A big dose of theater

I’m home again. My trip was to Stratford, Ontario for their Stratford Festival. The Festival has four theaters that put on matinees and evening performances most days of the week. So I went for two days and saw four plays. Some people stay much longer and see the dozen put on during the season. The schedule of plays varies so one can choose a schedule to see the shows of interest. Since the town has the same name as Shakespeare’s birth place they always feature a few of the Bard’s plays, though I didn’t see any of them this trip. The first show I saw was at their big Festival Theatre. The play was London Assurance by Dion Boucicault, first performed in 1841. Grace Harkaway, under the care of her uncle, faces a clause in her parents’ will that she is to marry Sir Harcourt Courtly, though she is 18 and he has probably topped 60. She’s not interested in love. He is quite the dandy and quite interested in grace. There is Harcourt’s son Charles, much closer to Grace’s age, who is quite a carouser – until he sees Grace. Then Lay Gay Spanker shows up and Harcourt is smitten with her, with the small problem that her husband is still alive. Of course, there is a lot of fun sorting it all out with certain people learning appropriate lessons. As I was watching this I noticed parallels to The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde that came about 50 years later. Both stories start in London, then switch to a country estate. Once in the country a character assumes a different name. And there is even a reference to a handbag. One good thing about this play is, though there are three women’s roles to eleven for men those female characters are some mighty strong women. This was the first “preview” performance with the official opening in a couple weeks. It looked fully polished and ready to go. The second show was at the Tom Patterson Theatre. This is a big thrust stage in a new building (the last time I was at Stratford more than a decade ago this “theatre” was in a sport complex. The show was The Diviners, based on a novel by Margaret Laurence that most Canadian high school or college students have read (and, since I’m American, I haven’t). The story centers on Morag Gunn. She grew up in the fictional small town of Minewaka, Manitoba. Her parents have died, so she’s under the care of Christie, the town trash man, who turns out to be a good parent. Also in town are lots of Scottish immigrants (including Morag), French Canadians, and First Nation people (what Americans call Natives). In between the stories of Morag’s youth are stories of her present. He daughter, just turned 18, leaves, saying Morag isn’t being honest with her. Morag is in the process of writing a novel, but feels blocked while sorting through aspects of her past. Her publisher is threatening to cancel the contract. This was my favorite show. I thought it the most theatrical, meaning it took advantage of what live theater can do and film cannot. One of those things is overlap a scene from the past with a scene in the present, sometimes a prop from one taking a different meaning in the other. In addition to the main characters there was quite a company that played small roles (such as other schoolchildren) or filled in a historical scene (Morag’s ancestors deciding to leave Scotland) or added dance energy to a scene. Many times a folk violinist strolled through a scene. All of it marvelously done. What I saw was also a first preview performance, and also quite polished. The third show was in the Avon Theatre, known as the place where musicals are presented. And this one was, La Cage Aux Folles, the show that premiered on Broadway in 1983 and won six Tony awards. I hadn’t seen it before (though I did see the 1996 non-musical version The Birdcage starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane). It set a first for a show – it wasn’t about gay trauma, but about gay family. This is the story of gay couple Georges and Albin who run a nightclub featuring performances by cross-dressing men, including Albin as the star. Then Georges’ son Jean-Michel comes home and announces he wants to marry Anne – with the problem that Anne’s father is a politician who wants to clean up places of sin such as this nightclub. So Jean-Michel wants his birth mother there (he’s rarely seen her) and his day-to-day mother Albin not. So we get grand anthems of being who you are, a fun song about trying to act masculine, and a reminder to Jean-Michel who really acted as his mother. All wonderfully sung and acted with plenty of glitter. It’s a beautiful and uplifting show. My last show was Get That Hope, by Andrea Scott. This was in the much smaller Studio Theater that might hold hundreds patrons instead of thousands. This is a day in the life of the Whyte family of Toronto. Richard is the patriarch. He was born in Jamaica and today he wants to celebrate Jamaican Independence Day. His wife is also from Jamaica, as is Richard’s daughter Rachel. Richard and Margaret’s son Simeon was born in Toronto. The last character is Millie, who is Margaret’s caseworker and lives in the same building. That building is in the Little Jamaica neighborhood. The neighborhood is being renovated, and not for Jamaicans. That’s one theme mentioned and not explored very much. Rachel thinks Margaret doesn’t love her and wants to move out. Simeon was in the military, has PTSD, and doesn’t have a job. That’s another theme that could have been expanded. Much of the time it seems the characters do little beyond arguing. My opinion of the show is that it’s a lightweight, especially compared to the other three. It was also the shortest at 1:45 (including intermission) compared to 2:35 to 3:00 for the others. It could have been fleshed out more. Another person described it as “not ready.” I think the acting was fine and it was the play itself that wasn’t ready. Three out of four is a pretty good showing, especially since those three were so wonderful. I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast where I think I might have been the youngest guest. I was told when I made the reservation that all guests would be served breakfast family style at one seating at 9:00. This allows the guests to get to know each other, to talk about what shows they’ve seen and what shows they will see (as well as discuss the lake cottage...). I heard, “I was at the same two performances as you yesterday and I agree they were wonderful.” And... “Yeah, Get That Hope, wasn’t ready.” Some of my fellow guests come every year and stay for much longer than my two days. Some also attend events that include talks about some of the day’s plays put on by an organization separate from the Stratford Festival. Others decided attending all those events made for a day without much breathing room. There is one play I didn’t see at the Festival that I highly recommend. It is Something Rotten. It won a few Tony awards a few years ago and I saw it in Detroit. It’s the story of Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are theatrical competitors to Shakespeare. They contact a seer to envision a future theatrical innovation that will draw crowds. It is very much a spoof on theater. All of my fellow guests had either seen it and loved it or were to see it the afternoon I left. The Festival has extended its run into November. I decided for this trip into Canada I would rely on my credit card and not deal with the local currency and might have some left over. That mostly worked. The only time I had trouble with that was at the ice cream store. They didn’t take credit cards. For the small amounts they were charging, the card fees would be a bit much. They did take debit cards – but not US cards. Or there are ATMs not far away. I didn’t want to withdraw cash and only spend a quarter of it. I was a bit surprised and quite thankful that a local couple paid for my ice cream. I thanked them, and didn’t return for more the next day.