IN SEVEN DAYS – REVIEW OF JORDI MAND’S PLAY AT THE GREENWIN THEATRE

 Reviewed by James Karas

Jordi Mand’s new play, In Seven Days, deals sensitively and sensibly with the critical topic that is mentioned by its acronym MAID. It stands for Medical Assistance in Dying and refers to the highly controversial method of ending one’s life.

Mand’s play has pathos, humour and drama brought out brilliantly by a talented cast directed by Philip Akin.

Sam (Ron Lea) is an elderly man and a successful lawyer suffering from incurable cancer that has metastasized to his bones. He has reached the end of his endurance of chemotherapy and painkillers and has decided to put an end to his life. Sam is a good man, a practicing Jew and his decision appears rational and sensible.

His daughter Rachel (Shaina Silver-Baird), a powerful lawyer and loving child is opposed to her father’s end-of life decision and she mounts serious attempts to dissuade him. She is eloquent, effective and intense in her attempts and Silver-Baird is splendid in the role. 

Shaina Silver-Baird and Rone Lea. Photo Dahlia Katz

Sam has been living with Shelley (Mairi Babb) a younger and attractive woman, for about a dozen years. He has not married her but she is in love with him and has become a dedicated caregiver. She is opposed to Sam’s plan to end his life. Babb as Shelley must prove her love of Sam and defend herself against Rachel’s suspicions of her true motives. A sensitive and fine portrayal by Babb.

Rabbi Eli (Ralph Small) is an old friend of Sam’s and his spiritual advisor who wants to make sure that what his buddy is planning is not murder which as at first blush it seems to be. Small gives a fine performance as a man of the temple and a friend who needs to negotiate between the two shoals of morality and religious strictures.

Darren (Brendan McMurtry-Howlett), a professional D.J. is Rachel’s recently separated boyfriend. He was looked down upon by Sam but turns out to be a sensible young man. McMurtry-Howlett does excellent work in turning Sam’s contempt of him into appreciation of his decency.

The announcement on Facebook of Sam’s intention to end his life in seven days causes an uproar in the small town where he lives and the issue is joined between Sam and the people that love him and between Sam and the Rabbi representing the Jewish faith.

In a terrific plot twist, Sam decides to marry Shelley a few days before the mortal seventh and Mand provides some humorous incidents as frantic preparations take place for the nuptials.

The set by Sean Mulcahy consists of a tastefully furnished apartment with a kitchen on the side. The costumes by Mulcahy are appropriate for the social milieu of the characters.

Philip Akin directs the play with a sure hand and fine timing.

I will not disclose the end of the play but will state that I enjoyed the piece and the performance immensely. It was first produced at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario and it should do well in the rest of Canada.

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In Seven Days by Jordi Mand, commissioned and  produced by the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company continues until May 16, 2024, at the  Greenwin Theatre, 5040 Yonge St, North York, ON M2N 6R8. www.hgjewishtheatre.com

FIRST MÉTIS MAN OF ODESSA – REVIEW OF PUNCTUATE! THEATRE PRODUCTION AT YOUNG CENTRE

Reviewed by James Karas

The First Metis Man of Odessa is a beautiful, autobiographical play written and performed by Matthew MacKenzie and Mariya Khomutova. He is a Métis from Edmonton and she is a Ukrainian from Odessa and the play tells the true story of the courtship, love and marriage in Ukraine and their settlement in Canada. The Russian invasion of Ukraine forms a riveting part of the play as the couple describes their experiences during that war and its consequences for Khomutova and her friends. It is a captivating story and what follows will be nothing but praise for a marvelous night at the theatre.

MacKenzie went to Ukraine to interview people and met the beautiful and cultured actor Mariya Khomutova. They seemed like an unlikely pair but acquaintance led to courtship which lasted for many months of trans-Atlantic communication.  This led to the real thing – love followed by trans-Atlantic trips, consummation and pregnancy. The only way to ensure admission to Canada and health insurance was for Matthew and Mariya to get married in Odessa. They do and after some misadventures she comes to Canada. Their son is born and her mother comes to look after the baby.

Mariya Khomutova amd Matthew MacKenzie. Photo: Dahlia Katz

The story they tell is moving, funny, fascinating and wonderful. I am not giving any details deliberately because it should be enjoyed as they tell it. MacKenzie is a writer and he tells his side of the story matter-of-factly and we do not expect more from him Marya is an actress and she speaks with flair and an affecting  emotional range.

