The World's A Stage

Tamara among live shows that let audience in on the action

In the early 1980s, Toronto theatre company Necessary Angel put itself on the map with an inventive production called Tamara. Set in Fascist Italy, it imagined an encounter between artist Tamara de Lempicka and author Gabriele d'Annunzio. The thing that set Tamara apart from all other shows was its complex and creative staging. Using most of a large house, it invited audience members literally to follow the story; whenever a scene ended they were allowed to choose which character to follow to hear more of the tale.
"You could actually come 10 times and follow a different character each time," explains Roger McKeen, who will reprise his role as valet Dante Fenzo when Necessary Angel remounts Tamara as part of this year's World Stage theatre festival. Are you more interested in love or politics, in the servants or their masters? Your choices say something about you, McKeen says, "It actually makes a comment on the person themselves."
McKeen's character has the most direct connection to the audience. "I meet every single one of them, and I give them their papers - their passport - and I explain to them the rules," he says. (Living under Fascism, of course there are some rules.)
At intermission, coffee and cake is served. "Dante encourages people to talk to each other," he continues, so those who followed one part of the story may share information with those who saw another.
Audiences have reacted very personally to the show. While McKeen was performing with a broken toe, some would insist upon carrying baggage upstairs for him. Once, when "Tamara" announced her plans to the servant in French only, one of the audience members told him: "Dante, she's leaving."
The show can be demanding, McKeen warns. People are advised to wear running shoes, and at certain times characters may actually run from floor to floor; they won't wait for slow-moving followers. Chairs are provided in some of the hallways, however, so that the less nimble can watch the action in more than one space at a time.
Apart from Tamara, several other World Stage shows take place in unusual venues this year. Stage designer Joanna McIntyre has taken on the job of transforming an industrial building at Cherry Beach into an arctic landscape for Tapestry New Opera Works' Facing South, about polar explorer Robert Peary. The cast of Autumn Leaf Performance's Kafka in Love will either "sing or swim", apparently. Billed as a "water opera", the production actually takes place in a swimming pool.
Tamara runs to April 13 at Graydon Hall Manor (185 Graydon Hall Drive near York Mills and Don Mills). Facing South runs from April 5 to 10 at Cherry Beach Sound (The Factory), 33 Villiers Street, while Kafka in Love takes the plunge into the Hart House Pool at the University of Toronto on April 26 and 27. World Stage runs from April 1 to 27; most shows happen in ordinary theatre, mainly at Harbourfront Centre. For tickets and information about all the productions, call 417-973-4000 or visit www.harbourfront.on.ca.

Publication Date: 2003-04-06
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2558