Robert Lamar with an audience volunteer Photo by Greg Gidney
At the end of The Gift, an immersive theatrical experience written and directed by Ron Ulrich (former Artistic Director of Neptune Theatre), starring Robert Lamar and produced by Brookes Diamond Productions, Lamar essentially asks the audience to recommend the show to anyone that might enjoy it, but without telling them too much about what happened in the basement of St. Andrew’s United Church, to ensure that they will get the full experience of the show. Since The Gift is built on a series of surprises, which elicit awe and often shock from the audience, this request makes sense. It does, however, makes it difficult for me to write this review. It may be quite short. The Gift plays until March 9th, 2024 and tickets are available at this website.
You may choose to stop reading now if you’d like.
The Gift is, at its core, a magic show wrapped in a play that seeks to prove definitively (and mathematically) whether chance or destiny rule our lives. The magic involved, at which Lamar is a master, is what I imagine folks pay hundreds of dollars to see in places like Las Vegas. Lamar will show you things that seem absolutely impossible- things that ARE absolutely impossible- but they will occur right in front of your face in ways that you really have no choice but to believe and accept. There were a myriad of different, but equally unbelievable revelations in The Gift, that occurred one after the other after the other, until I could only shrug my shoulders and assume that wizards are real and Lamar is one of them. I have seen Lamar perform before, at Halifax Fringe, and for me this is a fun conclusion to come to, however improbable it may be as a scientific fact. I can imagine, though, that this type of magic may also drive folks to try to figure out the trick of it, which may prove to be a frustrating exercise because the wheels, if there are any, really do not seem to show.
The play element of The Gift tells the story of Robbie, a young boy, and his eccentric grandfather, a famed mathematician whose research centres on this question about chance or destiny. Throughout their time together Grandfather and Robbie play a number of games, and these games become the building blocks of our interactive experience. The play works very well as a framework for the show. Lamar has an easy affability onstage, and the audience hangs onto every word, in case they are offering any clues as to how the magic is made. Lamar’s friendly manner also helps to put folks at ease when they are coming and going from his grandfather’s attic space, which is very important for a show of this nature which needs audience participation.
There were a few elements in the storytelling that I found a bit distracting because they didn’t make easy, logical sense to me. Firstly, it didn’t make sense to me that Lamar would be surprised that his grandfather had anticipated and prepared for him to come to the house after the grandfather had died, since grandfather was the one who left the house to Robert in his will. Surely Grandfather knew that eventually Robert would come to take ownership of the house, and go through his grandfather’s belongings. Secondly, I wanted to know more about why Robert’s mother was so afraid of Robbie spending so much time with his grandfather, worried about the effect he would have on him, when presumably, the grandfather had also raised her; and she had turned out fine? And lastly, the most distracting element for me in the story was that fact that Lamar says he met his partner when they were in college in the 1980s, and they have been together ever since- and he also says that they have a daughter who was born in 2019. Obviously this scenario is not impossible, but Lamar could give some additional credibility to it by giving the audience a bit more context, or even acknowledging that it is an unusual situation. I found that I spent the last part of the show doing the math of Shayla’s birth instead of being fully invested in what was actually happening onstage.
Small dramaturgical notes aside, though, The Gift is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It is using Canada’s signature theatrical format- the one-person, often quasi-autobiographical play in a very unique way, and creating a night out that folks will likely remember and talk about for the rest of their lives, but only in vivid detail once the show has closed as to not ruin it for their friends.
The Gift plays March 2nd, 7th, 8th, and 9th at 7:30pm in the basement of St. Andrew’s United Church- use the side door on Coburg Road, not the front one on Robie Street for easiest access to the space. Tickets are $31.95 and available at this website. The show is suitable for folks over 12 years old, and it includes audience participation, although the participation is volunteered and not required or demanded. After going once, you may have the strong urge to go again to see how things play out differently.
Are you destined to be there?
