{"id":32988,"date":"2019-07-19T03:51:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T10:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32988"},"modified":"2019-07-18T23:14:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T06:14:03","slug":"an-existential-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/07\/19\/an-existential-comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"An existential comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Germant, left, Sarah Boes and Drew Henderson co-star in Island Production\u2019s The Understudy<\/em>, Aug. 1-10 at PAL Studio Theatre. (photo by Jayme Cowley)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Oftentimes, in cultural endeavours, there is a tension between artistic vision and profit margins; that is, if there is any money to be made. This is one of the themes of The Understudy<\/em> by Theresa Rebeck, which is being presented by Island Productions next month at PAL Studio Theatre.<\/p>\n

The show co-stars Sarah Boes as Roxanne, the stage manager, who also is a frustrated actor; Drew Henderson as Jake, the good-looking action-hero star trying to be taken seriously as an actor; and Jewish community member Michael Germant as Harry, the understudy, who happens to be Roxanne\u2019s ex-fianc\u00e9. Despite the personal drama, \u201ca stoned lightboard operator, an omnipresent intercom system [and] the producers threatening to shutter the show,\u201d Roxanne must try to run the understudy rehearsal for the Broadway premi\u00e8re of a recently discovered Franz Kafka masterpiece.<\/p>\n

Existentialism, explains director Mel Tuck in his online notes for the production, \u201cdenotes the inexplicable nature of human existence and emphasizes man\u2019s freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of his acts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I like about The Understudy<\/em> and what I think is funny,\u201d Germant told the Independent<\/em>, \u201cis that, just when you think the characters have got things under control, everything falls apart. I also love how Rebeck makes the events of the play intertwine with the events of Kafka\u2019s \u2018undiscovered\u2019 play-within-the-play thematically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echoing Tuck\u2019s comments, Germant added, \u201cThe existential aspects in Kafka\u2019s play lead to the final choice that our three protagonists make at the end, both within and \u2018without\u2019 Kafka\u2019s play.\u201d<\/p>\n

About those protagonists and what they symbolize, Tuck writes, \u201cThere are actors that have substantial careers because they are attractive, and then there are actors who have chameleon-like skill at hiding themselves within the role they are playing. Both have their place and purpose. The battle between art and business is forever being played out before our very eyes. There are many arguments for art as opposed to business. We artists believe in the value of entertainment and intelligent growth for ourselves and our public. We are exploring polarities and the implications of internal versus external thoughts; how we are affected by our conditioning and how that manifests in our social lives and activities. In the theatre, as in movies and TV, one prime issue has taken precedence: money. Money is a defining and deciding factor in avenues of artistic endeavour. What is the best possible way to make a play, movie or TV show successful? The sad reality is usually money takes precedence. And often funny means money. This is a very funny play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Independent <\/em>has interviewed Germant a few times, all for serious dramas, but he has done comedy before.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood dramas have humour written into them,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the spoonful of comedy that makes the drama go down. And vice versa \u2013 good comedies like The Understudy<\/em> have drama at their core.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve actually done another comedy, called Seminar<\/em>, by Theresa Rebeck\u2026. A drama we did \u2013 John Patrick Shanley\u2019s The Dreamer Examines his Pillow<\/em> \u2013 has a lot<\/em> of humour, and a comedic ending. Both of those plays were also at the PAL Studio Theatre and both in 2014,\u201d said the actor, for whom this play marks his seventh for Island Productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn screen,\u201d he added, \u201cI was in a pilot called High Moon<\/em>, where my character was the comic relief, and I did a short dark comedy, which was really well-received at film festivals this year called Caught in the Spokes<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the ways in which comedic and dramatic roles differ, Germant said, \u201cComedy is heightened pace and energy. In drama, you can set your own pace \u2013 you can pause or take a break or a breath wherever you want. But comedy is structured very specifically and timing is the golden rule. In that way, it\u2019s more disciplined and difficult than drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets to The Understudy<\/em>, which runs Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m., Aug. 1-10, visit understudy.brownpapertickets.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Germant, left, Sarah Boes and Drew Henderson co-star in Island Production\u2019s The Understudy, Aug. 1-10 at PAL Studio Theatre. (photo by Jayme Cowley) Oftentimes, in cultural endeavours, there is a tension between artistic vision and profit margins; that is, if there is any money to be made. This is one of the themes of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[5278,9178,908,6381,6240,906,9177],"class_list":["post-32988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-comedy","tag-existentialism","tag-island-productions","tag-kafka","tag-mel-tuck","tag-michael-germant","tag-understudy"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}