Corpus: Quebec premiere of provocative play on the Holocaust is a real winner

Teesri Duniya Theatre has a real winner on its hands with the Quebec premiere of  Corpus, the award winning play with  a unique storyline related to the Holocaust.

Corpus continues at the cozy MAI (Montreal Arts Interculturels) in the McGill Ghetto   (3680 Jeanne Mance) through November 30. Playwright Darrah Teitel, who penned the script while she was studying at the National Theatre School in Montreal, was at the November 13 opening I attended and will stay her through the weekend and participate in some panel discussions.

Chiazzese and Paulson. (Photos by Mateo H. Cassis)

While Teitel notes this is not based on a true story, such a scenario could have very easily occurred.  The MAI stage is divided into the present and the past. We see Megan (Holly Gauthier-Frankel), a brilliant Canadian genocide scholar who obsessively collects the stories of war crimes through the internet. She stumbles across an unlikely relationship between a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz and the wife of a Nazi officer. That plays out on the other side of the stage and behind a draped backdrop. The music used is effective and so are the video projections which constantly flash across the screen. This all works really well for in no time at all the audience is wrapped up into the compelling relationship between Eli (a very effective Davide Chiazzese) and his forbidden romance with Eva (Melissa Paulson).

We are also introduced to present-day Eva (Susan Bain), Megan’s thesis advisor Homer (Gilles Plouffe) and her online  lover and Eva’s grandson  Heinrich (Ian  Geldart). Artistic Director Rahul Varma, whom I got the chance to meet for the first time, did  a top-notch job selecting the cast with director Liz Valdez and their team. The flashback scenes are well played out and Chiazzese, an Italian boy from East End Montreal whom I just saw in Billy (The Days of Howling), is clearly a true talent. His roles in Billy and Corpus are completely different which well illustrates his versatility. Gauthier-Frankel is a ball of fire and showcases so much energy in her role that one gets really attached to the character and the significant challenges she faces towards the ends of the story –not to mention a surprise revelation.

Geldart and Gauthier-Frankel.

There are Q & A talkbacks after each Friday evening performance and panel discussions after each Sunday performance. Varma and General Manager Linda Levesque told me that they really want to develop a pedagogical exercise around this play. In keeping with that, some matinee shows will be attended by high school students. I brought my colleague  Tino Bordonaro, the social studies consultant at the English Montreal School Board and he was quite impressed with what he saw. See their teachers guide.

As for the panel discussion, the one slated for after the November 16 show  will feature an artist’s panel answering the question of  What sort of responsibility does an artist undertake when creating or participating in a piece of art involving war? What needs to be taken into account when recounting events through art that have had such long-lasting effects on a community? It will be moderated by CBC’s Sudha Krishnan and include as  panelists Geldart, Bain, playwright  Teitel,  director Valdez, Myrna Selkirk (Professor). On November 23 the question of Where do we Draw the Line?  will be dealt with. As much as we attempt to do so, we cannot enter into the past or view it through a transparent window. Do you think it is a help or a hindrance to historical memory to apply personal stories in modern day research? Where do we draw the line between personal stories and academic work? Again, Krishnan will moderate and her panelists will be Sarah-Jane Kerrlapsly from the Canadian Jewish Association, Bob McBryde of Amnesty International and Jacqueline Celemencki  from the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre. Finally, on November 30, the focus will be on Digitizing the Past. We are now living in a society that has access to technology that was not available to the previous generations. With this in mind, do you think it is this generation’s responsibility to continue interpreting the events of the Holocaust and other historical atrocities? What barriers does technology break down, and what drawbacks does it create? The moderator will be Meghan Pearson and two professors as panelists: Stacey Zembrzyckia and Ted Little.  

Two shows  are already sold out and tickets for others in this 139 seat venue are going quickly. Wednesday to Saturday all shows are at 8 p.m. Sunday matinees are at 3 p.m. Tickets are   $25 for adults; $20 for students/seniors; and $15 for groups (10 or more). There are also group specials. For more information call  514-982-3386 or visit mai.qc.ca/billetterie.

