I love the adaptation by Jason Sherman of Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde currently on stage at Soulpepper. So much of Schnitzler’s original was implied but Sherman’s version has a much harder edge. It is unapologetically in your face and deliciously pushes all the boundaries. Sherman thoroughly modernizes the script and sets it in Toronto.
Schnitzler’s original script was actually quite tame but was still highly controversial in his day and was subject to all sorts of bans and book burnings. The play is a daisy chain of ten interconnected sexual encounters and explores the meaning of love, lust, hate, connection and desire.
Alan Dilworth has required a great deal of bravery from his actors. This is not a show for actors who are not willing to reveal themselves in every way. There is full frontal nudity, graphic simulated sex, faces pushed into each other’s nether regions. They really go for it.
The first act was thrillingly strong and held me captive from the first beat until the last. The second act however ran into some problems. For some reason, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s character Robert just did not seem to work. Lee was absolutely mesmerizing in his performance in Kim Convenience so I was surprised by his choices in the role. His rhythms were completely off. He motored through his role not taking the moments he should have. So his scenes, which were the final few of the show, fell flat.
Overall the performances were strong and interesting. I particularly liked the simplicity of Leah Doz’s prostitute Sonja and Brenda Robins bold take on sex therapist Eve. The scene where Eve gives oral sex instruction to Teddy was hilarious and one of the many highlights of the show.
Lorenzo Savoini’s excellent set, costume and video design is a large part of why this show is successful. The set is a raked, off kilter room that quickly and easily adapts to become multiple locations like a student’s room, a posh living room, various offices, and a club. In his adaptation, Sherman has emphasized our current addiction to social media and Savoini incorporates this wonderfully into his design with text messages and computer conversations flashing on the stage wall.
Kimberly Purtell’s lighting and Thomas Ryder Payne’s sound design completes a fluid and tight staging. The technical aspects in this production are a stand out. One choice was particularly striking. In the final scene of act one, a married couple has conceived a child artificially and there is unspoken tension between the couple. They have an argument over the matter and the husband reveals that he has had an affair. The wife runs out of the room. The husband goes to the side of the bedroom and pushes on the wall, which then separates, from the other wall. This fracture of the set as the actor stands looking up at a bright light was a haunting image and a beautiful endnote to the act.
I am a great fan of La Ronde and am familiar with a few different versions. This is not a perfect production but there is so much worth seeing here. With a running time of two and a half hours, I was always eager to see what would be revealed next.
Soulpepper’s La Ronde on stage now at the Young Centre for Performing Arts
Contains explicit sexual content and nudity – recommended for
audiences 18+.
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