Delicious dramatics
Brett Hooton
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In Extremis' 12th-century Paris stirs the modern pot with logic, religion and love
photo: Owen Egan
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Montreal's November theatre scene rivals American Thanksgiving weekend in festivity, feistiness and family drama
If you're anything like me, you'll watch in morbid delight this week when our American friends engage in that annual capitalist bloodletting known as Black Friday. It's strangely fascinating how, on the day after Thanksgiving, normally mild-mannered people become willing to bludgeon their neighbour for a Furby.Although we don't officially have this tradition in Canada, this year Montreal's independent theatre companies have embraced their own competitive spirit, offering so many shows this weekend that you'd think drama was going out of style.
Starting us off with a philosophical door-crasher is Triptych (at Théâtre Ste-Catherine, to Nov. 28). Each of these three shorts pillages a different bargain-books bin, drawing inspiration from the works of Camus, Kierkegaard and Sartre.
Likewise, a couple of academic programs serve up blue-light specials for audiences. At McGill, In Extremis: The Story of Abelard and Heloise (at Moyse Hall, to Nov. 28) enters its final weekend of love and logic in the Middle Ages, while the Montreal School of the Performing Arts tackles Lorraine Hansberry's classic A Raisin in the Sun (Nov. 28 and 29). Stellar production values and talented young casts should put tickets to these shows on anybody's wish list.
Girl Got Lost Productions also delves into times gone by, specifically the era of Zeppelin, draft dodgers and casual sex, in Hippies & Bolsheviks (at Freestanding Space, to Dec. 5). Break out your bellbottoms and treat your best
comrade. For anglophones who love French theatre, a special present: Famed Quebec actress Marie Brassard graces the Centaur stage with Jimmy (to Nov. 29). Blurring the line between dream and reality, this is the perfect show for people who prefer more abstract, meaningful gifts, like adopting a star.
If you have winter wanderlust but can't afford to travel, Bryan James wants to help. His Terminal Terminal (at MAI, to Nov. 28) tells the story of Merhan Karimi Nasseri, the Iranian-born man who, because of a legal hiccup, ended up wandering Charles-de-Gaulle Airport for 16 years.
And what would the holidays be in Montreal without a little nightmarish bureaucracy? Porte Parole reminds us that getting the runaround is as Québécois as poutine: They revisit the collapse of the Concorde overpass in Sexy Béton II: Justice (at the Segal Centre, to Dec. 1).
Finally, Tableau d'Hôte wrap up their marathon run of George F. Walker's Suburban Motel cycle with Criminal Genius and Risk Everything (at Mainline Theatre, to Dec. 3). Nothing says happy holidays like heart-warming stories about a father and son, problem gambling and domestic abuse.
