I should preface this by saying that I am not a theatre critic. I am a theatre artist who is critical of theatre. This is an important distinction to make when writing about a show, especially when reviews are frequently viewed as judgments without appeal (Should one review be sufficient to condemn a production?). I prefer to play my part in commenting on theatre as part of the jury; what follows are just my impressions and all deliberations are welcome.

Praxis Theatre’s latest production, Stranger, premiered Friday night at The Theatre Centre to a sold-out (and then some) crowd. Derived from the famous existential novel L’Etranger by Albert Camus, Stranger follows a man, Meursault, from the death of his mother through his trial and condemnation for the murder of an Arab man on a beach. I recall enjoying L’Etranger in high school, despite the fact that “existential” generally leads to discussions that cause my eyes to glaze over, but I am more inspired by this story about confronting an absurd world after watching what the talented team from Praxis does with it.

The narrative in Praxis’s retelling is broken up, reordered, to take us through events in Meursault’s past as they occur (or as he is reminded of them) within his trial. The fluidity with which the story and the scenes move from one to the next has an effortlessness to it that is deceptively difficult to achieve. It is stream-of-consciousness theatre at its best, aided by a brilliant staging in which the action courses up and down the alley between two sides of an audience. In an instant, we are transported from a court room to a beach to a movie theatre and back to the courtroom, which we never really left.

Stranger is breathtaking, too, in its simplicity; it reinforces the idea that all theatre needs to exist is artists and space. There is nothing about the production that seems superfluous and what little is used (props, lighting, etc.) is done to devastating effect. One of the most enduring images to me is the shadow cast by the railings of the balcony onto the stage below: prison bars in light across the floor. No less thrilling are the many distinctly different characters created by a cast of six using little more than a pair of glasses, a hat, a shawl, a collar, and the occasional unbuttoning of a shirt. As an actress, it was fascinating to watch each performer get his/her opportunity to shine.

In the end, the real triumph of Stranger is in never having lost sight of what the show was meant to serve in the first place, which is the story. Every aspect of this wonderfully cohesive production, from staging to props, to performance, lends itself to the fact that “ultimately, [their] story is about an unconventional hero who, without heroic pretensions, agrees to die for the truth.” It is this story that is the real star and, while I don’t mean to pronounce judgment, this show, ultimately, shouldn’t be missed.

Posted: January 27th, 2009 under Brittney's Blogs.
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Theatre creates community. This was one of the first ideas planted in my brain at theatre school and one that certainly stuck with me throughout. Now I’m officially a graduate and out in the real world (big! scary!! exciting!!!) and, unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge no one has yet written a comprehensive manual on what exactly one is supposed to DO after graduating with a degree in Theatre. The obvious answers come to mind: audition and wait tables. I am working on the former and am far too sensitive for the latter (How then, you ask, will I ever survive this big bad industry? Excellent question. We shall see. But I digress…). In the meantime, I need a home, a hangout, an in, a friend, a community…enter the incredible theatre artists of Toronto.

I sent out approximately 6,957 emails to the Toronto theatre community upon my return to the city of my childhood asking how I could get involved. As for the responses, all I can say is “WOW!” Perhaps I lived in New York too long, where smiling is considered a sign of weakness (okay, that’s sort of untrue, but New Yorkers really aren’t so overtly friendly to strangers by and large), but I was floored. The emails I received in return were supportive, fun, friendly, and full of great ideas and opportunities. Sometimes all you have to do is say, “Hi, I’m here! What can I do?” Amongst these replies was the request from the lovely Cathy Gordon for a blogger, which might be the greatest job title ever yet coined. Having recently become addicted to Perez Hilton (I promise I read intelligent things, too…everyone needs a guilty pleasure!!), this seemed like a fabulous idea. So off to the Theatre Centre I went and here I am!

Now, I have been absent from Toronto since I was about nine; needless to say, I am a little out of touch with the current goings-on. I had never been to the Theatre Centre until recently and, as Cathy took me through the basic outline of what they have happening this year (A LOT), I was completely overwhelmed and excited. I won’t bore you with how cool I think the space itself is at the Theatre Centre, other than to say that I could see the season taking shape just standing in it. With such diversity in their programming, it seems only right that it should all take place in a location that can be (and, I gather, has been) a meeting house, a theatre, an art gallery, and a multitude of other things in turn. It’s where ideas take shape, people gather, and the work is done. This communal spirit encourages their atmosphere of collaboration between disciplines, artists, mediums, the neighborhood, and the world at large. Working together in such a productive way is, indeed, what the world so badly needs these days and it is also the creative ember for great art. But before any of these things, it is a foundation for community.

I am thrilled to once again call Toronto home and to be a part of this community. I look forward to contributing my voice to the Theatre Centre. And I would love to hear what the rest of the community has to say. So speak up!

Posted: October 4th, 2008 under Brittney's Blogs, Uncategorized.
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