New play fest previews two works in progress

THE Playwrights Theatre Centre (PTC) has had a long, honorable and occa- sionally controversial his- tory in the years since its inception in 1970.

Tts annual festival of new plavs, initiated in 1974 (which makes this year’s the 24th if anyone's counting), has evolved and changed along with the Centre's self-perception of its mandate.

Some years have seen more plays in production, while other years have offered tewer produced scripts bur a higher standard of production. (And we won’t get into the off-stage barrles of “name” versus “unknown” playwrights at all.)

Like the writings that the Vancouver New Play Festiva! develops, the festival itself will continue to change until abandoned.

To put that remark in contexte, Conadian play- wright John Murrell once said that no new play is

* ever finished but abandoned. PTC Artistic

Director Peter Hinton uses the quote in his pro- gram introduction and emphasized it during a post-performance talkback with the audience.

It is worth remembering that Java Life and Criminal, the centrepieces of this year’s festival may still be works-in-progress —- depending on what playwrights Aaron Bushkowsky and Elizabeth Dancoes choose to take from the process of rehearsal, performance and audience feedback.

The temptation to judge the two plays as fin-

” ished works is overwhelming when both boast high production values, stellar casts and concomi-

tant ticket prices. . [took such a position after seeing Java Life,

‘ot. Jeaving the Arts Club Revue Theatre without stay-

Photo David Cooper

. IRMAN Armour and Veena Sood are coffee-

a

drinkers in pain in Aaron Bushkowsky’s Java Life.

ME shaughagk

ing for the discussion and taking my frus- trations home with me. But staying for Hinton’s post-pro- duction Q&A session with the audience of Criminal provided perspective for che festival’s process and a retrospective will- ingness to see the merits rather than the faults in Jara Life.

Bushkowsky wheels out a man incapable of caring for himself, now consigned to a gurney and the anonymous TV rooms of a long- term care(!) facility. The two staff members are polar opposites: one representing heart, the other alienation.

We then mect two women who may represent aspects of the same equation and a Tom Waits- style coffee house drifter whe might embody it all.

Bushkowsky’s first act is a frothy coffee of unexplained connections, acerbic dialogue based on human fallibility and scenes that go nowhere slowly (mestly duc to director Hinton’s glacial pace). By intermission I was wondering, which draft of the script led PTC to describe Java Life as a comedy.

The second act hints at tragedy before finishing in hope, provides missing conflict and explains the relationship connections from Act I. It also offers beautiful scenes (with wonderful work from Laara Sadiq, Veena Sood and Allan Zinyk) that illumi- nate the meaning of compassion. I wish ‘ Bushkowsky could have got us here sooner, after

all, there is only so much you cannot say if you live”

in urban alienation. h hk

The staging doesn’t help Bushkowsky’s pla either, Admittedly, Alan Brodie’s set ae to ferve double duty for both plays, but Java Life often seemed lost on stage, begging for a tighter focus. And if Hinten chooses to overwhelm the actors (and possibly the audience) with music that calls

- attention to itself, the least he could do is

acknowledge the artists in the program.

~ Hinton’s flair for theatrical manipulation and Brodie’s set and light desiga serves playwright Elizabeth Dancoes better. Her complex script, often working three timelines simultaneously, lends itself to emotive imagery.

On one level, Criminal is a brave and often powerful examination of the identity crisis foisted on an unsuspecting adoptee when birth parents come back to life. But Dancoes extends the threads thar connect a daughter to an unknown

raother back into herstory and a series of lives

shaped and corrupted by men, or rather the power implicit in maleness.

Those who are disposed to dismiss this as femi- nist rant are likely protecting the power base between their legs.

Whether Dancoes’ argument that speaks to a collective unconscious is justified is debatable; chat it is confusing as the time lines move forward through the years is undeniable; that it ultimately offers the reward of compelling theatre in return for the investment of concentration is beautiful.

The work on stage is consistently strong, but I especially appreciated Brenda Robins and Tamsin Kelsey for the truth of their work.

TAMSIN Kelsey (loft), Brenda Robins (standing) and Wendy Van Ri

lesen are part

of PTC’s production of Elizabeth Dancoe's chalienging but rewarding Criminai.

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