FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE
art and culture
with
ANDREW HLAVACEK
Sophistication
is the ability to approach culture
with the minimum amount of
anxiety.
Northrop Frye.
_________________________________________
JAN.
18 -
LE JOURNAL
D'ANNE FRANK directed by Lorraine Pintal
The
story of Anne Frank occupies a special place in the Canadian
context. This country’s connection to the Dutch struggle
against the Nazis and its granting of asylum to the Dutch Royal
family have forged a deep bond. Though not among his renowned
works, French author and playwright Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s
Le Journal d’Anne Frank is not only an homage
to young Anne’s hopeful vision for the world, it is also
a meditation on loss, memory and paternal love. It is therefore
all too fitting that Schmitt’s play see its North American
première here at Montréal Théatre du Nouveau
Monde (TNM) in the year that will commemorate the 70th anniversary
of the end of the conflict that saw millions of lives extinguished.
The
play opens on a frantic Otto Frank (Paul Doucet) waiting at
the station amidst the flux of displaced people flowing back
into the Dutch capital. Survivor of the camps, he makes a daily
pilgrimage to the station in desperate hope to reunite with
his daughters Anne (Mylène St-Sauveur) and Margot (Kaisa
Malinowska). Each day he returns dispirited to his company office
where his longtime assistant, Miep Gies (Sophie Prégent),
attempts to keep hope alive. It is not long before we learn
of Anne and Margot’s deaths. This sends him into dark
grief. Trying to console him, Miep gives Otto Anne’s diary,
one she had locked in a drawer following the family’s
arrest.
Thus
begins the main propos of Schmitt’s play. Otto struggles
to reconcile with his loss through peaks into Anne’s diary.
Each part he reads stirs vivid memories of the family’s
exile in the ‘Secret Annexe.' However, he discovers much
more: a daughter’s love for her father, her thoughts,
dreams impressions, desires -- an overwhelmingly personal and
honest account of her experiences. Not only is Otto forced to
accept his youngest child’s death, he must also confront
and accept her Self, her womanhood, her unique vision of the
world that clashes completely with his loss, rage and grief.
Director
Lorraine Pintal bravely tackles this tension and dichotomy at
the heart of Schmitt’s work, perhaps best exemplified
by the play’s excellent stage design, which delineates
space on two levels, the company office in the foreground, and
the Secret Annexe on a platform above and behind it. 
These
two spaces animate the two worlds of past and present, memory
and reality, allowing them to exist simultaneously on stage
and flow into each other to haunting effect. The focus of the
play is Otto’s rediscovery of Anne through her diary.
His readings in the diary trigger memories that appear on stage
as visions. This is especially poignant in scenes where Anne
takes up Otto’s reading, leaving him frozen on stage gazing
up as his memory materializes above. Pintal’s team succeeds
spectacularly in conjuring up these space-time shifts through
sharp, carefully-timed direction, use of multi-media and a powerful
score composed by Québec artist, Jorane.
Mylène
St-Sauveur delivers a convincing adolescent Anne whose strong
personality and girlish frivolity often clash with those around
her. Particularly touching are scenes in which Doucet’s
‘Otto’ realizes that his little girl has a private
life of desire well beyond her father’s control. Though
Doucet shines in these moments of being whisked away to another
time and place, his portrayal of Otto in the Annexe is somewhat
blander. While Schmitt’s play provides plenty of avenues
for comic relief, Pintal mostly uses the figure of Augusta Van
Pels (Marie-Hélène Thibault) whose fussy, slightly
hysterical character creates a locus for inter-personal conflict.
Thibault’s somewhat over-the-top delivery is thankfully
tempered by Jacques Girard’s laconic Hermann Van Pels
who nicely fills out the bickering married-couple trope.
Overall,
performances live up to the quality of the production and it
is perhaps due to opening night jitters that lines don’t
flow as smoothly as they could, with some small lapses in timing
disrupting the effect of shifting time and space so evocatively
created by the mise-en-scène. With a long run at TNM
followed by an extended tour throughout the province, there
is little doubt that these small details will be fully worked
out.
Le
Journal d’Anne Frank is perhaps not for everyone.
