Steady Theatre’s production of James Reaney’s play Listen to the Wind (1972) is the exact opposite of what a lot of Contemporary Canadian Theatre seeks to be: it is not short, it is not sleek and sharply polished, and it is not at all cynical; and that’s exactly what makes it so beautifully refreshing.
The play is set in Perth, Ontario in an unspecified time-period, but one that feels similar to the time when Susan, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy first found Narnia. Here, Owen (Sam Vigneault) “dreams out” a play, adapted from the fictional Victorian novel The Saga of Caresfoot Court (based on Dawn (1884) by H. Rider Haggard), and he enlists his three best friends, Jenny (Rachel Lloyd), Harriet (Stepheny Hunter) and Ann (Abby Weisbrot), and a multitude of adults (including his parents) to help him bring the story to life. In this way, each actor in the production is playing at least two characters, and while most of the action is the arc of a captivating and harrowing Victorian tale of betrayal and revenge, we also see Owen’s “real world,” where he is very sick with an unnamed hereditary disease, and his mother (Briony Merritt) is not handling the situation in an ideal way. Thus, we see that Owen losing himself in Caresfoot Court is an act of escapism, his one opportunity to be able to play out a childhood for himself, in spite of his deteriorating health and fractured family. We also get the sense that the theatrics are also therapeutic for Jenny, Harriet and Ann, who are all living away from their parents for the summer. Similarly, the adults use the play as a way to connect with Owen, and to help shelter and protect him from an uncertain future.
This means that the cast of the dramatic rendering of The Saga of Caresfoot Court throw every ounce of joy and commitment and sense of fun, playfulness, care, and meticulous detail into the success of their production, despite their limited skills and resources. Here, the real director Julia Schultz reminds us that there is something so magical and so captivating in watching people who are having fun, and that playing is, obviously, at the heart of a play. There are some moments at the beginning of the play that are so truthful they feel awkward, because the actors have really captured all the chaotic, unpredictable, and unrefined energy of a bunch of children “getting up a play.” Each actor seems to slide more and more gracefully into their performance as the play goes on, or maybe it is the audience becoming so engrossed in the story that we don’t notice the rough edges anymore- either way the production sucks you into Owen’s world and holds you there for three hours, which is no small feat for Schultz.
The cast functions beautifully as an ensemble. There are some lovely musical moments, and the size of the cast helps to create the rich and evocative world of both Owen’s life and Owen’s play. Peter Sarty creates a complex, tragic figure in Piers Caresfoot, the selfish and jealous son of a wealthy squire who perpetually makes the wrong choice, and then, as Mitch, has a deeply beautiful moment with Owen and some empty medicine bottles. Michael Kamras plays Piers’ father, Devil Caresfoot, the curmudgeonly old miser, and also Owen’s very kindly doctor. Lou Campbell is delightfully wicked as the scheming Douglas Caresfoot, Piers’ cousin who dreams of one day usurping him as squire. Noella Murphy has some beautiful moments of tenderness caring for Angela, Piers’ daughter (played by Hunter as Harriet). Henricus Gielis is heartbreaking as Owen’s gentle father, who doesn’t know how to mend his marriage. Briony Merritt plays Owen’s mother, a sort of Nora Helmer character, who appears to be liberating herself from a unpleasant situation, but at what cost to her child? Merritt also shines as the Lady MacBeth-esque Geraldine, the mastermind revenge artist. Hastings, Weisbrot, Hunter, and Vigneault shine brightest as their children characters: while the “grownups” act, Jenny, Ann, Harriet, and Owen pretend, and even though the difference is slight, it’s poignant. They are a little more playful, a little more transparent, a little more likely to break the fourth wall. Vigneault, especially, became Owen so vividly for me that I had to remind myself that he is not, in fact, really a twelve year old child.
The choice to perform this play in the attic and the basement of the Jonathon McCully Mansion is perfect. This submerges the audience thoroughly into the world of Perth, in fact, in a way we play the neighbours and friends that Owen has invited over to see his play. This adds to the foundation of realism out of which the more fanciful Caresfoot Court story emerges, which makes the ending of the play all the more powerful and sad.
Julia Schultz is one of the boldest young directors working in Halifax. Here, she is challenging what makes a play “work” for a contemporary audience by staging something that goes against most of the theatre’s most popular current conventions… and she succeeds in spades.
Steady Theatre’s production of James Reaney’s listen to the wind plays at the Jonathon McCully Mansion (2507 Brunswick Street, Halifax) February 6th to 8th at 7:00pm and at the Conservatory of Performing Arts (Accessible Venue, 6199 Chebucto Road, Halifax) on February 9th at 6:00pm. The whole run is currently SOLD OUT.
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