The brutal Russian invasion is always a part of their lives and we get glimpses of direct experiences and stories of the lives of their friends in what can only be seen as a crime against humanity.

The stage has only two chairs which they use very effectively with superb lighting. The lighting  and projections are used to express or emphasize stress, confusion, emotional distress  and motion.  Kudos to Daniela Masellis for Production Design and Amelia Scott for Projection Design.

Director Lianna Makuch must have had her hands full having to direct two people who wrote their own story and, even tougher, were playing themselves. She controls the pace of the performance, evokes humour and leads to the climax of the play about the relationship between the two people.  

The First Métis Man of Odessa is extraordinary theatre in its simplicity, its beauty, its drama, its humour, performances and production values. It is a “must see.”
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The First Métis Man of Odessa by Matthew MacKenzie and Mariya Khomutova opened on May 9 and continues until May 19, 2024, at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3C4. www.soulpepper.ca.

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press 

DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL – REVIEW OF 2024 THEATRE WORKS PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Dog Man: The Musical is a robust and rambunctious play intended for children but entertaining for everyone. It is based on four graphic books by Dav Pilkey who adapted them for the musical with book and lyrics by Kevin Del Aguila and Music by Brad Alexander. I confess I have not read any of the books.

Who is Dog Man? You ask. Well, he was a nice cop who was not very bright but owned a very smart dog. The dog met an unfortunate demise but its brain was transferred to its owner who, you guessed it, became very bright. He has dog ears and cannot speak but being smart helps and he is ready to go after criminals. Brandon James Botorovich is fast of foot and thought as Dog Man  even if he cannot speak.

George (Metri Lyons) and Harold (Gage Thomas) are our hosts and they tell us that they are in grade 5 and have decided to create a musical based on their favorite graphic books. But they encountered some difficulties that they were able to work out. They found a way of transferring the cartoons from the page to  the stage.

The fast-moving plot is about good versus evil and it takes about seventy minutes for the good guys to triumph over the baddies. Petey (Jake Wernecke) is a baddy who tries to clone himself into another criminal but ends up with  a chatty but funny kitten called Li’l Petey (an effervescent Sadie Jayne Kennedy). He tries to make her evil but it does not register on her and she sings a “Happy Song” which you do not expect from a villain.  Li’l Petey and Dog Man become friends and become “The Perfect Mashup.”

                                         SCENE FROM DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL. 

Photo Jeremy Daniel

Flippy (Glory Yepassis-Zembrou) is a telekinetic fish and there is a Robot that is supposed to make the kitty become evil. But the  dastardly and very funny villains are no match for Dog Man and Li’l Petey  and law and order. All the actors take on other roles with maximum speed and minimum fuss. There are only five actors and far more roles to fill. They do it with humour, energy and plain gusto.

The set by Timothy R. Mackabee is a colorful room that can be changed to different locations with little fuss. The costumes are again colorful with touches of humour, all intended to fit the high-octane performances by the actors.

There are thirteen musical numbers that emphasize  rambunctiousness and comic spirit that suit the plot and I admit that I cannot recall any particular tune. The singing involves the company in every number and aims at moving the plot and to entertain us rather than impress us or become embedded in our memory.

Director and Choreographer Jen Wineman sets the relentless pace and maintains it throughout,

The intended audience is young people, perhaps elementary school pupils but but a good show entertains everyone and Dog Man: The Musical does just that.

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Dog Man: The Musical by Kevin Del Aquila (book and lyrics), Brad Alexander (music), adapted from the books by Dav  Pilkey, a Theater Works production, opened on May 9 and will run until June  9, 2024, at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St, Toronto ON, M4Y 1Z9  www.mirvish.com/

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press

MEDEA – REVIEW OF THE 2024 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Luigi Cherubini’s Medea has finally premiered in Toronto, a handful of years since it opened in Paris in 1797. No need to get churlish about it because  it had its New York debut at the Met in 2022. In fact, what we have is a coproduction by the COC, the Met, the Greek National Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. That’s quite a cast.

The COC’s Medea deserves a thunderous ovation on all counts. The cast, the direction, the orchestra and the design are probably of historic importance and a repetition of a production of this quality may not be around the corner. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait 217 years.

