The hottest theatre ticket in Halifax lately is for Andrea Scott’s play Controlled Damage, which has been essentially sold out since before it opened at Neptune Theatre’s Scotiabank Studio Theatre on February 4th, 2020. This World Premiere, presented by Neptune in association with Toronto’s b current, gives audiences a beautifully nuanced portrait of Viola Desmond’s life, both before and after she was forcefully removed from a theatre and jailed in New Glasgow for wanting to choose her own seat. Scott also excels at positioning Desmond and her story within the complex and rich historical, cultural, and societal community of Desmond’s hometown of Halifax.
Viola Desmond was an impressive person long before November 8, 1946. She was a teacher, an entrepreneur, and a business owner in the 1930s and 40s. Scott roots Controlled Damage in Desmond’s relationship with her husband, Jack, and her relationship within her community in the North End of Halifax. Scott deftly shows us how Viola was confronted with misogyny and racism when she was teaching young black schoolchildren as a young woman, and also how her creative mind and patient nature allowed her to connect beautifully with her students. We see how she continually maneuvers around misogynic comments from Jack at home as she advocates kindly but firmly for herself to finish her schooling in Montréal, and to continue to work at her own business after they are married. Scott also shows us the privilege Viola has in Halifax because, since her mother was white, her skin is a lighter shade of brown, and her hair a different texture, than many others in her community. Viola herself is sometimes unaware of this privilege, and that she has some advantages some of her neighbours don’t have. We see the moment where Viola Desmond did nothing wrong in a movie theatre in 1946 and had the courage and the confidence to stand up for herself. We see how her actions profoundly changed the dynamics between her and her husband, and her relationships within her community, and how she perceived her “activism” at the end of her life. Scott has beautifully layered all these dynamics and themes to create a dramatically multifaceted story that makes space for different points of view and allows our hero to be flawed in a way that doesn’t take away from her power, but reinforces her humanity.
Director Nigel Shawn Williams emphasizes the theme of bearing witness throughout the play, using Scott’s Grecian chorus that, “not only guides us through and participates in the telling of the story, but true to the Grecian model- the chorus represents all of us,” he writes in his Director’s Notes in the show’s programme. As Viola makes her way through public space we are aware of her casually being watched by others. While Viola is dressed very beautifully in the fashions of the time the play is set, the chorus wear more neutral clothes, suggesting that they are the timeless community surrounding Viola, they are the folks who passed by her on Gottingen Street in the 1940s, and the folks who look back on her story today with a contemporary lens. They also remind us how frustratingly relevant Viola’s story remains here today. At the movie theatre in New Glasgow the other theatre patrons and employees wear masks, and they become one faceless entity together, mostly silently, imposing the status-quo on one individual. It’s powerful in its ability to evoke the systemic and bureaucratic racism, that charged Viola with one cent in tax evasion, even though she was more than able to pay the full price fare. Near the end of the play Sarah Richardson removes her mask and becomes one individual bystander from the Roseland Theatre, telling her own perspective and the complex nature of her connection with Viola, showing why some people may feel unable to speak up for others, but may also choose to show their compassion and solidarity in other ways. Every character and scenario that Scott gives us is an honest mess of complexity- there are no easy answers here, but so much to continue to consider.
The ensemble cast Ryan Allen, Cyndi Cain, Mary Fay Coady, Taylor Olson, Sarah Richardson, Nathan D. Simmons, Lesley Smith, Jeremiah Sparks and Meghan Swaby create such a strong sense of community for Deborah Castrilli’s Viola Desmond to emerge out of. Cain and Sparks’ musical prowess especially roots Viola and Jack in their faith, and we see how even that becomes a point of contention between them. Olson plays Viola’s lecherous schoolhouse boss, Simon Nixon, who is both racist and sexist and becomes violent when she refuses to play by his rules. We see him later, as an older man, more self-aware, but just as problematic. He wants Viola to absolve him of the guilt he feels, by just insinuating that he may have acted improperly towards her, and when she relates that she doesn’t have the emotional energy for this exchange, and continually feels uncomfortable with his words and his actions, he shows that essentially he hasn’t really changed at all. It’s a powerful and sad reflection of Canada today, where people can say the “right words” in public (or to get elected) but under the surface the racism and misogyny persists fundamentally unchallenged. Meghan Swaby brings some lovely tenderness and vivaciousness to Viola’s life, and shines as a bright light in the play. Ryan Allen gives a nuance portrayal of Jack Desmond, a man who loves his wife, but who doesn’t feel comfortable with her progressive ideas, who is from New Glasgow and so entrenched in the way things there are that he finds it difficult to see the way they could be. He is sad, and frustrating, but also trying his best, and wanting to protect Viola in the only way he can envision. Deborah Castrilli gives a lovely performance as Viola, someone who is so gentle with her young students and who continually stands up for herself with absolute grace, eloquence, and quiet confidence. At the end of the play Castrilli plays Viola at 50 years old, living alone in New York, and it is heartbreaking to see what time has done to Viola’s spirit, although her kindness and soft-spoken grace remains unchanged.
We often look at historic figures like Viola Desmond through simplified lenses: “she was a hero, the workers at the movie theatre were the villains. We know better now.” Scott makes sure to resist this simplification in every aspect of her play. “In what way was Viola human?” she asks. “In what ways were the people inside the movie theatre human? In what ways are we still learning (or actively not learning) these lessons?” Yesterday, a large crowd of supporters rallied around Santina Rao, the young black mother who alleges racial profiling when she was assaulted by Halifax Police inside the Mumford Road Walmart. Down the street at Neptune Theatre, Controlled Damage’s run has been sold out since before its Opening Night. The parallel between Rao and Desmond, to me, is clear. Both did nothing wrong. In what ways are we in Nova Scotia still learning (or actively not learning) these lessons?
Controlled Damage is an important and necessary piece of theatre, it is also much too relevant. It is also beautiful storytelling compellingly told. I wish everyone could see it. I hope it comes back again.
Controlled Damage plays at Neptune Theatre’s Scotiabank Studio Theatre (1593 Argyle Street, Halifax) until February 23rd, 2020. The whole run is sold out.
Check out the Controlled Damage Podcast. Episode 1 is Here. Find all Five Parts on Neptune Theatre’s Facebook Page.
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