THEATRE. Meaningful patterns “The senses don’t just make sense of life in bold or subtle acts of clari- ty, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern.’ Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses. deliciously lost. It was .4 Map of the Senses, by [sei FRIDAY | viewed a map, but | became lost, Touchstone Theatre, playing at the Firehall Arts Cen- tre. This play is a glorious trip through the senses, the uncon- scious and the world of art. Beautiful, comic and religious, it lifts the veil from “reatity’’ like the flip of a maiden’s skirt to reveal the sensual underthings, a different realm where angels hover and creams take wing, where the logic crumbles, to reveal the sen- soy map, the inner circuitry of the sel Although this “map” is a swirl- ing soup of impressions, of smells, sights and sounds, the self finds its way through it to a new destina- tion. The self, in this case, is a Cana- dian woman named Anne (played by Alison Kelly) who, during a trip te the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, is cverwhelmed by the impzce of a Renaissance painting ard collapses into a state of amnesia St suffers from what is called the Stendhal Syndrame, after the French writer. Stendhal also expe- rienced palpitations and vertigo when viewing art in Florence. The tertz:1 cendhal Syndrome was later coined by an Italian psychiatris’, Dr. Graziella Maghevir.:. In the play, Anne ends up under the scrutiny of Dr. Chiarezza (Magherini), who helps her retrace her physical journey through Europe, revealing the in- ner psychic journey Anne undergoes in the process. The play follows the disorientz- tion from the self and its gradual reintegration into something new. Before her psychic collapse Anne meets a travelling partner Jean Poole (as in “gene pool’’) who has a penchant (or is that peche?) for annunciation scenes. To her they are the quintessence SE CLEAN % Heidemann, Barbara Black THEATRE REVIEW of sensuality, or in her brash words ‘‘a turn-on.’ A Map of the Senses explores this interplay of the spiritual with the sensual. In one amusing scene, for in- stance, players act out three scenarios of angels visiting a Mary figure as filtered through Jean's perception — the sexuality is hardly implicit. After Jean meets her deatiy by a gigantic falling painting of an an- nunciation (divine justice or a bad divine pun?) Anne takes on her identity temporarily, wearing her clothing. : Later, as she edges closer to discovering her own emerging identity, Anne declares, “‘I feel like I’m waiting for something to enter me.”’ Very annunciation-like, that. A Map of the Senses reminds us what art is for, and poetry and music — a symbolic language, as Henry Miller said, for something that can be seized directly. What is that something? The religious experience. + Of course, it is not only religious art that can elicit a religious expe- rience, but all aspects of art. What Anne experiences, and other characters, is transcendence, and K.S., Sorelli, Jean Claude, Chacok, K.L. Sunny Choi |HEATHERINGTONS CLEARANCE CORNER Temporary location unstairs ald Julia Shoes 926-0090 PARK ROYAL SOUTH following that a revelation. In biblical writings it was often an angel who delivered revelation. While angels could be actual be- ings living in a super-physical realm, they also can be thought of as archetypes of our unconscious. Angels in the play embody both these notions. The glory of this play is the visu- al text. While there is some narra- tion, the meta-language of the movement accesses us thzough the senses, tells the parts of the story that cannot by told by language alone. There are elements to fife that defy the rational, and cal! for sur- render or at least suspension of the rational mind. And in A Map of the Senses, the medium is this message. There i: a tension in the play between the rational, em- bodied by Dr. Torbido, who insists that the “body is a clock,” and Dr. Chiarezza, who counters that the “mind is a river.”” But this is not a psychological play about one person’s afflictions. Anne’s experience goes beyond the personal. By losing her sense of separateness she becomes aware of the “collective”’ self. She feels the history of human life around her, ‘‘the dead ail around, thick in the air.’’ What is remarkable in this non- linear, movement-oriented theatre is its power to move and to stimu- late the imagination. The ideas are never as academic as I’m making them sound. !n fact, the first act is very comical.thanks to Gina Bastone’s comic flair and a sort of Fellini quality to some scenes. A Map of the Senses is a master- ful collaboration. It paints the im- enetrables of people and their ives in the history of the world. The set, by David Roberts, is a giant guilded picture frame, the floor is parquet. In the middle is a glass encased vault, used as a living picture frame, a metaphor for memory See Collaborative page 40 Wednesday, February 12, 1992 - North Shore News - 39 photo David Cooper ALEX FERGUSON and Alison Kelly appear in Touchstone Theatre’s A Map of the Senses, 2 sumptuous, collaborative piece of theatre which explores the tension between images and reali- ty. Stock Market € ~ On Now Finding great deals doesn't have to be time-consuming. We've made it quick and easy with our Stock Market Sale flyer. Glance through it and you'll find family needs, everyday basics & more. All available during our Stock Market Sale and at huge savings. But hurry in, the sale ends February 16. WOODWARD