Joey Tremblay in Elephant Wake
Elephant Wake. For some reason, it didn’t occur to me until the end that this was a funeral reference. But not quite a funeral. This town, this unspoken elephant in the room, never reaches the stage of funeral; holding its last breath because of one last surviving resident.
How long has Jean-Claude been living alone in the Franco-Saskatchewan town of Ste. Vierge. At least twenty years, it seems, maybe more. Surrounded by papier-mache figurines. As long as he has stories to tell, memories to share, he stays.
The fiddle music invited me in, as I strolled through the walls of black curtains into the National Arts Centre studio, eagerly anticipating the design from visionary artist/director Bretta Gerecke. I already knew I loved her work in Nevermore, the show I raved about after seeing it two and a half times at the Magnetic North Festival. Who says spectacle can’t tell a story. Aristotle obviously never acquainted himself with productions like these.
I knew very little about writer/performer Joey Tremblay, except that he was good. I’ve been researching Catalyst Theatre for my master’s thesis, and of course his name comes up as one-half of that phenomenal artistic team that saved Catalyst from financial and artistic ruin about ten years ago. But what would he be like onstage…
He enters the dark stage with only a flashlight, shines it at the audience, acknowledging us, noting “Scary, eh?” We all laugh, and suddenly we all become friends.
Who knew that Ottawa audiences could relish so much in interactive theatre. What happened to us. Where did we come from. We were all children again, singing along to hymns without really knowing all the words; clapping our hands as this idiot-savant character dances on top of a white box, a true joie-de-vivre in his voice, in his body.
White. Everything is white. The stage strewn with shards of paper. Bottle-figurines represent members of the town that once were. Hints of a lively community. Small lanterns line two rows across the stage. Jean-Claude plays with the light, he plays with us; he speaks directly to an audience member named James, who seems shy but willing to join in the fun.
Admittedly, sometimes my mind wandered. I didn’t follow his every word and two hours is a long time to sit and watch one person onstage. And yet… when he left, when it was over, I so desperately wanted him to come back.
I loved this character. I loved how he struggled to speak French, his native language, and how he spoke English with such a strong accent, full of resistance. I love how he never complained, really, and always joked around. Humour is the greatest weapon, he makes this so clear.
I don’t review plays very often. But I thought this was worth mentioning. The show plays until November 14.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kris Joseph, Jessica Ruano. Jessica Ruano said: This woke me up: my review of Elephant Wake http://bit.ly/4BGugN [...]
[...] watch. If you’d like to read a review of the piece, I recommend Jessica Ruano’s at the Ottawa Arts Newsletter. I agree with most of what she [...]
A good companion piece for this play would be Larry Tremblay’s The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi.
http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=The%20Dragonfly%20of%20Chicoutimi
It sounds like a great theatre experience.
Jessica, have you been on top of Amanda Earl’s ICU stay? Anyone you can pass the word to about sending paper mail to her? at 1911-440 Gloucester St. Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7T8.