Seven Lears / Master Builder

[Charles Costello]

I saw Seven Lears on opening night, and reviewed it for The Varsity (U of
T).  It was the most interesting theatre I'd seen in Toronto in many
months, which came as no surprise, given the playwright, whose work I'm
only just coming to know, and the director, who strikes me as quite
intelligent and who knows Barker very well.  There were several moments
and even scenes of exceptional theatre, but on the whole I felt the
production somehow fell short.  I found Hughes's first act performance
monotonous, the single note being that of the upper class twit.  He was
better in the second act, where the twit was bent under the weight of
kingship.  The transition between these Lears was, I thought, entirely too
abrupt.  It seemed like Two Lears to me.
 
Megan Follows surprised me.  I went with some prejudice against her,
rooted in some stupid t.v. vs stage thing, though I was also pleasantly
surprised by her Outer Limits episode a few months ago.  She was very
strong throughout, handling her own significant transitions skillfully.
I will be watching for future stage work from her.
 
Maggie Huculuk is always so intense.  She looked at me the other night at
a reception and I felt like one of us was turning to stone.  I saw her in
Little Years recently, where she used that intensity in ways similar to
what she did as Lear's lover: still, economical acting.  It's a style
that an actor grows into over many years, I think, providing few
opportunities for the easy, short-cut tricks which keep young actors happy.
So, she was the powerful-actor-in-waiting again.  I look forward to more
from her, too.
 
Overall the direction of the acting seemed confused.  Some of the
performances made little sense to me.  I didn't get the
minister-turned-fool at all.  At times it seemed as if there had been
crises in the rehearsals which had left everyone determined to play their
parts the way each of them thought best.  I left with the impression that
I had seen something like anti-ensemble work.
 
Barker is such an uncompromising soul.  Nothing smooth.  So why the black
scrim across the arch?  I hated it.  It felt like a muzzle and I so
wanted to be bit.
 
I saw Inquest last night, at Factory Theatre, under Michael Springate's
direction.  The worse thing about bad theatre is the complicity of a dull
audience.  But I have to review it for next week.