Here are some clips from the show and interviews with the director and the actors.

Talisman's "Billy" is one outstanding play

Rivière des Prairies native and present-day resident Davide Chiazzese is one busy stage actor. This week he began a run as part of the cast of Talisman Theatre's  world English-language premiere of Billy (The Days of Howling), which goes until October 25 at Theatre La Chapelle on Rue St. Dominique in the Plateau. It is written by Québecois playwright/actor Fabien Cloutier, translated by Nadine Desrochers  and directed by Emma Tibaldo. Next month, November 13 to 20, the 26 year old graduate of MichelangeloInternational Elementary School in RDP, Lester B. Pearson High School in Montreal North and the John Abbott College Theatre Program, will star in  Teesri Duniya Theatre’s Holocaust-themed play Corpus.

 

Chiazzese’s co-stars  in Billy are Susan Glover  (the Admin lady) and Nadia Verrucci (Alice's Mother, whose daughter is at the same daycare as Billy). The latter thinks that Billy is being mistreated and finally confronts Billy's father (Chiazzese), with tragic results. The Admin Lady finds fault with the people around her. Seemingly unrelated at first, these three characters become intertwined as the play progresses, while one’s own judgmental attitudes are questioned.

 

Davide Chiazzese

“We do not see the actual characters of Billy and Alice in the play,” Chiazzese says. “ In the case of Billy, he is accused of spreading lice at the daycare.  My character decides to confront the woman who made the accusation. I had to put on 25 pounds for this role. It meant eating a lot of cheetos and drinking soda.”

I attended Wednesday’s presentation, a powerful 90 minutes without any intermission.

“It is tiring,” Verrucci told me after the show, “but when you have an intermission you stop and start all over again. This way we keep going straight through.”

“Yes,” added Chiazzese, “I am tired now but during the show I have a lot of adrenaline.”

The audience loved  this well written and beautifully acted play in a quaint theatre I had never been to before. There were serious and edgy moments, as well as some lines which resulted in laughs – mostly those coming from Chiazzese who had to dip into the world of profanity to make the points of his character being painted with an unfair brush. There is only so much I can write without giving away the true plot.

Verrucci is a META (Montreal English Theatre Association)  award winning actor, singer, director and choreographer, and the Artistic Director of In Your Face entertainment. She has a long list of credits on her bio. After 12 years teaching drama and dance at the high school level in Lachute, Verducci left that profession in 2008 to pursue acting full-time. “I was always doing acting on the side and it really was starting to become difficult,” she said. “I still teach part time and substitute when I can.”

Chiazzese (Billy’s father)  was introduced to the arts at a very young age as his father was involved with l'Associazione Trinacria, an organization devoted to maintaining Sicilian culture in Quebec through theatre, music and folkloric dancing. After more than 10 years of participating in these community projects, he decided to pursue a career in acting. A graduate of John Abbott in the Professional Theatre Program, in his first year he  was awarded the Carla Napier Scholarship, and later appeared on CBC's Triple Sensation, making it to the Top 100 in Eastern Canada. The experience prepared him for his most memorable role at John Abbott, playing Tevye in Joseph Stein's Fiddler on the Roof. In his final year, he was awarded the Pamela Montgomery Award and was invited to be a part of the ICTF program at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011. Since, he has worked on many productions including Daisy and the Wonder Weeds (CETM), Henry V (Persephone), Sala XVIII (Canis Tempus), and The Tin Can People (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Davide has also worked extensively with Teesri Duniya Theatre on productions including The Poster, State of Denial, the development of Safer Ground, and assistant directed Teesri`s Letters to My Grandma directed by Lib Spry as well as being on the artistic team for Bhopal directed by Arianna Bardesono and Liz Valdez.

A scene from the show with Davide Chiazzese, Nadia Verrucci and Susan Glover. ( Maxime Côté photo)

Bravo to director Emma Tibaldo and her team.

Shows will be presented Tuesday to Saturday evenings during the run, with a matinee on Saturday October 25. 

 Info: 514-846-0402 or www.talisman-theatre.com