Inquest

[Charles Costello]

As promised here are some thoughts on Inquest, currently running at
Toronto's Factory Theatre.  (My review for The Varsity comes out
Thursday.)  The whole experience left me depressed, so I have little to
say about it.
 
I found the play to be unimaginative, and its language flat.  I lost
interest very quickly and had to struggle to stay with it to the end.
The play looks at the initial police investigation and subsequent inquest
into the police shooting of native leader J.J. Harper.  The focus is
entirely on the police force: the constable whose gun fired the fatal
bullet and three of his superiors.
 
The program gave the writer credit for his research into police procedure.
It seems like he over-estimated how much dramatic value could be had from
such work.  He dramatizes the police corruption in what I thought was a
rather banal fashion.  So, the uncovering of that corruption, which
largely gives the play its structure and shows that careful research,
seems overblown.
 
The opening night events really rubbed me the wrong way.  I reviewed the
performance in the context of the entire affair.  Having just watched a
play that treated its grave subject matter in what often seemed like
sitcom fashion (I can't say who's to blame), I was ill-disposed for the
Factory Theatre's post-performance shenanigans.  Someone took the stage to
acknowledge special guests from the solictor general's office, the police
force and a native organization.  Whatever it was meant as, the
announcement came across to me as a misguided bid to a place of importance
in the comunity.  Then at the lobby bar I discovered that drinks were
being served by a woman in a police officer's costume.  Altogether, it
felt like the Factory (and perhaps the playwright shares some of the
blame) was just flirting with social discourse rather than giving a
serious issue the careful consideration it deserves.  As I wrote in my
review, the costumed bartender seemed like a mascot at an amusement park:
welcome to the Factory's Police Racism Land.
 
I hope to hear other views of the show.