True Love Lies

Martha Cohen Theatre

September 20 to October 8, 2011

http://www.atplive.com/The-Shows/TrueLoveLies/index.html

Be sure to tune into CBC radio’s Eyeopener this morning at around 8:15 to hear my live review of the play. http://www.cbc.ca/eyeopener/

Real life may be more interesting than fiction, but in Brad Fraser’s play True Love Lies, it’s Brad’s real life that lends the interesting story arc to the play. Apparently, the idea for the show came about when Brad bumped into his long-estranged male lover who had since gone on to marry a woman and have children. Riffing on this experience, Fraser resurrected two characters from his past plays – David and Kane from his hit show Unidentified Human Remains and The True Nature of Love– and puts them in a similar situation.

Overall the play is about the implosion of what appears to be the ideal nuclear family and how this family defines and then redefines their relationships. Kane and Carolyn are a happily married couple; they run their own successful design company and have two seemingly normally rebellious teenage kids.  The girl, Madison, is outspoken and sexually precocious and Royce, the boy, is a geeky sarcastic introvert. Madison applies for a job at the new restaurant in town and discovers that the man who owns the restaurant, David, is her father’s former boyfriend.

Needless to say, the reappearance of David causes all sorts of emotional upheaval in the family and in one way or another unhinges everyone as they try to deal with the situation. And while the play does tackle some hard subjects, it’s not a downer of a story. In fact, it’s kind of a very deliciously disturbed comedy/drama.

I originally saw this production at its premiere in Toronto in 2009 and was fairly luke-warm on the whole thing. But after seeing the Calgary performance, I’m happy to say that I have a much higher opinion of the play and its possibilities.

My first and strongest impression of the play is that there is no question that the kids stole the show. Sarah Koury as Madison and Alexander Plouffe as Royce were outstanding and a total joy to watch. With both performances the acting just disappeared and they fully morphed into the characters.

Rejean Cournoyer as David was also excellent and he played his character with a beautiful restrained arrogance that just oozed charisma.

In total I really enjoyed the play and there weren’t any glaring weak points in the story or the acting, the set design was unique and the staging was incredibly creative. However I do have one criticism when it comes to the pacing of the play. True Love Lies is made up of a series of short scenes that are meant to be sound-bitey and quick. But in this case, instead of fast-paced we got frenetic. Which is a real shame, because I would have enjoyed it so much more if they just slowed down a bit and let me take it all in for a breath or two.

RATING

For the guys – Straight or gay, I think you’ll relate to many of the characters and their reactions. You’ll love the comedy and the fact that the story moves along quickly. SEE IT

For the girls – While you’ll no doubt laugh, I think it will be the bitter/sweet moments that will draw you in and catch your interest. Keep an eye on Royce’s character and maybe bring some Kleenex.  SEE IT

For the occasional audience – Well first you have to get past the provocative story line and sexually explicit content. But even still, I think the unconventional pacing and dark humour might turn you off. SKIP IT

For the theatre junkies – There are three not to miss performances, great dialogue, inventive staging and cool set design. SEE IT

Well it looks like Applause! Meter has made it to the big time!

Tomorrow morning on the CBC Radio show Eyeopener I will be debuting my role as the theatre critic for the morning show. We’re staring with a review of the Brad Fraser play True Love Lies and fingers crossed there will be many more reviews  to come.

Tune in tomorrow at around 8:15 to hear what I thought of the play, and not to worry…the SEE IT/SKIP IT ratings that you’ve come to know and love are still there! Don’t forget you can stream it live and I’m hoping the review will be archived for those of you who miss it.

http://www.cbc.ca/eyeopener/

I will also post my written review of the play tomorrow so you can get a double-shot of Applause! Meter magic.

See you on the radio!

