{"id":595,"date":"2007-05-27T20:43:43","date_gmt":"2007-05-28T01:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/2007\/05\/27\/review-copper-thunderbird-by-marie-clements\/"},"modified":"2007-05-28T11:43:06","modified_gmt":"2007-05-28T16:43:06","slug":"review-copper-thunderbird-by-marie-clements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/2007\/05\/27\/review-copper-thunderbird-by-marie-clements\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Copper Thunderbird by Marie Clements"},"content":{"rendered":"

A National Arts Centre\/urban ink (Vancouver) coproduction<\/p>\n

Copper Thunderbird<\/a> by Marie Clements
\nDirected by Peter Hinton
\nDramaturgy by Paula DanckertSet and Costume Design by Mary Kerr
\nLighting Design by John Webber
\nSound Design by Noah Drew
\nProjection Design by Tim Matheson
\nVoice and Movement Coach: Nancy Benjamin<\/p>\n

Stage Manager: Louise Currie
\nAssistant Stage Manager: St\u00e9fanie S\u00e9guin
\nApprentice Stage Manager: Richard Wilson
\nIndependent Curator and Consultant: Crystal S. Parsons
\nSet Design Assistant: John Armitage<\/p>\n

Cast<\/strong>
\nThe Old Man: Billy Merasty
\nThe Boy: Herbie Barnes
\nAuntie: Margo Kane
\nJack: Jonathan Fisher
\nThe Young Man: Kevin Loring
\nThe Dump Bears: Reneltta Bourque, Byron Chief-Moon, Paula-Jean Prudat
\nHarriet: Michelle St. John
\nDr. Weinstein: Jonathan Fisher
\nThe Three Normal Wives: Reneltta Bourque, Byron Chief-Moon, Paula-Jean Prudat
\nPicasso: Jonathan Fisher
\nThe Californication Girls: Reneltta Bourque, Byron Chief-Moon, Paula-Jean Prudat
\nKateri: Michelle St. John<\/p>\n

Running time: 2 hours 14 minutes, plus 20 minute intermission.
\nPerformance viewed: Matinee 2:04 pm May 26, 2007<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although this production had a few significant flaws, I was in tears at the end. I do not know how many other members of the audience reacted that way, but I believe my emotional state was primarily the product of design elements in the production, some of which I did not like \u2013 how\u2019s that for a paradox? \u2013 assisted by performance and the script. And I must also thank Hinton for giving us another full-length play to savor, complete with an intermission for discussion; that is what an evening (or in this case, afternoon) of theatre is meant to be.<\/p>\n

The printed program serves a necessary function for this production: it clarifies the situation and setting. The surrealistic script is not very clear on this point. The projected titles do tell us the time frame and the municipality in which the action occurs, although this information is not always very useful, as the sequence of events is somewhat arbitrary when the script folds time like temporal pingball, with jumps of decades in either direction quite commonplace.<\/p>\n

The script tells us about the life of contemporary artist Norval Morriseau, (Copper Thunderbird) who was both a major pioneer artist of the past century, and a homeless street person drawing for booze and food. Morrisseau is an Ojibway (Anishnaabe) Indian whose paintings led the world to Indian art. His works are owned by major galleries and collectors, and therein, perhaps lies his problem: he wanted his work to teach the people and belong to the people; but it ended up becoming popular culture that seldom touched his people; and this was the frustration that devastated him. I wonder if the truly gifted are ever destined to be happy? Perhaps their gifts set them so far apart from the rest of humanity that they can never fit in.<\/p>\n

My first impression of the play was disappointment: the set was huge, colourless, and showed its manufacture in stretch marks and wrinkles and unevenly cut pieces that seemed far beneath the NAC\u2019s usual standards of set design and execution. The pervasive pale teal was unemotional. In effect, it came off as a huge area of forced, unappealing design that the actors had to fill with little in the way of physical props. I have to admit that in some ways it grew on me, and eventually set up the emotional dynamics of the ending to which I have already referred; however, I propose that the same effect could have been achieved with more affective use of colours from the beginning. I understand that the point was to focus on and provide a neutral background for Morrisseau\u2019s art, and to suggest the institutional environment in which he came to live; however, his work can stand well no matter what the background, and when his work was not in evidence or palely or fuzzily projected, the set really looked shabby. The lighting did not change that; in fact, there were many instances in which I questioned the lighting design that left actors in flat dark neutrality, illuminated only by ambient light from no particular direction. The other early disappointment was the acting: Merasty seemed clumsy initially, hardly able to deliver lines professionally. But I think that may have been more the disorienting effect of the script, for I soon realized that Merasty was able to deliver lines with timing and effect, and shift depiction to match the demands of the scene.<\/p>\n

The trap door under the bed served many interesting entrance and exit functions, as did the once-utilized sandbox. But these were mainly tricks, and served little plot or story function.<\/p>\n

What did work amazingly well in this production were acting and costumes.<\/p>\n

Kerr\u2019s use of vinyl for costumes was inspired, particularly Auntie\u2019s amazing red white and black uniforms, each more bizarre than the last. The whole effect was witty and satirical, beautifully balancing the grim drama with eccentric humor. The Californicators\u2019 costumes and makeup were hilarious. The effect of humor in any play is usually significant. Often difficult to achieve effectively, humor is generally the way to an audience\u2019s emotions. This is true in tragedy as well as comedy. In this drama, humor is especially significant, because, if you are going to depict Indians accurately, you have to show their sense of humor. It would not surprise me to learn that some early battles between settlers and Indians were caused by the settlers\u2019 inability to get the Indian\u2019s sense of humor. I can remember early days at a new high school to which Indians from the local Rez were being bused for the first time. A serious fight broke out one day when an Indian boy suggested a certain white boy might profitably visit the Rez for a haircut.<\/p>\n

The three actors depicting Morrisseau, usually simultaneously, all gave significantly distinguishable impressions of the man. Merasty\u2019s old man was funny and pathetic, prudish and at times powerful in his wisdom or anguish. Loring\u2019s young man was at once passionate, vulgar and aggressive, while Barnes\u2019 little boy was creative, inquisitive, sympathetic and innocent. As well, Barnes\u2019 athleticism gave the whole play grace and energy. Of course the lines gave the actors the means to get there, but the actors made it happen, whether they were working in unison or separately. St. John was another impressive individual performer whose relationship to younger Morrissy was clear, visceral and striking.<\/p>\n

The effect of the final parade of costumes, based on Morrisseau\u2019s unique designs, was powerful, and clearly made the statement that the man is a genius; and this genius layered over the man\u2019s life opened up the pathos and beauty all in one terrifying montage. There was something about the movement of the models and the incredible strength of the designs and colors that worked on top of the drama implied by the script and what we all know about life on and off the Rez for Indians, and on top of the stark ugliness of the nursing home set itself, that made the final pageant incredibly moving.<\/p>\n

And this is what underlies the disintegration of much Native life in Canada, in North America: a mythology that is stark and beautiful, haunting and fading as the continent is paved over. Hinton has made more than a play of this production: it is also a tribute to Morrisseau, with books and artifacts on display in the lobby, and for sale. The play feels as if it is part of a movement; maybe that is as should be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A National Arts Centre\/urban ink (Vancouver) coproduction Copper Thunderbird by Marie Clements Directed by Peter Hinton Dramaturgy by Paula DanckertSet and Costume Design by Mary Kerr Lighting Design by John Webber Sound Design by Noah Drew Projection Design by Tim … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nac","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}