Opinions on the Edmonton Arts Circuit

Comments

Welcome to the first monthly ‘critique’ on theatre in Edmonton.  In this column I will focus mainly on theatre as that way my background lies.  On occasion, and when time permits, I hope to delve into the world of the music and film.

In this column, I intend to offer my opinion on productions.  I feel this word to be safer to use than critique, and is more honest.  My views and feelings about productions are my own and based on my own tastes. You, the reader, may indeed contest my point of view wholeheartedly – which is perfectly fine with me – as our tastes will never be exactly the same.  That, in a nutshell is the joy of the arts.  Everyone has their opinion and is entitled to it.  Every show we see, every poem we read, every ballet or orchestra we attend – it leaves us with impressions – and those are markings of the heart, rather than of cold hard fact.  The arts are about feelings, about soul – not about calculus.

Without further ado, I have a show already picked for my opinions.  The Walterdale Playhouse is currently showing Taming of the Shrew by the great bard – William Shakespeare – and is directed by Robin Whittaker.  It Runs 19-29 March at 8pm.  Sunday Matinees at 2pm.

Taming of the Shrew is the story of Kate, a woman who refuses to marry, and is seen by many men to be the Devil herself in disguise.  Most men are pining after her sister, Bianca, who’s father insists to all the men in town that none will ever marry Bianca unless someone marries his elder daughter – Kate – first.  With Hortensio in desperate measures for the lovely Bianca, he convinces his dear friend Petruccio to woo Kate – not expecting Petruccio to fall in love with the Devil.  And this is only the beginning!

Many of the actors on the stage in this production are not new – I have worked with many of them in the past.  I am glad to write they have all grown – and this production proves their talents through and through.  The two “stars” of this production, Curtis Knecht (playing Petruccio) and Angelle Vailis (playing Kate) eat up the stage with their presence and outstanding ability.  Ron Sannachan, Tom Johnson, Ron Pelletier, Daria Kotovych, Stanley Woo – these five and a cast of near a dozen more – portray strong character development, and the ability to suck you in to their little drama. Robin Whittaker picked a delightful cast – all of whom know the secret to acting – how to entertain your audience by having fun yourself! And with the production stage managed by Elizabeth Day, the whole show is in safe hands.

The drawback to the production is Robin’s pick of stage, set and costume.  With all the fantastic acting on stage, I kept getting distracted by a ‘bright’ set and back drops. Not to mention gaudy ‘colourful’ costumes.  I felt I was watching a Shakespeare production done on Sesame Street, and kept looking in the wings to see if either Big Bird or the Cookie Monster were about to enter.  On their own, the sets were amazing to look at. Well painted, well designed, and they do look fantastic!  Yet, with a cast as strong as what I saw, the entire ‘world’ did not fit the story the actors were presenting – and thus was difficult to watch.  Robin, also, does have a fancy on lengthy scene changes.  I figured about 10 – 15 minutes of the entire 2 hour 45 minute production were scene changes.

In the end I focussed entirely on the actors faces as I found it hard to listen and watch with the interruption of the ‘Sesame Street’ backdrops.  The Production is well worth the going just to watch the actors do their very best.  Remarkable acting!

Robin would have faired far better for his actors if he allowed them to work in solid black outfits on a black set; and allowed Angelle and Curtis to play more with their scripts.  They seemed curtailed at times – as if chained in by an outside force – and that force can only be directors’ choice… his, or her, artistic license.

-          Jase Smeraka