The ever-present undercurrent of the Shoah -- a painful subject
at any time -- is especially pertinent in this milestone year
of sombre commemoration. It is therefore not in the spirit of
mourning that the play should be seen but, rather, as a counterpoint
to it -- a moment to ponder the fundamentally hopeful legacy
of Anne Frank and her unshakable belief in inherent human goodness
that would prevail over atrocity and war’s madness.
For
further information about events connected with the production,
please visit http://www.spectramusique.com/artistes/nouvelle.aspx?idN=158&idA=82
and https://www.mbam.qc.ca/expositions/a-laffiche/anne-frank/.
Photos©
Christopher
Mancini
JAN.
18 -
JORANE: LE
JOURNAL D'ANNE FRANK (the music)
The
challenge of a soundtrack, it seems, is twofold. It must adequately
evoke the visual and narrative elements of the work to which
it is tied and it should also operate as an independent, cohesive
work in absence of the visual dimension in which it serves multiple
functions. Jorane’s unlikely second album of 2014 was
never intended to tackle the second challenge. It was originally
conceived as part of the TNM production of Éric Emmanuel
Schmitt’s 2012 play. Nevertheless, the album’s creation
is intimately connected with the conception of the play -- so
much so that each work of art indelibly inspires the other.
Jorane
has previously worked with Le Journal d’Anne Frank
director Lorraine Pintal on the production of Albertine
en cinq temps, in which the music played a minor role.
After Pintal approached her about Le Journal, Jorane
read the play several times. Profoundly inspired by the tragic
figure of Anne Frank, she was immediately drawn to the project.
From the outset, she was invited to participate in the readings
and worked closely with the production design crew to integrate
music more deeply into the narrative. Pintal’s vision,
seemingly always open to collaboration, ultimately allowed music
to shape the space of the play and vice versa.
The
album Le Journal d’Anne Frank owes its very existence
to Lorraine Pintal’s unequivocal embrace of Jorane’s
music. It was after all Pintal who contacted label Spectra and
pitched the album idea.
Such
an interwoven conception therefore begs the question whether
the album can exist as a cohesive work apart from the theatrical
ground, which nurtured and shaped it. Jorane’s response
is an unequivocal ‘yes’ in that the album project
provided the space needed to follow and develop various ideas
more fully than would have been possible otherwise. 
Using
the themes present in the play as points of departure, Jorane
creates thematic layers that repeat and evolve throughout the
album. This ultimately creates a unique narrative logic allowing
the listener to interact with the music whether or not she has
seen the play.
Jorane’s
work on Louis Cyr: L’homme le plus fort du monde
(Daniel Roby, 2013) is a milestone experience for the artist,
one she sees as key in enabling her to develop the orchestrations
for Le Journal d’Anne Frank. Work on the film also allowed
her to use tools she would not normally use in her solo work.
The result is an excellent orchestration that harnesses Jorane’s
trademark minimalism; the soundscapes are often wistful, contemplative
and at times playful. Though there are clearly dark undertones
given the nature of the story, the music never plunges into
despair, focusing rather on themes of memory and love of life.
Le Journal d’Anne Frank features Jorane on cello
and voice, and Vanessa Marcoux, on solo violin, accompanied
by the accomplished strings of the Quatuor Orphée. Colin
Gagné’s sound design for the play is woven into
the soundtrack and adds not only greater depth and texture,
but also provides (rather ironically) a supplementary narrative
context allowing the music to soar far beyond the stage. The
result is a moving, haunting, beautifully orchestrated and played
homage to a figure that lies at the very heart of Jorane’s
inspiration. Currently available online and at the Théatre
du nouveau monde until February 7th, 2015. http://www.tnm.qc.ca/piece/journal-danne-frank
Photos
© Christopher
Mancini
JAN.
13 -
JOHNNY
LEGDICK: A ROCK OPERA, Jimmy Karamanis, Jonah Carson,
Elijah Fisch, Macleod Truesdale, Tyler Miller
Previously seen at the 2014 Montreal Fringe
Festival, Johnny
Legdick: A Rock Opera brings together the collaborative
talents of independent theatre company, Playwright Hero,
and Montreal acoustic rock trio The JEM.
