THEATRE REVIEW:
2 PIANOS 4 HANDS
31 OCT/11

JOHN COULBOURN,
QMI Agency
R: 5/5
PIctured: Ted Dykstra,
Richard Greenblatt


TORONTO - Were it not for a bit of divine intervention, this is a show that could just as easily be called 2 Sticks 4 Skates, 2 Feet 4 Pointe Shoes or even 2 Snowboards 4 Feet.

While 2 PIANOS 4 HANDS may be set in the world of music, the story it tells — two kids with enough talent to carry them to the top of the class, yet not possessed of the kind of gift required to make it into the rarefied atmosphere of the big leagues — crosses all boundaries. Regardless of the field, any kid who has ever dared to dream big — and fallen short — will surely identify with this tale. The kids in question here are known simply as Ted and Richard — and just like they were back in 1996, when 2P4H first hit the stage of the Tarragon Theatre, they are played by playwright-performers Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt, who have added a directorial credit to their resumé here.

After a considerable hiatus, they’ve returned to their international hit show and the roles they created 15 years ago, launching something of a valedictory tour Sunday on the stage of the Panasonic Theatre, under the Mirvish imprimatur.

Now, for those who have somehow managed to miss the show in any of its previous incarnations, a word or two on the plot is perhaps in order. Teddy and Richard are two young kids when we first meet them. They appear, almost magically, taking over and inhabiting the betuxed bodies of Dykstra and Greenblatt respectively, middle aged men, heretofore preoccupied with sending up concert pianists at the two grand pianos that dominate the stage.

And even though they’re wearing the bodies of those middle-aged men, Teddy and Richard are just a pair of normal kids who find themselves in thrall to a parental notion that learning the piano will somehow turn them into well-rounded adults. To that end, they find themselves chained to the keyboard and forced to practice, even while they’d rather be out playing with friends.

From there, we follow them through a growing love affair with the piano, proceeding from Leila Fletcher through the annual Kiwanis Music Festival (Dyksta has a wonderful meltdown here) to Conservatory exams, accompanied by a sideshow of teachers, parents and others, all brought expertly to comedic life. But as their skills develop — and it becomes more and more obvious that these are talented lads indeed — things start to grow more serious. As each contemplates a career as a pianist — Teddy in concert, Richard in jazz — and then comes face to face with the knowledge that in the face of genius, talent is only a starting point, they are forced to set those dreams aside.

As they relive their story, they team up periodically to demonstrate just how deep those talents ran, interspersing their vignettes with musical compositions from the aforementioned Fletcher to Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Billy Joel, played with impressive skill. But fingerwork notwithstanding, it is finally acting skills that drive this show.

While Greenblatt has a tendency on occasion to lay things on with a trowel — still flogging a routine about an adjudicator with an unfortunate accent that wasn’t that funny back in ’96 — both actors are superb at capturing the comedy and tragedy that marks, often simultaneously, so much of childhood. Best of all, they prove that though the dream may be gone, the music and the magic linger on. And that’s a lesson every dreamer needs.