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Twisted sisters >> Siblings reunite in Very Heaven
by AMY BARRATT From Shakespeare to Chekhov to Beth Henley, playwrights have explored the motif of three sisters. Sisters fascinate us because they are alike, and yet they can be so so different. That is certainly the case with the sisters in Ann Lambert's Very Heaven, currently enjoying its premiere production at Centaur. You get the feeling that these three women would never cross paths in their lives if they didn't happen to be related. Harriet (Jude Beny), the eldest, having married her wealthy high school sweetheart, has made a smooth transition from good little daughter to good Westmount wife. Juliet (Mary Harvey), unmarried with a hyperactive eight-year-old, lives at the opposite end of the economic spectrum, drinking heavily and nursing old grudges. The youngest, Lee (Jane Wheeler)--not the marrying kind--has left the past behind to become a cowpoke in Montana. Lambert's play reunites these three in their childhood home in the Eastern Townships following the death of their mother. They have come to sprinkle Mum's ashes over the lake at sunrise, as per her instructions. As is inevitably the case when adult children get together under their parents' roof, all of the old wounds and resentments come bubbling to the surface. Did I mention it's a comedy? Throughout the play, mama Rose (Louise Nicol) sits in semi-darkness on a stage-right platform, watching, reacting and occasionally contributing her version of events, though never interacting with "the living." The cast is rounded out by "Stretch" Lachance (Gérald Gagnon), a local man who Rose had hired to do work for her on the property. Underlying themes of language and class make Very Heaven an oh-so-Quebec piece of writing. Local references make it fun for a Montreal audience, but are not so dense that the play couldn't be enjoyed anywhere. In the interests of comedy, Lambert has exaggerated the characters almost to the point of stereotype, but ultimately she makes each of them sympathetic. Beny occasionally lands too hard on lines that would have been better almost thrown away, but otherwise, thanks to director Eda Holmes, assisted by Irene Aguzzi, the show moves along at an entertaining clip. And God bless them for casting a real francophone as Lachance!
Very Heaven at the Centaur to May 30, Tues-Sat, 8pm; weekend matinées, 2pm; Sun, May 2, 7pm, $17-35
In praise of anglo theatre For the past couple of months, several local theatre critics, moi included, have been cooking up a plan we hope will raise the profile of the English theatre scene in town. I hereby announce the creation of the Montreal English Critics Circle Awards, or MECCAs. I take credit for the name and the catchy acronym, but Gaétan Charlebois has done most of the work organizing a five-way conversation--mainly by e-mail--that has finally led to a consensus between Pat Donnelly, Myron Galloway, Patricia Rodriguez, Gaétan and myself. MECCA winners will be announced in August in the following categories: best new play (to the playwright); best production--professional (to the company); best production--amateur, semi-professional (to the company); best visiting production (to the company); best director; best actor; best actress; best design/look (to a production's team of designers); revelation/distinction. The MECCAs are starting small. This year's winners will be presented with attractive (I sincerely hope) certificates. Unfortunately, there is no money attached to the prize as yet, but in the coming years, if this thing catches on... well, who knows? Winners will be chosen from among plays produced in English between September 1, 1998 and mid-July 1999.
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