Toronto Review: ‘Let’s Run Away’ Canadian Stage
Joe Szekeres, Chief Toronto Critic
Two good things at the November 7 performance of ‘Let’s Run Away’ – I was looking forward to seeing Daniel MacIvor perform again after seeing him last season in his ‘New Magic Valley Fun Town’ at Tarragon Theatre. It was also good fortune to see the sticky note on the program there was to be a talk back following the performance.
For me, it’s always neat to see the real person for a few minutes instead of the assumed persona. I always stay since I like to hear what the artist has to say about the performance just witnessed and, hopefully, learn something else about what went on in rehearsals or the genesis of the production. I’m aware that I may walk away from a talk back and have not had any further insight.
Mr. MacIvor came across as personable, witty, intelligent, articulate and sensitive during the talk back. I liked that portion very much.
Did I gain any further insight into the play? I wished I had.
Sometimes, the Artist’s or Director’s Note in the programme might give further knowledge to the play. Mr. MacIvor didn’t write anything to give away the plot. The only clue he gave:
“And there is something about being here in the room, alone with you, the audience, where all is acknowledged – the reality of the artifice, the truth of the game, the lie we all believe in – that feels like the point.”
For me, Mr. MacIvor was memorable in his ‘Fun Town’ performance last year. I watched and saw a tremendous change in a very real character given circumstances that occurred many years ago. There was a logical development in the events of the plot.
In ‘Let’s Run Away’, I was plopped down in the middle of events in ‘Peter’s’ life, and I had to decipher what was going on. It took some time during the performance for me to untangle what was going on as there was no logical development.
Mr. MacIvor and Director/Dramaturg Daniel Brooks introduced me to a very odd man named Peter who has found an unpublished memoir from his mother, her necklace and a guitar. Peter curses and swears quite a bit for the first few minutes at the top of the show as objects and props are not in place where he wants them. Peter then begins to read from the memoir those sections that deal with him, and periodically he reminds the audience (in an irritating voice) that moment might not have been recorded correctly.
Given this information, the simplistic set design worked nicely for me. There are two microphone and music stands just off centre stage left and right. On stage left, the music stand faces the curtain instead of the audience. Up centre is a wall with horizontal venetian blinds. There is no soundscape or music as the audience enters the auditorium.
At the talk back, both an audience member and Mr. MacIvor spoke about the production as a helix as it continuously spirals with so many events to keep clear in our heads. And that was the challenge for me in keeping these moments clear in ‘Let’s Run Away’.
Peter was put up for adoption and bounced from foster home to foster home. He accidentally met his mother when she picked him up hitchhiking. She sent him four books, but he never acknowledged that he had received them. One of the books was Virginia Woolf’s ‘To the Lighthouse’. Peter makes a career lip synching to this book.
For me, a good majority of Daniel MacIvor’s works are spot on when it comes to character development and interest. I’m hearing good things about his script of ‘Marion Bridge’ which I will want to read sometime. When his characters are interesting, I’m on every word they say and want to know more about them.
Again, during the talk back, an audience member remarked how Mr. MacIvor was able to keep Peter fresh for every single performance. MacIvor remarked that he’s usually tired after each performance because there is a certain way that he maintains an intensity in the way he holds Peter in his body.
I found that statement about an acting technique intriguing how an actor keeps a character alive through his body. Yes, I applaud Mr. MacIvor heartily because Peter was real. He did generate discomfort and reveal a love of language in his journey from rage to tenderness in his relationship with his mother as expressed in the talk back.
I just couldn’t make any personal connection to Peter. I tried, I really did, but there was nothing that drew me to want to understand him further.
LET’S RUN AWAY
‘Let’s Run Away’ plays to November 17 at the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre (formerly Berkeley Street Theatre), 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto. For further information, visit www.canadianstage.com;
Written and Performed by Daniel MacIvor; Directed and Dramaturged by Daniel Brooks; Assistant Director: Stephanie MacDonald; Lighting by Kimberly Purtell; Sound by Deanna Choi; Voice Over by Fiona Highet; Produced by Marcie Januska;
Performance runs approximately 80 minutes with no intermission.
Photo of Daniel MacIvor by Guntar Kravis