If you’re going to Toronto over the holidays or have loved ones there who deserve a gift, think of Soulpepper. In terms of Anglo theatre in Canada, only Peter Hinton at the NAC can match the excitement of this first-rate repertory company, now heading into its 12th season.
Founded by a dozen top theatre personalities in 1998, Soulpepper has grown from a two-play summer season to a year-round operation with a budget of $7 million and a magnificent 46,000-square-foot complex of theatres, café and headquarters in Toronto’s Distillery District. Albert Schultz is the artistic director. His fellow founders readily concede he’s the driver, but the other apostles clearly have preferred places at the table.
Parfumerie is a wonderful hard-centred romantic comedy by Hungarian playwright Miklós László. Actress Brenda Robins brought the play to Schultz’s attention by way of a classic 1938 movie, The Shop Around the Corner, starring Jimmy Stewart, later updated by Nora Ephron as You’ve Got Mail.
A classic romantic comedy with a Christmas theme, the play is more vivid and extrovert than we’re used to seeing in tales of that era. The fated-to-be lovers are Rosie (Patricia Fagan) and George (Oliver Dennis), clerks in a perfume shop who have been annoying each other at work since they signed on. Meanwhile, both are engaged in a secret pen-pal exchange with a “dear friend”, unaware they’re writing to each other.
A handful of other human dramas criss-cross this literary affair, including the breakdown of the storeowner’s health when he finds out his wife is having an affair with one of his staff – an outstanding performance from Soulpepper founding member Joe Ziegler.
Newly translated and adapted by Adam Pettle and Brenda Robins for Soulpepper, the play is a minor masterpiece. Morris Panych directs a great cast on a marvellous set, nicely capturing the European flavour, both the story’s heart and fun.
Too often the choices are between serious art, made with hard seats in mind, and blatant commercialism, where the creators’ cynicism is palpable. This production treats a feel-good play to the theatrical rigour it deserves.
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Dennis Lee’s long poem Civil Elegies is the inspiration for a sombre one-man musical event created by Mike Ross and Lorenzo Savoini (performed by Ross), running concurrently with Parfumerie. Famous as the author of the children’s classic Alligator Pie, Lee reveals his darker, meditative side in this extended lament for the way Toronto life appeared to a sensitive young nationalist/ existentialist, circa the late Sixties.
The local critics seem convinced Lee’s moaning about the evils of war and urban sprawl reveal how little things have changed in four decades. It felt dated to me. I thought we’d beaten down Hogtown’s bad habit of considering Toronto and Canada as synonyms, but apparently not.
The music is ordinary and the performance underwhelming. Toronto reviewers are wildly positive though. The 70-minute spoken (sung) word show clearly captures a certain side of the city’s persona, proving Soulpepper has achieved the difficult balance of being able to tune into the local zeitgeist and offer masterful interpretations of hidden gems from the international repertory.
Soulpepper: a great reason to stay an extra night in Toronto.
Parfumerie and Civil Elegies run through December 24. For more information, go to the Soulpepper website.
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What a pleasure it must have been to see a feel good live theater ! So little of it is available to us in Quebec.
The article does wet the tongue….perhaps somebody should invite them to come here? Many of us cannot afford even one night in Toronto, while a theater ticket may be possible! There are so many festivals in Montreal….can’t a slot be forund for this theater group?
Ilania