THEATRE REVIEW: THE MILL, PART IV: ASH
17 JAN/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Viewed through certain prisms, it is a major accomplishment — a four part theatrical collaboration by one of Toronto's most exciting young theatre companies, spanning four plays, involving a pride of Canada's most promising young playwrights, directors and actors, all clearly committed to bringing a bit of excitement to what they see as the great, grey vistas of Canadian history.

Their work, presented under the collective title of THE MILL, started  last season with Parts I through III — NOW WE ARE BRODY, written by Matthew MacFadzean and directed by Daryl Cloran, THE HURON BRIDE, written by Hannah Moscovitch and directed by Christian Barry and THE WOODS, written by Tara Beagan and directed by Sarah Garton Stanley.

THE MILL, PART IV: ASH, written by Damien Atkins and directed by Vikki Anderson, opened Friday at the Young Centre, where it will play in rep with the first three parts through Jan. 29, a production of Theatrefront, in association with the Young Centre.

But while one applauds the commitment and energy lavished on this project, not to mention the four Dora Awards Parts I through III collected, one is forced nonetheless to admit that its doesn't add up to much, taken either singly or collectively. As with the previous three instalments, ASH takes place on the site of a fictitious mill, located somewhere in Southern Ontario — a mill cursed by the very first contact between Europeans and First Nations people who called it home.

That curse, framed in the best traditions of Hollywood shlock, has already spelled death and/or dismemberment, often in the giant saw-wheels that figure prominently in Gillian Gallow's clearly adaptable set. And indeed, those blades are still there as ASH begins, in a world clearly in an apocalypse that has seen the mill of title become home to a group of orphans, all of whom, under the tutelage of  the man who styles himself Father (played by Richard Greenblatt) have adopted names of forest animals who are now apparently extinct.

But with Father walk-about, Beaver (Maev Beaty), Rabbit (Frank Cox-O'Connell), Bear (Eric Goulem) and Fox (Ryan Hollyman) are marking time, overseen by the ever-responsible Bird (played by Michelle Monteith), who serves as surrogate mother to the menagerie, even while giving clear evidence that it is about to grow. But the malicious spirit of Lyca (Natasha Greenblatt), the ghost of a murdered child,  continues to haunt. Thanks to his sensitive nature (or maybe his fuzzy socks), gentle Rabbit proves sensitive to her presence, begging his fellow frost creatures to flee, even though it means abandoning their only source of drinking water.

Together, playwright, director and cast create some suspense, thanks to a series of short, choppy cinematic scenes, but they fail entirely in convincing us their ensemble is comprised of the pre- and post-pubescents the script demands. And when the time comes to resolve the ongoing curse of THE MILL, they don't seem to even try, leaving one with the impression that if someone had simply apologized earlier, we could have all gone home, saving the world from an unnamed apocalypse in the process.

So, even while one applauds Theatrefront's achievements as millers of grade B theatre, one wonders what might have happened if everyone involved had taken a bit of time to study the grist of the Beothuks, to immerse themselves in the wisdom of Joseph Brant and Crowchild, to examine the simple courage of Piapot, Gabriel Dumont and Elijah Harper or to even read a book like Revenge Of The Land instead of simply grinding out a theatrical homage to bad movIe-making.

THE MILL is good enough, I guess, but with talented artists of this calibre, being good enough simply isn't good enough by half.