Summer Review

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Weird summers make for weird productions and this chiaroscuro season is no different.  The theatre season for me started with The River City Shakespeare productions last month of both A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry V.  Some good choices in both – but I honestly found Midsummer to be bland from start to finish.  Sure, everyone loves tales of fairyland, love and comedy to be high sellers.  Midsummer was – and there was some damn fine acting there from Alberta actors all around.  Kevin Kruchkywich played an extremely amorous puck with David McNally as the ever loving and bossy Oberon.  For the rest of the production the costumes were fantastic… I just can’t get into the play so the less said about what I felt to be an indifferent production the better

Henry V was well worth attending.  Directed by Ashley Wright with James MacDonald in the leading role, I was well pleased with this production.  There were some great directorial choices and fantastic acting from the Chorus all the way up to Henry V.  Some Shakespeare productions get bogged down in something or other and do not translate well to modern audiences, but River City’s version of Henry V (using WW II uniforms) was clear and just plain fun from start to finish.  With a somewhat prissy population of the French mixed with the machismo of the British – well, it’s understandable why the English won.  The fight scenes were choreographed by Kevin Kruchkywich and very well designed for such a small cast in portraying upwards of 30 000 men in the actual battle the story was based upon.  I hope you people managed to see this one.

Now, Since it has been so damnable hot over the past couple of weeks, rather than heading to more outdoor theatre, I ended up ducking into the Garneau and Princess Theatres in town to watch a few foreign films.  Whale Rider, Man on the Train and Russian Ark were the 3 I managed to watch.  All were amazing in their own rights. 

Whale Rider - an independent New Zealand film based on the Maori Legend of how their people came to settle on the island – by way of their first chief who rode on the back of a whale.  Well, the story rotates around the last chief in a coastal village (modern times) who is desperate to find a replacement but all the men in the tribe (mostly teenagers) are insuitable.  However, his own granddaughter gets involved and proves that women, too, can lead.  Great acting, excellent scenery and just a powerful story.  If you can find it playing somewhere in the city – go see it.

Man on the Train – French film starring French rock star Jonny Hallyday.  Two men meet coming off a train in small town France and very different lives collide, combine and result in both men growing and changing in very interesting ways.  The acting was far better than anything I’ve seen Hollywood come up with in the past 5 years.  The story, too, was fascinating.  Somewhat slower than our typical action flick, this film was geared more toward the pacing of real life –and I felt more than satisfied with the results.  The photography was amazing and looking at some of the old building, you can tell this was filmed ina country that has defined itself by its ancient history.  A must see for anyone who enjoys good filmwork and acting.

Russian Ark – the much talked about film from Russia about the past 200 years of their history.  96 minutes, one take, no cuts or splices. One shot.  Pretty amazing.  It took the team about 6 months of rehearsal time to get this one ready for the shoot.  2000 actors in period piece – and everything was filmed in the Hermitage Museum, also known as St. Petersberg Castle.  It took me about 20 minutes to realize that there is no story or plot to this film, so don’t go expecting anything.  This is a show that is a 90-minute expose of the Hermitage. Go to get a look at why Russia is so proud of this place.  It is beyond words.  Some of the paintings they have there are incredible.  St. Petersberg is… well, go see for yourself.  Again, just don’t expect a plot.  Think of this one as a documentary with a very interesting host and you’ll walk out of it at least thinking about it.   If not, that’s your own…

Artistic License.