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Theatre
Downtown Eastside Romeo and Juliet sparkles
The actor-driven performance and the hyper-local storyline make for a play-attending experience the way drama was meant to be
By Kevin Potvin
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Years ago I was given a free ticket to opening night of a lavish production of Phantom of the Opera at the then-newly opened and very posh Ford Theatre for the Performing Arts. The expensive show featured the spectacle of a massive chandelier plunging down from the ceiling over the gasping audience’s heads. Phantom is a good story, the acting was polished and professional, the sets were very appealing to the eye, and there were even some hors doeuvres afterward. This was the most elaborate and sophisticated show staged in modern times in Vancouver and the Ford Theatre was then a gleaming jewel in a city enthusiastically embracing its emergence onto the world stage, both figuratively and literally. Alas, Phantom closed and so did the theatre shortly thereafter in a cloud farted out by the debacle that was the career of promoter Garth Drabinsky. Overeager as usual to be taken by the hand to the alter, poor pretty wallflower Vancouver had been had again. We laugh at ourselves, but only in that way Jerry Hubbard did on Fernwood 2nite—nervously, only pretending to get the joke that we only half know is on ourselves. Contrasting with this past vision of a future is the wholesome, organic and thoroughly real production of Downtown Eastside Romeo and Juliet, staged by Vancouver Moving Theatre at The Russian Hall at 600 Campbell Street in salvaged Strathcona, a different past vision of our future. I can’t have enjoyed a play more than I did this one. It was unpredictable, never once clichéd (though it roamed carelessly through landscapes littered with potential clichés), it was full of intriguing costumes and masks, and the acting was completely engaging. Actors work hard to inhabit their characters with varying levels of success and it’s the evidence of trying that can spoil even good shows. This production appears effortless. It’s only after, upon reflection walking away from the Russian Hall and up the very streets the play takes place on, that I realized that that’s what the critics mean when they say the actors have it in their hearts. Perhaps it’s because the actors in this case live in the streets in which the play takes place and live the lives of the characters they portray. I could go on about the wonderful thing it is to see downtown eastside residents doing such good jobs, good for them! But the fact is, as a play, and as a technique to generate compelling performances within it, this one is stunning. It’s great that there are all sorts of positive, socially progressive aspects to this unique production. But that’s beside the point. I was totally entertained the whole 90 minutes probably like I haven’t been by any other play. The script sparkled with great humour and plenty of insider jokes. It’s a better story than Phantom, and it was a better production too, and nothing fell down from the ceiling, either. It runs till the 27th. Try to see it, you’ll love it.
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The Republic of East Vancouver masthead
The Republic of East Vancouver supports no party, advocates
for no cause, represents no group, serves no master, and considers
problems with no preconceived notions. We hope to afflict the comfortable,
both materially and intellectually, and comfort the afflicted—of
both kinds as well, and we are trying to do both things at the same
time.
Publisher, Editor
Kevin Potvin
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Potvin
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