A Pick-Me-Up Kind of a Show! Caribbean Muskrat at Teatro La Quindicina

I must admit, going to the theatre is starting to feel closer to normal... sure, there's the masks and if you're lucky a little bit of spacing, but in the past month and a half in addition to rehearsing the show I am directing, I have been able to catch 3 plays and my first ever evening of Die Nasty! Not quite my pre-pandemic pace, but a huge upswing and it really feels good. 

Photo Credit: Epic Photography; featuring Rochelle Laplante, Rachel Bowron & Jackson Card

It certainly helps that two of the shows (along with Die Nasty) have been comedies! Most recently I caught the Opening Night of Teatro La Quindicina's first offering in their 40th Anniversary season, Caribbean Muskrat, penned by Josh Dean and Stewart Lemoine. Lemoine also directed. I took in the show with Ephemeral Pleasures and we both delighted in the lightness of the humour created by coincidence, taboo attractions, sleep disorders and a very unusual prize (the titular Caribbean Muskrat) being held by a too-diligent Customs Agent. 

The cast of three, Cynthia Lodgepole (A driven Café hostess charmingly played by Rachel Bowron), her well-managed boyfriend Hadrien Burch (newcomer Jackson Card who is believable as the sleep disorder doctor who goes with the flow of whatever is asked of him), and the aforementioned Customs Agent, Bess Wesley (Rochelle Laplante, seen previously in Freewill's Macbeth and the Citadel's Peter Pan Gone Wrong). The three of them become entangled in attraction and friendship as the fate of the Carribean Muskrat is determined. Hopefully you can tell from this description that the show has a wonderful sense of silliness. It's situationally funny and the excellent banter of the trio carries the piece. 

The show has many of the trademarks of a Teatro show - quick dialogue, a terrific food and wine aesthetic, a sense of place (Kelowna, now or in the near future), complicating coincidences and an inevitable, yet still a little surprising, unravelling of complications. There's also a very clever and terrifically funny section where Bowron has a Bluetooth conversation with the Café staff while having brunch with the other two characters. The whole show is like the bubbles in a cold glass of prosecco - sparkling and fresh!

It's a wonderful show in it's lightness of topic after the heaviness of the last two years. There are no grand social issues being argued or weighed and that's okay. I know I left the theatre feeling a little weight lifted off my shoulders in the way that guiltfree laughter can do. 

Tickets are $37-$42 and are available here: https://tickets.teatroq.com/purchase/tickets 

There are also Pay-What-You-Can performances and you can find the information here

Oh and for your reference, here is a Caribbean muskrat:

Summer 2021 - A Return to Live #yegtheatre... tentatively... with Macbeth...

 

So... I saw a show this week... in person... it was outside... a return to a live theatre space. It felt good. 

On Wednesday evening, in Louise McKinney Park, I took in the Preview performance of Freewill Shakespeare's Macbeth. Responding to Covid, the company presented an adaptation written for 3 actors, which was shorter, with streamlined sets and costumes, to better fit into the Fringe and other locations. There's also a similar production of Much Ado About Nothing adapted for 5 actors, but I haven't had a chance to catch that one yet. 

It was so nice to be in an audience sharing the experience of live theatre, and this was a terrific choice as it was brisk and lively and quite funny. The three actors (Nadien Chu, Rochelle Laplante, and Laura Raboud) were skilled with the Shakespeare as well as the quick script. Three natural comedians, they played well with and off each other. Those that know Macbeth can be reassured that the essentials are covered, but this adaptation tends to lighten the more gory parts with clever songs and provide exposition in humorous ways. There's also low-risk audience participation. On the Preview night, the audience was a little rusty but once their memories were sparked they leapt in. 

Most lovely for me was seeing the three actors joyous response to the applause. I feel for all the #yegtheatre performers who have tried to serve us over the last year and a half with online performances. Finally they can hear our gratitude for the splendid art that they are creating instead of sending it out into the silent void of zoom. 

Next for me is a Fringe show. I'm finding it hard to get back to being around people so I am taking it slow. I'll see a show on Monday and if that goes well, I hope to catch a few more later in the week.

You can catch Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing at the Fringe. Click the titles for the links to tickets and showtimes. Some performances already show limited availability, so you might want to get those ticket sooner rather than later!