Feb. 20, 2013 - Issue #905: DOA No more - Trading in punk for politics

Murielle

There stands Murielle with her red balloon: a single image that captures the subversive whimsy in a new piece of physical theatre gracing Edmonton stages. Written by Ellen Chorley, directed by Wayne Paquette and staged by their two companies, Promise and Blarney Productions (respectively), Murielle treads a fine line between light and dark, playfulness and gravity. The story weaves together reenactments of the eponymous character's earlier days: she wakens slumped in an armchair, her gestures and crone-like mask revealing her advanced age, and then six "geniuses" emerge from the curtains draped on either side of the stage to help her remember instances from her past love.

Clad head to toe in black, these figures are integral to both the narrative and visual form of the show. As the program describes, in ancient Rome the word "genius" represented a sort of guiding spirit, and so individuals who possessed amazing talents were understood to be in the possession of a genius, "an impish spirit who lived in their walls and guided them to create their inspired works."

In Murielle, the six geniuses perform in a similar capacity. Both tangible and intangible, they bring Murielle the items that aid in her remembrance of the past while at the same time forming physical manifestations of objects and settings with their bodies. It's a fascinating artistic device that gives the show a clear, easily comprehensible narrative; Murielle features no dialogue or verbal exposition, but even those audience members unused to physical theatre will not miss the lack of words.

As Murielle remembers, her younger self (Alyson Dicey) and her past lover (Jesse Gervais) take the stage to depict instances from their past together. The interplay of these characters along with the old Murielle (Coralie Cairns) and the six geniuses forms a highly evocative visual montage of scenes overlaid by a beautifully modulated live piano accompaniment by Joel Crichton. At once dark and moody, bright and lively, Murielle is a touching depiction of the workings of memory as one digs through a collection of life's ephemera.

Until Sun, Feb 24 (7 pm)
Directed by Wayne Paquette
TransAlta Arts Barns, $12.50 – $18 vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus