FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved

On Stage by FFWD Staff Recently, when it came time for theatre pundits to put together their list of the best the 20th century had to offer, their choices didn’t differ much. Check out Britain’s National Theatre, London’s Observer or Evening Standard, or the New York Times, and you see most of the same names popping up. It’s easy to see why CP Taylor’s Good has earned a spot on everyone’s list. Along with the likes of Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard and David Mamet (probably not coincidentally, all are frequently produced at Calgary’s Theatre Junction), Taylor has a gift for bringing a complex story down to its essentials and dramatizing it for a modern audience. Of course, it’s also easy to see why Good rarely finds itself the centre of a major theatre company’s season. Good is sometimes hard work. It’s ideal for a small, well-utilized theatre space, where an audience can focus on the rich text, and it demands a gripping performance to draw a crowd into the deeply complex issues. Fortunately, Theatre Junction’s production of the play has both. Greg Lawson turns in an intense performance as John Halder, the German professor of literature who is almost imperceptibly drawn into the SS out of a sense of duty and a desire to please. Halder is increasingly oblivious to the moral implications of his actions, and the play takes place in his head as he recalls and justifies his choices. Hitler is a radical, he points out early on, but he won’t last long once Germany is back on its feet. There can be no objective determination of right and wrong, he argues later. The Holocaust was a direct result of Jewish humanism, he insists. Kevin McKendrick’s staging enhances the dreamlike quality of Halder’s recollections, and employs a striking set design that invisibly separates Halder from the other people in his life. Covering the floor is a chaos of grey, papery debris that is slowly shuffled away by the characters’ stylized movements, and eventually reveals itself to be hiding a bright red swastika. Good is subtitled "a play with music" – the music to which Halder retreats as he distances himself from the repercussions of his actions. Ranging from torch songs and drinking songs to marches and waltzes, the music is seamlessly integrated into the dramatic whole. There is an esoteric element to Good which challenges the viewer to think critically, rather than blindly climbing on for an emotional ride – but it’s richly rewarding for the effort. The show runs until February 26 at the Betty Mitchell Theatre. Speaking as someone who has recently had to pay cash (gasp) to see some theatre, maybe it’s time for a spot of free stuff: the ancillary events at ATP. Of course, playRites is not just about four mainstage productions of new Canadian plays. In co-operation with The Banff Centre for the Arts, ATP is also actively involved in the development of new work from the ground up, as it were, and the festival offers an opportunity to get a peek at what’s in the works. Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon in the ATP Rehearsal Hall, for example, you can see a staged reading of a new play. This is often where the playwright gets to see an audience’s first reaction to a brand new work-in-progress, and the play might take on an entirely different tone after this trial by fire. This weekend is Bartleby, an adaptation of a Herman Melville short story by Bryan Wade. If your attention span is too short even for that, try Brief New Works. This is where the mountain comes to Mohammed, as ATP goes out into the community to bring theatre to the masses. If you find yourself at Shawnessy Chapters on Thursday nights at 7:30, the Devonian Gardens at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesdays, the Martha Cohen lobby at 12:10 p.m. on Fridays, or Viscount Bennett on January 24 at 12:10 p.m., you can spend an hour or so watching a handful of short dramatic sketches. These sometimes grow up to find themselves on the Martha Cohen stage, like this year’s Knock, Knock by Rachel Wyatt. You still have more than a week to catch the Valentine-friendly Romeo and Juliet at The Shakespeare Company, but if unadulterated Shakespeare isn’t your style, how about the Coles Notes version? The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) starts its encore run at Lunchbox Theatre on February 21, and runs until March 5. It was one of the most popular features in their season last year, and tickets will no doubt go quickly. If you thought you hated Shakespeare, this comic chaos might change your mind – and if you love the Bard, you’ll get all the jokes.

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |