The return of the Dummies

>> Troupe returns with free show on the Main

by AMY BARRATT

It's the turn of a new century and Dummies Theatre is in the mood for reflection, literally and figuratively. Their new show, Dummies in the Mirror, feels less like a new creation than a retrospective of Dummies' shows past. Perhaps that's to be expected in the final installment of a trilogy that began with Go Weast (1996) and continued with Medea in the Media (1998), but the title also harks back to the company's first show, Dummies in the Window (1992).

Dummies in the Mirror features many of the trademarks we've come to expect from this company: incorporation of film and video, cool lighting and sound effects, and expressionistic acting by Anna Papadakos and Carlo Alacchi. There are clever, even inspired moments in the piece--such as when Carlo takes Anna in his arms announcing "We're going to be normal!," dances her across the stage then breaks away to turn on the TV--but at other times it falls into self-indulgence. Basically, as long as they keep a sense of humour about them, they are in good shape.

At one point, I thought they were possibly poking fun at the whole improv-based, experimental, collective creation thang. When Anna (the actors always use their own names in Dummies shows) says, "I want to go somewhere where people have the same hair as me, the same eyes as me," she is parroting, intentionally or not, dialogue from a show called Migrations 1 that played at the MAI centre earlier this season. Where Migrations was fraught with earnestness, Dummies in the Mirror plays the sentiment for laughs.

Still, in between these bright moments there is too much writhing around on the floor for no discernible reason.

I'd be more accepting of this sort of thing if the production gave me more to hitch my wagon to in terms of plot, or even theme. Medea in the Media gave us that right in the title. Although the show bore little resemblance to the classical Greek tale of Medea, at least you could assume, going in, that themes like betrayal, revenge and loss would be explored. As far as I can figure out, all that's being explored in Dummies in the Mirror is the last eight years of Dummies Theatre. That may be enough for die-hard fans who have been with the company from the start, but someone just walking in off the street is liable to feel left out of the loop.

On the other hand, admission being free, you've got very little to lose in checking it out for yourself.

A Date with Yeats

Right across the Main from where the Dummies are performing, infinitheatre and Walking on Air Productions present The Two Trees, at the Infinite Space. An appetizer for the upcoming Irish Festival, this one-man show focuses on the "relationship"--more of an unrequited obsession, is how I heard it--between the poet William Butler Yeats and freedom fighter and sometime actress Maud Gonne. Set at the turn of the last century, The Two Trees incorporates fiddle music and Yeats' own writings. It's written and performed by Daniel Giverin. :

Dummies in the Mirror Wednesdays to Sundays until April 30 at 8:45pm, 3997 St-Laurent, free

The Two Trees Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm until April 30 infinitheatre members $5, non-members $10 Box-office at 3956A St-Laurent. Info 987-1774