Theatre reviews: Physical feats of manhood and bird metaphors among standouts at Vancouver Fringe Festival
Generic Male pokes acrobatic fun at male self-identity, The Pigeon and the Dove explores homelessness, and Lia & Dor unfurls Romanian fairy tale
Generic Male
GENERIC MALE
To September 17 at the Waterfront Theatre
In PUSH Physical Theatre’s Generic Male: Just What We Need, Another Show About Men, actor Ashley Jones asks the audience near the beginning, “If you don’t know who I am, how am I supposed to know?” The question sets the stage for a riveting 60-minute physical-theatre comedy that examines male self-identity in modern society. Jones performs alongside PUSH Physical Theatre’s cofounder Darren Stevenson, engaging in impressive feats of physical strength, control, and agility, all nicely choreographed to add to the conversation on what it means to be male.
No matter where you sit in the Waterfront Theatre, this show is up-close-and-personal, and the fourth wall never exists. Add to that the fact that Stevenson and Jones’s larger-than-life, engaging personalities make you feel like you’re part of their conversation. At surface level, the pair’s dialogue appears to be silly banter, but upon closer examination, there are always deeper insights. They explore issues such as patriarchy, family relationships, pressure to conform to cultural expectations, and adapting—or not—one’s beliefs and values in a constantly evolving society both vocally and physically.
Poignant moments include Stevenson performing an emotionally captivating mime piece about a father saying goodbye to a son who’s leaving for the military. There’s also a touching vignette set to Dinah Washington’s “This Bitter Earth”, where Jones and Stevenson take turns carrying each other as they hug, capturing the sea of pent–up emotions between fathers and sons. Through it all, Jones and Stevenson’s witty sense of humour keeps things light, making it easy to watch a show that addresses some serious subject matter. Also, every male-identifying individual in the audience gets to be part of the show in a fun, and non-stressful way. And if you’re not male-identifying, you can sit back and enjoy a nice hour of poking fun at generic males. •VK
THE PIGEON & THE DOVE
At the Revue Stage to September 16
The Pigeon & The Dove: A History of Hatred & Love is a compelling and thought-provoking show that challenges the stigma of homelessness. The show draws parallels between the misconceptions that society has on marginalized communities to the way people treat pigeons versus doves: pigeons are largely perceived as pests and undesirable birds, while doves are celebrated as symbols of peace and love. But in reality, pigeons and doves are the same species, just like how members of the homeless community are all people—not “others”.
The 60-minute show is performed by singer Carolyn Victoria Mill with singer and guitarist Reid Jamieson. In each section of the show, Mill speaks to the audience about a different topic where there’s a popular misconception toward pigeons, and then turns the table to look at society’s judgment on a subset of the homeless. Then, Jamieson performs a song, sometimes accompanied vocally by Mill, to paint a fuller picture and further our understanding.
The show touches on substance and gambling addiction, LGBTQ youth being shunned by their parents, low wages, domestic abuse, and the challenges that Indigenous—especially Indigenous women—face. Each song tells a haunting story to bring these issues to life. While it might be easy to cast aspersions on marginalized communities from a distance, it’s a different situation when you see a person’s story through their eyes. Mill even bravely shares her own personal journey with the audience.
The Pigeon & The Dove is a simple production, but an original voice and impactful messaging. What makes the show so effective is Mill and Jamieson’s informed, honest, and empathetic approach to their subject matter. Given Vancouver’s alarming unaffordability and discrepancy between the “haves” and the “have nots”, The Pigeon & The Dove is a tremendously important and much-needed piece of work. •VK
LIA & DOR
At Performance Works to September 16
Basil under the pillow to remember your dreams, a flower between the lips for good luck, and mint for invigoration: these are some of the Romanian superstitions that guide a folklore-inspired journey in Lia & Dor.
Playwright Cristina Tudor is Lia, and Alexander Forsyth is Dor, a physical representation of Lia’s inner longing, wanderlust, and sorrow. Together, they venture into the woods, encountering wolves (Forsyth dons an ornate geometric wolf mask), a snake (the pair pull out a giant, colourfully adorned puppet), and cursed girls of the forest (Forsyth whips around in circles, trailing red ribbons to haunting music and scarlet lights). There are intermittent pauses as they simultaneously tell the story of Lia’s family.
