Trio of great productions at the Stratford Festival

Hard to believe, but I have arrived at the final installment of my Stratford reviews for the season this weekend; my last Shaw reviews, of course, were a couple of weeks ago. Overall, it has been an impressive season at both Shaw and Stratford, with several strong recommendations for both festivals if you plan to catch a late-season performance. Frankly, I enjoy going at this time of year, as the weather is more bearable, and the fall colours are starting to show ever so slightly now. In October, incidentally, you still have a number of great shows at both festivals to catch, and in the case of Stratford, the B&B I stay at, Dusk Till Dawn on Brunswick Avenue, has a very light schedule of bookings for the month, so booking a room at any B&B in either town should not be a problem for the balance of the theatre season.

The first production at Stratford we'll look at this weekend is the musical revue Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, which opened at the Tom Patterson Theatre in June and continues until September 25th. I didn't get to see the show myself until sometime in August, due to scheduling conflicts, but I had heard much good news about it before I went. The comments I had heard beforehand all turned out to be accurate, as this show contains a wonderful collection of Brel songs, sung both in English and French, in a very simple format.

As director Stafford Arima writes in his program notes, Brel is Alive & Well is a song-cycle of more than twenty-five works by Brel, translated by Mors Shuman and Eric Blau, but there is no libretto, no storyline and no recognizable cast of characters. That, for me, is the charm of the work. The music is allowed to speak for itself, and the message is usually quite powerful. The pacing is ideal; nothing is forced or rushed, and some of the musicians join the singers onstage for some of the numbers. Even the costumes are very simple and elegant, appropriate for the spirit of the production. One clever idea in the first act is to have all four singers appear onstage with umbrellas that incorporate a light underneath the canopy. Nice touch!

All four singers are exceptionally talented and versatile, bringing new dimensions to much of this work many will have only heard Brel sing himself, if at all. The big name in the cast is Brent Carver, but this does not turn into 'Brent's show' due to the fact the other three singers are great performers in their own right. Jewelle Blackman, Mike Nadajewski and Nathalie Nadon each bring their own perspective to the show, making for a nicely balanced presentation from beginning to end.

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is a must-see this year if you can find tickets this late in the season; the full house at the performance I attended in August suggests that might be difficult, but worth the effort. The show rates a very strong four out of four stars and continues at the Tom Patterson Theatre until September 25th.

Incidentally, there is no shortage of Jacques Brel recordings available, including the original 1968 production of the show, and if the music appeals to you, drop me a line at music@vaxxine.com or go to my website at www.finemusic.ca and I can get you some great music worth having by Jacques Brel.

Michel Tremblay has had a long history with the Stratford Festival, and his works just seem to come off rather well in the hands of the largely anglo staff and performers in the festival productions at Stratford. This year's production of For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again is no exception. Although brief at just over 90 minutes with no intermission, the play packs a lot of emotion and laughter into that time-frame.

Tremblay's plays usually translate well into English, and this production, featuring a translation by award-winning Linda Gaboriau, shines on the Patterson stage. Tremblay has written about his mother often in his plays, and in For the Pleasure, he literally puts her onstage as herself, showing the influence this powerful woman has had in the playwright's life.

This is a very loving tribute to his mom, and I think, to all our moms, for I suspect more than a few in the packed audience at the performance I attended could see more than a little of their own moms in the character brought to life here by festival veteran Lucy Peacock. Lucy plays against Tom Rooney as the Narrator, who guides us through the play with observations on living life with Nana. But make no mistake, this is Lucy Peacock's show, and she makes the most of it! I heard some people beforehand suggest Peacock was playing the role over-the-top, but from what I can see and have heard, this is as fairly accurate depiction of his mother. If nothing else, she wasn't dull!

The set is simple, yet effective, and director Chris Abraham has wisely chosen to let the play and the two characters be the centre of attention here. The play is quite fun and very uplifting, even at the end when Nana realizes she is not well. Her son arranges a surprise onstage for her: a recreation of the wheatfields she knew back home in Saskatchewan; however, how typical of Nana, and many of our moms, that while running through the imitation wheatfield, she notices the set is not painted on the backside! It was a great moment.

For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again will bring pleasure to anyone who has had difficulty in their relationships with their own mothers, and even if they haven't they can't fail to see some simularities here with their own family situation while growing up. The play rates a highly-recommendable three out of four stars, and continues at the Tom Patterson Theatre until September 26th.

The final production in our trio today is the final mainstage production this season, Christopher Hampton's Dangerous Liasons, directed by Ethan McSweeny. If you saw the movie version years ago, you'll know this is sort of an 18-century take on the Desperate Housewives idea with lots of sexual conquests either happening or spoken about; but also, as with the Shaw production of Serious Money which shows the greed of the 1980s, this shows the greed of the 1780s. This suggests we didn't learn much over the last two centuries.

The glorious sets and costumes designed by Santo Loquasto are a suitable backdrop for the action onstage, with everything moving smoothly through the myriad of set and costume changes. But it is the cast that makes you sit up and take notice here: Seana McKenna as La Marquise de Merteuil dominates from beginning to end, with the way she holds her notes at the end of sentences being particularly effective. Her main protagonist and onetime lover, Le Vicomte de Valmont, played by Tom McCamus, is certainly up to the task of matching her barb for barb. McCamus is having a terrific season at Stratford and this production just cements his claim as one of the leading actors in the Stratford Festival company.

The supporting cast, though very good, simply can't overtake these two dominant forces onstage. Notable performances, however, include Yanna McIntosh as Mme. de Volanges; Martha Henry as Mme. de Rosemonde, aunt to Le Vicomte de Valmont; and Sara Topham as La Presidente de Tourval, the well-married and well established woman Valmont wants to seduce. Special mention goes to Michael Therriault as Le Chevalier Danceny, who catches the fancy of Merteuil, much to the chagrin of Valmont, who still wants to bed the vengeful Merteuil as if it were old times again.

Over the top? No, not really. What Hampton's play does show is the abject poverty of purpose the French upper classes possessed prior to the French Revolution. Basically, watching this bunch go about their daily dalliances, you have to conclude they had it coming...

Dangerous Liasons continues on the Festival stage until October 30th, and rates a strong three out of four stars.

September 11th, 2010.