THEATRE INTERVIEW:
Local artist John Stefaniuk takes pride in his position
19 APR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

TORONTO - File this one under very important life lessons.

During the Toronto run of THE LION KING a decade or so ago, John Stefaniuk, a Toronto-born, Vancouver-trained theatre artist, applied for a position backstage with the Canadian production of Disney’s acclaimed mega-musical. He didn’t get it. Instead, it seems, he got something much better.

Not long after being turned down, he was offered a position with the London production of TLK, where he served as resident director, before seeing the world in Lion King style. And when TLK returns to the stage of the Princess of Wales Theatre tonight, we may not see Stefaniuk as the king of beasts, but no one can contest the fact that he’s become a major power behind his throne. That’s because in his role of associate director for the American national tour of the show, the 43-year-old Stefaniuk has become one of the key figures in determining casting for the show worldwide. Sounds complicated, but Stefaniuk quickly boils things down to sound-bite size.

“It’s about trying to find the very best in whoever you have when you audition them,” he says down the line from Las Vegas as he prepares to head home to Toronto. And when doing a job like that, it helps, he says, that he’s still in love with a show that has taken him all over the world, from Spain to South Africa.

“It’s changed over the years, being able to see it with different companies.  At first, I was very panicked because I didn’t want to make the wrong call,” he says of keeping casts full, fresh and on their toes. But for inspiration, he simply looked to visionary director Julie Taymor, who created the show, and the way she deals with people.

“I realized that if she were standing in the room with me right now, she’d try to get the best out of that person,” he says. “Now, I’m very quickly able to see what (potential cast members) have and what they are lacking and whether we can get what we need out of them,” he continues. “This job is all-encompassing. You’re challenged to be able to teach the acting, then you have the puppetry and the African element. You take all that and then you have this incredible spectacle.”

And for that “incredible spectacle,” Stefaniuk credits Taymor, whose genius remains untarnished, he says, despite her the ongoing involvement in the problem-plagued Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. “The thing about Julie Taymor is that she is at the very forefront of creation, always” he says without hesitation. “She is the one who is out on the edge and pushing what live theatre is. I think she’s an artist. And an artist doesn’t turn around and try to please people because she thinks this is what the audience wants to see. You’ll see passion and you’ll see somebody who’s very open to taking risks.”

And speaking of risks, does Stefaniuk hunger for a return to the stage sometime in his future?

“Oh my God! Never,” he says. “I am so much better at telling people what to do than at being able to do it myself.” In addition to that ability, he admits, he’s picked up a lot of knowledge he’d like to use on a show of his own someday. “I do think of that a lot,” he admits. “What’s great about this job is it’s made me brave — (it’s given me) the courage to attempt that.”

Even though he now makes his home in New York with his husband, who currently serves as associate director for Mary Poppins, Stefaniuk’s  roots are still very much in Toronto. And not just because of the two brothers he has who call Toronto home. “Toronto is in my heart,” he insists. “No matter where I go, I always say it with pride because there’s a lot of talented people in Toronto.”

THEATRE NEWS:
Studio 180 to bring new Pulitzer play here
17 APR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

Bruce Norris’ CLYBOURNE PARK, a satiric riff on A Raisin in the Sun, on Monday was named winner of the prestigious 2011 Pulitzer Prize for drama, chosen from a slate of plays that premièred in 2010.

CLYBOURNE PARK, which began off Broadway in New York as part of Playwrights Horizons, has already had several productions including one in London’s West End, where it earned the Olivier Award for best new play.

Plans for a Toronto production have already been announced by Studio 180 Theatre, which will produce it as part of its 2011-12 season, in a co-production with Canadian Stage.

THEATRE NEWS: Theatre opens door to new Buddies
17 APR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

Clearly, they are making new friends down at Buddies in Bad Times, even while they stay in touch with a few of their old friends. And in a 2011-12 season announced Monday, artistic director Brendan Healey seems to have figured out a way to showcase the theatre’s connection with both.

The new season begins with Healey’s own take on Jean Genet’s THE MAIDS, translated by Martin Crimp and starring Diane D’Aquila, Ron Kennell and Maria Ricossa.

