>>REVIEW
THE DECEMBER MAN
Runs until March 4
Written by Colleen Murphy
PlayRites Festival
Alberta Theatre Projects
Martha Cohen Theatre (Epcor Centre)
It isn’t too often that the gurgling sound of a coffee maker percolating brings tears. To set the scene, there is a stage empty of life, a moment of silence and then the sound of a coffee pot gurgling for just long enough to make one’s hair start to rise.
It is a chilling moment, and one that captures the heart of The December Man (L’homme de décembre), written by Colleen Murphy and directed by Bob White. It is also a moment we know will happen – making it no easier to hear.
It is difficult to write a review about a play that surrounds the aftermath of the Montreal shootings at École Polytechnique. Stating that, one must commend playwright Colleen Murphy for writing the work: instead of predictably writing what could be staged as the familiar scenes of a public tragedy, Murphy has moved away from a clichéd retelling of events. The result is a small and intimate story, rather than what could easily have been a somewhat exploitive melodrama. In short, Murphy’s The December Man offers insight into the personal lives of three characters, and how both outside and inside influences ultimately connect them to the same fate.
The play starts, quite literally, with the end of lives – although not with what one would expect, considering the play’s subject matter. Instead of starting with the TV news broadcasts and horror and panic that surrounded Montreal on December 6, 1989, we see a calm, nearly peaceful death of two adults who have chosen their own fate. The scenes then regress backwards through time, offering us insight into how these characters came to choose such an ending.
The story speculates on a death like that of Sarto Blais, who, like the play’s character Jean, witnessed the shootings at his school. Blais committed suicide, as did his parents, soon after the Montreal shootings. While this incident would be noted as a small footnote to the headlines surrounding the massacre, Murphy has shifted the focus to revealing what could have happened to a family in similar circumstances during such a time (a time no less relevant since the recent incident at Montreal’s Dawson College last September).
Rylan Wilke plays Jean, his body language complementing his introverted, unconfident character who wants no more than to have acted differently in such circumstances (many, after this event, wished they could have done more to protect their classmates). Kathleen and Benoit (played by Nancy Beatty and Brian Dooley respectively) are his parents, a working-class, Catholic couple that want nothing more than for their son to succeed at university (an opportunity neither of them ever had). There are light moments, moments where the family experiences joy, hope.
And then the haunting sound of a coffee maker….
White has staged this story with devastating sharpness – there is attention to every detail. Nancy Beatty plays Kathleen as a believable, irritating yet lovable mother – one who is overly religious, controlling and loving all at the same time. The tension in her face reveals the weight of her struggle, even as she recounts getting her son a coat on sale or the pyjamas he wore at a sleepover when he was younger. The true gem of this show, however, is Brian Dooley’s performance as Benoit. Dooley’s face tells the story even as his character remains silent, or recounts an episode on a fishing trip to comfort his son. He physically portrays the hard life of a working-class man bent on taking care of his family, often limping. (An interesting note is that this limp switches sides – since the show is so specifically directed and Dooley’s acting so flawless, I wonder if this was intentional.)
In many ways, these characters are written, directed and performed as the people we think we know. This is what makes The December Man such a good play and must-see at this year’s playRites Festival. |
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