We had high hopes for this play by Wajdi Mouawad the author of Scorched.
But this play did not meet the high standard set by the earlier one.
The elements of magic realism did not add to the story but made it unnecessarily complicated.
The idea of a family that will live an isolated life in a zoo is a strange point of departure
and leads directly to the inevitable result - -insanity and incest.
Mouawad's obsession with the subject of incest is curious to say the least.
We left the play agreeing that it was interesting, but not gripping. And definitely
wondering what the point was. It seemed more like a collection of experiments than a
well crafted, well constructed play.
The cast was good and it is always a pleasure to watch R H Thomson. Lisa Ripo-Martell and Vivien EndIcott-Douglas e becoming favorites.
Well, there are really two plays.
ReplyDeleteThere is beginning and end which are a play about the value of friendship over blood.
Then there is the middle section which might have been going somewhere, but which the ending rendered irrelevant.
Cut out the middle and work on it, then the rest, with a bit of transition added, will make a coherent and reasonable length play. (You gotta match Shakespeare to justify a 3 hour run time.)
That said, the cast was excellent and I always appreciate Tarragon taking risks, even if sometimes they do not work 100% - that's the nature of risk taking.