About Love & Champagne by Rod Beilfuss - Fancy Bred Theatre

A wonderfully simple premise; an actor in Winnipeg struggling with Chekhov stands in the corner of a gallery talking about being an actor in Winnipeg struggling with Chekhov, and Winnipeg, and dreams. Beilfuss' script is adapted from two Chekhov short stories - you guessed it, About Love, and Champagne, interwoven with a bit of personal history and some fictional personal history to great effect. What ensues in a lovely and heartwarming story of frustration and dreams, and ultimately what draws us to (or keeps us in) this frozen wasteland. 

Beilfuss is a skilled performer, and is clever in his "actor" persona at the start. His work truly shines, however, when Chekhov's text takes over. Beilfuss weaves the bleak winter imagery with such skill that the Russian town easily becomes Winnipeg in our mind's eye, and the story he tells of being in love with a married woman would trick one into thinking it is his own. I would argue he is more natural speaking the words of other than his own, to be fair. 

The script does get a touch repetitive toward the end, and I'd have liked to see a touch more movement in the performance, but that notwithstanding, this is an excellent piece of work. 

Cheers to being stuck in a frozen yet inspiring wasteland. 

Three Sisters: A Black Opera - by Kristine Nutting - Who Is John Moe Productions (ChekhovFest)

Certainly among the more lively of Chekhovfest's productions, the company of Three Sisters: A Black Opera present an irreverent re-think of one of Chekhov's greatest plays, by prairie playwright Kristine Nutting. The premise is excellent; the 3 sisters are located in Bigger, Saskatchewan, with only their father-turned-dragQueen Mummy-Daddy, a terrifying Credit Union Manager trying to buy Pax (the Irina parallel), and a cute but dopey pig farmer also in love with Pax. Through a sordid tale, we see the sisters' desires and hopes dashed, much like the original. And unfortunately much like the original...nothing much happens. While the clever songs and witty monologues are fun, we never seem to progress beyond the opening moment in terms of style and energy. When a show begins with such a high note, it is tough to progress anywhere, I suppose.


There are certainly things to love in this performance; Dora Carrol is hilarious, Jacqueline Harding's voice is to die for, Jeff Strome's Mummy-Daddy is fantastic, and the accompaniment led by the highly talented Suss adds a beautiful macabre element to the proceedings. Unfortunately the cast is uneven, both vocally and in terms of performance skill, and as a result the piece feels lengthy, even though at only 75 minutes it is definitely among the shorter of the festival. The use of the space (the wonderfully seedy Club St B is a perfect fit for the show) is clever at first, but then stagnates. And depending on your location in the audience, there are some serious sight line issues.

Overall a fun show, definitely a great break from the slow anxiety of most Chekhov fare, but it left me wanting more out of the text and direction.

The Seagull by Anton Chekhov - Manitoba Theatre Centre Warehouse

I could not have been more pleased to catch the opening night performance of The Seagull as my kick-off to this year's Master Playwright festival. Under the clever direction of Krista Jackson, the cast spark and bubble through the story, finding the beautiful notes of humour mixing among the boredom and melancholy that permeates these characters' lives. What I found most notable was the relevance Jackson was easily able to draw out of the text compared to contemporary life; these characters are rendered helpless by their ideal selves, constantly performing the version of themselves they want to be, despite the harsh reality that their lives are not what they make them out to be. Glimmers of recognition rippled through the audience as we recognized this very trait among contemporary society obsessed with material goods, outward appearance, and social media, while never truly connecting. 

The cast are well matched; Sharon Bajer is a comic-tragic gem as she plays the melodramatic actress Irina, while Bethany Jillard's Nina is frighteningly naieve. Tom Keenan's Kostya is strong, although I felt some moments could have used refinement and a more simple touch. 

I would be remiss not to discuss the design, which craftily created differing spaces that were simultaneously lush and minimalist; the outdoor garden scene was particularly notable for its clever use of lighting. And the sound design, with a rock-polka feel definitely contributed positively to reminding us that these characters, although aristocratic, are not the "ideal" humans of tragedy, but the flawed and simple beings who populate the comedy of every day life.