Review: rEvolver Festival's Duality and A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to Canada explore identity in innovative ways
Engaging shows employ everything from juggling to two chairs to explore complexity of identity
Duality. Photo by Diane Smithers Photography
A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to Canada. Photo by Jordan Wade, NOVUS TV
rEvolver Festival presents Duality to June 3 at the C-Lab and A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to Canada to June 4 at the Greenhouse Studio
BEING FULLY PRESENT is an effortless endeavor within the intimate settings of The Cultch's Greenhouse Studio and C-Lab.
The venues provide a distinct advantage for two productions that are part of rEvolver festival: Duality presented by Spicy Lemon Company and a reworked version of A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to Canada, directed by Raugi Yu. While residing in distinct genres, these two shows diverge significantly but converge in their exploration of the intricacies of identity. Skillfully harnessing the intimacy of these stages, both productions unfold introspective personal journeys that delve into the multifaceted nature of the self.
In Duality, co-creators and performers Yuki Ueda and Elliot Wagner's dynamics and real-life struggles are slowly revealed through movement, gesture, and the manipulation of various props. Using the shared medium of juggling, themes of duality unravel on multiple layers; Wagner grapples with a recent bipolar disorder diagnosis, while Ueda explores his identity as a bilingual Japanese-Canadian.
By design, Duality feels like a glimpse into an evolving partnership between two highly skilled artists, getting to know each other and themselves. Growing in intricacy and variety, juggling is the primary storytelling device, with props including but not limited to diabolos, pins, rings, and a katana. These objects become intermediaries that chart routes for them to find solace, at times on their own, and also by interacting with each other in the form of mesmerizing symbiotic choreographies.
The set design goes beyond traditional juggling showcases, creating the ambiance of an apartment where Ueda and Wagner freely explore their craft, along with a space for quotidian connection. A record player and crate of records become the eclectic soundtrack to the show, with songs in English and Japanese.
A digital clock also plays a significant role, with both performers obsessively checking it throughout the show. Juggling necessitates impeccable timing, and Duality artfully plays with the inherent vulnerability that looms, ready to surface with the drop of a ball. This tension between order and chaos permeates the show, immersing the audience in the artists’ personal journeys and creative collaboration.
A few unplanned missed catches, possibly due to opening night nerves, ended up enhancing the tender impetus behind the show. Embracing self-discovery through lightheartedness and collaboration, Duality’s emotional undertone thrived through its delicate balance of impressive skill and embraced imperfection.
In Grace Chin's captivating one-woman show A Funny Thing Happened on My Way To Canada, the concept of duality is first introduced through physical set pieces. Two chairs are positioned at opposite ends of the stage; one is adorned with Canadian-themed winter gear, while the other holds objects representing memories from her country of origin, Malaysia. With this foundation, the playwright-performer employs multilayered storytelling that intertwines different times, places, and people that have shaped her present as a first-generation immigrant.
Chin convincingly slips in and out of characters with smooth changes in her accent and demeanor, from a lady in a market questioning why she doesn't speak Chinese despite her apparent ethnicity, to her mother singing traditional Malay folk songs. The show punctuates humorous collisions between her Canadian and Malaysian cultural specificities, at the same time illuminating the unique yet commonly shared experiences of immigrants; a chant, which she jokingly describes as a dubious blend of Buddhist chant and English lyrics, playfully highlights the expectation for immigrant children to achieve extraordinary success.
Still, the lightness is offset by an ongoing journey that’s heavily informed by grief. Early on, we learn that a picture frame on the chair holds the image of her late grandmother, and a pair of glasses represents the sole remaining artifact after her cremation. Recounting the heart-wrenching story of arriving too late in Malaysia to bid her final goodbyes, she takes the glasses, placing them atop her head and wearing them for the rest of the show. A simple yet effective device, travelling between the two chairs and symbolic objects poignantly communicates the challenges of juggling identities fragmented by history and distance.
The notion that moving to a new country provides a blank slate is powerfully refuted. Instead, there’s a refreshing admission by Chin that family and cultural history for her often teeter between “unwanted baggage or precious cargo.”
Weaving humour with weighty personal experiences, this solo performance unravels an emotionally resonant tale of unbecoming and becoming again. For those who have experienced life in diaspora, the show serves as a bittersweet catalyst for reflection on the things lost and the things gained.
Through their respective performances, Yuki Ueda, Elliot Wagner, and Grace Chin embark on ongoing processes of transformation. Both Duality and A Funny Thing Happened on My Way To Canada originate from a yearning to embrace the presence of apparent contradictions. With unapologetic vulnerability, the two shows make space for the complexities encountered when honouring the multiplicities within ourselves.
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