In this first play by Montrealer Nicholas Billon, Dr. Greenberg (Howard Rosenstein), director of a psychiatric hospital, questions a patient named Michael (Gianpaolo Venuta) about the disappearance of a certain Dr. Lawrence. Why is this questioning being done by the director and not a police officer? Well, as we learn over the course of the play, Greenberg has a fear of scandal. I hope that’s enough explanation for you, because it’s all you’re going to get. Greenberg has been given Michael’s file, but doesn’t have a chance to look at it before Michael comes in. Immediately upon arrival, Michael convinces Greenberg not to look at the file, saying that it will prejudice him. Astonishingly, even though he has been warned by long-suffering nurse Peterson (Julie Tamiko Manning) that Michael likes to “play games,” Greenberg agrees. Billon has a surprise ending in mind, you see, and he’ll employ any plot element, no matter how unlikely, to get there.

Given the contrived nature of the plot, what this play needs is a dazzling production, one that distracts us with fabulous design elements, electric pacing and seductive acting. No doubt some of these elements were in place for the Stratford debut of the play as well as the French-language premiere last year at Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, which would explain why there was some (though not unanimous) positive response to the play. Unfortunately, the Infinitheatre version, set against the ugly tiles of the Bain St-Michel, is completely lacking in magic. Guy Sprung’s direction is ponderous, giving us plenty of time to ponder the plot’s incongruities. All three actors are doing their best to create believable characters  from what the script has given them, but it never feels as if they are working together. The Elephant Song is supposed to be a taut psychological thriller, but it’s more like a wandering pachyderm groaning quietly as it lumbers along.
 

GO EAST, YOUNG DAMES

 

There are parallels between the plot of Le Gros Spectacle and the lives of its two writer-performers. Renée Amber and Brieanna Moench (aka the Wind-Up Dames) are Alberta girls who grew up feeling the lure of Montreal as some sort of naughty cultural Mecca . In Le Gros Spectacle, set in the 1950s, they are transformed into Alice and Frances, two wide-eyed Prairie girls who come to Montreal seeking excitement and fame on the vaudeville stage. News that vaudeville was dead and Jean Drapeau was on a crusade to kill burlesque apparently hadn’t reached Western Canada.

If you’ve been paying attention to local anglo theatre, it will occur to you that Le Gros Spectacle covers the same time period as MainLine’s recent Johnny Canuck and the Last Burlesque. Where that show professed an interest in what it was like for women working in burlesque, in practice it was an adolescent male fantasy. This show explores some of the same clichés, but from a female point of view, and with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

There is some good material here, some good use of sound and lighting, particularly in the magic lantern effects, but at 90 minutes, the show is too long and rambling. One thing vaudeville knew was to keep things moving, not give the audience too much time to think. The fairytale references in the script are too sporadic at this point, but with a tighter re-write they could help shape the piece. Then if these charming performers would just bring in a crackerjack director, why, they just might realize their dream of having a hit show! 

THE ELEPHANT SONG   UNTIL FEB. 11

AT bain st-michel (5300 ST-DOMINIQUE), $15–$25; 
LE GROS SPECTACLE UNTIL FEB. 3 AT THÉÂTRE STE-CATHERINE (264 STE-CATHERINE E.)