TheatreRUN’s The Double, playing at the Tarragon Theatre, is a nouveau adaptation of the Fyodor Dostoevsky novella of the same name. Created and performed by TheatreRUN Artistic Director Adam Paolozza (who also directs), Arif Mirabdolbaghi (bass-player and lyricist of the award-winning Canadian progressive metal band Protest The Hero) and international actor Viktor Lukawski, the play examines the fragile functions of the human mind set in a backdrop easily relatable to the audience.
What if you were not you? Or the you that you thought you were, is not actually the you that you are? Then what? Imagine waking up one morning and finding there is another you, or maybe not. This is the struggle of the anxious government clerk Golyadkin (referred to as the hero). He is plagued by a stranger who looks just like him, but is more daring, romantic and brash. This uncanny triangle between a neurotic, his doppelganger and a stand-up bass, transports us to 19th century Russian high society and Golyadkin’s labyrinthine search for his identity as he desperately attempts to fit in.
Though the play centres on Golyadkin, the bass and narrator we are introduced to at the beginning of the show play an equally important part: at times our narrator and story guide, and at others the thoughts for our hero. Then there’s Viktor who plays every other role in the play – at least five or six, each with its own personality and swagger. The story is quickly set for the audience to be transported straight into the frantic mindset of the hero and within the first five minutes you are laughing, realizing that this will be a fun ride. In the end we make discoveries and realizations about Golyadkin, and if you’ve paid close attention, you’ll find that you’ll make some new discoveries about yourself as well.
Nominated in 2012 for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, The Double runs until November 24th at the Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace, 30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto. Visitwww.tarragontheatre.com for ticket information.
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