Play: How It Works / Presented by Touchstone Theatre and Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad / March 12 - 15 / Shadbolt Centre for the Arts / Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Every
day, there are fine, no let’s change that to great acting performances
occurring on stages all around the globe, and not all of them take place in
large venues located in London’s Picadilly Circus, New York’s Broadway, or in
Toronto’s Theater District. Many of those performances do not have shiny
marquees announcing the play or the musical. Some of the productions take
place in more intimate settings such as
Burnaby,
Canada’s Shadbolt Centre for the Arts’ Studio Theatre. On March 12th,
I was privileged to sit in on Touchstone Theatre’s presentation of Daniel
MacIvor’s play How It Works.
MacIvor, a native of Cape Breton (Nova Scotia) Canada, is an award winning director, producer, playwright and actor, who presents us with a dramatic, introspective and sometimes jarring look at how human behavior can sometimes mask deep scars, that exist due to pain and the effects of traumatic events, that we have buried deep within. There are no starring roles in this four character play, for each of the actors, Anna Cummer as the troubled, and addicted nineteen year old Brooke, Kerry Sandomirsky as the earthy Christine, Andrew Wheeler as Brooke’s ‘cop,’ dad and Katharine Venour as his ex-wife Donna, are outstanding in their roles.
The play opens with Christine, alone on the stage, quietly addressing the audience in a distinct Maritime accent, “As far as I figure, everybody has had one thing that has happened to them. You can tell by looking at them.” She goes on to talk about the pain that is buried deep within. Her words foreshadow the story that is about to be told, and she makes a point of letting us know that those stories need to be told.
Following Christine’s serious monologue, the scene shifts to what should be considered as the first scene. Christine and Al are meeting for the first time, after communicating their interest in one another, via keystrokes while surfing an online dating site. Kerry Sandomirsky (Christine), will at times, have you bent over double with laughter, while in other moments, she will have you questioning the sanity of her character Christine. Al on the other hand, has a long way, a very long way to go before he refines his dating skills.
As MacIvor takes us through various twists and turns in the plot, Sandomirsky demonstrates her versatility as an actor, as she allows herself to become completely vulnerable and emotionally raw before her audience. She becomes sad, troubled and disassociated when recalling a traumatic and painful event from her past. She is a complete whacko, as she bounces from advice she received from Ophrah’s show or Dr. Phil, to misunderstanding even the simplest of conversations. At other times, she is profoundly wise, but not wise from book smarts, but rather the lessons that life has taught her.
These are complex characters that MacIvor has written into his script, and director Katrina Dunn does a great job of drawing raw emotion from each of the actors, such as Anna Cummer’s portrayal of Brooke’s anger, withdrawal symptoms, deceit and brokenness when she is forced to go ‘cold turkey,’ and quit her drug habit. The audience never feels that Cummer’s performance is contrived, as she completely immerses herself in the character of Brooke.
Donna (Venour) is the witch that we all love to hate, the snooty, socialite, divorcee who thinks she is two levels above everyone else, or so it seems. As the scenes unfold, we discover that behind that snooty façade of Donna, exists a vulnerable person, with her own fears and regrets. When Brooke lands in jail, Donna cries, and yes folks those are real tears that Venour sheds.
Director Dunn does a great job in creating believable flashbacks. In what is one of the best non-cinematic depictions of memory recall, that I have witnessed in many years, we relive Al and Donna’s very first date, we have a front row seat to the horror of Christine being sexually assaulted as a teenager (no nudity), and experience the pain of Brooke’s own deep, dark secret. The transitions are smooth, and the actors easily transcend time.
The award winning Sound Designer Paul Moniz de Sá, who has numerous stage credits and television credits, including Stargate SG1 and Battlestar Galactica, created the roots acoustic guitar and vocals score. His choice of music, helps set the mood, provides transparency as the scenes shift, and never sounds out of step with MacIvor’s characters.
The west coast premiere of Daniel MacIvor’s How It Works, completes its run at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts on March 15th. You can watch excerpts from the play on the Touchstone Theatre website.
Reviewed March 12th, 2008
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Riveting Riffs wishes to thank the Shadbolt Centre For The Arts for making it possible for us to review How It Works