The opera is dominated by its central character, Medea, sung by the incomparable Sondra Radvanovsky. The soprano must handle a complex character who goes through a gamut of emotions that most of us cannot imagine. Medea was a princess and a sorceress in Colchis, a city on the east shore of the Black Sea, today’s Georgia. She betrayed her father to help the Greek hero Jason get the Golden Fleece. They married and had two children but Jason abandons her to marry Glauce, the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth.

We need to keep in mind that Medea committed gross crimes against her father and her country, became an outcast in Corinth, all to help Jason. He betrays her for another woman and Medea is in danger of losing everything, especially her two children. She still loves Jason who rejects her, she still loves her children and wants to kill them. The complexity and depth of emotions make her a woman full of pain, fury and betrayed love and she morphs into a monster. She decides to kill Glauce on her wedding day by giving her a poisoned garment and butcher her children as the ultimate revenge against Jason. She accomplishes both despite all moral standards to the contrary. Iago, Lady Macbeth, Clytemnestra and Lizzie Borden have nothing on this lady. I mention all of this because it is important to understand Medea’s character and appreciate the magnitude of Sondra Radvanovsky performance. 

Sondra Radvanovsky as Medea in Medea, The Metropolitan Opera, 2022, 

Photo: Marty Sohl

Cherubini’s opera contains all those conflicting and terrifying emotions and it is up to Radvanovsky to express them. She has the vocal power, the magnificent vocal prowess and the tonal expressiveness, beauty and fury to achieve it all. She rolls on the floor, agonizes about her decision. She pleads, indeed begs for her children, loves, cajoles but all her efforts fail. In the end, she slaughters her children in a performance that should be embedded in one’s mind indefinitely.

Soprano Zoie Reams gives a distinguished performance as Neris, Medea’s maid. She is faithful to the nth degree and delivers the poisoned garment to Glauce. Her singing is deeply moving and she turns a relatively minor role into a triumph.

Soprano Jane Brugger sings the role of the hapless Glauce who is about to marry Jason. She is nervous and afraid of what Medea might do and is brutally and mercilessly killed.  She is the blameless victim of Medea’s vengeful fury and she sings her aria “O amore, vieni a me!”  (Love, come to me) with such longing and fear that leaves one deeply moved.

King Creon and the ambitious Jason who is marrying Princess Glauce for the throne are not as sympathetic as the women though one could argue that no one is as bad as Medea. Tenor Matthew Polenzani is a virile Jason who pleads for his children and tries to be conciliatory to Medea but he does not get too much sympathy. Polenzani sings superbly and his Jason is well drawn.

A scene from  Medea, 2024, Photo: Michael Cooper

Bass-baritone Alfred Walker plays the authoritative King Creon who tries to assuage Medea’s fury by promising to look after her children – and raise them in the temple. Kudos to Walker for an authoritative performance vocally and physically.  

Two more stars deserve mention and praise. The COC Orchestra under the baton of Lorenzo Passerini performed Cherubini’s complex score with exceptional ability.

David McVicar’s direction and set design deserve the ultimate accolade of the word masterpiece. The set features a huge mirror above the performers so that we see the back of the performers as well as the front. There is judicious use of projections that in the end give one an extraordinary visual effect. The full drama of the opera is displayed in an unforgettable production. It is as if we are making up for ignoring the opera for so long.

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Medea  by Luigi Cherubini (music) and Francois-Benoit Hoffman (original libretto in French) in Italian version by Carlo Zangarini will be performed six time’s on various dates until May 17, 2024, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ontario. www.coc.ca.

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press

DON PASQUALE – REVIEW OF 2024 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Don Pasquale was Gaetano Donizetti’s 63^rd opera and the last time it was produced by the Canadian Opera Company was a hefty thirty years ago. It is hoped that no one has had to wait that long to see this bouquet of melodies and comic business. It is paired this year with the heavy-duty Medea by Luigi Cherubini and no one can complain about the choices.

