Tag: theatre

Victoria is alive and kicking!

Dulcinea Langfelder, being carried by Eric Gingras, in Victoria, which is at Massey Theatre for two shows only next week. (photo from Dulcinea Langfelder & Co.)

Victoria is coming to New Westminster next week for two shows only. Created and performed by Dulcinea Langfelder, a versatile dancer, multimedia performer and award-winning choreographer from Montreal, Victoria is about old age and young spirit, about laughter in the face of tragedy.

Langfelder started her life in New York. She studied ballet and pantomime, singing and acting. After a few years in Europe, including London and Paris, she moved to Montreal in 1978 to join La Troupe Omnibus. Since then, Montreal has been her home. In 1985, she founded her own company, Virtuous Circle Dance Theatre. In 1997, the company changed its name to Dulcinea Langfelder & Co.

Langfelder loves Montreal and can’t imagine living anywhere else. “The city is effervescent, young culturally compared to New York or Paris,” she said. “Fewer boundaries between categories, and close enough to New York to visit my mom. Why on earth would I want to live elsewhere?”

The same philosophy applies to her choreography and performing. Why on earth would she do anything else? “For the moment, I can still do what I love to do, and I believe that it’s important to see older people on stage. Art has always been the most effective way to influence our attitudes. Victoria gives voice to those who have ‘disappeared’ through aging – but we are still alive and kicking!”

Although it’s hard to pinpoint Victoria’s exact theatrical classification, Langfelder said, “It is a multidisciplinary and multimedia work for the stage. There really is no major discipline. I work with the elements on my palette: movement (I guess I do always put that one first), text, humour, dramatic – through line, projected imagery, music and a bit of puppetry. Everything is choreographed, not just the movement.”

The heroine, Victoria, is “a wheelchair-bound 90-year-old, suffering from the loss of memory, autonomy and just about everything else,” reads the press release. But Langfelder melds poignant and funny in this show of an elderly woman’s courage. Victoria premièred in 1999, and Langfelder told the Independent about its origins.

“In 1994, an actor friend of mine, Charles Fariala, who also worked as an orderly and knew that I have a penchant for tragicomedy, called me to say, ‘You must meet Victor, an old man in a wheelchair who’s lost his memory; sometimes I wonder if he’s just gaga or if he’s discovered Nirvana.’ I immediately responded, ‘We’ll call her Victoria!’ I was intrigued by the question: Where do we find our mental victory when we we’ve lost our physical power?”

Inspired by the concept, Fariala and Langfelder started working on the project. “Charles wrote pages of text, which I re-worked,” said Langfelder. “I also incorporated a lot of text that came from Angel Petrilli, a woman who became the principal model for the character, although there were other people as well, including my own father. But this piece is multidisciplinary and multimedia, so the ‘script’ is composed of text, choreography, song and projected imagery. It was written in concert with all of my collaborators; I created the choreography.”

One of the most unusual aspects of the show is that the protagonist is bound to her wheelchair. “It is hard to tame the wheelchair beast,” Langfelder admitted, “but fascinating for a mover!”

The show’s success and longevity – 18 years now – surprises even its creator. “I didn’t think it would fly at all, with such taboo subject matter,” she said. “But I discovered that audiences had been starving to have this conversation in a non-depressing way. While treating this subject as accurately as I can, Victoria is an uplifting piece, because there really are rich, poetic and hilarious moments when dealing with dementia and the end of life. We just underline those moments, without taking the subject matter lightly.”

Like every performer, Langfelder knows that art must change with time, that an actor should be flexible in her communication with different audiences. Victoria is no exception to this rule. “It changed a lot in the first years,” Langfelder explained, “then subtle changes. It adapted to different languages and cultures, though it clearly reminds us of what we have in common around the world. We’ve done this piece everywhere from Japan to Zimbabwe, in seven languages.”

One of the latest changes was adding another actress to play the title role. “I recently realized that this piece could live longer than I will,” said Langfelder. “I trained Anne Sabourin in the role. She plays Victoria in French.”

Langfelder herself plays Victoria in English in every show, in every country, and the reception has been overwhelmingly favourable, but that is not enough for the actress. “The Victoria project is about touring the piece for the general audience it was designed for,” she said. “Plus, we work hard to get those who can most benefit, and are the least likely to frequent the theatre: seniors and family/professional caregivers. The way we get them to the theatre, and Victoria can’t be done anywhere else, is that we go to them first. We offer workshops that answer their immediate needs, like non-verbal communication, movement for seniors and seminars on creativity, humour and dementia. Then we use the opportunity to make them understand that theatre can actually be useful, even more useful than workshops. We invite them to the theatre.”

Like her heroine, Langfelder meets her challenges with a smile. “I love making people laugh at difficult situations,” she said. “It makes me feel useful. My father’s last words to me, before his stroke, were in response to me complaining about my challenges. He said, ‘You mustn’t get discouraged, because what you do is so important! You put human dilemma on stage and allow us to laugh at it; what could be more important than that?’ I had just begun working on Victoria, and he never saw it. I become him when I play Victoria.”

Victoria is at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster on Oct. 27 and 28. For tickets, visit ticketsnw.ca or call 604-521-5050.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com.

Relatable dysfunction

The Beacham family. Back row, left to right: Seth Little as Guy, Nick Beacham’s partner; Jordon Navratil as Nick; Mia Ingimundson as Norris Beacham, the daughter; and Chris Walters as Kevin, Norris’ husband. Seated are Howard Siegel as the patriarch of the family, Glen, and Anna Hagan as the matriarch, Bonnie. (photo by Ellie O’Day)

Homeward Bound by Elliott Hayes is about death and relationships. And family dynamics. Jewish community member Howard Siegel plays the father, Glen Beacham, in Western Gold Theatre’s production that opens today, Oct. 6, and runs until Oct. 29 at Pal Studio Theatre.

Set in 1990, Glen and Bonnie Beacham have invited their adult children (a son and a daughter) and their respective partners for dinner – and an announcement, publicist and Jewish community member Ellie O’Day told the Independent. Homeward Bound “is a dark comedy,” she said, “but also plays with the ways we talk to each other but don’t always really listen.”

“Every family has a time when they get together. Ours was Shabbat,” said Siegel. “No matter where we were or how busy our week was we had to be home Friday for dinner. We ate at the dining room table instead of our usual place in the kitchen, and talked, or argued, but that was our family time. If there was chicken soup, we were having roast chicken; if it was vegetable soup, it was brisket. While the Beachams are getting together on a Sunday and it may not be as regular as my childhood was, dinner with the family is no less important and the news of the week is going to change all their lives.”

Of the plot, O’Day added, “Dad, who happily distracts himself with crossword puzzles, is apparently not well…. Mother distracts herself by constant chatter (where will they go on their next holiday? Dad is totally noncommittal)…. Meanwhile, the gay son’s partner is late for this Sunday dinner … and the daughter is trying unsuccessfully to hide the deterioration of her marriage.”

Siegel described the character of Glen as a “glib, funny, highly educated” man who “has provided a substantial middle-class standard of living for his family.” He said, “My father aspired to these qualities, but it was his struggle, so I wasn’t able to model Glen after my dad. However, finding the love for his family that perhaps isn’t so clear in the text is important to me and to the play. That was very apparent in my experience in my parents’ home.”

He added about the Beachams, “This is a family like so many families we know or grew up in. The parents have to accept choices their children make whether they like or understand them; they accept them out of love and perhaps duty. The kids bicker, but would defend their sibling to anyone if push came to shove. Deep in this family’s dysfunction is a connection that we all should be able to understand.”

Homeward Bound runs Oct. 6-29, Tuesday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m.; and Oct. 19, 2 p.m., at Pal Studio Theatre, 581 Cardero St. Tickets are $32/$27 from 604-363-5734 or homeward. brownpapertickets.com.

What does future hold?

Jewish community member mia amir is the dramaturg of Wypsa, which is at the Fringe Festival until Sept. 16.

While the plot of Wyspa may bring to mind William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the book was not a direct inspiration for this work, co-writer and director Julia Siedlanowska told the Independent.

The creation of the play, which opened at the Vancouver Fringe Festival Sept. 7, began with the reading and discussion of an original story written by Siedlanowska and Kanon Hewitt.

“Our team includes five collaborators between the ages of 11 and 16,” said Siedlanowska. “They have all been involved directly in the creation of this piece through world-building, research, writing text, improvisation, creating soundscapes, costumes and props. They are all also performing in the piece.”

Siedlanowska and Kanon’s story “tells the tale of a walled-in community that has sustained itself through oil extraction for centuries,” Siedlanowska explained. “When fires start raging within the walls, the mothers of the community make the decision to send their children away through the only opening to the outside world – an opening to the ocean.

“After days of drifting, they finally arrive on an island. Here, they must decide whether they will live by the rigid rules of their old society or create their own.

“We separated the experience into three worlds,” she continued. “The home world, the world of the boat and the world of the island. From there, we collectively decided the specific circumstances of each of these, including what rules apply in the home world and the island world. The youth created their own characters and decided on each of their relationships to each other. Text and movement were all generated by the collaborators, with myself and Kanon making decisions about the show structure with the help of our dramaturg mia amir. There are some improvisational aspects – much of the show takes place within an improvised structure with scenes changing depending on the audience.”

The end result came from research of instances in which children were removed from their homes during the Second World War, said Siedlanowska, “including Japan after the Tokyo bombings and the Kindertransport of Jewish children in Europe, as well as the Sixties Scoop in Canada.

“One piece of literature that I did directly mention in the initial phases of brainstorming was the story of King Matt the First, written by Polish-Jewish playwright Janusz Korczak. Korczak ran an orphanage in Second World War Poland. He was a pedagogue, writer and children’s rights activist. The orphanage was called Our House, and the children living there published their own newspaper and held their own court when conflicts arose among them. King Matt the First was about a child who becomes king, and what might happen if children were rulers.”

However, the idea of the story first arose, she said, “from questions around the rise in domestic violence in Alberta as a result of the economic downturn and job loss in the oil and gas industry. This violence is predominantly towards women.

“This then led to questions around how raising youth within rigid gender identities might enforce these patterns of violence. Instead of writing what we think youth might have to say about these themes, we decided to ask directly. In relation to climate change, we also wanted to ask the question, how do we – as an adult audience – react to dialogue around the climate crisis when those who will inherit the planet stand directly in front of us?”

Wyspa is being presented as part of Generation Hot, a mentorship initiative of the Only Animal and the Fringe Festival, which presents the work of seven writer-directors between the ages of 17 and 24. This year’s program is called Waterborne. “Each participant has found a personal response to a chosen site on Granville Island and the theme of water,” explains the press release. “Two programs of these short works will run in rep during the 2017 Vancouver Fringe Festival…. Wyspa is paired with Citlali: A Fantastic Tale About Water by a Mexican Poet by Brenda Muñoz.”

Wyspa runs Sept. 8, 10, 13-14 and 16, 8 p.m., at Ron Basford Park on Granville Island. For tickets ($12) and the full Fringe schedule, visit vancouverfringe.com.

Modern-day Merchant

Warren Kimmel (Shylock), left, with Charlie Gallant (Bassanio) in Bard on the Beach’s Merchant of Venice. (photo by David Blue)

It is always hard as a Jew to watch Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, which has been characterized at one end of the spectrum as purely antisemitic and at the other as sympathetic to the plight of outsiders. Each vicious epithet hurled at Shylock, the Jewish protagonist, hits you in the gut like a ton of bricks. However, the play has to be considered in the context that Shakespeare likely had never even met a Jew.

