BigMouth
Feb 11–21; York Theatre
Spurred by his interest in the power of words to change the course of history, Valentijn Dhaenens set out to read at least one speech per day, and ended up reading over 1000 in a year. He began to see interesting correlations between some of them. Inhabiting the persona, mannerisms, voice, and language of each speaker, BigMouth sees Dhaenens deliver speeches in a variety of languages including English, French, German, Dutch, and Flemish (his mother tongue). It’s a huge feat switching between wildly different characters and languages, and he never skipped a beat.
A chalkboard is projected above the stage showing the speakers he represents; as each speech passes, their name is erased. This helped with some of the lesser known and ancient speeches, like Pericles’ from 431 BC.
All the speeches were moving, and performed very well by Dhaenens, but it wasn’t until the modern day samples of figures such as Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush came up that it became clear what he was getting at.
As Dhaenens alternated between speeches by Osama Bin Laden and George W. Bush, it was striking that Bin Laden sounded more level headed than Bush. All these and other extremists such as Frank Vanhecke speaking on the Islamization of Europe are presented for us to pass our own judgement on. There was no political message other than presenting the power of words to manipulate and influence listeners. It’s also notable that there is only one female voice represented in the show, but that may say less about Dhaenens and more about our history of male dominated power.
A finishing touch that really added an emotional element to the show were songs placed in between the speeches. Dhaenens used his own voice to create looping harmonies with his various microphones and then he sang songs such as “We’ll Meet Again” to place us in the World War II era, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to place us in the 1990s.
As Dhaenens sings his final words to us: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return” (from the song “Nature Boy” first recorded by Nat King Cole), his point is proven — words have the timeless power to move, incite, manipulate, and entertain us, and he succeeded at all of those things.
Little One
Feb 9–13; Firehall Arts Centre
Aaron (Daniel Arnold) and Claire (Marisa Smith) have an interesting sibling dynamic. They are both adopted, but Claire gets all the attention from their parents because she needs special help dealing with her violent tendencies and a traumatic past that she can’t remember. With the stage set with only a rug and chair alongside the two siblings, the audience was let into their world through stories told from each point of view.
Aaron loves his sister, or at least tries to, but after years of incidents like being stabbed in the leg, having his pet cat killed, and having to stay home from hockey to look after Claire, he begins to resent her. It doesn’t help that while Claire does say she loves her brother, she also can’t stop saying “It was just a cat” after she kills the pet.
The two siblings also recount for us the story of their neighbours Roger and Kim Lee. Kim arrived as a mail order bride from Vietnam, and as Claire explains, they seemed happy together — it seemed like she might even love him — until Kim got fed up and killed Roger.
Kids at school call Claire a monster, Aaron accidentally calls her a psychopath before he can stop the words from tumbling out, and it seems their whole family walks on eggshells trying to create the illusion that Claire is on her way to becoming a healed, fully functioning member of their family. It makes you wonder how far these parents are willing to go to help their daughter while putting their son in danger and depriving him of a full life.
Switching between adult and child, abused and angry, both Arnold and Smith perform these characters with nuance and a dark gleam in their eyes. The show doesn’t give us a tidy resolution or answer some of our burning questions, but it is a riveting snapshot of this unique, troubling relationship.
887
Feb 11–21; Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre
As part of SFU’s 50th anniversary programming, SFU Cultural Programs teamed up with Theatre la Seizième to present this creation by Robert Lepage and Ex Machina. Lepage, playing himself in this very personal show, grapples with the massive subject of memory: how it shapes us, why we remember certain things but not others, why some things (like a childhood phone number) seem to be tattooed on our brains.
887 is Lepage’s childhood address — an apartment block on Murray Avenue in Quebec City, and the main set piece of the show is a large replica of the building, about as tall as Lepage when he stands beside it. The building seamlessly and magically turns and morphs into other sets throughout the show such as Lepage’s kitchen and a 1960s diner.
Lepage began by explaining that the idea for this show came to him when he was asked to recite a poem for the 40th anniversary of the Nuit de la Poésie event in Quebec City. He was to read “Speak White” by Michèle Lalonde, and agreed to memorize it. During the show we see him struggle to remember even a single verse.
Through Lepage’s memories of his family history, he also recounts the history of Quebec, including the radical FLQ (Front de libération du Québec) that promoted separatism in the 1960s. With Lepage’s humour, insight, and personal discovery, this two-hour show flies by, and leaves the audience with a powerful rendition of “Speak White” and plenty to think about.
Coming up: JFL Northwest and Chutzpah!
Just around the corner are two festivals you won’t want to miss. Just for Laughs Northwest runs from February 18–27 at various venues around Vancouver. I’m personally looking forward to seeing Trevor Noah, Janeane Garofalo, and This is That (the satirical team behind the hilarious scented firewood video), but take a look at the line-up of showcases, up-and-coming comedians, household names, and special events — there are so many shows you won’t want to miss. I’m certainly ready to have a laugh.
From February 18–March 13, the Chutzpah! Festival brings the best of Jewish theatre, comedy, music, and dance to Vancouver. I always revel in the wonderful dance programming this festival brings to town, and I encourage you to take a look at the entire festival program. This year, the festival will present artists from Mexico, Germany, Cuba, Italy, USA, and Israel.
