Busting out
Jodi Essery
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Damien Aitkins and Ben Carlson as Algernon and Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest
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Two very different productions take repression and shove it
The mind of the adolescent is a precarious and invigorating hangout, and one perfectly suited to theatrics: Emotions are big, stakes high, and innocence and experience ever at each other's throats. In Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening, the abyss between burgeoning sexuality and the rigid repression of Victorian society proves the perfect gaping hole over which to string a tightrope into adulthood. In trademark fashion, Ted Hughes's adaptation leaves all bullshit behind, managing to pummel the essence of the matter from every character's mouth. Although the material certainly carries the mark of another time, it doesn't feel dated. But Wedekind's tale is not without its conundrums. Act 1 plays out in relatively naturalistic terms, but the audience is greeted after the intermission by a completely over-the-top representation of the schoolmaster and his fellow professors that seems to have sprung from another source entirely. Much of the actual plot takes place between scenes, leaving themes of sexual curiosity and the tragedy of politeness over knowledge to hold the piece together.
That's where Persephone Productions' Gabrielle Soskin could have been more strict. Her recent Awakening, while hard-hitting in theory, never quite gelled. It wasn't a question of acting: Persephone's mandate to provide recent graduates with professional experience dictates that everyone will not be stellar, but certainly for every weak choice in Awakening there was an equally compelling and surprising
one. What the production lacked was style. The naturalism of the first half seemed like a decent choice, and a case could even be made for the extreme juxtaposition of the schoolmaster scene, played in full commedia mask. But what happened after became stuck between the two worlds: It's impossible to keep buying into the plot as more or less real, but the masks, whose physical presence on the actors' faces take us right out of what we know of the play up to that moment, leave no room to marry the extreme with the extremely personal.
Awakening's design was similarly plagued: While the neutral set allowed us to focus on the text, the costumes were a visual distraction, and by extension, unnecessary. Like Hughes's translation, a truly minimal approach featuring more poetry than history would have served to bind the visuals.
Persephone Productions' Spring Awakening, like its tormented young characters, was, quibbles aside, well worth the listen, and speaks to the promise in the company's second outing, Nancy Huston's Prodigy, later this season.
oooIf Wedekind armed his Victorian-era youngsters with sledgehammers to swing passionately at the dangerous veneer of their society, Oscar Wilde's preference was to skewer his surroundings with the precision of a rapier wit. In its current bright and bouncy incarnation at the Alvin and Leanor Segal Theatre, his Importance of Being Earnest stands up as a grin-inducing verbal tennis volley. The real treasure here is Brenda Robbins, whose Miss Prism manages to channel the collective spirit of Monty Python into her absurdly hilarious characterization. The effect is as irreverent toward Mr. Wilde as he was to his targets, nicely taking the fun up a notch.
The Importance of Being Earnest
At the Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre, Saidye Bronfman Centre, to Nov. 27
I just read the reviews from two members and boy this story really sounded a little confusing. They seemed to of liked the first half then came to the second half and they changed their opinions. Thank you for your reviews because I don't think I'd ever want to
see this play.
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Rita Reale
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{19 votes}
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| I agree with Jodi, but I still enjoyed Spring Awakening |
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There was a sense of style missing I found... when the second half began, we were wondering if we had walked into another theatre by mistake. The 2 halves were so uneven- the first one seemed to drag a bit, but in the second half, great performances Talya Rubin, Rebecca Croll, & the multi-talented, forever surprising Tristan D. Lalla made it really come to Life finally. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves, & I would support Persephone again.
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Rachel Steinman
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{16 votes}
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