It soon becomes hard to distinguish who’s who, with Tudor and Forsyth each playing a wide roster of characters aside from Lia and Dor. Seemingly recognizing this challenge, they break the fourth wall a few times to identify everyone. It’s a play that would benefit from more actors; as is, the plot feels a bit muddled.
The highlight here is Lia’s magical singing voice: her acappella Romanian solos are strong, unwavering, and well-pitched. When she grapples with loss, the heartbreak and despair in her tone are palpable. What Lia and Dor lacks in clarity, it certainly makes up for in passion. •EL
THE JUDGE’S DAUGHTER
At the Revue Stage to September 17
It’s February 2022, and Indigenous Elder Thompson has just been arrested while in ceremony at the Fairy Creek old growth logging protests. She’s of frail health, and many people find the arrest unjust—especially when she dies in prison.
Mairy Beam’s The Judge’s Daughter centres around the B.C. Supreme Court judge who landed Elder Thompson in jail, Justice Kelly Saint Patrick (played by Jennifer Fahrni). With the story set in her family’s Whistler ski cabin, Saint Patrick spends much of the play engrossed in the missteps of her vegan waitress-turned-activist daughter Erin (Sidney Klips).
Saint Patrick is harsh, by-the-book, and even subtly racist towards Erin’s new boyfriend Amir (Arsham Farasat), who’s BIPOC (Saint Patrick is white) and passionately pro-environmental protests. There’s a tense family dinner that results in a debate, and the audience gets to vote on whether Elder Thompson should have received jail time. The house is decently full that evening, and it’s an interesting insight into how the general public views the debacle (no spoilers, but nearly everyone votes for one outcome; our choice feels a touch insinuated though).
There’s a lot of complex lines to memorize here; Farasat as Amir in particular delivers monologues with such a natural, convincing tone, we nearly forget he’s acting. However, the play’s strong focus on family dynamics seems to interfere a bit too closely with our ability to question Justice Saint Kelly’s ability as a Supreme Court judge. Despite this, the work is well-performed from all parties—and a politically relevant aspect of Canada’s history that’s unquestionably vital to document. •EL
TRUDEAUMANIA
At the Waterfront Theatre to September 17
In TrudeauMania, a musical about the life of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the hero raps, “I’m hip, I’m with it, I know just how to roll.” Yet, this 75-minute show does little to illustrate that Trudeau is any of those things, largely due to an uncharismatic portrayal of Trudeau and a book and score that sometimes feel like they have the depth of a middle-school social-studies project.
The production kicks off with the cheesy “Being Trudeau”, crashing in the second number, “My Name is Trudeau”, where Trudeau, played by Steven Pringle, raps and the largely talented ensemble performs repetitive hip-hop choreography. There's too much information crammed into this number and it's hard to draw the connection between rap and what's happening.
Another problem with most of the musical numbers is that they're meant to be satirical, yet the humour isn't great enough to warrant whole numbers, let alone so many of them. Take for instance, "Strike!", which focuses on the dangers of asbestos—like too many other songs, it doesn’t drive the plot forward, and often the jokes don't land—say when armed security guards do upbeat musical theatre choreography. It’s unclear what McLeod wants to achieve—to send up or honour Trudeau?
The book feels disjointed; among all the satire, there’s a section of heavy subject matter about the uprising of the Quebec separatist group FLQ. Perhaps it would have been better to narrow the scope of the production, rather than tackling Trudeau’s entire life.
McLeod has also included the character of Barbra Streisand in the show—actually making the actor playing her sing, an impossible task given the Babs's iconic status. The most interesting character turns out to be Margaret Trudeau, nicely played by Emma Strenstrom. She has the best songs, with the fun “70’s Girl” and the sensitive “Camelot”. One has to wonder why McLeod didn’t write a show about Margaret instead. •VK
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