\n
World Premiere\u2014 a co-production with Tarragon Theatre (Toronto)
\nat the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa<\/p><\/blockquote>\nDirected by Richard Rose
\nSet and Costume Design by Charlotte Dean
\nLighting Design by Graeme S. Thomson
\nSound Design by Todd Charlton<\/p><\/blockquote>\nCast<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Captain Robert Graves \u2014 Jonathan Crombie
\nColonel T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) \u2014 Tom Rooney
\nJack Dawkins \u2014 Paul Rainville
\nLord George Nathaniiel Curzon \u2014 Victor Ermatis
\nNancy Nicholson \u2014 Michelle Giroulx<\/p><\/blockquote>\nStage Manager: Kathryn Westoll
\nApprentice Stage Manager: Tara Tomlinson
\nDramaturg, GCTC: Lise Ann Johnson
\nFight Director, Tarragon Theatre: John Stead
\nProduction Manager, GCTC: Rachel Fancy
\nTechnical Director, GCTC: Jon Alexander
\nProduction Manager, Tarragon Theatre: Michael Freeman
\nTechnical Director, Tarragon Theatre: Chris Carlton
\nAssistant Set and Costume designer: Kimberly Catton
\nHead of Wardrobe and Props, GCTC: Louise Hayden
\nHead of Properties, Tarragon Theatre: Gillian Rode & Niki Kemeny
\nPropeties Assistant, Tarragon Theatre: Carolyn Choo
\nHead Electrician, GCTC: Jon Alexander
\nHead of Audio, GCTC: Jon Carter
\nHead Carpenter, Tarragon Theatre: Ian Chappell
\nAssistant Carpenter, Tarragon Theatre: Bill Stahl
\nHead of Wardrobe, Taragon Theatre: Chlo\u00eb Anderson
\nAssistant Head of Wardrobe, Tarragon Theatre: Rebekka Hutton
\nWardrobe Assistant, Tarragon Theatre: Trish Nicholson
\nWigs and Hair, Tarragon Theatre: Sharon Ryman
\nHead Scenic Artist, Tarragon Theatre: Lindsay Anne Black
\nPTSD Consultant:Susan Stephenson
\nScript Coordinator: MK Piatkowski
\nVoice and Dialect Coach: Diane Pitblado
\nMovement Coach: Kelly McEvenue
\nPhotographers: Cylla von Tiedemann, Paul Toogood<\/p>\nRunning Crew, GCTC: Linda Dufresne
\nSetup Crew GCTC: Sarah Feeley, Fred martin, Dave Muir, Owen Woolnough, Linda Dufresne, Neal Simpson, Rob Lucas, Ken Holtz, Phillippe Arcand
\nCarpentry Crew, Tarragon: Thomas Baranski, Gareth Crew, Christine Groom, Kevin Hutson, Marcus Rak, Kevin Steeper
\nProps Crew: Jennifer Sager, Carolyn Choo
\nPainting Crew, GCTC: Lynn Cox, Geoff Sangster
\nPainting Crew, Tarragon: Camie Crew, Jennifer Sager<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSetting: Oxford England, 1920
\nRunning Time 80 minutes
\nPerformance reviewed: October 27, 2006<\/p><\/blockquote>\nImpressive set, sound, performances, direction, historical pedigree, significant issue, drama \u2014 this slightly long one act play has it all; had Massicotte made it longer, and really taken the bit between his teeth, he could have had the play of the year here, and at that, he came damn close.<\/p>\n
October is a superb time of year to stage a post-war play; the mood of the season suits the mood of the play: we are heading into Remembrance Day, the year is dying, and the weather outside is dreadful. Here, the war just over is the big one, WWI, the war to end all wars, as it was called. A bitter and disillusioned generation is still reeling from the crushing muddy disaster that was war in Europe. We have two significant heroes of that war, Lawrence of Arabia and poet Robert Graves who were friends, each interacting with his own distinct angst, at Oxford. Lawrence has returned from heroism and ignomy to obscurity, and Graves from horror to normacy; neither situation is tolerable. To top it off, these two men who have endured more than mere mortals should, are treated by the university as recalcitrant schoolboys. I have always been really intrigued by this theme; Tennyson touches on it in “Ulysses”. In its many manifestations in this play, it appears in many instances, of which these are two: Graves, beset by a war flashback that leaves him cowering under a table, is interrupted by his wife’s voice asking him to tend to the children; Lawrence, the victim of disfiguring torture, focus of Brit foreign policy, is reduced to being on the carpet for boyish pranks on campus.<\/p>\n
The set for the play is ingenious, as sets in this restricted open stage must be. The vine-embraced Oxford exterior is transformed via various openings to represent several interior locations. Somehow all this seems too ingenious, as the production staff has decided that the film- and television-enraptured audience needs to see each location. Such was the agreeable reaction of the audience to the set changes, I wondered if they had indeed become a separate entertainment, which distracted from the impact of the script.<\/p>\n
