For The Pleasure Of Seeing Her Again - A Universal Play
Friday, February 21, 2014
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| Margo Kane |
Rosemary and I went tonight Friday to the opening
performance of the Talking Stick Festival play, of Michel Tremblay’s For the
Pleasure of Seeing Her Again at the York Theatre.
Much has been written about this play and a
few might remember that at one time Tremblay’s work was deemed edgy and that
the Arts Club Theatre Company mounted it many years ago.
It would seem that age might have
diminished the power of this play which is all about the relationship between a
mother and son.
I am happy to report (in spite of some of
the sadness within part of the play) that For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again
is as relevant to our times as it ever was. That Margo Kane and Kevin Loring,
the actors of the play happen to be Native Canadian is almost irrelevant. The
play is universal even though our funny son and beginning narrator, Kevin
Loring tells us that the play is not Richard III or about Hamlet or any other
play of the Western canon.
I could rave about the acting which is
superb. I could elaborate on how Kevin Loring (a noted playwright) can play a
child, a dreamer, an adult, a loving son, an exasperated son, etc.
I am not.
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| Kevin Loring |
This play has a particular message which
was beautifully pointed out by Elder Shane Pointe who blessed the proceedings
with a chant and then said something like this:
In this festival and in this play you will
find out something about us, you may know little about us even though you sees
us in your midst all the time.
It struck me that he could have been
talking about French Canadians (consider that the play was originally written in
French and the two protagonists live in Montreal),
Vancouver Chinese and every visible and invisible minority of our city,
province and country.
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| Glinis Leyshon |
A good play should challenge. This one did
in spades while at the same time generating within me lots of warm laughs. Sitting behind me was director Glynis Leyshon. She was smiling. It could be that somehow the ending of the play could be perceived as a happy one. You must see the play to make up your own mind.
Anybody reading this should be aware that the play is on tonight at 8pm.