Don Pasquale inundates us with gorgeous melodies, a funny if thin plot and the COC’s production is a delight. The plot is as old and wonderful as comedy. Don Pasquale (Misha Kirla) is usually a rich old man but in this production is the owner of a small  pensione in 1960s Rome. He wants to marry Norina (Simone Osborne), a young and pretty widow who happens to be also smart and spirited. She is in love with Ernesto (Santiago Ballerini), the nephew of Don Pasquale. We need someone to get things moving and that happens to be Dr. Malatesta (Joshua Hopkins) who arranges the marriage of his “sister” (Norina really) to Don Pasquale to be officiated by a Notary (Alex Halliday) who may be no notary at all.

All the players are in place and the plot must move to get rid of the old fool and restore the young lovers to “happily ever after” and I hope I am not disclosing too much of the plot.

Andre Barbe and Renaud Doucet from Montreal are credited with stage direction, dramaturgy, sets and costumes. That’s all the COC program discloses. André Barbe does costumes and set designs while Renaud Doucet does stage direction and choreography. This production does not need choreography but it does get some dramaturgy and I suppose we can guess who did it.

 

Simone Osborne as Norina and Joshua Hopkins as Dr. Malatesta. 

Poto: Michael Cooper

Don Pasquale requires a bass, a baritone, a tenor and a soprano with good voices to deliver the gorgeous melodies, obviously, but also singers with a comic sense to bring out the laughs inherent in the plot. Don Pasquale must do well vocally and comically and in Misha Kirla the COC has found an outstanding singer/actor. Kirla is a baritone in a role that is usually sung by a bass. He is a big man especially compared to Ballerini and Osborne and made them look almost tiny.  

Soprano Osborne is a small woman but proved to be spitfire on occasion but she has a relatively small voice and she was overwhelmed by the bigger-voiced men around her. At times I found her unsatisfactory but she gave a spirited performance and showed spunk.

Ballerini as Ernesto was energetic and vocally spirited as the young man who wants to save his love and defeat his uncle who has a double-barreled gun pointed at him, he wants to deprive his nephew of his love and his livelihood by throwing him out. 

Misha Kiria as Don Pasquale and Joshua Hopkins 
as Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale, COC 2024. Photo: Michael Cooper

Joshua Hopkins as Malatesta is an ambivalent comic character who tricks his friend Pasquale into marrying his sister (a lie) by a Notary who is not a notary. Norina knows how to make Pasquale regret he ever married her in a well done and hilarious scene.   

Barbe and Doucet, as indicated, made Pasquale the owner of a pensione and thus allowed the chorus to be used as his tenants. It also facilitated the look of the set with several floors of windows towering over the main part of  the set which contained Pasquale’s living quarters. What looked like sheets hanging on a clothesline were lowered as the backdrop for the scene in the park and then changed for the scene with Malatesta and Norine.

Don Pasquale with its reliance on the eternal comic plot of the young outwitting the old for love and security and its shameless copying of commedia dell’arte characters suffused with the splendid music of Donizetti is a sheer delight and we should not have to wait thirty years to see another production.
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Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti opened on April 26 and will be performed a total of eight times until May 14, 2024, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ontario. www.coc.ca.

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION – REVIEW OF 2024 SHAW FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Who killed Mrs. French?

That is the burning question in Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution and I will fearlessly cool off your anxiety by leading you to the truth.

In the meantime, I will treat you to a few words about the play and the current production of the famous crime drama at the Shaw Festival. I will assume that you don’t know the plot of the play but you have heard that this is one of the best courtroom dramas ever written,

Leonard Vole (Andrew Lawrie) is accused of murdering the rich Mrs. French. The eminent Sir Wilfrid Robarts, QC (Patrick Galligan), agrees to defend him but the chances of getting Vole off the hook look very bleak. The testimony of his wife Romaine Vole (Marla McLean) is not enough to sway the jury but a mysterious woman appears with some incriminating letters written by Mrs. Vole to a lover and that promises to bring in a “not guilty” verdict. Hold your breath.

Director Alistair Newton has opted for an aggressively dark production. The set from Sir Wilfrid’s chambers to the imposing courtroom are black or gray and the costumes with the exception of what Mrs. Vole is wearing are all gray and the lawyers’ robes are of course black. The office of a senior lawyer, including the law books in the back and even the judge’s imposing high bench are all bleak. This is Newton’s creation with Set Designer Karyn McCallum, Costume Designer Judith Bowden and Lighting Designer Siobhan Sleath.

Marla MaLean as Romaine Vole in court.