Sound was significant in the telling of this story, almost becoming a character, another voice: in the entr’acts during the changes, we hear marching feet, artillery concussions \u2014 the horrific cacophony of war, drawing us into the obsessive nightmares of these two men.<\/p>\n
If I have one argument with this script besides its brevity, it is with the sudden conversion of Jack Dawkins, consumately played by Ottawa perennial Paul Rainville, from the stereotypical gentleman’s man to a distraught father ready to kill. Surely the script could have planted Jack’s son and his feelings for him. The way this character is written, Jack’s trembling pistol-wielding hand enters the latter moments of the play almost like a lamentably melodramatic plot device. It was only Rainville’s characterization that kept that from happening. I think Jack needs a lot of rewriting to flesh out the character \u2014 again, an argument for a longer play.<\/p>\n
On the plus side \u2014 and there are a lot of pluses in this production \u2014 the familiar territory of Lawrence of Arabia is well served here by both the writing and Rooney’s performance. I say this is familar territory because Lawrence has been given such a complicated life previously by Peter O’Toole in the film, and by Lawrence himself in his book, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. <\/em>Here we see the civilian Lawrence back on his home turf where he is very much either taken for granted or distastefully viewed as an inconvenience. This is the Olympian or the professional athlete after the career is over, or as I have said in an earlier piece, “About Four Percent”<\/a>, the psychopath after he is no longer needed to protect his country; this is also John Rambo in another universe. Rooney expresses just the right combination of frustration and regret, and there is a seductive gentleness to his manner that makes the character very sympathetic. After all, if Lawrence’s proposed solutions to the middle east had been acted upon, we would probably not have Al Kaida, Hammas, and the Taliban now. We would certainly not have Iraq.<\/p>\n
Poet Robert Graves, who lived until 1985, when he was ninety, is feelingly portrayed by Jonathan Crombie, who shows us Graves’ torment as he is revisited by his horrific war experiences. The interaction between Graves and his wife is sensitive and real. Crombie is called upon to show us a wider range of emotions than the melancholic Lawrence, as Graves runs the gauntlet between joy in his family and terror in his interior life. Graves, whose wide scope encompasses I Claudius<\/em> numerous novels and poetry and other biographical and historical works, went on to become a major writer of the twentieth century. This is an interesting look at his genesis.<\/p>\n
Graves’ wife, Nancy Nicholson, is beautifully presented by Michelle Giroulx, whose voice I really like. She has a very pleasing timbre that I found most striking and interesting to listen to. While her part was not a stretch for her, she took it up and carried off the family banter with Graves and placed pressure on him enough to make his tensions significant.<\/p>\n
Victor Ertmanis’ Lord Curzon was imposing and strong, even petulant, but I had some difficulty understanding his actual function, as he seemed to be too many things in the plot. I think this is another function of the brevity of the play. Presumably a longer play would have allowed for clarity in this matter as well. The sight of Curzon trembling under threat of being shot seemed antithetical to the tenor of the play, and added to the flirtation with the melodramatic .<\/p>\n
I certainly enjoyed this play, and consider it to be a success; however, I think there is considerably more that can be done with the concept.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
World Premiere\u2014 a co-production with Tarragon Theatre (Toronto) at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa Directed by Richard Rose Set and Costume Design by Charlotte Dean Lighting Design by Graeme S. Thomson Sound Design by Todd Charlton Cast Captain Robert … Continue reading