Once the smoke has cleared from that production, Buddies welcomes a host of new friends, starting with Studio 180 Theatre’s production of Larry Kramer’s seminal work, THE NORMAL HEART, directed by Joel Greenberg, and starring Alex Poch-Goldin, Sarah Orenstein, Mark McGrinder and Mark Crawford.

Modern Times Stage Company’s production of HALLEJ, is next up, written by Soheil Parsa (who also directs) and Peter Farbridge (who joins an extensive cast that also features Stewart Arnott and Steven Bush).

A new year starts Nightwood Theatre’s production of Margaret Atwood’s THE PENELOPIAD, directed by Kelly Thornton, which will be followed, after a break to accommodate the annual Rhubarb Festival, by Native Earth’s production of free as injuns, a retelling of DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS, written by Tara Beagan, directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones and featuring James Cade.

Buddies then teams up with Candles are for Burning to present the English Canadian première of Olivier Choinière’s BLISS, translated by Caryl Churchill and directed by Steven McCarthy. Buddies founder Sky Gilbert and his Cabaret Company’s production of DANCING QUEEN, written and directed by Gilbert, follows with LOST LOUNGE, by Split Britches, rounding out the ambitious season.

Passes (eight tickets for $130, four tickets for $85) are currently on sale at Buddies.

THEATRE REVIEW:
THE SITUATIONISTS
17 APR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 3 out of 5


At a time when most Canadians seem to be convinced that we are getting screwed by political parties of every stripe, Sky Gilbert comes along with the notion that what politics, specifically left-wing politics, needs these days is — wait for it — more sex. But then Gilbert — the broodingly flamboyant founder of Buddies In Bad Times Theatre — has always been a bit of a contrarian. Gilbert’s assertions are all wrapped up in his latest play, THE SITUATIONISTS, currently playing on Buddies' mainstage, where it opened last week, a presentation of Gilbert’s Cabaret Company.

Now, for those not steeped in arcane political and social theory, a bit of a history lesson seems to be in order. Under the aegis of French filmmaker and theorist Guy Debord, the Situationist movement was popular in the early 1950s, advocating social change through spectacles specifically engineered to underscore the lies on which our lives within a capitalist society are built. And while the Situationist ethos may not be terribly familiar in today’s world, the involvement of the Situationists in a general strike that crippled France in 1968 is a matter of public record.

Gilbert’s play, however, is set in the present day and takes place in an anonymous apartment rented by Lise (Haley McGee), to be used specifically for the plottings of an intimate Situationist cabal, comprised of Lise and her uptight professor, Jacques, played by Gavin Crawford. Jacques, for his part, sees himself as the guru of the Situationist movement, while Lise apparently sees him as God, which pleases Jacques. Andy Moro, who also designed the far-too-moody-by-half lighting for the show, has created a simple runway set that proves effective, although on the night we attended, the china cabinet seemed determined to undermine Gilbert’s vision.

What starts out as a quiet meeting between Lise and Jacques falls apart however, when Lise reveals her determination to increase their cell with the addition of Evon (Gil Garratt), a brash and sexually predatory political activist whose views are certainly elastic enough to embrace those held by his newfound co-conspirators. But when the political becomes personal — and here Gilbert seems to subscribe to the popular notion that the political should always be personal — this threesome can’t seem to get it together.

Jacques, for his part, insists that any sort of sexual connection is certain to undermine whatever they try to do politically, a notion with which Lise has heretofore had no choice but to agree. But Evon thinks sex should be part and parcel of everything they do and sets about exploiting the sexual tension that exists in every angle of this triangle.

Sadly, this all sounds a lot more interesting than it plays, for as anyone who followed last week’s leaders’ debates can tell you, political discussion rarely makes for compelling theatre. The fact that Crawford performs the whole show in an all but impenetrable and therefore indecipherable French accent is more than slightly problematic too as is the fact that McGee moves as if she’s suddenly found herself encumbered with someone else’s hips just as she was leaving the dressing room. Garratt, for his part, seems to have largely escaped Gilbert’s stilted and hugely mannered directorial vision, charged as he is with the bizarre role of playing the bull in the china cabinet.