Jews were expelled from England in 1290 and not invited back until the 1650s, by Oliver Cromwell. England was judenrein (“free of Jews”) for almost 400 years. Merchant was written between 1594 and 1599. How, then, could Shakespeare write such virulent diatribes against Jews? Was he influenced by the zeitgeist of his time or was he trying to preach a morality lesson to Elizabethan audiences? Bard on the Beach takes on the daunting task of presenting this “sinister parable of our times,” as director Nigel Shawn Williams calls it in his director’s notes.

The story revolves around Bassanio (Charlie Gallant), a Venetian lord and bankrupt fortune hunter, who needs 3,000 ducats (apparently close to three-quarters of a million in today’s dollars) to woo Belmont heiress Portia (Olivia Hutt) so that he can wed wealthily. His friend, Antonio (Edward Foy), a successful shipping merchant, urges him to borrow the sum from Shylock (Jewish community member Warren Kimmel) and agrees to stand surety for the loan. Shylock, who has been humiliated and abused by Antonio and his ilk, sees an opportunity for revenge and agrees to lend the money on the condition that if there is a default he gets a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Antonio’s ships run aground, he cannot repay the loan and Shylock demands his bond in a dramatic court room scene that includes the “Quality of Mercy” speech and, unfortunately, a not-so-happy ending for Shylock.

Fast-forward several centuries and enter cosmopolitan Venice as presented in Bard’s contemporary take on this play. It is a world inhabited by self-centred metrosexuals with a sense of entitlement, where money and power carry the day. These guys are not very nice and anyone who does not fit their worldview is an outsider deserving of contempt. The play opens with a frenetic scene as actors bustle to and fro. Shylock enters the melee, is tripped by Antonio and falls flat on his face amid the jeering crowd – a harbinger of what is to come.

I have seen all four of Bard’s productions of Merchant since it was first presented in 1996 – this one raises the bar, although there are some shaky bits along the way. While purists decry taking Shakespearean works out of period, putting Merchant in a contemporary business setting full of suits will resonate with audiences.

photo - Warren Kimmel is sublime in his dignified portrayal of Shylock in Bard on the Beach’s Merchant of Venice
Warren Kimmel is sublime in his dignified portrayal of Shylock in Bard on the Beach’s Merchant of Venice. (photo by David Blue)

Despite the fact that I cringed every time Shylock was spat upon or called a Jew dog, I was moved by Kimmel’s “Hath a Jew not eyes” soliloquy, his heartbreak on learning that his daughter Jessica (Carmela Sison) had eloped with gentile Lorenzo (Chirag Naik), his soulful rendition of the Kaddish and his isolation as he sat alone in the courtroom facing his antagonists. Kimmel is sublime in his dignified portrayal of Shylock. You really care about what happens to him.

While Antonio is the merchant of Venice and Shylock the victim, this Bard version is very much about Portia and her plight as a woman facing stereotypical and misogynistic restrictions. We first see this when she has to endure the indignity of being the prize (wife) in a game devised by her now-deceased father for three would-be suitors. Each has the chance to pick one of three caskets (gold, silver and lead) that contains her photograph. The first two, Prince of Morocco (Nadeem Phillip) and Prince of Aragon (Paul Moniz de Sa), are brilliant in their cameo roles. In other productions, they are played as buffoons. Here they are elegantly dressed but smarmy and unctuous and, thank goodness, ultimately unsuccessful in their casket choices. Then along comes Bassanio, who picks the right casket (“all that glimmers is not gold”) and wins fair lady.

Portia’s next trial is the real one, where she disguises herself as a young lawyer and listens carefully to Shylock’s pleas for justice. It is in this scene that Hutt truly shines as the quick-witted and resourceful heroine Shakespeare intended her to be.

As good as the production is, there are some problems. Many of the actors spend a lot of time yelling their lines, which is distracting. I was offended by the Nazi salute Solania (Kate Besworth) made when mocking Shylock. It adds nothing to the story and should be taken out. There is a short homoerotic scene between Bassanio and Antonio, including a full-on mouth-to-mouth kiss, that seemed out of place, and Shylock’s forced conversion to Christianity is played down – he is told he must convert and simply walks off the stage, leaving the audience to wonder what happened to the bankrupt and humiliated moneylender.

Production values are high, including some interesting freeze-frame moments. The stage is at floor level, making for a very intimate audience experience. The stark minimalist set allows the focus to be on the dialogue. High-tech gadgets like cellphones, laptops and iPads seamlessly fit into the mix, and Drew Facey’s stylishly chic costumes are structured and fitted for urban Venice, and softer and looser for coastal Belmont. Conor Moore’s projections, Adrian Muir’s lighting and Patrick Pennefather’s sound, a mélange of contemporary and classical music, provide the finishing touches.

This is an intelligent, moving production. See it, consider it, discuss it. Tickets for this and other Bard shows can be purchased at bardonthebeach.org or 604-739-0559.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

***

Also on stage …

Running on the Main Stage at Bard on the Beach is Much Ado About Nothing with The Winter’s Tale. Director John Murphy has transported the comedy of Much Ado into a 1950s Italian film studio. Think Fellini, Sophia Loren, Vespas and fabulous cocktail dresses.

The story is boy meets girl, they profess to hate each other and then realize (with a little nudging from family and friends) that maybe they are right for each other. Of course, to get to the final epiphany, there are lots of misadventures, including mistaken identities, a young bride left at the altar and a faked death. As the program guide notes, “Friendships are tested, secrets are revealed but will love conquer all?” Amber Lewis and Kevin MacDonald are stellar as in the main roles of Beatrice (one of Shakespeare’s feistiest female characters) and Benedick. Community member Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg’s choreography is featured in this fun foray.

