear wall. They remind us where we are, when we are. Knowing about this aspect of the play I was a trifle worried, it seemed artificial, a product of tell, not show attitude that would draw the eye away from the actors and onto a wall, or worse still would simply not be noticed at all. However, in the world of the play it was functional - it managed to be unobtrusive, yet noticeable. It did, though, still suffer at least once as a crutch for the play to let watchers know where the characters were, and in the context of the play only two times seemed at all important.
The final musical choice seems a little too happy-go-lucky for the rest of the play, it sort of slapped me in the face as questionable - I'm sure it was chosen for its words, which were appropriate, but the tone was upbeat when I think the play wanted to dwell on the implications of what it showed you.
As for performances, a few definitely stood out. Zi Paris, in the role of the "Priest" was compelling, giving all of his lines with conviction. My only complaint was that later when I saw how he truly feels about his profession I was a little surprised. He delivers his first lines with such sincerity that when later professes uncertainty about what he previously said it pulled me away from the scene. Devan Vancise as "Ghostboy" was solid, and whenever Alex Chu, as the "Entrepreneur", walked onto the stage (and it happened less than I wanted it to) he carried everyone's attention; his dialog was crisp, and oddly capable of making us feel sympathy, even though the character was such a lout.
The play was one of outrageous coincidences, but that's ok, when night falls we are outside the bounds of reality and into the mythic (where such things are not just natural, but expected). When I discovered that there was to be a chatroom scene I was concerned, but intrigued. There are many different ways that such a scene can be played, and most of them are bad. This one played middle of the road, with characters lining up at the front of the stage and simply delivering dialog; no silly tapping fingers on air, just the lines. In all honesty, I don't think there is a really good way to compose such a scene, and this one was better than most. A minor disappointment was the bus stop set, which existed more in the mind's eye than in the reality of the otherwise physically grounded play. I was expecting a park bench and a pole, but I got blacked out boxes instead, not that there was much room to put it, admittedly.
In summation this is a good first offering from the Fairtrade Theatre Society, a sign of grander things to come... I really don't have that much bad to say about it, and those who know what I do to some films should know that's probably a good sign. The telling of the modern fairytale, of the mythic in the everyday is a bold mission statement, and one I hope they continue to live up to.
Derek Rawlings
Untold Crimes of Insomniacs ends July 29th. See www.fairtradetheatre.ca for details.
So let's be useful.
"Untold Crimes of Insomniacs" A Review by Derek Rawlings
Ahh, the daunting task of talking critically about a play directed and constructed by friends of mine... Fair Trade Theatre's premier offering is Allard's "Untold Crimes of Insomniacs", a so called "unmistakably modern myth" about "seven characters that, over the course of a single night, embark on various quests taking them across the concrete jungle". Rather than give us names, the play gives us templates to understand the characters, from the elusively named "Ghostboy" to the ironically named "Entrepreneur" to the more concretely named "Actor". These in all ways suffice... names would only reduce the characters to people when something more Jungian is called for.
The set is somewhat cramped, with a bedroom doubling as a graveyard and a bus stop doubling for a bank of computers. Take a few steps in one direction and you'd accidentally wander into another part of the universe, where undoubtedly something else was going on. That being said though, the space was used optimally, despite the unusual angles that seem inherent to the theatre space. I wanted the actors to move around a little more, rather than have multiple groups on stage that start and stop to exercise my eyes. The Graveyard backdrop was particularly impressive, establishing a fine ambiance while also amusingly existing through "Gothgirl's" window.
Technically speaking the show did not seem overly rich; there was little reason for spectacle and maybe one or two uses of fantastical lighting, but this seems precisely what the script called for. A few cues were missed along the way, but being the opening night that I decided to view the play I can forgive... they seem like the kind of mistakes only made once. In general the use of props was minimal, a sandwich here, a remote control there, but again nothing stood out as extraneous or missing.
The one thing establishing us in a sense of reality are chronological messages projected onto the rear wall. They remind us where we are, when we are. Knowing about this aspect of the play I was a trifle worried, it seemed artificial, a product of tell, not show attitude that would draw the eye away from the actors and onto a wall, or worse still would simply not be noticed at all. However, in the world of the play it was functional - it managed to be unobtrusive, yet noticeable. It did, though, still suffer at least once as a crutch for the play to let watchers know where the characters were, and in the context of the play only two times seemed at all important.
The final musical choice seems a little too happy-go-lucky for the rest of the play, it sort of slapped me in the face as questionable - I'm sure it was chosen for its words, which were appropriate, but the tone was upbeat when I think the play wanted to dwell on the implications of what it showed you.
As for performances, a few definitely stood out. Zi Paris, in the role of the "Priest" was compelling, giving all of his lines with conviction. My only complaint was that later when I saw how he truly feels about his profession I was a little surprised. He delivers his first lines with such sincerity that when later professes uncertainty about what he previously said it pulled me away from the scene. Devan Vancise as "Ghostboy" was solid, and whenever Alex Chu, as the "Entrepreneur", walked onto the stage (and it happened less than I wanted it to) he carried everyone's attention; his dialog was crisp, and oddly capable of making us feel sympathy, even though the character was such a lout.
The play was one of outrageous coincidences, but that's ok, when night falls we are outside the bounds of reality and into the mythic (where such things are not just natural, but expected). When I discovered that there was to be a chatroom scene I was concerned, but intrigued. There are many different ways that such a scene can be played, and most of them are bad. This one played middle of the road, with characters lining up at the front of the stage and simply delivering dialog; no silly tapping fingers on air, just the lines. In all honesty, I don't think there is a really good way to compose such a scene, and this one was better than most. A minor disappointment was the bus stop set, which existed more in the mind's eye than in the reality of the otherwise physically grounded play. I was expecting a park bench and a pole, but I got blacked out boxes instead, not that there was much room to put it, admittedly.
In summation this is a good first offering from the Fairtrade Theatre Society, a sign of grander things to come... I really don't have that much bad to say about it, and those who know what I do to some films should know that's probably a good sign. The telling of the modern fairytale, of the mythic in the everyday is a bold mission statement, and one I hope they continue to live up to.
Derek Rawlings
Untold Crimes of Insomniacs ends July 29th. See www.fairtradetheatre.ca for details.