Toronto Review: 'This is How We Got Here' at Aki Studio
Joe Szekeres, Chief Toronto Critic
There are plays so aptly titled once theatre goers can digest and think about what they have just seen and witnessed. A solid production for me is one which just hits you in your emotional depth and allows you to ponder over it even the next day.
This is exactly what happened to me at the extraordinarily poignant opening night production of Keith Barker’s ‘This Is How We Got Here’ at the Aki Studio in the Daniels Spectrum.
I sit here this morning to write this article and still recall in my mind some of the moving monologues each of these four gifted actors delivers. The haunting tableau at the end of the production of Craig’s parents, Lucille and Paul, is etched firmly in my memory.
Playwright and director of this production, Keith Barker, states in his Programme Notes that ‘This is How We Got Here’ deals with grief but there is more underlying the text. He states his play “is about trying to find a connection after experiencing a devastating loss.” How very true this statement is.
We’ve all experienced and will continue to experience profound grief many times throughout our lives. This is part of our fragile human condition since “grief is a complicated thing”; however, I believe it is most important to find connections and move forward as best we can. And in this play, at least from my perspective as an audience member, the incorporation of periodic laughter in the performance helped me during this opening night (and even in moments of my own personal grief) to see that it is alright to move forward. I don’t want to spoil those moments where laughter occurs as you must experience it for yourselves.
Mr. Barker’s story is heartbreaking. It has been a year since Paul (Kristopher Bowman) and Lucille’s (Michaela Washburn) son, Craig, committed suicide. This once tight family has broken down immeasurably to the point where Paul and Lucille have split up, but they still want to honour Craig’s memory. For the time being, Lucille is staying with her sister Liset/Craig’s aunt (Tamara Podemski) and her husband, Jim/Paul’s best friend and uncle to Craig (James Dallas Smith). These four people are wracked with grief and guilt, yet everything changes when a fox appears.
Shannon Lea Doyle’s Set Design and Jennifer Lennon’s Lighting Design gorgeously recreate a setting which reflects the darkness and grey areas in which these four characters find themselves. There are two separate playing spaces stage right and left. On stage right is a sitting chair. On stage left is a raised platform with another chair to the side. The use of sheer scrim to denote the walls on both playing spaces allows us to see the actors entering and exiting. Ms. Lennon’s lighting design of shades of grey and darkness nicely reflect those times in our lives when grief is present and we find ourselves either in darkness and wondering if we will ever get out of this, or in grey areas where we are trying to move forward as best we can.
What I found most appealing was the use of the “trees” in the background. (Notice how trees is typed here.) Mr. Barker and the performers identify proudly as First Nations people who value the land as sacred. Before each performance, there is an announcement to audience members how we are on the lands of the First Nations people and that we are to respect and treasure these lands.
With this new understanding, what struck me about Mr. Barker’s text is the sacredness and value that life is given, and hopeful connections that are needed to move forward when life is cut short suddenly.
As director, Keith Barker has sensitively interwoven this sacredness and value of life in his very humane vision. He has chosen a cast who naturally and genuinely show us very real people on that stage. Not one performance ventures into a hysterical or histrionic portrayal.
Michaela Washburn and Kristopher Bowman are compelling and riveting in their performances as Craig’s devastated mother and father. They have captured the blank stares into space, the confused and angered feelings that have been bottled up for so long that I wondered when or if they are about to explode. From my seat in the house, I could see that vacant look in their eyes of both Ms. Washburn and Mr. Bowman and the utter isolation and desolation they must feel inside. Magnificent work here.
As Craig’s aunt and uncle, Tamara Podemski and James Dallas Smith are intuitively engaging in their performances as individuals who have also been affected by this senseless and horrific tragedy. Ms. Podemski and Ms. Washburn are believably natural as hurting sisters who are trying their best to be aware of the other’s needs. Mr. Smith provides some lighthearted humour periodically in a few bits of verbal sparring with Mr. Bowman. Without spoiling any further elements of the plot, Mr. Smith’s last few minutes of the play in recognizing the effect of Craig’s suicide left me with tears in my eyes.
FINAL COMMENTS: ‘This is How We Got Here’ is beautiful in its fragility and unforgettably haunting at its emotional core.
Truly memorable.
Production runs approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
THIS IS HOW WE GOT HERE
Runs to February 16 at the Aki Studio/Native Earth Performing Arts, Inc, 585 Dundas Street East (on the main floor of the Daniels Spectrum). For further information, visit www.nativeearth.ca or call 1-416-531-1402.
Playwright and Director: Keith Barker; Production Manager: Suzie Balogh; Technical Director: Bryan Batty; Set Designer: Shannon Lea Doyle; Lighting Designer: Jennifer Lennon; Sound Designer: Christopher Stanton; Costume Designer: Isidra Cruz; Fight Director: Richard Comeau; Stage Manager: Heather Thompson
Performers: Kristopher Bowman, Tamara Podemski, James Dallas Smith, Michaela Washburn.
Photo of Tamara Podemski and Michaela Washburn by Christie Wong