Review: The 2nd Annual Great Canadian Theatre Festival!, Old Red Lion

It’s a lazy stereotype to say Canadians are all happy-go-lucky and extremely friendly.  But stereotype or not, The 2nd Annual Great Canadian Theatre Festival certainly reinforced it. Because this second night of Canadian work was filled with Canadian ex-pats, all of whom seemed eager to make us non-Canadians welcome to this small piece of their homeland. Now in its second year, the festival aims to showcase what Canadian theatre offers, presenting script-in-hand performances to allow creatives to develop their shows in a warm, welcoming environment.  Whilst all four shows across the two nights explore different themes, the two tonight both suggest that Canadians have a strong concern about the environment, and how we risk scorching our planet to oblivion!

The first, Sarah Deller’s This Doesn’t Happen Here, more than suggests that idea. It is all about it, being a collection of five short verbatim pieces about wildfires. Made up of interviews Deller undertook, we hear from those forced to flee because of an all-consuming fire, firefighters tasked with tackling them — and a lizard! The inclusion of the lizard is a clever decision, especially for a verbatim show, with Deller reading out stage directions. It’s surprising yet highly effective, momentarily taking us away from the human impact, reminding us of the damage and destruction we are causing. 

Presented as a simple script reading, it still delivers a powerful insight into environmental impact the growing number of wildfires is causing. As Deller points out, one of the locations hits – 40 in the winter, not a place you would expect to be ravished by wildfires! It all makes for a fascinating idea but one that requires consideration on how best to present it. For some reason, shadow puppetry springs to mind, especially for the lizard. 

What’s not quite so successful is the immediate post-show questionnaire. It takes the audience out of the moment and rather kills the flow, leaving us sitting waiting for permission to head down to the bar for an interval drink. A much better idea could be to ask us to complete it during the interval, maybe a QR code on the door to scan on our way to the bar. 

Interval over, we return to a more traditional offering in Kaya Bucholc’s Uncommon Wild Flowers. Again, presented as a script in hand reading, it still suggests that this piece has plenty of potential. 

Juliette (Bucholc) is the new tenant living upstairs with her partner in Elizabeth’s (Cindy Evans) home. They meet in Elizabeth’s garden, where a rather frosty first encounter is saved by a misunderstanding over Winnie the Pooh and underwear! It’s a great device to break the ice and shows plenty of finesse in Bucholc’s writing. The pair bond further over the garden as Juliette slowly helps Elizabeth restore it to its former beauty. The introduction of the mysterious Lizzy (Shaylyn Gibson) and Violet (a gloriously scene-stealing Shea Wojtus) then takes the show into a reflection of how grief can cause such long-term damage. 

In its current form, perhaps, the script is a little too obvious in where it is going, but even so, that journey contains ample moments of beauty that make it worthwhile. The inclusion of poetry written by Bucholc’s grandmother certainly adds to its charm. The use of the seasons and even different coloured rugs to represent the stages of life is delightful. As is the restoration of the garden as an analogy of how, with careful nurturing, grief can be managed. It’s a charming idea, and a show that could easily find a home touring grand gardens on warm summer nights. 

So, what of the festival as a whole? This is just its second year and the impression is that it’s already grown from its first, with lots of promise for number three. As an introduction to what is important to those Canadian creatives who now call London home, it’s a wonderful event. There could be more allusions to it being Canadian, some flags to remind us we’re in Canada would be simple but effective. More could also be done to frame the whole event as a festival; a prepared introduction might help.

Even so, it’s still an evening full of love for a home thousands of miles away. And it’s an evening that simply reinforced that joke that all Canadians are friendly souls. 

This Doesn’t Happen Here
Written and performed by Sarah Deller

Uncommon Wild Flowers
Written by Kaya Bucholc
Directed by Kay Brattan

Festival produced by Katherine Alpen and Kay Brattan (for Little Lion Theatre).

The 2nd Annual Great Canadian Theatre Festival! has completed its current run.