K-W & Beyond

Cabaret at Stratford Festival

Cabaret is based on Joe Masteroff’s book and John Van Druten’s play, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The setting is Berlin in the late nineteen twenties with its fragmented society, a mix of local Germans, an American and a Jew, involved in or observing historical changes taking place, both in arts, lifestyle and politics in Germany at the beginning of the time of the Nazis and the Third Reich.

The production opens with the song " Willkommen Bienvenue Welcome" delivered by the Emcee played by Bruce Dow (what a character, what acting, what guts!) and then "Welcome to Berlin". There are over 20 more songs during the show, some of them linked to prior stage productions or the famous movie, some of them incorporated for this show: "Cabaret", "Mein Herr", "So What". "Tomorrow Belongs to Me".

The story is well-known, an American Cliff Bradshaw (Sean Arbuckle) arrives in Berlin on New Year’s Eve, visits the Kit Kat Klub, rents a room in Fraulein Schneider’s (Nora McLellan) boarding house and gets romantically involved with Sally Bowes (Trish Lindström) a dancer at the club. Lisa Minnelli played the part of Sally Bowes in the 1972 movie. Fraulein Schneider is being courted by a Jewish fruit merchant Herr Schultz and accepts his marriage proposal. Sally Bowes becomes pregnant; Cliff plans to marry her and in order to get some money becomes entangled in a smuggling operation supported by the Nazi Party. The Nazi Party is becoming more dominant. Their prejudices and violence prompt Fraulein Schneider’s decision to break the engagement, Sally gets an abortion, Cliff is badly beaten by Nazi thugs. The world they know is falling to pieces.

Amanda Dehert’s directing, Douglas Paraschuk’s stage setting, and costumes by David Boechler are excellent. Choreography, music, singing are more than excellent, keeping in mind that it is presenting a murky environment with fear hanging over everyone’s head and the entertainment of Cabaret is only here and now. There is this break-through moment when Ernst Ludwig, a German friend of Cliff, takes off his coat to reveal the armband with a swastika on it: you can hear the entire audience gasp. Cabaret is playing at Stratford Avon Theatre till October 25, the tickets are being sold as we speak. So plan for it.

The Trojan Women by Euripides at Stratford

This 2,500 year old play is about the aftermath of the Trojan War and the Trojan widows left after the slaughter to be dealt with by the victorious Greeks. It is a one-act play running for 1 and a half hour, with practically no stage décor, just some props and the costumes. The main characters are two Trojan women: Hecuba (Martha Henry) and Andromache (Seana McKeena), Helen of Troy (Yanna McIntosh) and a Greek officer Talthybius (Sean Arbunckle). Hecuba is broken and devastated, Andromache almost looses her sanity when her small son is taken to be murdered; Helen is devious and attempting to transfer the responsibility for her actions on others. Talthybius at moments is sympathetic to the women’s suffering – however, he has his orders. Martha Henry is phenomenal, sparse in her gestures and reactions, expressing her pain without hysteria but in silence. Her acting is the play’s highlight.

The new translation of The Trojan Women text is modern and the costumes are interestingly modern: the solders wear modern war garb as if they were coming from Iran or Afghanistan, their commander wears an overcoat, the women (except Helen) are in rags, somewhat reminiscent of middle eastern garb, coloured dark russet and grim.

I keep thinking about present wars, the widows of Baghdad or Kandahar, left to mourn their husbands, sons, fathers, left behind in pain and fearful of the victorious army. The wars – be it 2,500 years ago or the current ones – are the same. They leave behind mourning women, lonely children and the dilemma of what to do with them. In the Trojan times they were taken to Greek slavery. What about today? Have the times really changed?

The Trojan Women is on stage at Avon Theatre till October 5, the superb reviews in The Globe & Mail will bring eager theatregoers – so look at your schedule, give them a call and enjoy superb acting. We are very lucky to have such quality theatre in our area.

More detailed information is available by calling and requesting a seasonal brochure 1-800-567-1600 or at www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com.

K-W & Beyond

by Irena Syrokomla

Cabaret at Stratford Festival