From Hedwig

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Hedwig and the Angry Inch by Sage Theatre
Pumphouse Theatres
Thursday, February 28 - Saturday, March 22

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Occasionally, a piece of theatre meets the criteria it sets out for itself so effortlessly that it’s nearly impossible to criticize. This presents a unique problem for critics, as the bulk of review copy tends to be bloated with exactly this eponymous commodity and it's generally regarded as irresponsible to offer no critique at all.

With this in mind, let it be said that Jamie Konchak, playing Yitzhak in Sage Theatre's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, wears the most hideous pair of leather pants ever seen on a Calgary stage. They're remarkably awful even compared to other pairs of leather pants, which is a special kind of esthetic atrocity usually reserved for Internet wool-fetish websites and anything with rhinestones. Criticism aside and journalistic integrity safely intact, we can now move on to what was good about the show — which was, to no one's surprise, everything else.

Directed by multiple Betty Mitchell Award-winning talented bastard Kelly Reay (Trainspotting, Blowfish), Hedwig tells the story of an East-German transvestite glam-rocker who's touring the country with her band, The Angry Inch. The conceit of the show is that the audience has shown up to see a Hedwig concert, and the titular heroine (Geoffery Ewert) pauses between songs to regale the audience with stories from her life. The plot that gradually begins to coagulate from the potpourri of songs and stories is at once hilarious, tragic, touching and uplifting. This speaks volumes as to the strength of John Cameron Mitchell's script, but also of Ewert's performance.

If there's one thing Hedwig does particularly well, it's meaningful subjectivity. Ewert makes an excellent transvestite, but a poor woman. The voice he does to impersonate the story's antagonist, Tommy Gnosis, is an excellent impersonation of an East German impersonating an American, but a poor American accent on its own. Both of these subtle details (and many others) connect to an overarching theme of “becoming” in powerful ways during the climax, adding depth beyond Mitchell's original words.

After the show's initial run off-Broadway in New York, Mitchell also adapted it to a cult classic film. Though fans of the film will doubtless be drawn to the show already, many may ask themselves if the $25 entry fee will really be worth it when they can rent the DVD for $5. The answer is emphatically yes. The show complements the film perfectly, being at once distinct from it but also similar in all the ways that will produce warm, fuzzy nostalgia. Ewert's Hedwig, likewise, is entirely distinct from Mitchell's while still being pleasantly familiar — and equally terrific.

It's very easy to expound on Sage's cleverness with its production of Hedwig. It is, in every way that matters, a sublime performance. Even for the uninitiated, it's an excellent introduction to a character that so many have already fallen in love with. Still, it really is too bad about those pants.