It is a bleak, mannered affair, albeit a bleak mannered affair with a purpose, although that purpose cannot ethically be revealed here. Suffice to say that the evening ends on a note that is nothing if not thought-provoking, underscoring some of the hypocrisy of civilization as we know it. But while the destination proves thought-provoking, one can’t help but wish that Gilbert had mapped out a more interesting voyage to take us there.

THEATRE REVIEW: NIGHT
15 APR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 4 out of 5

That Ken Gass has got some nerve. Here we are, still trying to shake the chill of winter from our bones, and the venerable but vital artistic director of the Factory Theatre expects us to flock to see a show set in the middle of winter in Pond Inlet, Nunavut — the precise place, one suspects, that polite people reference when they tell us to stick something where the sun don’t shine.

But happily, Gass has not only got some nerve, he’s got some show too, and as a result, even the most winter-weary Torontonian is likely to find something to warm the heart and fire the brain in the show that opened on the Factory mainstage Thursday. It’s called NIGHT, and it is, of course, the centrepiece of Factory’s annual Performance Spring Festival, which continues through April 24.

A production of Human Cargo, NIGHT is written and directed by HC’s artistic director Christopher Morris, and, as stated, it is set in Nunavut in the dead of winter — a time so cold that even the sun leaves town.

It’s a world simply but effectively recreated here by designers Gilliam Gallow (sets and costumes) and Michelle Ramsay (lighting) and while it may be darker than Stephen Harper’s vision of a coalition government, young Piuyuq Auqsaq (played by Tiffany Ayalik) isn’t going to let a little thing like endless night destroy the celebration of her Sweet 16 birthday. In fact, she and her closest friend Gloria (played by Reneltta Arluk), have planned a bit of a night on the town that afternoon in honour of the occasion.

And frankly, they could use a celebration to lighten their lives — and not simply because the sun has gone south for the duration. Piuyuq lost her mother just over a year ago in a tragic and pointless accident and is still mourning while she tries to help her father (Jonathan Fisher) cope with his grief and guilt as well.

Gloria, for her part, has some horrific problems on the home front, too, but not so many that she doesn’t worry about the deterioration in the quality of her friend’s family life. It is that concern, in fact, that prompted Gloria to send an e-mail that has brought anthropologist Daniella Swan (Linnea Swan) to Pond Inlet in the hopes of staging a posthumous family reunion that will end a curse that has been plaguing Piuyuq’s family since her paternal grandfather, for whom she was named, was shipped south in a medical evacuation.

Cultural imperialism, racism, alcoholism, sexual abuse, governmental apathy, suicide — NIGHT certainly has a dark side. And while Morris and his team don’t shrink from it, they also leaven the proceedings with a generous measure of that unique and delightfully subversive humour that marks so much First Nations’ theatre. Satellite radio couldn’t go too far wrong, one suspects, by beaming Pond Inlet’s radio station into homes below the treeline.

And under Morris’ direction, this cast has clearly found its comfort zone, despite performing in English and Inuktitut (with English surtitles). In multiple roles, Fisher certainly proves his versatility and Swan is no slouch either. But the real stars of this show are the two young women. Arluk’s tragic Gloria is a haunting heartbreaking presence, while Ayalik’s Piuyuq fairly crackles with youthful energy and brashness throughout, lighting up Night’s final cri de coeur with enough passion, anger and courage that sees a new day dawning.

While clearly intended for a young audience, there’s enough heart and soul here to make this a NIGHT to remember for audiences of any age. That Ken Gass has got some vision.

THEATRE REVIEW: GHOST STORIES
13 APR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 2 out of 5



We all recognize that without the willing suspension of disbelief, there can be no theatre. That said, most productions are still willing to earn that suspension, instead of merely asking an audience to surrender disbelief at the door or simply leave it at home altogether. Which is precisely what GHOST STORIES does.