The Two Gentleman of Verona, which is on the Howard Family Stage, is also very good. Friedenberg choreographed some of the movement in this production as well, and her work is lovely. This production also stars a real dog, a basset hound named Gertie, who almost steals the show without doing anything but coming out on stage and mournfully looking at the audience.

– TK

Kimmel plays Shylock

Bard on the Beach’s The Merchant of Venice is set in modern times, where the character of Shylock, played by Warren Kimmel, is a high-powered businessman. (photo by David Cooper)

Among the Shakespearean works being presented by Bard on the Beach this season is The Merchant of Venice, which is being complemented with a short run of local playwright and Jewish community member Mark Leiren-Young’s one-man show Shylock. Fellow Jewish community member Warren Kimmel has taken on the daunting task of playing Shylock in both the main production and its eponymous companion piece.

There is continuing controversy over whether or not theatrical companies should produce Merchant. There are those who say the play should be relegated to the dustbin of history while others champion it as an opportunity for meaningful dialogue about outsiders and otherness.

In Merchant, Bassanio, an eligible Venetian bachelor, wishes to “wed wealthily” and woo the beautiful heiress Portia. To do so, he needs money. Enter his friend, Antonio, a successful merchant of Venice, who can guarantee a loan. Jewish moneylender Shylock is approached. Shylock, who has been ridiculed and despised by the citizens of Venice, especially Antonio, sees an opportunity for revenge and agrees to make the loan in return for Antonio’s bond, which, if forfeit, would give Shylock a “pound of Antonio’s flesh.”

Meanwhile, Portia’s father has devised a test for eligible suitors to win his daughter’s hand. The antics of the three suitors vying for the prize provide some comic relief for the tragedy that follows. Bassanio wins his lady but learns that Antonio’s ships have all been wrecked at sea and that the merchant cannot pay back the loan. Shylock is insisting upon his “pound of flesh” so Bassanio makes haste back to Venice.

This leads to a powerful courtroom scene where Portia, disguised as a young lawyer, makes an emotional plea in her “quality of mercy” speech. However, Shylock insists upon his legal rights and wins the suit. Just as he is about to take his “prize,” Portia points out to him that he is restricted to exactly one pound of flesh and not one drop of Christian blood is to be shed, or else Shylock will forfeit his own life. Shylock agrees to walk away but is nonetheless systematically stripped of all his possessions and forced to convert to Christianity.

“I was very flattered when Christopher Gaze, the artistic director, asked me to play Shylock in both plays,” Kimmel told the Independent. “This will be my Bard debut and the first time that I have played a really serious dramatic role in Canada, as my background has mostly been in musicals.”

Kimmel, born in South Africa, was trained in classical theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. He compared Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter verses to the rhythm in songs, so there is no problem there, but he has been grappling with how to present this iconic character to audiences.

“The problem I have with the play is the portrayal of Shylock,” he said. “It is very complicated because it is antisemitic. But, at the same time, it is not just black and white. Shylock is not a nice guy, he is a piece of work – but a complicated one. On one side, he is an aggressive businessman but, on the other, he lost his wife, had a hell of a life and loves his daughter more than anything, perhaps too much … to the point that she wants to escape and does so by taking his money and running off with a gentile. So, I have an inner conflict to resolve to get into the character so that it makes sense to me.”

“That really is the central question, isn’t it – is this play sympathetic or not? This is the first time a Jew on stage has been portrayed as anything close to human and we can say Shakespeare is amazing for doing this. Or, let’s be honest, it is an antisemitic piece and the guy is basically cast as the villain for whom you have absolutely no sympathy.”

Some productions portray Shylock in a sympathetic light, while others paint him as the quintessential villain. “That really is the central question, isn’t it – is this play sympathetic or not? This is the first time a Jew on stage has been portrayed as anything close to human and we can say Shakespeare is amazing for doing this. Or, let’s be honest, it is an antisemitic piece and the guy is basically cast as the villain for whom you have absolutely no sympathy.”

This is the fourth time Bard will have produced Merchant and Kimmel is the third Jewish actor to take on the role. “You don’t have to be Jewish to play Shylock, just like you don’t have to be black to play Othello. However, I do believe there is a cultural sensitivity that a Jewish actor brings to the role,” said Kimmel.

Many with even only a passing knowledge of literature know who Shylock is, and the iconic “Hath not a Jew eyes” soliloquy is as well known as Hamlet’s “To be or not to be.”

“Funnily enough,” said Kimmel, “doing that soliloquy is not what worries me about the piece…. You can do it as a plea for justice or you can do it with more of an aggressive tone,” he said, paraphrasing the speech’s main point, “But what about us? We are the same as you, so we don’t need to take this from you anymore.”

“I have decided that I am not going to play it as a victim,” said Kimmel.

As to the courtroom scene where Shylock demands his “pound of flesh,” he said, “I think I have to play him there as a vengeful kind of guy, I just don’t see any other way to do it. Some productions try to show the struggle between the good soul and the bad soul, but I see him as unrelenting in his quest for the forfeit, even though he has been offered up to three times the original amount of the loan and even though he is aware that what he is doing is wrong, fully aware, but he can’t stop himself.

“That is what happens with big emotions like revenge – one gets tunnel vision. I sing a piece of the [Maurice] Ravel Kaddish, which is very ornate, just before the courtroom scene. The point of that is to show Shylock’s mindset, ‘Look, my wife is dead, my daughter is dead [to me], I have nothing left to live for, I am going to take this man’s pound of flesh.’ I think that I would like to play the character as sinister but understandable – that this is a steely, powerful guy who is saying, just because people are prejudiced against you, does not mean you have to be a victim.”

