Michel Tremblay again deals with family secrets and the resulting family dynamics. Who knows what, who tells what and what are the consequences when no one says anything?
This production had, as usual at Tarragon, a stellar cast with Mathew Edison as Claude; Cara Gee as Mariette 1; Sophie Goulet as Mariette 2; Tony Nappo as Alex 1; Cliff Saunders as Alex 2; Jane Spidell as Madeleine 1; and Meg Tilly as Madeleine 2.
The story of a marriage and a family seen from the past and the present and from the perspectives of different family members, reminds how hard it is to know what is really true. The collapse of a major piece of the back of the set in mid performance, although certainly unplanned, actually served to reinforce this sense. What is the play and what is the real world?
For the second night in a row, (see Home) the audience was fully engaged, paying attention to every word, applauding enthusiastically at he end, but not offering a standing ovation. Maybe audiences are getting more sophisticated at last.
Tremblay's meditation on how he presented his family in his work compared to how they would see themselves is an enthralling play but one that could fall apart in confusion without a top-flight cast and direction.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, it got both here.
A great night of theatre.