October 19, 1994 Playhouse fi Other Press nally hits mark Jason loses his favourite punching bag, as the biggest theatre in town at last acts like the best by Jason Kurylo Finally! The Vancouver Playhouse has produced a show worthy of being called “high-end theatre!” I've seen many shows at the Play- house over the past few years. Most, if not all, have been overproduced, under- talented renditions of poorly chosen plays. Their present offering of Oleanna easily stands head and shoulders above this recent trend. First and foremost, the choice of material marks a huge departure for the VP. David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, Lake Boat) is one of the best playwrights alive today. Without the easy outs of a huge cast, special effects or pyrotechniques, Mamet churns out emotionally charged, controversy-driven classics. In this par- ticular piece, there are only two charac- ters, equally powerful and complex. The controversy in Oleanna is timely: a condescending college profes- sor (Bill Dow), so comfortable in his position of power and control, is wrongly accused of both sexual harassment and attempted rape by a female student (Leslie Jones). Every exchange between them is perfectly written, and the per- formances are brilliant. Neither charac- ter is completely in the right, and both elicit contempt and compassion from the crowd. Itshould be shouted from the high- est building that this is an all-B.C. pro- duction, in that both actors, director Glynis Leyshon, and many others in- volved in the play hail from the Left Coast. I've heard comments regarding Leyshon being a good female director. I don’t care what sex the director is, has, or does; if the work is this good, they should be recognized as being a good director. Pe- riod. For the most part, Leyshon lets the words dominate the day. With Mamet, the master of gritty, realistic dialogue, this is the best possible plan. Stage “ter- ritories” are used to maximum effect, especially in the explosive third act.And, thankfully, Oleanna marks the first time in years that a Playhouse show can boast consistent good quality in on-stage and off-stage talent alike. Every performance of Oleanna is followed by a talkback, during which a moderator leads the audience through a discussion about the play. During this talkback, a huge range of opinion and perception gives the head-spinning top- ics even more bite, so I suggest sticking around. My only gripe is that the bull session, over in a flashbulb twenty min- utes, wasn’t nearly long enough. If ever you want to have “a won- derful night at the theatre...” this is the perfect opportunity. Oleanna (and ‘it's about time, the Playhouse...) delivers. a David Cooper photo Bill Dow (left) and Leslie Jones star in David Mamet's Oleanna, the season opener for the Vancouver Playhouse. Oleanna, a controversial drama about the "touchy" subject of sexual harassment, is the best VP show in years, and plays until November 5. Miracle an ordinary play Arts Club offering plays an awkward second fiddle by Jason Kurylo Okay. This is really weird. I can’t remember a time when I preferred a Play- house show (see Oleanna, above) to an Arts Club show (Miracle Mother, at the Arts Club Mainstage until Octo- ber 22). Oh well, I guess it was bound to happen some- time. A-reviewin’ we will go... I didn’t know what to expect from this show; I pur- posely avoided the press kit beforehand. I wanted:a to- tally unbiased view. Written by Canadian Deborah Kimmett, the script for Mother is full of sardonic wit, devastating sarcasm, and terrific familial commentary. The material is good, and the cast is rather impres- sive. David Marr (A Little of Wot You Fancy, The Relapse) turns in a great comic perfor- mance as “The Hospital.” A doctor, a nurse, a surgeon, a game show host, even an Irish TV repairman; all come to vi- brant life under Marr’s steady hand. Nora McLellan (A Little of Wot You Fancy, Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe) drips sarcasm like no dripper I’ve Nora MacLellan in Miracle Mother, playing on the Arts Club Mainstage until October 22. ever seen. Very seldom does a stage per- former sell “obnoxiousism,” but McLellan makes it look easy as Kathleen, the high-tense mother of a newly born premature baby. A perfect example of Kathleen’s character: when her mother suggests baptism for the “preemie,” Kathleen deadpans, “Mother, I’ve had a Cesarean, not a lobotomy.” Despite the quality of both per- formance and material, the production as a whole seemed to grate on my nerves. Alas, poor direction from Pat Armstrong gives the piece a frantic, desperate, “hey-laugh- at-me-now-cry-at-me-ain 't-I- clever” feel. The play zips along for ninety minutes straight, never stopping to breathe or relax. All Armstrong needs to do is slow down a little. The dialogue will pace itself if given the chance. As itis, she drives Mother into the ground, and out of gas, well before the final curtain. Don’t get me wrong; Mother is a good show. The operative word here is “good. No more, no less. Not ‘great, not ‘bad, not‘inspired,’ not‘abysmal. ‘Good’ Matters a wonder to behold Despite nude promo pics, Flesh is a fully-clothed hit by Jason Kurylo I've never been much on ‘perfor- mance art.’ I love theatre, but have al- ways had difficulty with dance, move- ment pieces, and abstract plays. I have never understood it, nor have I liked it. That is, until I saw Matters of the Flesh. A mixture of dance and movement, song, revealing monologues, and too- real group dialogue, Flesh displays a unique insight into the social interaction of the average human. Flesh follows the actions and inter- actions of six partygoers, with dance pieces and introspective monologues giv- ing us a look into how they each view themselves and each other. From lover to casual acquaintance to rapist to victim, Flesh has an amazing range of emotion. The crowd is legiti- mately drawn into laughter, love, pain, and despair. Sheena Anderson didn't do this in Matters of the Flesh, but you've gotta admit, it makes for one heckuva promotional shot. The musical choices for the Flesh dance sequences are sublime. From Beethoven's Violin Sonata #5 to the gor- geously haunting vocals of performer SheenaAnderson, the aural scope of this piece is perfect. One particularly effective segment shows how people seemingly follow the conventions of society, yet fail to under- stand how everyone around them does the same. In essence, you copy your neighbour, assuming they know what’s going on, but they're trying to copy off of their neighbour; half the time, they're copying you. Flesh contains none of the nudity contained in the sensationalist promo ma- terial. It does, however, condense the chaos of love, intimacy, eroticism, vio- lence, fear of acceptance, fear of rejec- tion, and fear of love, intimacy, eroti- cism and violence into one powerful ball of theatre. Unfortunately for you, Matters of the Flesh has ended its run at the Firehall Arts Centre. You can, however, reach the Jumpstart Performance Society at 299-4522. Here, kitty, here, kitty Cats not exactly the Denise's meow by Denise Walker Boy, was I excited. “Hey, Denise, guess what.” “What?” I said. “You're going to see Cats on Satur- day.” “Yay!” Boy was I excited. I had never seen Cats before, but heard wonderful things about it, like the Cats coming into the audience, the sing- ing, and the dancing. I was very excited. So Saturday came, and I got dressed to the nines. The perfect dress, shoes, hair, makeup, and date. I felt good. Every- body looked at us as we drove to the theatre, and as we walked in. Boy, was I ever excited. We got to our seats. Row 15 in the Orchestra. Great seats. And they were on the aisle, too! I could even touch a Cat as it walked by! I got goosebumps, I was so excited. Well, the show started; over 120 minutes of a great light show, Cats work- ing the aisles, singing and dancing. While the singing and dancing were spectacu- lar (except for this one guy, who was very clumsy-looking) there was no story to it. Halfway through, they sang a song I had never heard before. I suddenly re- alized I couldn't hear a thing they were singing. If hadn’t heard the soundtrack before, I would have been lost through- out the whole thing. I feel bad for any- body who hadn't heard the soundtrack. Even though I did get to touch a Cat, my experience did not live up to my expectations. But hey, I could still tell everyone that I had been to Cats, even if it wasn’t as good as I had hoped. And, was still dressed up, and had a date. Boy, was I excited.