August 2000 - Nr. 8
Views and Reviews
by Alidë Kohlhaas
Soulpepper
Theatre’s The Mill on The Floss lived up to all expectations. The company
created an outstanding production of the play, which was adapted from George
Eliot’s book of the same name. Its central character, Maggie Tulliver,
struggles against the social and moral codes of the Victorian era, as did
Eliot. Her tale is mildly autobiographical since she, like Maggie, was
estranged from her brother. British playwright Helen Edmundson captured the
book’s essence with great insight. Director Robin Phillips translated it
onto the stage with galvanizing imagery.
Three actresses played a different aspect of Maggie’s character: Torri Higgins portrayed Maggie as the rebellious child; Julia Arkos the religious Maggie; Brenda Robins the adult, intellectual one. They often appeared together on stage, to great effect.
Stephen Quimette mastered the hard task of depicting brother Tom both as a child and as an adult. Tom, unlike his sister, has a prosaic nature with a narrow intellect and imagination. He is driven by a need to control others, including his sister, whom he often punishes by withdrawing his love. It is here that a minor criticism arises. Eliot’s young Tom punishes Maggie by denying her a fishing trip, taking their cousin Lucy instead. In the play he takes Maggie. This change was used to suggest incestuous desire on Tom’s part that, sadly, added needless sensationalism.
At Stratford, a play of much merriment is the lively production of Peter Raby’s adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. This show delights not only the child in all of us, but it also satisfies the adult with its fast-paced action, its fine acting, and its excellent set, costumes and sound effects. Well choreographed fight scenes and Berthold Carrière’s music capture the mood and tone of the play to perfection.
The three inseparable Musketeers are portrayed with much charm and bravado by Thom Marriott (Porthos), Andy Velazquez (Aramis) and Benedict Campbell (Athos). Graham Abbey plays D’Artagnan with finesse and wit as he grows from a bumpkin into a gentleman under the three Musketeers’s tutelage. The play runs to Nov. 4.
William
Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is not for the fainthearted. Yet, I
unhesitatingly recommend this play at Stratford’s Tom Patterson Theatre to
anyone looking for outstanding theatre. Director Richard Rose and his
production staff used restraint in depicting the often gruesome scenes. He
thus gives a far stronger meaning to the perverse horror that the lust for
power and the need for revenge heap upon the innocent and guilty than more
graphic images would have done.
James Blendick draws deeply on the mastery of his art to portray Titus Andronicus. This warrior’s character is dominated by honour, and he modestly refuses the crown of Rome. Yet, he immodestly yields to his son Lucius’s request to sacrifice the oldest son of the Queen of the Goths to appease the death of his own brothers. Titus ignores the conquered Tamora’s plea for mercy, and so sets off a string of horrifying events that destroy almost everyone of consequence in the play.
Blendick calls forth in his portrayal not only a sense of honour, but arrogance, despair, sardonic madness, and cunning scheming, each emotion and attitude arising believably from the unfolding events.
Diane D’Aquila’s Tamora is consumed with cold hate for her conqueror, and hot lust for her lover, the Moor Aaron (Xuan Fraser). Together they plot the terrible events that will destroy them as well. Fraser captures the essence of evil, yet, like D’Aquila, he manages for a brief moment to elicit pity from the viewer, as Aaron too, begs for his child’s life. The play runs to Sept.30.
Isabel Allende’s book, The Stories of Eva Luna, brings some South American heat to our coolish summer. It contains 23 stories that are peopled with great beauties, tyrants, guerrillas, and ordinary folk. Their loves, passions, and compassions enliven Allende’s short stories, and remind one—in a fashion—of the Arabian Nights. Like those stories, Eva Luna’s are hard to put aside, and wonderfully entertaining.[The Stories of Eva Luna, L&OD, 332 pages, $19.95]
For those interested in Canadian history, two books are worth considering. One is for children, the other is for anyone. Alan Daniel’s illustrations in the Story of Canada by Janet Lunn and Christopher Moore should appeal to any child. The book is filled with interesting titbits about Canada’s origins and pre-history, and as such is a fine introduction to our exceedingly interesting history.
The Illustrated History of Canada is a revised edition of an earlier book first published in 1987. It was edited by Craig Brown, professor emeritus in the department of history at the University of Toronto. Six other historians contributed to the book: Ramsay Cook, Christopher Moore, Desmond Morton, Arthur Ray, Peter Waite, and Graeme Wynn. Like the children’s version, it covers a great deal of historical territory and reveals that Canada has a far more exciting history than school history lessons have taught us. As such both books serve as a basic tool to our history.
Yet, for Canadians of German extraction, these books are also disappointing. As the third largest ethnic group in this country, which was there from the very beginning, it is ignored. Both books fail to tell the story of the German settlers’ involvement with Halifax prior to the founding of Lunenburg. The Story of Canada refers to Cornelius Krieghoff as a Dutch immigrant, which he certainly was not. In The Illustrated History, William Berczy Sr. is mentioned only as a painter, without reference to his involvement with the founding of Markham, the building of Yonge Street and development of York, nor is his son, Charles, mentioned. He, of course, contributed much to York, including being a driving force in renaming it Toronto.
There is a long string of omissions one would have liked to see included, or more elucidated on. The fact remains that as far as both books are concerned, German immigration was of little significance to the creation of Canada.
The opening page of The Story of Canada states: "We have called this book The Story of Canada, but we know no book has room for all the stories of Canada. We hope you find something of yourself in the tales we have told—and go on to discover more stories of Canada for yourself."
In a general sense every Canadian, regardless of origin, will find the two books of interest, but in the specific readers of non-British or non-French origin will not find their story told well. [The Story of Canada, Key Porter Books, 325 pages, $29.95; The Illustrated History of Canada, Key Porter Books, 600 pages, $26.95]
Comments to: alide@echoworld.com
