You are sitting on the floor at the feet of some stranger in a jammed theatre, which could normally sit 20 comfortably but there are about 50 in attendance. The play seems pointless and it is Saturday night.
Fantastic.
Actually it was the toxic, lemony scent of Vim that permeated the air, after being used a prop.
Currently playing at the Monument National’s La Balustrade theatre until Oct. 27, Gravy Bath’s UnfoundedFearOf and The Party offers a few laughs between the pains of boredom and aggravation.
Gravy Bath Productions is an up and coming Montreal based theatre company, which, in the words of Artist Director, Madd Harold, is dedicated to exploration of “bold, cutting-edge, visceral works which explode the truth of our lives now, in the immediate world.”
The current Gravy Bath production at the Monument National on St Laurent, is setup in two parts. The first is Anthony Kokx’s UnfoundedFearOf, which aims to “probe the cycles of patterned behavior, which lead to suffering.” However, due to the nonsensical rambling of the characters, the suffering was, unfortunately, at the expense of the audience.
The cast of six include a half naked man with dred locks and huge blue alien glasses with apples on the lenses, and two women wearing aprons— one of whom, spent several minutes sucking oranges and bruised apples from her crotch with a toilet plunger, while the other babbled on about a “dirty German man”.
The other characters were equally as… um… amusing: several men wondered aimlessly around the stage and another, whose face was bandaged up with bandanas, spent the duration of the performance tying strings to together in a web-like formation.
Just as I sensed the entire audience on the brink of mutiny, a player walks on stage holding a sign that read “Is this play making you mad? Don’t try to hard to understand it. It will make sense after the break, but if it doesn’t, it’s not supposed to.” Unfortunately, this offered little consolation to the audience who continued to cross their arms and peruse their lips, with a look of exasperation in their eyes.
In an attempt to make sense of it all, I will say this: If Kokx’s purpose was to provoke the audience by creating an environment of uncontrollable irrationally, then the script was brilliantly successful. In fact, I am somewhat reminded of the early Dada movement, who also shocked their audiences with their unconventionally.
The acting, unfortunately, left something to be desired. The players should have considered the close proximity of the Balustrade theatre. While monstrous facial contortions may be less evident in a large auditorium, they only made the audience shudder as we were reminded of our high school drama productions.
The second play, The Party, written by Polish dramatist and short story author, Slawomir Mrozek, revived the poor, tortured audience. The talents of Mike Hughes, Tony Palermo and Nicolas Wright shine in this satirical comedy about three men desperately searching for a party.
The play opens. The theatre is dark, with the exception of a soft glimmer emanating from behind the curtain. The characters back stage discuss how to break into the building they believe is the venue of a rocking party. Their animated voices spark the interest of the audience.
Finally, the three players burst on stage as the lights come on revealing an empty room. The play proceeds as the characters attempt to answer the following: is there a party? If so, where is the music? Are the guests hiding? Perhaps it’s a wedding reception? No, maybe a funeral? and so on.
To sum up, I believe that The Party would have been more successful had it stood alone and UnfoundedFearOf should have commenced with the warning that was announced at the end of the performance: “This play is not absurd. Planes smashing into buildings, that’s absurd.”
UnfoundedFearOf and The Party can be seen at the Monument National’s La Balustrade Theatre. Admission is $12.00 for adults and $10.00 for students and seniors. Performances run until October 27th. For more information call (514) 871-2224.
Fantastic.
Actually it was the toxic, lemony scent of Vim that permeated the air, after being used a prop.
Currently playing at the Monument National’s La Balustrade theatre until Oct. 27, Gravy Bath’s UnfoundedFearOf and The Party offers a few laughs between the pains of boredom and aggravation.
Gravy Bath Productions is an up and coming Montreal based theatre company, which, in the words of Artist Director, Madd Harold, is dedicated to exploration of “bold, cutting-edge, visceral works which explode the truth of our lives now, in the immediate world.”
The current Gravy Bath production at the Monument National on St Laurent, is setup in two parts. The first is Anthony Kokx’s UnfoundedFearOf, which aims to “probe the cycles of patterned behavior, which lead to suffering.” However, due to the nonsensical rambling of the characters, the suffering was, unfortunately, at the expense of the audience.
The cast of six include a half naked man with dred locks and huge blue alien glasses with apples on the lenses, and two women wearing aprons— one of whom, spent several minutes sucking oranges and bruised apples from her crotch with a toilet plunger, while the other babbled on about a “dirty German man”.
The other characters were equally as… um… amusing: several men wondered aimlessly around the stage and another, whose face was bandaged up with bandanas, spent the duration of the performance tying strings to together in a web-like formation.
Just as I sensed the entire audience on the brink of mutiny, a player walks on stage holding a sign that read “Is this play making you mad? Don’t try to hard to understand it. It will make sense after the break, but if it doesn’t, it’s not supposed to.” Unfortunately, this offered little consolation to the audience who continued to cross their arms and peruse their lips, with a look of exasperation in their eyes.
In an attempt to make sense of it all, I will say this: If Kokx’s purpose was to provoke the audience by creating an environment of uncontrollable irrationally, then the script was brilliantly successful. In fact, I am somewhat reminded of the early Dada movement, who also shocked their audiences with their unconventionally.
The acting, unfortunately, left something to be desired. The players should have considered the close proximity of the Balustrade theatre. While monstrous facial contortions may be less evident in a large auditorium, they only made the audience shudder as we were reminded of our high school drama productions.
The second play, The Party, written by Polish dramatist and short story author, Slawomir Mrozek, revived the poor, tortured audience. The talents of Mike Hughes, Tony Palermo and Nicolas Wright shine in this satirical comedy about three men desperately searching for a party.
The play opens. The theatre is dark, with the exception of a soft glimmer emanating from behind the curtain. The characters back stage discuss how to break into the building they believe is the venue of a rocking party. Their animated voices spark the interest of the audience.
Finally, the three players burst on stage as the lights come on revealing an empty room. The play proceeds as the characters attempt to answer the following: is there a party? If so, where is the music? Are the guests hiding? Perhaps it’s a wedding reception? No, maybe a funeral? and so on.
To sum up, I believe that The Party would have been more successful had it stood alone and UnfoundedFearOf should have commenced with the warning that was announced at the end of the performance: “This play is not absurd. Planes smashing into buildings, that’s absurd.”
UnfoundedFearOf and The Party can be seen at the Monument National’s La Balustrade Theatre. Admission is $12.00 for adults and $10.00 for students and seniors. Performances run until October 27th. For more information call (514) 871-2224.
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