Review: '7 Stories' by Morris Panych at Tarragon Acoustic Theatre

A question I’ve asked many of the artists whom I’ve interviewed over the last few months of the pandemic was the advice they would give to their colleagues and new theatre graduates coming into an uncertain future. One common thread was key: just be in the moment and embrace this time for all its worth. If you need to keep busy, then that is alright. If you need to do nothing but just sit, listen and breathe, then that is alright as well.

For this audio presentation of Tarragon Acoustic’s ‘7 Stories’ by Morris Panych, I found it very important just to allow myself to be in the moment, to hear, and to listen to the voices of some fine Canadian performers carry me away from my computer desk to the ledge of the seventh storey of an apartment building complete with seven windows. Many years ago, I had seen and participated in a community theatre production of this black comedy. Much of the humour stems from seeing the audience’s reaction on the characters’ faces when the fine line between fiction and reality is crossed.

Could this important element be accomplished simply just by listening to this story as I did have some reservations?

Even though I do miss and crave theatre tremendously (and, oh, how I would have loved to watch the live reactions of these actors), directors Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster and Kimberley Rampersad delightfully heightened my interest in ‘7 Stories’ once again given the constraint of not being able to attend. Their observant co-direction subtly appealed to my sense of sight to envision the expressions of these oddballs, and to my sense of hearing (oftentimes in disbelief) implausible rationale for certain behaviours.

Gregory J. Sinclair’s top-notch editing, sound design and sound mix brought me smack dab right into the moment with all the sounds therein: honking car horns and birds flying away. I loved the use of the black and white film as the camera moved along portions of a busy city where a large apartment residence appeared, and the camera moved to the outside ledge of the seventh floor. Throughout the entire 90-minute presentation, the cityscape sound authentically underscored the dialogue without every overpowering the actors’ voices.

What also worked so nicely at the opening was the sound of someone walking on a busy city street (whom we assume is the protagonist of the story) simply known as Man who walks to the seventh floor of the building, crawls out on the window ledge, and is prepared to commit suicide and leap to his death at the top of the show. Just as he is about to jump, the various apartment windows open and Man is introduced to the ludicrously outlandish world of these residents.

And man, oh, man, are these characters peculiar and offbeat, but hearing Panych’s surprising text allowed me to re-enter this idiosyncratic, comical world of wacky people.

It was nice to meet them again, especially when I knew that four of the actors would play multiple roles. Nicole Joy-Fraser, Tom Rooney, Allan Louis and Gabriella Sundar Singh robustly used their superior vocal prowess as a true ensemble in the creation of engaging apartment residents who find themselves in the midst of issues of religion, masochism, homosexuality, con games, psychiatry, ageing and death. I don’t want to spoil the fun here in these subplots as they all contribute to the eventual outcome involving Man and whether or not he will end his life.

As protagonist Man, Andre Sills does not say a great deal when the story begins as he gets caught up in his listening (and our listening) to the unpredictable shenanigans going around him. It is in the final moments of the play where I heard such a wonderfully adroit handling of two monologues by Mr. Sills when he listens to sage advice from the dotty centenarian Lillian (a jewel of a voice by Kyra Harper) on whether or not he should try flying away just like her beloved pigeon, Albert, did many years ago. Again, I don’t want to spoil what happens for future audiences. Instead, I simply closed my eyes at this point as I listened to these two excellent actors give voice to sometimes philosophical and sometimes spiritual way of living life in the moment.

‘7 Stories’ is one of those plays that I believe requires some discussion afterwards for its philosophical renderings, especially if you have seen it live. One of the limitations of this audio presentation, especially for those who have seen the play before (spoiler alert here), is the fact the character of the Man is modelled after the Son of Man painting in 1964 by Magritte. Thankfully, we see a photo of the original Tarragon production in February 1991 of ‘7 Stories’ where Man is dressed in the Magritte fashion. If you are tuning into the play for the first time here, make sure you take note of this connection. A minor point, I know, but to me it is important to remember especially if you have some background of Magritte.

Tarragon is celebrating 50 years of providing live entertainment. In this time of lockdown and isolation, Tarragon Acoustic’s ‘7 Stories’ challenges us even more to ponder further the idiosyncrasies of life thrown at us, especially in this time of Covid. But when a decent audio production like this comes around and makes for a really good story, it’s worth spending the time to enter Panych’s world.

Give ‘7 Stories’ a listen as it plays on The Tarragon Acoustic website: www.tarragontheatre.com.

7 Stories’ is a Tarragon Acoustic production in association with PlayME Podcast’s Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley.  The production plays until November 26, 2020.

‘7 Stories’ by Morris Panych Original Tarragon production photo by Tarragon Theatre.