By Howard Brenton. Directed by Sean Carney. Presented at Moyse Hall - McGill. With a cast of sixteen current and former McGill students including: Bryn Dewar (Abelard), Bea Hutcheson (Heloise), Chirag Nalk (Chamberlain), and Michael Ruderman (Bernard).Howard Brenton is a secular playwright born in England 1942. He is fascinated by the power of faith and belief, and he has observed that we live in an age without ideals. Using comedy, romance, drama, and tragedy, he tells a sweeping tale about human beings for whom belief and ideals were not a matter of choice, but of necessity. This is a true story, a real life version of the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, or Tristan and Iseult. The tragic tale of their passion and romance reminds us what is still sacred in this world.
An impressive stage set design by Danny Haeberlin and equally impressive costume design by Catherine Bradley. Questionable music selection however not noting any particular link between the mood of the production and the songs playing. There is an annoying amount of black outs and lengthy transitions that are not really necessary given the end result to the changes made on stage. These could easily have been cut out and or shortened. The play runs long and this is mostly due to some labored staging (forced blocking) like frequent entrances through the audience, and actors finding their positions on the vastly spread out stage. Most notable performances are those of Chirag Nalk as the tenacious Chamberlain, and the strongest and most consistent is the performance delivered by Michael Ruderman as Bernard. There are a few sporadic moments of good acting by some of the rest of the cast but unfortunately not enough to recommend seeing it.
Nov. 18-21, 25-28; 7:30pm.
Tickets: 5$-10$. www.mcgill.ca/english/moyse/
Photo: Bea Hutcheson (Heloise), Bryn Dewar (Abelard), Lee Marshall (Denise). Photo credit: Owen Egan
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