Armstrong's War by Colleen Murphy @ RMTC

RMTC open the Warehouse season this year with a new play by Canadian playwright Colleen Murphy. Similar to some of Murphy's previous work (EG The December Man which was a part of PTE's season a few years back), Armstrong's War digs in at a piece of contemporary Canadian experience, this time dealing with a young soldier returned from Afghanistan due to injury. Soldier Armstrong (played with beautiful sensitivity by Justin Otto) meets young Armstrong, a 12 year old Pathfinder aiming to complete her community service badge by reading to a veteran.

The unlikely couple begin, as you would expect, at odds with one another. Otto's soldier wants simply to be left alone, however the plucky young girl, played convincingly by not 12 year old Heather Russell, shows that the elder isn't the only one with steely determination. Russell's character, portrayed from a wheelchair, eventually coaxes the elder soldier into a reluctant, but ultimately rewarding friendship.

The early scenes do come off as stilted; Murphy's play gives very little time for them to be opponents, and in only their second meeting the hardened soldier eases in to a friendship, which to be frank is unbelievable. That said, the play then jumps into the real friction between the characters, when each begins to reveal at first their stories about themselves, and then the real truth. Under Robb Patterson's direction, the pair are well matched, each bringing a strength and vulnerability to these characters.

Opening night energy meant that the piece moved a little bit too quickly, particularly in the set changes, which cleverly employed a stage hand dressed as a hospital orderly. I fully expect the pace to slow as the performers settle in, for as we saw on opening night this was the case, and the latter half sat beautifully.

An important play about the real effects of our international engagements as Canadians and the human cost.

The Secret Annex by Alix Sobler - MTC Warehouse

First I must apologize for the tardiness of this post; I saw the performance nearly a month ago! But alas my intense schedule in March, coupled with the Blogger app's reluctance to save the previously written post, conspired to set me back.

This was a world premiere of the new play by Sobler, which begins with the question of what might have happened to Anne Frank's diaries had she not been killed in the holocaust, but rather survived the war in the attic, then emigrated to Brooklyn. We see Anne, Margot and Peter as young-ish adults with jobs, houses, responsibilities. Margot is engaged, Peter has a sweetheart but continues to be caught on Anne, and Anne, still the proud owner of her diaries, is intent on having them published. In the early scenes, the connection between the 3 from the attic is clearly created, and as we see new "modern" characters introduced in the form of Anne's potential publisher and her boss-turned-husband we see the difference this solitude has made in their ability to encounter the world.

Frustratingly, the text is a bit heavy handed and just a little repetitive with Anne's constant "do you remember the attic" queries to everyone around her. We can see, rather than be told about, Anne's obsession with informing about the past while confronted with a 1950s New York City that just wants to keep rushing forward. The new characters are uneven; Michael, Anne's husband comes across as more than just a little creepy. In contrast, the publisher is every inch the image of the 1950's career woman, bringing us an image of what Anne might have been under different circumstances.

The performances were strong, and ably guided by Heidi Malazdrewicz making her directorial debut for MTC, and Charlotte Dean's design of the production was stunning.

Ride The Cyclone - Atomic Vaudeville @ MTC Warehouse

Any musical whose premise is that of dead children in an amusement park immediately sparks my interest. Morbid, I know, but a fact nonetheless. Atomic Vaudeville's production, now in its third incarnation and seeing interest from increasingly big name producers, lived up to its reputation for a wild, slightly silly, and ultimately touching ride.

Lets start with the good; again, the premise is joyfully dark, with six children in purgatory after dying in an amusement park accident in the town of Uranium, SK, led through a game to determine who will return to life by a puppet fairground game with a very creepy voice. Each child gets their opportunity to be showcased, singing a song about themselves, their hopes, their dreams, all the while making their case for being returned to life. The songs are of varying strength; the songs of Noel Gruber and Jane Doe are outstanding, while some others such as that for Ricky Potts seem to come from far left field, adding layers to the character that don't seem to be consistent with what we see from him in the bits of the show beforehand. The monologue given to Constance is very strong, but the subsequent song is only mediocre. Similarly, the choreography has its peaks and valleys; some songs are extremely clever, while others have a very unrefined feel, as though the choreography may have been strung together.

None of this, of course, takes away from the overall feel, which is like a firecracker. The cast are all very strong performers, with beautiful physical work carried through the show and its conventions. Most notable is Sarah Jane Pelzer as Jane Doe, who consistently has a dead look in her eyes, yet fully pulls the audience to her through engagement and physicality.

I'm told that some of the conventions were new for this tour of the show as it is undergoing development on its way to bigger and brighter stages. For me, the story could still use some work, but there is certainly a gem beneath this that deserves to be polished into recognition.