SummerWorks - One Reed with Paul Thompson

Holly Theatre Batman, it has been so long since I have blogged for EAP it is shameful. Justin, our Executive Director, is always great at getting theatre news up here, for everyone to read. But my role on the blog was to talk about what our company is doing, and what is happening locally. So i am going to give you what should be half a dozen blog posts all at once. To start this is the first year since I moved to Toronto that I have seen any of the festivals' plays and musicals. Justin and I saw It's Just a Phase, a new musical at Fringe, and last week Russ took me to see One Reed and Paul Thompson's (Never Underestimate) the Power. I didn't write a review for It's Just a Phase, not because it wasn't deserving, there were definitely some cast members who deserved a shout out for their performances, but overall the music was lousy and I was not inspired. The standouts were definitely the second city alums Lauren Ash (Helen) and Ashley Botting (Tonya). Richard Anthony (Papa Tony) was also strong in his role of the flaming closeted father. But only one of the musical numbers was moving, the duet between Helen and Calgary. The choreography was dismal and although there were some interesting nuances, overall the story was cliche. I did appreciate how the show referenced Toronto, far too often shows about this city don't feel genuine and they don't translate well outside of Toronto. That was not the case with It's Just a Phase, which was presented at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace.

Far more compelling was the show I saw last week with Russ at SummerWorks,(Never Underestimate) the Power, written and developed by One Reed, a company I don't know much about and who's website appears to be defunct, (please email me if that is incorrect). Russ's playwright friend Jordan Tannahill had recommended it to us and it didn't disappoint. One Reed worked with the legendary Canadian playwright Paul Reed who I was interested to learn about. Jordan gave me the run down on his background, and Toronto credits, while we waited for the show to begin. (I have included the Canadian encyclopedia biography for Mr. Thompson below). Set in the post-911 context (Never Underestimate) is a story about isolation and connection. The play uses the famous blackout of the Eastern seaboard in 2003 as its focus. Using the power outage to contextualize the post-911 reality is something we've seen before, most famously in James Cameron Mitchell's film Shortbus, but it worked even better in this play because of the Toronto focus. Torontonians, having not experienced the terror of September the 11th first hand, struggled with their location until the watershed moment in 2003 when all of the East Coast was plunged into darkness. Ask anyone who was here and they remember it vividly, just as any New Yorker would tell you their 911 story. And the trio of actors really carry it off, particularly the guys, Evan Webber and Frank Cox-O'Connell. Also here was a show with definite musical elements that worked and lent weight to the experience. Megan Flynn, the lone female performer and the two piece band of Michael Louis Johnson and David Stein created a soundtrack to their play that was more musical and feeling that a lot of what gets called a musical these days (ehemmm Dirty Dancing). Flynn's voice, while not strong in a typical musical theatre sense, was emotional and stirring. Why (Never Underestimate) is a play and not a musical is something I can't quite articulate, although I feel strongly that it is the former. I was reminded of that film Once, which won the Oscar for its original song last year. Similar tone and music quality, but something that had a pedestrian perspective, too grounded to call a musical. If more musicals were like (Never Underestimate) the Power, it would elevate the whole field. I also enjoyed seeing the Factory Studio, a space I had never been to for some reason. Normally any theatre that is as unbearably hot as Factory was would be a bad thing, but in this case it felt right, like they had shut off the AC on purpose to remind us all of that sticky night five years ago. Kudos to One Reed and Paul Thompson's direction. (Never Underestimate) the Power had some of the best writing I've ever heard in new work. I'd love to see that show develop into something full-scale. As it is now at 50 min it's too short to be presented on its own in a large production.
Finally I'd like to give you all an EAP update. It is really crunch time now. We have two grant deadlines in mid-September, and that has been our primary focus. Assuming we get both grants we will be working on productions for the Summer/Fall of 2009. You may have also seen the website it is up and running. Thanks to Big Bang Technology and Shaun Robinson the graphic designer for all their work. We are still waiting on the business cards, which I am so excited about. Until then we are full stream ahead. See you all in the footlights.
LM
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007973