The villagers enter through a seemingly endless void of nothing but mist through the aisles, underscoring the first scene as the heart of the play.  However temporally and geographically distant it may be, the themes and characters exist in the same universe as us; they are universal. Set before and during the Great War, War Horse follows the life of Albert, an English farm boy whose adoration for a pet foal, that is sold on the onset of the war, turns into an obsession to find his best friend by enlisting in the armed forces and trekking through Europe as a soldier. It’s unflinchingly romantic and by the end we’ve found ourselves rooting for love, peace, and humanity.

Perhaps the greatest draw of the play is the brilliant use of puppetry. Joey, a hunting horse purchased by the Crown to help the cavalry in France, is an intricate apparatus operated by no fewer than three skilled puppeteers. They animate his entire body, from the breathing in his chest to his galloping across the fields, and maintain beautifully the illusion of this majestic creature who serves not only as a major plot point but as a poignant metaphor for humanity and compassion. His magnificent motion contrasts with the dark, steel tanks that were first introduced in World War One, also puppets, but of a different variety – they are cold, lifeless, and exist only to harm and to kill. In all cases the puppetry is well-executed and entertaining, but the little birds on tall poles and shiny silver artillery shell puppets make suspending disbelief difficult, especially in light of the improbable plot and laboriously expositional dialogue. War Horse is not a play for fans of gritty realism expecting dark war stories nor aficionados of complex, naturalistic human drama.

It is, however, remarkably entertaining across a multitude of age groups. The simplistic beauty of the plot, bordering on nostalgia, appeals to younger audience members, while an appreciation of the skill and artistic design is enough to make even a hardened teenager such as myself consider seeing it again. The enormous cast propels War Horse forward, though few actors stand out as remarkable. Among them are Tamara Bernier-Evans, who plays Albert’s wise but heartbroken mother, and Melanie Doane and Tatjana Cornij, who frame the scenes with melodic folk songs accompanied by violin and accordion. Their singing at times of emotional development came off at first as a gimmick but quickly became the most resonant moments of the play, reminding us that War Horse is, first and foremost, a story.

When reduced, War Horse is three flawed core-techniques: a corny story, a shallow audio-visual presentation, and a message so simple and obvious it doesn’t need to be said. But somehow, when combined together, these three strands intertwine to form a story that is beautiful, a presentation that is breathtaking, and a human message so powerful it could be said a thousand times without losing its meaning. For this reason War Horse has earned the success and acclaim that is has, and for this reason it is a show well worth seeing for all the members of the family.

War Horse will be running at the Princess of Wales Theatre until September 2012.

Tickets to War Horse can be purchased through Mirvish’s website.

Check out the War Horse Toronto Rehearsal Media Preview Video:

Each year, the University of Toronto Drama Coalition sponsors a festival at Hart House Theatre for students from each college to write, produce, direct, and star in original plays. Those plays are performed once each and judged by an expert in the field who will name, at the festival’s conclusion, its winners and losers. This year, blogUT will be attending and reporting on all of the plays at the 2012 U of T Drama Festival and letting you know how your college matches up to others in the dramatic arts.

(more…)

Each year, the University of Toronto Drama Coalition sponsors a festival at Hart House Theatre for students from each college to write, produce, direct, and star in original plays. Those plays are performed once each and judged by an expert in the field who will name, at the festival’s conclusion, its winners and losers. This year, blogUT will be attending and reporting on all of the plays at the 2012 U of T Drama Festival and letting you know how your college matches up to others in the dramatic arts. (more…)

Each year, the University of Toronto Drama Coalition sponsors a festival at Hart House Theatre for students from each college to write, produce, direct, and star in original plays. Those plays are performed once each and judged by an expert in the field who will name, at the festival’s conclusion, its winners and losers. This year, blogUT will be attending and reporting on all of the plays at the 2012 U of T Drama Festival and letting you know how your college matches up to others in the dramatic arts.

(more…)

Each year, the University of Toronto Drama Coalition sponsors a festival at Hart House Theatre for students from each college to write, produce, direct, and star in original plays. Those plays are performed once each and judged by an expert in the field who will name, at the festival’s conclusion, its winners and losers. This year, blogUT will be attending and reporting on all of the plays at the 2012 U of T Drama Festival and letting you know how your college matches up to others in the dramatic arts.

(more…)

Short, sweet, and kinda-sorta-maybe-almost to the point.

That’s how I’d best describe the Trinity College Drama Society’s (TCDS) production of Woody Allen’s one-act play God, which ended a few weeks ago much to the chagrin of this belated reviewer.

The play revolves around a Greek playwright and actor who, while creating a new work, come to realize that they are merely characters in a piece by Woody Allen. Some faux-audience interaction later (really? The girl in costume and full make-up was actually part of the show?), a quest created by one of the show’s 29 characters and some existential queries propel the characters of God through a series of self-referential jokes about theatre, the meaning of life, and God. The script is light – just short of schticky – without sacrificing meaning.

Steven Conway’s direction goes a long way to give life to a play that was never meant to be staged.  Stars Willa Cowan and Arun Radhakrishnan keep the audience’s interest with their superb comedic timing. Cowan especially shines as Ancient Greek actor Diabetes, delivering her many punch lines with clarity and character. The rest of the expansive cast perform ably as well, given the difficulty of maintaining sincerity in a play that apparently has none, but occasionally mumble or lose a line due to what may be lack of energy in a hectic and chaotic piece.

Nic Farber’s set gives just enough Ancient Greek context without being too distracting and  the tricky transitions run off without a hitch. The same cannot be said for Raven Kaur’s costumes, which offer just a little bit too much knowledge of which cast members have tattoos and where the sound and lighting were strong.

Overall, God is a deep, meaningful journey into the fundamental questions of human existence that isn’t afraid to laugh at itself and everything around. The cast keeps the audience laughing and the production values are excellent, making God an enjoyable fifty minutes or so of theatre.

Unfortunately, God’s run has ended.

If you are interested in TCDS’ plays, check out their shows in the upcoming Hart House Drama Festival and their production of Spring Awakening this March.

It is a rare occasion when an established literary playwright, such as Tony Kushner, lends his talents to a musical. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Angels in America fame teamed up with composer Jeanine Tesori to write Caroline, or Change in 2004: a hauntingly beautiful Broadway musical about a black maid, Caroline, working for a white Jewish family in “the only basement in Louisiana”. The show enjoyed little commercial success in its first run but has since received productions in London, New York’s Off-Broadway scene and now, finally, Toronto.

(more…)