Arabian Night evokes dreamlike scene

Photo by Tim Ginley (LtoR: Emily Pearlman, Richard Gelinas, Kate Smith, Stewart Matthews)

Review by Erika Morey

Evolution Theatre finishes off its 2009 season this week with Roland Schmimmelpfennig’s Arabian Night (in an English translation by David Tushingham) directed by Natalie Joy Quesnel. Nominated Play of the Year by six German critics in 2001, this sensual urban thriller tells the intricate tale of five individuals who unwittingly cross paths in an apartment building one night as they each struggle to realize their own most personal fantasies.  In discovering these desires through series of dreamlike events, each character undergoes a transformation that culminates with the revelation of the play’s central message – “We simply can’t stop revealing our true natures”.

Overcoming the inevitable challenges that come with working in a non-traditional theatrical space (Evolution chose to use the Cube Gallery as its playing space), the production offered a simplistic yet versatile setting that mirrored Quesnel’s illiteral approach to the play. Six translucent curtains and two white sliding staircases were drawn back, flipped and removed by actors to create a surreal environment that contrasted with the very literal nature of text, which is essentially a collection of stage directions spoken aloud. Striving to be evocative rather than illustrative, the production is unique in its intention as well as in its set (John Doucet), lighting (Pierre Ducharme), and costume design (Mishka Lavigne).

Quesnel’s fresh interpretation was matched by the work of an exceptionally talented ensemble, all of whom brought a distinct energy and individuality to their roles. A reliably comical Richard Gelinas delighted the audience as the indecisive apartment building superintendent Lomeier , and Bradley Cunningham Long brought an unexpected  whimsicality to Kalil, a moped-driving young man who visits this same building to visit his girlfriend Fatima. Stewart Matthews was also exceptional in his portrayal of a curious and infatuated Karpati, who is drawn into the building at the sight of a beautiful woman on the 7th floor.

Most noteworthy, however, was Kate Smith’s riveting performance as Franziska, a narcoleptic blonde-haired beauty whose memory slips into obscurity each day as morning fades to night. Drifting around the stage as if sleepwalking for the first few minutes of the play, she later becomes both active and aware as she describes the images that come to her while in a deep sleep. Effective in her ability to engage the audience, Smith chillingly portayed her character’s shift from vulnerability and confusion in reality to the confidence and understanding she finds within in her dreams.

In attempting to stage such an ambitious piece, Evolution took some major risks for a relatively young company emerging into the Ottawa arts scene. Luckily, with so many creative minds on board, Evolution is certainly living up to its mandate to entertain audiences with thought-provoking, emotional, and evocative contemporary theatre. Theatre-goers in Ottawa should take advantage of the opportunity to see high-calibre experimental theatre right here in the city, and should expect to be both entertained and challenged by what Evolution has to offer.

Erika is a first year theatre student at the University of Ottawa.

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