Bard on the Beach’s Merchant is being set in modern-day Venice.

“It is a pretend world, it has to be,” said Kimmel. “It is a corporate banking world of suits that centres around a group of high-powered businessmen. Shylock is one of them. He is savvy and a very powerful guy by virtue of the fact that he has a lot of money. There is a tension there in the play itself as, despite his money, he is treated as a second-class citizen. We are not playing up the religious aspect in terms of costuming so that the only outwardly visible sign of his Judaism will be the yarmulke that I will be wearing – he is a modern Jew.”

On the issue of whether or not the play is too offensive for contemporary sensitivities, Kimmel is thoughtful.

“I don’t think you should look at it with post-Holocaust eyes,” he said. “The fact that this version is set in modern times makes it even more difficult to digest. In the actual period, 1500, Jews were essentially reviled wherever they lived, and Shakespeare was just reflecting the animus of the time.”

Despite the antisemitism, Kimmel feels that the play is one of the great works of literature and that it is important to see it.

“I feel that, as actors, if we are not doing something that is offending someone, why are we doing it? We are supposed to provoke dialogue and conversation.”

Noting that “there is way too much political correctness in the world right now,” he said, “I feel that, as actors, if we are not doing something that is offending someone, why are we doing it? We are supposed to provoke dialogue and conversation. For example, when people are spitting on Shylock and calling him a dirty Jew, that has to be part of the story so you get what is going on. You can’t ask, does it offend you because people are spitting on you? That’s the story and that is part of why he goes and tries to cut someone’s heart out. You have to be driven to that, so what would drive you to do that? Once you get the back story, then you see the context of his actions.”

Kimmel believes audiences will get something different out of this version of the play than from the three previous productions. One of the reasons for this belief, he said, is that the director, Nigel Shawn Williams, is playing on the theme that we are all outsiders at one point or another. Kimmel wants people to leave the theatre challenged to sort out their feelings about what they have just seen.

Shylock will run for one week in September. In this work, the actor who plays Shylock comes out after the final performance of Merchant – the play has been shut down due to public pressure and, as part of a talk-back, the actor defends his participation in it as a Jew and explains why it is important to stage Shakespeare’s play.

“I am more excited about that piece because, with it, I know exactly where I am at and I get the arguments from both sides,” said Kimmel. “It was written specifically for Bard and Vancouver to run alongside its 1996 Merchant production with local community member David Berner playing the Jewish actor.”

Kimmel said, “The play seems to say that you can’t censor something just because it offends you. Why can’t you have a Jewish villain? Why don’t we just stop doing anyone who is in any way compromised?”

Audiences will be exposed to a range of perspectives on history, censorship, identity and the meaning of art in this intensive 90-minute offering, which is being directed by first-time Bard director Sherry Yoon, who will be fleshing (pun intended) out the play with projections and sound effects.

“Shylock is a character that has endured for over 400 years. He is the best-known Jewish character in literature. There are people the world over who know what a shylock is. That is because he is so fascinating. Jews are fascinating people.”

“This is the first great Shakespearean character,” said Kimmel of Merchant’s Shylock. “After this comes Othello, Hamlet and Lear. It is really the first time Shakespeare goes from silly comedies with twins with mistaken identities to serious roles that fascinate humanity through time. Shylock is a character that has endured for over 400 years. He is the best-known Jewish character in literature. There are people the world over who know what a shylock is. That is because he is so fascinating. Jews are fascinating people.”

The play had been used to incite hatred against Jews – the Nazis in particular promoted it because it fit in with their worldview.

“That is exactly why it is important for everyone to see Merchant for themselves,” said Kimmel, “so you don’t get the story secondhand – you should be exposed to it, not told about it.”

Bard on the Beach runs until Sept. 24. Its other productions this season are Much Ado About Nothing, Winter’s Tale and Two Gentleman of Verona. For the full schedule and tickets, visit bardonthebeach.org.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Hand for Hand to God

Oliver Castillo plays both the human, Jason, and the puppet, Tyrone. (photo by David Cooper)

Supplementary education programs, or “afternoon schools,” as they’re commonly referred to, instil teens with an understanding of their Jewish heritage, including Hebrew language teaching, Judaic curricula, social activities and an opportunity to connect meaningfully with other Jewish teens. While Hand to God does not take place in a Jewish-oriented environment (in fact, it’s in the basement of a church), it still addresses the common issues of how to teach teens the value of their religion and heritage – and it does so hilariously.

Teacher Margery (the wonderful Jennifer Lines) tries to get three students – Jason, Timothy and Jessica – to pull together a hand-puppet show based on stories of the Hebrew Bible. The play starts with the youths creating their puppets and, at first, all things appear normal, but the disruptive bunch has other ideas.

The brash Timothy has little interest in the puppets but attends the classes because he has a crush on Margery (and is not shy about expressing his feelings) and Jessica seems relatively engaged with the concept. The timid and introverted Jason, Margery’s son, not only embraces the use of puppets but creates a second persona – Tyrone – within his doll.

Margery’s husband has recently died and Jason uses Tyrone to express the feelings of anger and abandonment he has toward his mother. While this dual identity seems rather innocuous at first – and Margery even pleads with Jason to support her in the puppet idea – it gets out of hand. Tyrone’s personality begins to overwhelm that of Jason’s until the unruly mannequin takes over entirely. At times, Jason’s extroverted alter ego is a benefit, helping him convey his attraction to Jessica. At other times, it becomes a raving maniac capable of serious destruction.

As the children deal with their own issues, Margery is dealing with hers. Devastated by the loss of her husband, she feels rudderless and alone. She hopes to find some fulfilment and pleasure in her work with the teens, but that disintegrates quickly as Timothy’s advances and Jason’s/Tyrone’s shenanigans descend into chaos and violence.

