“I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost – it’s there and then it’s gone”.
Maggie Smith
This post brings up to date my recent communication regarding the theatrical events that we were lucky enough to attend this year.
Back in the day – a goodly period before The Girl and I finally relocated to Victoria – we had, nonetheless, commenced a series of visits to British Columbia as part of what one might consider a softening up process prior to actually getting down to the business of emigrating.
On one of these expeditions we spent a few nights in Vancouver and took advantage of the opportunity to attend a performance at the annual Shakespeare event – ‘Bard on the Beach‘ – which takes place in Vanier Park overlooking English Bay.
On a few select nights of the year the performances co-incide with the spectacular “Festival of Light” firework displays over English Bay – and one may so order things that the performance of the play (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in this instance) might be book-ended by a thoroughly decent repast and the joyous release of pyrotechnics.
This we duly did…
In the ten years since we moved to Canada, however, we had not – until this year – repeated any part of that experience.
The reasons for this come down largely to logistics and the expense of the trip. Vancouver is close enough to us as the raven flies (or as the orca swims) but when one factors in the show itself and eating and the time it takes for everything to happen one usually ends up booking a hotel room for a night or two and making a proper junket of it…
…which all costs money!
This year our attention was drawn to a production of “Two Gentlemen of Verona” re-set in the 1980s. Reviews were good and – even though we could not make any of the firework evenings work – we decided that we wanted to see the show. The Girl being who she is she immediately applied herself – and came up with a cunning plan!
It worked like this:
We would drive to Swartz Bay (10 minutes) and park the car. We would then sail to Tsawwassen on the mainland (90 minutes) – as foot passengers on the ferry. Having arranged for an Uber to pick us up at the terminal we would be whisked to Vanier Park in time for a quick lunch at the festival site and a matinee of the show. Afterwards it was a simple matter of reversing the process (eating on the ferry home) and turning a major expedition into a mere day out.
Well – everything worked out exactly as planned and we found ourselves still pleasantly fresh upon our arrival home.
“But what of the show?” – I hear you cry…
The show was a lot of fun and, as I say, the reviews were positive. These extracts are from from Julie Hammonds (author of ‘Blue Mountain Rose‘):
- The Play: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- Hot Quote: “They do not love that do not show their love.” ~Julia
- The Company: Bard on the Beach, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- The Stage: An elaborate set in a walled circus tent, with a view of distant mountains and sky. The audience sits comfortably in padded chairs on risers, with excellent sightlines.
- Memorable for: The ending, which I won’t spoil. I want to! But I won’t.
- With apologies to all the excellent human actors, the Scene-stealer Award goes to Mason the Dog (playing Crab), who yawned during Launce’s first long speech and brought the house down. I suspect dogs have been stealing this show since the first performance.
With a set splashed in bubblegum colors, costumes straight from the Jane Fonda Workout, and visual references to movies like Say Anything (1989), Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach delivers a joyful, nontraditional take on The Two Gentlemen of Verona. A 1980s aesthetic infuses the production. Boom boxes pound out the Billboard Hot 100 circa 1985. The female leads, Julia and Sylvia, wear long, curly side ponytails that would make Madonna proud. The hilarious Scott Bellis plays Launce as Doc from Back to the Future.
The male leads, Proteus and Valentine, are teenagers on their first trip away from home. Love and loss, friendship and jealousy are in play, but the stakes seem low because unlike in other Shakespeare plays, these aren’t kings and queens. They’re just kids taking risks, disobeying their parents, and learning that we can hurt people we love with our words and actions.
Angie Rico of ‘Stir‘ adds this with regard to the play’s troublesome ending:
One of the queasier legacies of vintage teen movies is how often they brushed past consent for the sake of comedy. The original ending of the The Two Gentlemen of Verona carries a similar kind of whiplash: a near-assault, quickly forgiven, and everyone paired off like nothing happened. This production, without adding a single line to the ending, shifts the whole tone subtly but decisively, and to more satisfying effect.
So – good show all round!
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