It was another strong day for me at Halifax Fringe. I started out with a show that left me frustrated and, frankly, disappointed, but that I took an extra day to think about, and I ended the day with a play that filled me with pride for what magic theatre artists can create in a small black box space and an experience I am sure I will always remember.
Shylock. By Mark Leiren-Young. The Waiting Room ( 6040 Almon Street)
A white man, played by a well known and respected local white actor, stood on stage and said that he felt entitled to be able to play Othello.
That’s when Shylock really jumped the shark.
But did it? Is the playwright, Mark Leiren-Young, and actor Lee J. Campbell really suggesting that what we need right now is an authoritative voice of a white man to intellectually, and using absurd hypotheticals, reassure us that it’s perfectly fine to minimize the voices of people of colour, of Jews and of women, because they’re all being too sensitive?” “Asking tough questions of The Merchant of Venice is the gateway drug for the Libtards! Soon they will be burning down entire libraries! Where does the madness end!?” Or is the play about the hypocrisy of our protagonist, John Davies, who is the epitome of the man who calls foul on being called out for his racism or his misogyny, and then collapses into a tirade of white man baby tears. Davies, keeps reasserting his argument “No one is listening to my side!” but at the same time, he seems oblivious to the fact that those who disagree with him have as much right to have their opinions heard as he does. If no one comes to see your play, whether because it’s technically bad or because they disagree with the message, that’s not censorship. That’s Capitalism. Of course the questions that are being raised are complex, and Davies certainly doesn’t delve adequately into their complexity, but is that the point? Is the play set up as a subliminal test for how critically audiences think about what an authoritative figure like Campbell, like Davies, will say? At what point do you say to yourself, “Wait a minute, all the women in this play are characterized as a joke. One Jew’s opinion about The Merchant of Venice certainly can’t represent the opinion of every Jewish person. No, Lee J. Campbell can’t play Othello. Obviously.” But, is that obvious to everyone sitting in the theatre? I saw (white) people nodding, vindicated. Is that the point? To literally show the power that theatre can have? Are people going to leave the theatre and write to Elizabeth Murphy and tell her next year she should have Lee J. Campbell playing Othello at Shakespeare By the Sea? You want to think better of your fellow Haligonians, but you saw the emails that were sent to our city councillors when they finally took down the Cornwallis statue. At one point Davies says we should trust in our audience’s intellect, but I’ve been on the Internet, I know that intelligence is not our society’s strongest suit.
When this play was performed in Vancouver by Intrepid Theatre Jerry Wasserman had the same questions as I do, “Kimmel as Davies is very persuasive, getting the audience nodding and laughing in agreement as he builds his libertarian argument. Why shouldn’t he be allowed to play Othello? But I wonder if this is all a clever trick on Leiren-Young’s part. Are we really supposed to buy this? Because I couldn’t help hearing echoes of Trumpian demagoguery with its straw-woman antagonists like Marsha T. Berman (lock her up!) and that phantom enemy of the alt-right, “political correctness.” Those overly sensitive liberals and pinko university types are the real problem. I mean, if you start taking down the Robert E. Lee statues, where will it all end?” If the play is set up this way, it works for sure, but I think it’s stronger if we are not left wondering. If you fail the “Am I Being Racist?” test, but you don’t know you were tested or that you failed… how does that change anything?
Go see The Negroes are Congregating. Go see A Man Walks Into a Bar. Go see She Wolf. And then go see Shylock. If John Davies won’t give you an accurate counterargument, I sure as hell will.
Shylock plays at The Waiting Room (6040 Almon Street)
Wednesday September 5th 7pm
Friday September 7th 9pm
The Birthday by Ali House. The Waiting Room (6040 Almon Street)
Whale Song Theatre‘s The Birthday is a very short, but fully realized, little play about one friend trying to convince the other that she should come out and celebrate her birthday. The hitch is that the birthday girl is concerned that she is going to die, and in this universe, her concerns are valid. Ali House’s dialogue captures the realism of how two young friends speak with one another, and she does a great job at establishing strong relationships (even with characters who are never seen) and the rules of an adjacent universe, in a very short period of time. Briony Merritt and Laura Thornton both give strong performances and there is a fun, twist ending. It’s a play that is perfect for Fringe and a concept that is unique and thought provoking.
The Birthday plays at The Waiting Room (6040 Almon Street) at the following times:
Thursday September 6th 8:30pm
Saturday September 8th 3:40pm & 9:15pm
Sunday September 9th 11:45am
Follow Whale Song Theatre on: Facebook. Instagram (@WhaleSongTheatre).
Agatha Apple by Three Gallows Theatre.
grace booth
I’ve been a theatre critic for eight years, I’ve seen thousands of plays and I can tell you with confidence that I have never seen anything like Agatha Apple and you should stop reading this immediately and go.
The play asks: “What if the earth were a human being?”The answer is beautiful and tragic and frightening and needs to be seen. It is performed magically by Grace Booth, and conjured forth with love, creativity, empathy, and intelligence. Go.
Agatha Apples plays at the Waiting Room (6040 Almon Street) at the following times:
Thursday September 6th 11pm
Friday September 7th 10:40pm
Sunday September 9th 3:30pm & 7pm
Follow Three Gallows Theatre on Social Media: Facebook. Instagram (@ThreeGallowsTheatre).
Halifax Fringe runs from August 30 to September 9th, 2018. For more information and to purchase tickets please visit http://halifaxfringe.ca or stop by The Bus Stop Theatre in person at 2203 Gottingen Street. The Bus Stop is the Festival Hub and the Main Box Office. You can also pick up a Fringe Guide there.
You can follow Halifax Fringe on Social Media: Facebook. Twitter. Instagram (@HalifaxFringe)
Hope to see you at Halifax Fringe!
