And Slowly Beauty – John Threlfall
Mary-Colin Chisholm, Celine Stubel and Dennis Fitzgerald in And Slowly Beauty. Photo: David Cooper
L’Homme in the Grey Flannel Suit
And Slowly Beauty . . . unfolds with all the implied grace of its title
“A man gets ready to go to work . . .” So begins what appears to be a typical day in the life of the ubiquitously named Mr. Mann, a 48-year-old middle-management type as buttoned down as his pinstriped grey suit. Yet, like a loose thread at which he can’t help but tug, Mr. Mann is becoming increasingly aware that he’s drifting out of touch with his job, his wife, his children and the urban life that swirls around him like a detritus-filled tide. All that changes, however, when he wins tickets to a production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters and realizes the mid-life cocoon he has spun around himself is beginning to crack.
But what in another writer’s hands could well develop into a full-blown existential crisis instead blossoms into an affirmation of the random joys of life in Quebec playwright Michel Nadeau’s And Slowly Beauty . . . , which is as much a paean to the transformative power of theatre as it is an uplifting awareness of crisis averted. Eloquently translated by Maureen Labonté—who thankfully resists the temptation to anglicize names and places (nicely reflecting the cross-country origins of this National Arts Centre/Belfry co-production)—this English-language premiere of Nadeau’s utterly engaging script is a promising kick-off to the Belfry’s new season.
While reminiscent of the Belfry’s 2009 solo production The Year of Magical Thinking in tone, content, look and creative team (director Michael Shamata helmed both, and invited back designers John Ferguson and Michael Walton), one of the reasons Beauty succeeds so well is because it is such a strong ensemble piece; true, Dennis Fitzgerald’s Mr. Mann is the faltering calm at the eye of this human storm, but the supporting cast—Mary-Colin Chisholm, Caroline Gillis, Christian Murray, Thomas Olajide, and Celine Stubel—are equally compelling in their varying roles. Slipping on multiple characters with the ease of their quick costume changes, this roundly satisfying cast fills the stage and effectively reflect Fitzgerald’s burgeoning awareness, guiding him to an eventual epiphany that is less life-changing than it is life-affirming.
Without question, this is director Shamata’s finest work at the Belfry to date; looking back at his local oeuvre, Beauty incorporates the emotional tone of the likes of Magical Thinking and The Real Thing with the creative staging and large casts of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Anything That Moves, while also being the perfect show for the Belfry’s core demographic. But here the director seems to have achieved the ideal mix of story, performance and production, perhaps helped along by Nadeau’s own love of theatre. (Indeed, as Shamata says in his program notes, “I love this play because it says out loud what we all believe: theatre can change people’s lives.”) Yet he resists the temptation to be too theatrically clever-clever; reality-shifting moments of slow motion and dream imagery are used once but not revisited, and the script’s inherent meta-theatricality never comes off as being overtly heavy-handed.
Another winning factor here is the design team. The visually simple but structurally complex set by John Ferguson and Tamara Marie Kucheran effectively fills numerous roles (office, hospital, home, subway) while supporting the story’s emotional subtext (note who’s wearing grey, and who’s dressed in black and white), and Michael Walton’s lighting manages to be both fluid and frozen, shifting our attention to where it most needs to be at any given moment. And the evocative score by local composer Brooke Maxwell (Ride the Cyclone) is memorable for both its maturity and originality.
Longtime theatre-goers will laugh at recognizable moments (poor audience behaviour, Mr. Mann’s revelation that “I had no idea theatre could be as good as that”) and nods to the Chekhovian original (the three sisters—including Celine Stubel, who actually appeared in Theatre SKAM’s own adaptation, My Three Sisters—appear sporadically like the three fates), while others will simply enjoy the everyman insights of a father blowing a kiss to his university-age daughter, or reconnecting with his drifting son through the gift of a tacky shirt. Perhaps it’s simply because, as a 47 theatre-lover in the midst of his own life change, I could intimately relate to the story being revealed onstage, but Beauty struck me as being a unique coming of middle-age tale for Gen-Xers on the verge of a nervous breakdown. (I wonder what Generation X author Douglas Coupland would think of it?)
A fresh, gentle revelation about the transformative power of art and the beauty of the life we make for ourselves, this is a strong start to a promising season—and should make for an interesting pairing with the Belfry’s next production, the theatrical-insider Jitters.
Simply put, And Slowly Beauty . . . deserves to be seen.
—John Threlfall
Please have a look at the preview for And Slowly Beauty below. Video by John Carswell.
And Slowly Beauty . . .
Until October 23
The Belfry Theatre
1291 Gladstone
Tickets $28-$38
250-385-6815
http://www.belfry.bc.ca
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Wow – compelling review – sounds like a not to be missed play .
This is one Belfry play that will stick in my often-not-remembering-play mind. A perfect expression of the power of theatre to touch, to make a difference. Since I saw it a few days ago, I have stopped and thought many times of the beauty and blessing of what’s often called our “ordinary” lives. With gratitude to the Belfry for this beautiful production.