Grief finds us in many different ways and dealt with equally many different ways. It comes to us for those that are dead or those who are simply lost to us. We weep, we curse and we sometimes follow some meticulous, meaningless but meaningful procedures to forget, to remember and to honor.
Pacific Theatre presents An Almost Holy Picture by Heather McDonald directed by Ron Reed and starring David Snider as Samuel Gentle. Samuel tells the audience, or perhaps himself, how he came to be a groundskeeper from minister. How he has heard God’s voice three times yet cannot find peace.
Samuel’s (David Snider) soothing and even calm voice as he tells his rather tragic story draws the audience in, all swaying together with every rhythm and repetition, almost like poetry. Personally for that reason I feel like this should have benefited greatly from being on a different medium such as prose, poetry or radio. However, the lighting design (Phil Miguel) and set design (Anna Schroeder) enhances the monologue visually. Samuel thinks, thinks, and thinks over and over about what happened and what it all means, why he suffers. Over time he has developed some rituals, or ceremonies, that may not be conventionally seen as prayer but nevertheless is his relationship with God. His love for his daughter, Ariel, is evident and though I related more to Ariel and what she must have felt, it was heartbreaking to see Samuel’s, the parent’s side of the story. His love for Ariel has quickly become over-protection, jealousy, and even obsession, and the parallel with he and Ariel and God and himself as a parent-child relationship is fitting.
Accompany Samuel Gentle as he copes with grief, guilt and misguided love with the most powerful ritual of them all; reflection.
An Almost Holy Picture by Heather McDonald is running at the Pacific theatre February 21st – March 3rd. Wednesday – Saturday at 8 pm with 2pm matinees on Saturdays.
Fun Home: A coming-of-age musical. As someone who has read the graphic memoir it is based on, this intrigues me. Why coming-of-age instead of “A family tragicomedy” subtitle from the original memoir?
The Arts Club presents Fun Home, music by Jeanine Tesori, book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, directed by Lois Anderson. The musical numbers are charming, especially Come to the Fun Home, not only is it hilarious, but it also shows about how little about death or the funeral industry the children really know. In the following scene Alison sees her first dead body, enforcing the idea of the loss of innocence. Numbers such as Changing my Major and Ring of Keys show her discovery and realization of her sexuality. As she discovers her father’s sexuality as well, she tries to make sense the mysterious man, though he is still mysterious as ever. Making the comic is her way of grieving for him. The musical and the adult Alison’s comments act as the captions in the comic, conveying thoughts and feelings, and even reoccurring themes with the same repeating tune. This is a superb translation between two such different mediums, comic and musical.
However, the graphic memoir touches on so many more different topics and aspects of Alison Bechdel’s life, balancing it perfectly and without it feeling like one outweighs the other. Though it was necessary to focus on one aspect more in a shorter musical, I can’t help but feel disappointed on the cut of other elements like their bond through literature, her father’s death and her OCD as a child. They were the parts that touched me the most while reading the comic. Some are briefly mentioned but the musical does not go in depth about it but rather focuses primarily on the growth of Alison inside and out. Regardless, the musical touched on most of the major points and by deciding to focus on Alison’s journey of discovering herself, it does not feel not cluttered or confusing.
As always, the production was exceptional, from the set to the costumes, and especially the lighting by Alan Brodie, is amazing. I was seriously impressed when the lighting was used to indicate that the children watching TV and in New York, though the set doesn’t change the silhouette of the iconic NYC apartment stairways suddenly transfers the family from their home. Lighting really does wonders. The orchestra, hidden behind a transparent wall, also charms the audience into the world of Fun Home.
There are three actors with the role of Alison in different stages of life. The adult Alison (Sara-Jeanne Hosie) remembers and records her childhood self (Jaime MacLean) and college self (Kelli Ogmudson) by watching them like the Ghost of Christmas Future, unseen and unheard. I am highly impressed by how strikingly similar to the actual Alison Bechdel Sara-Jeanne Hosie looks and the talent of Jaime MacLean. She sung and acted incredibly well, and her chemistry with the other child actors (Glen Gordon and Nolen Dubuc) and Bruce Bechdel (Eric Craig) was charming.
Go check out fun home as Alison finds her true self and reconnect with her family. Student Rush tickets are available at $29 when you buy tickets at the door or online, presentation of Student ID per ticket is necessary.
Fun Home, Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, and based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, is running at the Granville Island Stage February 14th – March 10th. Monday – Thursday at 7:30 pm, Fridays & Saturdays 8 pm and matinees on Wednesdays (1:30 pm) and Saturdays (2:00 PM).
Every time the title of a play is mentioned, it’s significant. The audience’s ears perk up and the tension in the room suddenly rises. In Ruined by Lynn Nottage, a production by Dark Glass Theatre at the Pacific Theatre, this happens rather quickly, in the first 10 minutes or so. And it’s referring to sexual assault. War rape, to be more accurate.
It always is difficult tackling such topics for playwrights and productions. There’s a fine line between respect and disrespect, awareness and exposure, empathy and pity- however, the director Angela Konrad suggests that the play “[reveals] beauty not just in spite of the difficulty but because of it. How entirely appropriate.”
It wasn’t hard to make the connection to my own background. The “comfort women” taken to Japanese Armies during World War II were not only from Korea but other occupied countries like China, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Burma, and Thailand. The issue with comfort women is not the lack of awareness but the complete denial from the Japanese government- many women today are fighting for their rights and compensation, but mostly, just an apology. There are, of course, many forms of media- mainly film and TV- portraying the stories of them. The effective ones are intense, serious and draws the audience in, but at the same time has appropriate comic relief and thus the easing of the tension from time to time, like Ruined. Nothing about the subject matter was light- the opposite, in fact, but the jokes and scenes here and there, strategically placed, relieves the audience from time to time.
It is important to mention that the leading lady playing Mama Nadi (Mariam Barry), had actually stepped in very last minute and the opening night was delayed. With such short notice she did a splendid job and it was worth the wait. Notable performances go to Makambe K. Simamba (Sophie) and Shayna Jones (Salima), their body language and chemistry between them portray the characters really well.
Costumes and set were simply stunning; the lights, especially the fairy lights and the effects during the gunshot scene was impressive. The live music was also charming.
Overall this production of Ruined was an extremely brave and successful way to raise awareness to what’s happening to women- and men- in Congo and how though they may be “damaged” physically and internally, they aren’t completely “ruined”.
Ruined by Lynn Nottage is running at the Pacific theatre February 2nd – February 17th. Wednesday – Saturday at 8 pm with 2pm matinees on Saturdays.