To clarify: For those of you who have somehow been able to avoid the hype — droll little first-person accounts of nights spent in coffins and the like — GHOST STORIES is a little bundle from Britain that has taken up residence at the Panasonic Theatre under the Mirvish imprimatur (in partnership with Lyric Hammersmith and Phil McIntyre Entertainments), having first spent at least 15 minutes in the Maxwell Smart School of Espionage, learning to disguise its English roots, if not its British rave reviews.

And while we’re on the subject of those raves, let’s just say that after attending (enduring?) Tuesday night’s opening performance, we would have thought that memories of a blitz, Margaret Thatcher and the spectre of Camilla as queen would have rendered Brits a little less skittish than this. For, Toronto traffic being what it is, chances are unless you travel in a padded coffin, the trip to the Panasonic is going to offer more thrills and chills than you’ll experience in this entire 80-minute production.

Written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman (who both team up with Sean Holmes to share a directing credit), GHOST STORIES would seem to be inspired by those spooky stories kids have always spun out to scare themselves silly. But here, they’ve put the cart before the horse and, as a result, ‘silly’ seems to be the voyage here and not the destination.

It starts when you enter the dimly lit theatre, echoing with enough phony creaks and drips and groans that you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve suddenly been swallowed whole by a particularly bilious whale. But no such luck, for you’re soon being lectured by Professor Philip Goodman (Jason Blicker), a self-styled specialist in paranormal sightings, a man who has, it seems, devoted his entire life to debunking things that go bump in the night.

Still, the only fear involved here for far too long is an increasingly creepy feeling that we’re going to be expected to listen to his ramblings for the entire evening — but just as the fight or flight impulse is threatening to kick in, the good professor gets specific, launching into a tableau (semi) vivant that involves a night watchman (played by Jack Langedijk), a spirit, and a room full of dummies. Happily, those dummies are played by out-of-work department store mannequins to avoid giving offence to the audience.

As spooky goes, however, it barely registers on a Richter scale of fright — and as the good professor progresses through the tale of a hapless teenage driver (David Reale) whose car breaks down on a deserted stretch of highway and an oddly distasteful tale of a self-obsessed stock broker (Darrin Baker) and a haunted nursery, it doesn’t get much better.

Or much worse, depending on your point of view. And when things finally start to get creepy, it’s the wrong kind of creepy, more concerned with anti-Semitism, birth defects and bullying disguised as an old-fashioned shaggy-dog story than with anything that might even scare the bejesus out of a flea.

Which means finally that, at least for those who forgot to surrender disbelief at the door, the big mystery is not how they did this, but rather just how this show managed to do so well in London. Was it better over ’ome? Or are we Canadians just so inured to visions of a Harper majority or an Ignatieff-led coalition that nothing frightens us anymore?

GHOST STORIES? Oh, BOOOOOOOO!

THEATRE NEWS:
Harold Green Jewish Theatre puts down roots
13 APR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

After four years wandering Toronto’s theatrical wilderness, Harold Green Jewish Theatre is coming home to the St. Lawrence Centre.

At an event Tuesday announcing the company’s forthcoming 2011-12 season, co-artistic directors David Eisner and Avery Saltzman revealed that their heretofore peripatetic company will put down roots in the Jane Mallet Theatre for their forthcoming season. That season will be launched with a two-show engagement of Mamaloshen (Mother Tongue), an evening of Yiddish music featuring Mandy Patinkin, followed by a run of Yisrael Campbell’s one-man show, titled Circumcise Me.

Next up will be the world première of Hannah Moscovitch’s The Children’s Republic, in a co-production with the Tarragon Theatre, directed by Alisa Palmer and starring Peter Hutt in the role of Dr. Janusz Korczak.

On the heels of his success with Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears, Theodore Bikel returns to HGJTC in Jeff Baron’s Visiting Mr. Green, under the direction of Christopher Newton, before the company closes its season with a new production of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers, directed by Jim Warren and starring Happy Days’ Marion Ross, Linda Kash and Eisner in his acting debut with the company.

Single tickets will be available Aug. 1 but information and subscriptions, priced from $199 to $396, are available now at 416-366-7723 or at hgjewishtheatre.com.