Meanwhile, the minister also has feelings for Margery, which puts her in an awkward position, feeling manipulated and lacking support from the one person she feels should be understanding.

Lines gives a credible performance as the confused Margery; and Oliver Castillo is amazing as he carries out the simultaneous roles of Jason and Tyrone.

The play is somewhat autobiographical in that playwright Robert Askins lived in a small town of conservative and religious family values. His mother actually did have an after-school puppet theatre in which Askins participated until his mid-teens, when his father died, after which he turned his back on his faith and became cynical about all things religious.

Though the production will have you laughing from the start, it tackles serious issues, such as the loss of loved ones, the loss of faith, feelings of betrayal and resentment, love and forgiveness. The subject matter will have you wondering how you might deal with similar situations, such as how far do you let a child go in creating a second personality? Is it harmful or helpful, and how do you know when to draw the line?

Hand to God runs at BMO Theatre Centre until June 25. Visit artsclub.com for tickets and showtimes. Warning: there is serious offensive language.

Baila Lazarus is a Vancouver-based freelance writer and photographer. She teaches businesses how to get coverage in mainstream media. More information can be found at phase2coaching.com.

A swing and a hit play

Hasan (Nadeem Phillip) tells Haseena (Risha Nanda) about his dream of playing cricket in Canada. (photo by Emily Cooper)

I have to admit I’ve never seen a cricket match in all the years I’ve lived in Vancouver. I’ve seen games in other countries – but I never knew Stanley Park had a field for cricket going back to the 1890s and a clubhouse that just turned 100.

In fact, the pitch at Brockton Oval is considered rather hallowed ground by some and forms a focal point in The Men in White, the current production at the Arts Club Granville Island Stage.

Playwright Anosh Irani takes the audience from India, where dreamers see Canada as a land of refuge; to Canada, where dreams don’t always turn out the way people hope; to the world of cricket, where even a “duck” doesn’t hurt too badly as long as you don’t have to borrow a “box.”

Based partly on the author’s true experience at a chicken slaughterhouse, the play is set in two different locations – a chicken stand in Bombay and a cricket clubhouse in Vancouver.

In India, 18-year-old Hasan dreams of becoming a famous cricket player and playing in Vancouver with his brother. As he laments his lot in life, he admires a local girl from afar, trying to woo her, despite becoming tongue-tied and awkward whenever she comes by. His adoptive father, who owns the shop, looks after him, trying to impart wisdom about life, albeit in rather unorthodox ways.

In Vancouver, Hasan’s brother, Abdul, has been living and working in a restaurant illegally, after arriving on a tourist visa. He’s embarrassed to tell his brother of his circumstance, and the only thing that keeps his spirits up is to be able to play his favourite sport on a beautiful grass cricket field – a privilege for which he is immensely grateful. He’s particularly impressed because Don Bradman, a renowned cricket player, had said in 1948: “The Brockton Point ground is the prettiest upon which it has been my pleasure to play.”

In the clubhouse, Hasan and his teammates discuss the game, each other’s lives and the issues of the day, but come to blows when racist sentiment arises. A doctor who had emigrated from Bombay takes issue with Abdul. His angry outburst ends with him declaring, “I will not allow Muslims in this country!”

The scene is disturbing in its familiarity, given President Trump’s machinations, but also very touching, as the other team members rally around Abdul in support.

While thought-provoking, the play doesn’t offer up any answers. Its forte is in the writing and directing. The performance is jam-packed with witty repartee, sarcastic barbs and playful insults that are tossed at one another like verbal confetti.

Irani has a skill in wordplay and humour that leaves the audience feeling at once unsettled by some of what’s being said, while appreciating its delivery. With six of the cast members almost talking over one another at times, the outcome could have been rather messy, and the play needed the deft hand of Rachel Ditor at the helm to direct the characters in their split-second timing. The set design by Amir Ofek is minimalist, but in some ways reflects a cricket game. The two locations share one stage and action alternates between the two, as it would in a sporting match. Ofek’s design enables the sets to coexist, while still being visually separated by the few props and use of different lighting.

The Men in White runs at Granville Island Stage until March 11 (artsclub.com). Irani’s work – he is also an author – has gained national and international acclaim and honours. Take the opportunity to see it for yourself.

Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer and media strategist in Vancouver. Her consulting services are at phase2coaching.com.

Chutzpah! tix now on sale

David Broza, left, and Ali Paris will perform in concert. (photo from Chutzpah! Festival)

Tickets are now on sale for the 17th annual Chutzpah! Lisa Nemetz International Jewish Performing Arts Festival, which will run from Feb. 16 to March 13, at venues including Rothstein Theatre, York Theatre, Scotiabank Dance Centre and the Biltmore Cabaret.

“We are all excited for another year of presenting an electrifying array of internationally acclaimed dancers, musicians, comedians and theatrical artists to our audiences in Canadian, Western Canadian and world premières. We’re headed for an energizing and thrilling journey from stand-up comedy to theatrical drama to rich global music to explosive and elegant dance!” said Mary-Louise Albert, Chutzpah!’s artistic and managing director.

photo - Italy’s Spellbound Contemporary Ballet returns to Vancouver, bringing with them Carmina Burana
Italy’s Spellbound Contemporary Ballet returns to Vancouver, bringing with them Carmina Burana. (photo by Mariano Bevilacqua)

As it does every year, the 2017 Chutzpah! Festival dance series presents some of the most sought-after contemporary choreographers in the world. This year’s performances include the return of Italy’s Spellbound Contemporary Ballet with their full-length Carmina Burana; Israel’s Yossi Berg and Oded Graf Dance Theatre with their acclaimed 4Men, Alice, Bach and the Deer; and Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion (United States) brings a mixed repertoire of some of Kyle Abraham’s most popular works in their Western Canadian première. Vancouver’s Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art première their completed and full-length version of Telemetry, while local choreographer and performer Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg and Italy’s award-winning Silvia Gribaudi navigate the role of comedy as a catalyst to questions of gender, culture and language and understanding – this is world première presented with the Dance Centre. As well, in Chutzpah! Plus (May 13-14), there is Birds Sing a Pretty Song (Canada/United States/Israel/Argentina), an exploration through dance, film, interactive media and live music created by Rebecca Margolick and Maxx Berkowitz during a yearlong fellowship in New York City with LABA: A Laboratory for New Jewish Culture.

