Stripped down set for THIS (Berkeley Street Downstairs Theatre), designed by Astrid Janson.
The Canadian Stage production of This is a unique theatrical experience. Set designer Astrid Janson, has stripped the Berkeley Street Theater down to the bones and brought it back as close as possible to its original 1923 splendor. The results are spectacular. The large windows have been unblocked so natural light is allowed to flow into the space. The rough, unfinished wood floors have been exposed and the alley door is utilized as one of the entrances for an actor. The design choice was used in part to blur the line between the actors and the audience.
The actors entered the playing space and engaged in small talk and also made eye contact with the audience. The house lights never went down throughout the entire performance and actors gathered props hidden under audience seats and also sat with the audience during moments in which their characters were not engaged on stage. The choice is bold and yet it didn’t entirely work. I personally found it off-putting to have the house lights up during the entirety of a production. I come to the theater to have that separation, to sit in the dark and be swept away. I never could entirely relax during this production.
The choice also muddied the script at the beginning. It got off to an unnatural and somewhat forced start. The rhythms between the characters were choppy, though it seemed to right itself quickly enough once the characters started playing an amusing party game.
This is a story of a group of friends who met at university. Jane (Laura Condlln) is a struggling poet, not doing very well raising her daughter after the tragic death of her husband. She is a good friend to sleep deprived new parents, Marrall (Yanna McIntosh) and her husband Tom (Jonathan Young). Also in the mix is their gay pal Alan (Alon Nashman) and a sexy French doctor (Christian Lauren). The themes of the plays are nothing new: death, friendship, infidelity, and aging but Gibson’s script has a freshness to it.
Jonathon Young, Christian Laurin, Laura Condlln and Yanna McIntosh in THIS.
Canadian Stage Director Matthew Jocelyn has put together a strong cast. Yanna McIntosh gave the strongest performance of the night. Her work was subtle and rooted and she simply outshone the rest. The rest of the cast had wonderful moments but I longed for more simplicity. I am not sure if it was direction or acting choices or both, but it seemed as if everyone was working a bit too hard throughout.
Laura Condlln had the most difficult character to pull off. Condlln seemed to throw a lot of anger into her characterization and it became a bit one note. It would have been nice to see more colours in the spectrum. Her final speech was exquisite.
Canadian born Melissa James Gibson’s script is smart, resonant with meaning and full of wit and pithy one-liners. Apparently Gibson has not received much airtime in her native land, which is a shame because she truly is a smashing writer. This is worth the journey to hear Gibson’s exquisite dialogue.
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