THEATRE REVIEW: PLAYING CARDS 1: SPADES

JOHN COULBOURN, Special to TorSun
14 JUNE 2012
R: 4.5/5

Some theatre artists look at a stage and see limitations. Robert Lepage sees possibilities. And it is through the realization of those possibilities that he has become the Christopher Columbus of modern theatre, bringing life to rich new worlds of theatrical imagination. Which is precisely what he does in PLAYING CARDS 1: SPADES, the opening instalment of what will eventually be a four-part offering from Ex Machina. SPADES had its North American première at the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre Wednesday as part of the ongoing Luminato celebrations.

In SPADES, the artist who has done so much to stretch the limits of the conventional proscenium abandons it, opting instead, for a work staged completely in the round, cocooned in a space-age sort of pod that proves to be a theatrical top hat from which he pulls a never-ending stream of tricks.

They are all, however, tricks that serve a purpose, as Lepage and his six-member cast spin out a series of interconnected tales, set in Las Vegas in 2003, in at world teetering on the edge of an American invasion of Iraq. Cast members Sylvio Arriola, Nuria Garcia, Tony Guilfoyle, Martin Haberstroh, Sophie Martin and Roberto Mori share a writing credit with Lepage (who, of course, directs) and Carole Faisant.

In bringing life to the un-related but intersecting stories of two soldiers training for duty in Iraq, a British TV executive with a gambling problem, a newlywed Quebecois couple with a baby on the way, an illegal immigrant working as a hotel maid and a host of incidental characters, each cast member is challenged with tackling several roles and several languages in a storyline that starts out stretched a trifle thin but grows stronger with every passing scene. While the playing card motif is tidily evoked in a recollection of the playing cards American military used as wanted posters during the Iraqi invasion, there is also deeper echoes of tarot, where spades (or swords) are also a sign of impending danger.

It’s a scenario that gives each of these gifted and versatile cast members a chance to shine. Jean Hazel’s magical set meanwhile morphs from various Vegas hotel rooms and bars to desert wasteland, doors popping up and disappearing (admittedly, not always completely on cue), supported by a quartet of TV screens (one of which gave up the ghost on opening night) that descend from the canopy that hovers over the proceedings like a spaceship, beaming down effects on command.

In short, it is everything we’ve come to expect from an extraordinary artist and his company — everything, and somehow something a little bit less. Where Lepage’s staging has always been laden with high-tech gadgetry, there has always been the simple little effects that are the mark of a true genius — little touches that in the process of capturing a moment of real life somehow nudge you and whisper in your inner ear a reminder that this is the theatre and it is indeed a magical place. Those moments have been sacrificed in SPADES — victims, one suspects, to an ambitious new vision. But one or two of them would be welcome, particularly when an audience is relearning the lesson that the mind can only enjoy what the butt can endure. Even with Lepage in command, three hours sans intermission on seats less than luxurious, proves a trial — but in the end, it is worth the agony In SPADES, you might say.