 

Tosca Café

Max Bell Theatre

Sept 13 to October 2, 2011

http://www.theatrecalgary.com/plays/tosca_cafe/more_info/

 

Carey Perloff, co-creator of Tosca Café, is quoted in the performance program saying that the idea for the production came when she and a choreographer decided to see what would happen if they put five ballet dancers and five actors in a room and tried to make a piece together. If the production of Tosca Café I saw is any indication, the answer is nothing good. Not good dancing. Not good acting. And surely not a good way to spend one hour forty-five minutes of your time.

The piece, and note that I say piece here and not play because there is no dialogue in the performance nor is there any real plot holding the action together, takes place in the San Francisco bar Tosca Café. The bartender comes from overseas and opens the business obviously still haunted by his presumed dead wife. After firing his buffoonish waiters, he meets and hires an orphan to help him out and eventually the place starts to receive patrons. All of this is discerned as I said without the use of dialogue or even song. Instead, Tosca Café relies on what I’ll call mime acting and dance segments to tell the narrative and move the action along.

In principle, nothing wrong with this method of storytelling, ballet and other forms of dance have used it to great effect over the years. The problem with this production right from the start however is that the mime acting is really just clichéd over-exaggeration of facial and body language and the dance segments are never fully realized, always petering out just as they get good to once again return to the charade acting.

The plot such as it is, sees a series of vignettes and moments in the bar over the years from each decade of operation – seven or eight to my count, right up to the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Each decade is announced by the playing of an appropriate song on the jukebox in the corner, the age of the bar owner, the patrons attire and the type of dancing they do. Some of these  moments work very well – the 1980’s dance scene that has men and women in power suits drinking, smoking, working too hard and nursing hangovers uses dance to beautifully show the excesses of the decade. Others  such as the 70’s is so hackneyed that by the time the dancer with “LSD” written on his bare chest came out and joined the flower children playing at being stoned, I was truly embarrassed for all of them.

But not as embarrassed as when halfway through the production in or around the 60’s scene, without warning, one character began to speak. Well not speak so much as deliver a kind of beat poetry performance while the other dancers moved about. After almost an hour of silence it was jarring and awkward and didn’t fit with what the performance was trying to accomplish. And for me, it just made me long for some pithy dialogue to help save me from the boredom.

Fine, fine…..but, what about Rex? For those of you who don’t know, Rex Harrington, one of the most acclaimed ballet dancers of his era, is in the performance.  No doubt this is the reason people will flock to see the production.  Well, he is fine but nothing more. And believe me, to say that about Rex breaks my heart as I am a long-time fan. Harrington, like the rest of the ensemble cast is hampered by having to engage in silly wordless acting and he is even more caged by dance segments that don’t really allow him to do his thing. Several times during the performance when it was his turn to play the lead character in the vignette, I sat back and thought…ok…here comes the magic. But even with his famous charisma (which he still has by the way) and his talent, his pieces stopped short and quickly were a letdown through no fault of his own.

A few of the other performers managed to find small moments of light. Gregory Wallace as the musician and bar waiter was one of the few performers who could make the mime acting look effortless and even cool. Annie Purcell as the orphan had great stage presence and was the only character I actually connected with on any emotional level. Finally Sara Hogree as one of the dancers was able to get the most out of the little choreography she was given and did it with joyous energy and great fun.

Unfortunately little moments do not a full performance make and while Tosca Café might have been an interesting experiment, for me it was one best left on the shelf.

RATING

For the guys – Dancing, no dialogue, no real plot, not much to keep your interest. Need I say more? SKIP IT

For the girls – The dancing isn’t pretty or unique enough to be compelling and while you may connect with the orphan character there is nothing else that you will care about. SKIP IT

For the occasional audience – If you think you are getting a chance to see Rex Harrington in action you will be disappointed. He’s one of many cast members and you’ll be bored before you even catch a glimpse of him. SKIP IT

For the theatre junkie – The idea of mashing up dance and acting is intriguing. But only if the result is worthwhile. SKIP IT