All of this sets the tone for the play and the actors perform in the theatre noir atmosphere created by Newton. Witness is set in London and English accents are de rigueur but on the whole not achieved. Some actors are better than others but we are not quite convinced that we are in a lawyer’s office or a court room in London. 

 Courtroom scenes are notoriously difficult to stage. We have a great view of the raised, imposing bench with its carved wood where the judge sits as if he were above humanity. But in a courtroom, the accused and the lawyers face the judge and we see their backs. The problem is solved reasonably well in this production. Vole sits with his back to us and the lawyers sit on the side of the judge’s bench. The witnesses sit on the opposite side facing the lawyers. The theatre audience is addressed as if they are the jury and the whole thing works reasonably well, especially considering the small stage of the Royal George Theatre.

We have two QCs, Sir Wilfrid for the defense and Mr. Myers QC (Graeme Somerville) for the prosecution, fighting for their cause with equal competence. We really want Sir Wilfrid to be brilliant and outshine Myers but Galligan lacks the pyrotechnics to achieve legal stardom.

McLean as Mrs. Vole is a clever and conniving German but she did not sound like a German and looked affected and almost a caricature. She wears what must have been a very stylish hat and dress for the period of the play. Lawrie as Leonard Vole was more convincing with the only difficulty being to decide if he is lying or telling the truth.

Shawn Wright doubles in the minor role of a clerk in Sir Wilfrid’s office and the more substantial role of the imposing Justice Wainwright that he does well.

The witnesses, Martin Happer as Inspector Hearne, Cheryl Mullings as Dr. Wyatt, Monica Parks as Janet Mackenzie do good work and move the plot to the final twists, surprises and oh my god!

The plot twists of Witness are extraordinary and the play and its adaptations have never failed to amaze and entertain audiences. If you have never seen it, you will be thrilled, if you have seen it, it is still an enjoyable play. As to Newton’s style, you have to decide for yourself.

The fastest way to learn the plot, including the final twists, is for me to tell you how it ends.

But I won’t and you will just have to see the play!        
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Witness for the Prosecution  by Agatha Christie continues in repertory untiL October 13, 2024, at the Royal George Theatre, Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. www.shawfest.com.

SHANIQUA IN ABSTRACTION - REVIEW OF WATSON’S PLAY AT CROW’S THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

Shaniqua in Abstraction is a new play written and performed by bahia watson. It is a solo performance and watson deserves huge credit for a bravura performance. Shaniqua is a woman of mixed race with blond hair and dreadlocks. watson takes on half a dozen or more personalities from a modern woman to a nineteenth century slave, to a young mother and microphone-in-hand performer. She adopts different accents, does dance steps and acts with ferocious energy when necessary and more quietly when need be. The performance lasts about 75 minutes without intermission.    

bahia watson as Shaniqua. Photo by Roya DelSol

What the play is about is more difficult to describe. “In abstraction” of the title may indicate that this is not a straight narrative about Shaniqua. There is much said about black and mixed-race women in an impressionistic way so that we get  numerous vignettes but rarely a concrete picture. Watson deals with the relations between black men and white women, black men and black women and white men with black women.

Like a chameleon, watson takes us through the time periods indicated above and the different personalities but being an abstract or an impressionistic portrait there is no coherent narrative. It often sounded like a stream-of-consciousness recitation of memories, or expressions of thoughts that went through Shaniqua’s mind that she shared with us.

The production is done in the small Studio Theatre and there is liberal use of lighting effects and projected videos including some news reports about black women. Warson wears an orange exercise outfit and portrays the many facets of Shaniqua's life or the lives of black and mixed-colour women but the details provided are too numerous, quick and opaque for me to retain more than an impression of what I was watching.

The set by Echo Zhou consists of a chair and a bench with the rear of the stage  used for projections  of shimmering lights, videos of news reports and some titles designed by Kimberly Purteil.

watson’s performance is worth seeing, otherwise be prepared for impressionistic, abstract, stream-of-consciousness theatre.   

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Shaniqua in Abstraction by bahia watson. a Crow’s Theatre production in association with   paul watson productions and Obsidian Theatre Company,  continues until April 28, 2024, in the Studio Theatre of Streetcar/Crowsnest Theatre, 345 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.  http://crowstheatre.com/