Among the Chutzpah! Festival 2017 musical highlights is Grammy-winners the Klezmatics 30th Anniversary Tour (United States). In concert together will be David Broza, whose music reflects the three different countries in which he was raised (Israel, Spain and England), and Ali Paris, who fuses Middle Eastern and Western music styles, and plays the qanun, a rare 76-string zither that dates back to the 14th century. Also in concert together will be Shalom Hanoch – touted as “the King of Israeli Rock” and compared to musicians such as Neil Young and Mick Jagger – who will be joined on stage by his longtime music producer, partner and keyboard player Moshe Levi.

Now based out of Chicago, Marbin, founded by Israeli guitarist Dani Rabin and Israeli saxophonist Danny Markovitch, is a progressive jazz-rock band, and MNGWA [ming-wah] opens their performance, mixing elements of psychedelic rock, dub, African rhythms, and vocals in four languages. Israeli singer Maya Avraham, who is known by Chutzpah! audiences from her performances with the Idan Raichel Project, comes to Vancouver with her band of Israeli and American musicians, and Lyla Canté (United States/Israel/Japan/Argentina) also joins the festival – exploring the intersection of Sephardi, flamenco and Ashkenazi music. For Chutzpah! Plus (April 2), composer Landon Braverman and Friends put on an evening of musical theatre – while currently based in New York, Braverman is originally from Vancouver.

With respect to theatre, one of this year’s Chutzpah! highlights is Wrestling Jerusalem, created and performed by Aaron Davidman. Set in America, Israel and Palestine, the play follows one man’s journey to help understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Davidman’s solo performance is a personal story that grapples with the complexities of identity, history and social justice.

Another theatre draw is Folk Lordz, high-speed and multicultural improv featuring two members of Edmonton-based Rapid Fire Theatre, which was co-created by Todd Houseman and Ben Gorodetsky and brings together the unlikely combination of Cree storytelling, Chekhovian character drama and spontaneous comedy.

Comedy highlights include Mark Schiff (United States), who has headlined major casinos and clubs and has appeared many times on both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman. He has had HBO and Showtime specials, was a featured act at the Montreal Comedy Festival and regularly opens for Jerry Seinfeld.

Also on the comedy front, there is a double bill: Ali Hassan and Judy Gold. Canada’s Hassan appears in his one-man show Muslim Interrupted; Hassan is a stand-up comedian, actor, chef and radio and television celebrity, and is the host of Laugh Out Loud on CBC Radio and SIRIUSXM. Gold’s (United States) most recent TV appearances include guest-starring roles on Louie, Broad City, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Inside Amy Schumer, and she has a recurring role on the upcoming series on TBS Search Party. Gold has had stand-up specials on HBO (Cable Ace Award), Comedy Central and LOGO and was twice nominated for the American Comedy Award for funniest female comedian.

After the success of Chutzpah’s first literary event in 2016, this year’s Chutzpah! features author Christopher Noxon in Hollywood Stories, a special pre-festival event. Noxon is an author, journalist and illustrator and his humorous and unflinching Plus One is a novel about an interfaith family set in contemporary Los Angeles. Noxon is married to television writer and producer Jenji Kohan, creator of Orange is the New Black. This event is presented with the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival and will take place on Feb. 5.

Single tickets for Chutzpah! range from $23 to $50 and are on sale now from chutzpahfestival.com, the festival box office, 604-257-5145, or Tickets Tonight, 604-684-2787. Chutzi Packs are also available – see four different shows for $94 – and new this year is a special five-show dance pack for $115.

Tickets will be available in-person starting Jan. 30 at the on-site festival box office at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. For hours and other information, visit chutzpahfestival.com.

Hope amid dysfunction

Jewish community members Gina Leon (above) and Michael Germant are both co-producers, as well as actors, in Island Productions’ The Glass Menagerie. (photo from Gina Leon)

Tennessee Williams is one of the giants of the American theatre. His 1944 four-actor play The Glass Menagerie, which catapulted him to fame, is about to open in Vancouver, produced by local theatrical troupe Island Productions.

Island Productions is an international ensemble and includes, among others, director Mel Tuck and Jewish actors and co-producers Gina Leon and Michael Germant. Although the three come from different places and backgrounds, they are united in their reverence for Williams and his writing.

Leon was born in Johannesburg. She moved to Canada with her family when she was 7. “I spent my childhood in costume, always played something,” she recalled, “but, in high school, I painted a lot. My mother and grandfather were artists.”

Torn between visual arts and theatre, Leon studied both, theatre and art history at the University of Toronto, visual art at the College of Art and Design in Sydney and acting at the New School for Drama in New York. Now, she divides her time between acting and painting. “They feed into each other,” she said. “Art develops imagination, which is necessary for an actor. They are both telling a story.”

In The Glass Menagerie, Leon plays Laura, a young woman with physical disabilities who is mentally fragile. “The play is autobiographical for Williams, and the role of Laura is based on his own beloved sister,” Leon said.

“Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite playwrights, maybe the favorite,” she added. “He has a knack for telling stories that are very personal to him but also universal. The Glass Menagerie happens during the Depression, but everything in the story is relevant now. Because of his timeless appeal, Williams can reach a wide audience. I love his language, too. It is poetic and profound.”

According to Leon, while the play is the story of a dysfunctional family, “it’s also a story of hope. Laura plays with her glass figurines, polishes them in the play. They represent her hope, the connections she sometimes lacks in real life. Her glass menagerie has another meaning, too: it’s her safe refuge. She needs an escape from the harsh reality of life in the 1930s because she is so sensitive and vulnerable.”

photo - Michael Germant
Michael Germant (photo from Michael Germant)

Leon’s co-producer and fellow community member, Germant, spent his early childhood in Moscow. His family moved to Montreal when he was 6.

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian, then I wanted to be a spy,” he joked. “When I went to university in Montreal to study French, I was miserable. I started taking acting classes and liked it.”

He began thinking of a theatrical career and later studied at the Montreal School for Performing Arts and the Vancouver Film School.

“When we lived in Moscow, my mother was a stage manager at a children’s theatre,” he said. “Although she didn’t work in theatre after we immigrated, she supported my decision of a career in the performing arts. Seven years ago, I moved to Vancouver to study with Mel Tuck. In 2013, when we organized our Island Productions company, Mel became the director.”

In the show, Germant plays Jim, a guest at the house of Laura, her mother and brother.

“Jim is Laura’s final hope,” Germant explained. “His colleague Tom invited him home to meet his mother and sister, but Tom didn’t tell Jim about Laura. When Jim meets Laura, he is drawn to her, to her imaginary world, to her dreamy personality, but this attraction can’t go anywhere. Jim is already engaged to another woman, but Tom didn’t know that. The entire play is a series of miscommunications. There is sadness there but there is also humor. Like many Williams’ plays, this one is funny but it is also poignant, heartfelt.”

Tuck confirmed the play’s controversial elements and its sophisticated treatment of emotions and ideas, comedy interwoven with bleakness. He knows it from personal experience, having played Laura’s brother Tom in a production of The Glass Menagerie long ago. “There is another connection, too,” he said. “Lynne Griffin, the wonderful actress who plays Amanda, Laura’s mother, in this production, long ago played Laura.”

Tuck’s theatre career spans more than five decades. According to his bio online, he has founded nine theatre companies and directed more than 300 plays; he has taught at institutions across the country and many of his students have become successful and award-winning actors. He still teaches at his studio in Gastown, while also acting himself and, of course, directing.

“The play takes place during the Depression era and we set it as a period play, but its themes are still relevant now,” he said. “We all move forward with our lives, but how much do we sacrifice?… Williams was always compassionate towards his characters, and this play is a plea to understand them all, with their faults and their vulnerabilities.”

The Glass Menagerie runs Sept. 6-25 at PAL Studio Theatre, 581 Cardero St. For tickets and more information, visit glassmenagerie.ca.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com.

Take a place on stage

A scene from one of the end-of-class performances by the Hebrew-language theatre group for women at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Director Orly Naim is also teaching an English-language course this year. (photo from Orly Naim)

One of the new courses at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver is Community Theatre. The classes, which start Sept. 15 and run Thursday evenings to June 15, will “use theatre methods of movement, role-playing, improvisation and other out-of-the-box routines” and help “individuals and the group to find new ways for self-expression.” They will also prepare participants for an end-of-course public performance.

The instructor, community theatre director Orly Naim, has previously taught at the JCCGV. In fact, the other course she is leading at the centre – a Hebrew-language theatre group for women – picks up where she left off when she went on maternity leave last year. Those classes start Sept. 12 and run Monday nights to June 19, also ending with a public performance by participants.

For both theatre groups, Naim teaches and facilitates throughout the year, and writes the end-of-class play based on material that is brought up in the group sessions.

But Naim’s experience extends well beyond the JCCGV. After graduating from Tel Aviv University with a degree in theatre, Naim, who is passionate about community theatre, worked in Jaffa with marginalized groups, such as Arab women and drug addicts, during the winters, and traveled to the former Soviet Union during the summer to work at Jewish youth camps. In Israel, she was involved in many different social and educational projects, not all of which were theatre-oriented. Her life changed when her partner got a job offer in British Columbia and the couple landed here with their children.

In her new environment, Naim searched for new groups with which to work. The JCCGV’s Israeli culture department gave her program a chance and the women’s Hebrew theatre group was formed. It had run for two years when the Independent spoke with Naim last summer, as she was starting maternity leave.

“As a social person by nature, I have found the immigration process to be very challenging,” Naim told the Independent. “You think you are prepared, but, once you land, reality is different from what you expected. Not surprisingly, most of the women in our group had similiar experiences and the group helped them to express these stories on stage and out loud. The group started slowly, but the rumor spread fast and we grew rapidly, to 15 women, in just few months. Our group is very diverse and each woman has her own unique experience. Since I love to write and direct, I collected the stories and we turned them into our first show.”

Naim said, “The nature of community theatre is finding a common denominator, and here it was our language barrier and the fact that we are all immigrants. We all face the same personal conflicts with our families back home and how to keep in touch with them, and all these issues were addressed in this stage play [that ended the classes]. It might look personal at first, but it was actually based on other women’s experiences.”

For Naim, the “Hebrew group have turned out to be my extended family and I miss all of them during this time off. The dynamic we created there was unique and special – you can ask anyone who was involved. You can’t hide true passion, and I’m so glad we were able to find it.”

For those wanting to try the new Community Theatre course, which is given in English, it is open to men and women 20+ years old and no previous experience is necessary; the Hebrew-language group is for women 20 and older. For registration and cost information on both programs, visit jccgv.com.

Shahar Ben Halevi is a writer and filmmaker living in Vancouver.