THEATRE REVIEW:
FRONTERAS AMERICANAS
15 MAY/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

TORONTO - Whether it happens in a flash or blossoms slowly over time in a quiet corner of the psyche, it is something we all face — a rite of passage in an often chaotic march from womb to grave. And regardless of when it happens, the realization that “home” has ceased to be a definite physical place and has become, instead, a mere concept suddenly gives us a deeper understanding of the truth behind novelist Thomas Wolfe’s assertion that you can’t go home again.

It seems, too, that the further you are from the place you have heretofore considered home, whether that distance is measured in miles, hours or emotions, the more bittersweet will be the realization. That’s just one of the discoveries at the heart of Guillermo Verdecchia’s FRONTERAS AMERICANAS, a deeply personal one-man theatrical voyage that earned the iconic playwright/performer a Governor General’s Award back in 1993.

By way of background, Verdecchia was born in Argentina and came to Canada with his parents when he was two and FRONTERAS AMERICANAS (American Borders) documents his adult search for a homeland and his discovery that it was neither Argentinian territory nor Canadian, but rather a little bit of both; that home is finally not where we are from or where we are going but rather a safe place we build within ourselves to store our memories and our dreams and give ourselves shape.

At least, that’s what FRONTERAS AMERICANAS is at its best — and that part of it remains largely undiminished in the nearly 20 years since it premièred in the Tarragon Theatre’s Extra Space, a fact proven conclusively, it seems, in a slick new revival underwritten by Soulpepper, currently playing at the Young Centre, where it opened last week.

As in the original incarnation, Verdecchia is the featured performer, playing both himself recalling his international search for his homeland and a perambulating Hispanic stereotype who styles himself Wideload —  a character who exists primarily, one suspects, to bring his “Saxon” audience face to face with their prejudices and to create some sort of historical context for the still youthful Verdecchia’s conflicted loyalties. And it is in the fusion between those two characters that, despite the best efforts of director Jim Warren, who has done an impressive job in expanding the show to fit the larger space, the play really shows its age.

Finally, a slick design created by Glenn Davidson and some impressive projections created by Jamie Nesbitt notwithstanding, Verdecchia’s assertions that Canadians see Latin Americans in only the broadest stereotypical and exotic terms simply don’t ring true in a world where the most outrageous zoot-suiter pales in comparison to the excesses of Don Cherry’s wardrobe.  We may not have found a  perfect world yet, but it is a changed world from two decades ago thanks to ever-shifting perspectives — and one is left with the impression that the world’s perspectives may have shifted just a wee bit more than Verdecchia’s.
 
In the end, he has overlooked his own assertion that borders are transient. While he and Warren have conspired to update references within the play to reflect the passage of time, there is no real sense here that the same time has had any effect on the playwright himself or on his vision of the world around him. At 50 (or thereabouts) he’s still playing 30 and railing against the world in which he made himself at home 20 years ago — and while his reflections on home still have a ring of universal truth, his view of the broader world seems a trifle dated.