Far from Heaven

>> TV realism meets wild imagination in Fallen Angel’s take on the George F. Walker play

STREET LIFE AND DEATH: Heaven

by Amy Barratt

“There will be smoking and gunshots in Heaven.” The notice in the MainLine Theatre lobby is referring, I think, to George F. Walker’s Heaven, the play that’s on the bill this month. It is the latest contender from Fallen Angel Productions, and, like Monster, their take on the Frankenstein story (la Balustrade, last fall), it is directed by company cofounder Frances Balenzano.

Heaven takes place around a bench in a skuzzy city park frequented by corrupt cops, teenage “druggies” and disillusioned yuppies. The play is many things, including over-written, but under pressure I’d have to say it’s about middle-class white guilt and its origins. That’s not quite right, either, because Jimmy, the protagonist, claims working-class roots (as does the playwright). It’s a strange play, combining recycled TV cop-show realism with wild flights of fancy. Characters start to die off, and then they come back to act out their personal versions of Heaven, but they’re probably just figments of other characters’ imaginations. Everyone here is a figment of Walker’s imagination and they are more stereotypes than individuals: “the rabbi,” “the street kid,” “the black punk.”

A play this sprawling needs tighter direction and a more striking look than we get in this production. It’s hard to believe this is the same company that did such a spine-tingling job with Monster. Actor Brad Carmichael, who delved deep into the dark side as Victor Frankenstein, is in some ways on a similar journey here as Karl, the cop who spins terrifyingly out of control. On opening night, he had a tentative start but hit his stride later on and by the second act, was on fire.

As Jimmy, Kent McQuaid draws on an energy you see in some of the great stand-up comics, the ones that die young: his humour is fuelled by anger at the world but even more by disgust with himself. McQuaid has the intelligence and perverse likeability to keep other characters, and the audience, invested in Jimmy even as he pushes them away.

Heaven is a long play and on opening night seemed underrehearsed. Certain obvious emotions were heightened while other, more subtle ones, were left to flatline. An early argument between Jimmy and his wife Judy (Kelly Anne Patterson) would be so much more gripping if it wasn’t played as if they’ve had this fight dozens of times before.

For the material to work, the actors need to be 100 per cent present all the time. If they go on autopilot for even two seconds, they lose us. Probably no director could cover up all the holes in the script, but picking up the pace of the whole thing might ensure that the questioning comes after, rather than during, the performance.

LE GREEK, C’EST CHIC

Repercussion Theatre gives a sign of things to come with this weekend’s run of Greek, by Steven Berkoff. This is an award-winning production that Repercussion’s new artistic director, Kevin Orr, directed in Ottawa in 2005. The original cast has been reconvened for this remount, taking place at Théâtre Ste-Catherine (264 Ste- Catherine E.) tonight through March 24 at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets $20, 1-888-931-2644.

Heaven TO MARCH 25 AT MAINLINE
THEATRE (3997 ST-LAURENT),
(514) 908-7343, $12–$15