Well-worn
dramatic devices animate the plot of this musical play whose
strength lies predominantly in well directed and cleverly
written musical numbers. We follow the struggle of a group
of freaks in a circus run by the tyrannical Suckadacocka
Lickadagravy
(Tadzeo Horner-Chbib). The arrival into the fold of Johnny
Legdick (Colin Macdonald) -- cursed with a third leg in
place of his penis -- revives an ancient prophecy that casts
Johnny as a Moses figure destined to lead the freaks out
from bondage. First though, he must realize his true love
of Hannah Handvag (Arielle Palik), who, you guessed it,
has a hand in place of a vagina!
The
fun at the core of this spectacle lies in the diffuse talents
of the cast and crew. JEM member and co-writer Jonah Carson
appears as ‘Triclops Boy’ in the Chorus of freaks. Co-writer
Jimmy Karamanis directs the production and plays in the
Johnny Legdick band along with fellow co-writers, Tyler
Miller, [Musical Director] Macleod Truesdale and [JEM member]
Elijah Fisch. Regrettably, Johnny Legdick’s heavy musical
focus also undermines its dramatic and narrative integrity.
While the Chorus seems well directed (and often riotously
funny), other players seem to have been left to their own
devices, with much of the action and dialogue appearing
improvised. Although Arielle Palik’s rich vocal depth and
physical talent are undeniable, her ‘Hannah’ is a mite frenetic,
with nervousness to her body language that could use more
focused expression. Similarly, Tadzeo Horner-Chbib may have
missed his opportunity to fully flesh out the complexity
of ‘Suckadacocka,’ whose diabolism is a little too shrill
to be either funny or unnerving. Travis Martin as ‘Steve
the Steed’ triumphs as the equine foil to Colin Macdonald’s
reluctant hero ‘Johnny,’ and both actors’ presence and talents
bring the play much-needed dramatic heft. Criticism notwithstanding,
given that this production has its roots in fringe, it is
nevertheless a mighty effort by a group of talented musicians
and actors and one that is ultimately entertaining to behold.
See
Johnny Legdick: A Rock Opera at Centaur Theatre’s 18th Annual
Wildside Theatre Festival, January 7th to 17th, 2015. http://www.centaurtheatre.com/wildsidefestival.php
WINTER SLEEP,
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
[film
review]
Winner
of the Palme d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Winter
Sleep is Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest film set in the windswept
‘steppes’ and sandstone formations of Cappadocia in central
Anatolia, where inhabitants had carved out entire cities in
in rock.
Former
actor Aydin (Haluk Bilginer) is proprietor of a picturesque,
somewhat isolated, hotel carved into a hillside. Though one
of the local elite, and owner of various properties, he prefers
to leave business matters to his hotel manager, Hidayet (Aybert
Pekcan), and occupy himself with more intellectual matters such
as writing weekly columns in the local paper. His only other
companions during the slow winter months are a few hardy tourists,
his recently divorced sister Necla (Demet Akbag) and young wife
Nihal (Melisa Sözen). A confrontation he witnesses between a
tenant and Hidayet leaves him grasping for his moral compass
and retreating to the sanctum of his study to write an article
about the necessity for propriety, cleanliness and conscience.
As
wealthy patriarch, Aydin is seemingly respected while also nearly
absent in the community. He styles himself as beacon of morality
and conscience and yet shows disdain for, and disgust with,
humanity. Wealth has granted him the freedom to escape into
his own system of banal morality, which he uses to judge others.
This same privilege allows his immediate family to create their
illusions and, in turn, judge him.
Winter
Sleep is masterful but difficult; it lumbers -- perhaps
matching well the pace of its main protagonist who shuffles
about with a false sense of purpose -- and often stalls in scenes
of tense discussion, dripping with resentment and deliciously
cloaked in ulterior motive. Long shots and a static camera reveal
an extraordinarily detailed mise-en-scène that is a joy to experience
and fully justifies the film’s pacing. Exterior scenes of the
region’s beautiful vastness hauntingly mirror the bleakness
that we glimpse within.
Be
forewarned that Winter Sleep is a heavily psychological
film, whose central characters, albeit brilliantly portrayed,
may not be very likeable. Ceylan is, however, non-judgmental
in his treatment, allowing the audience to fully engage with
the film on a fundamental level, which makes for an extremely
touching, completely relatable experience despite the gulf of
culture, time and space.
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