Reviews 2006
Reviews 2006
✭✭✭✭✭
written and directed by Dean Gilmour, Michele Smith and the company
Theatre Smith-Gilmour, Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs, Toronto
March 8-26, 2006
Theatre Smith-Gilmour brings back one of the triumphs of its Chekhov cycle, Chekhov Longs ... In the Ravine, in a new production that will tour Ontario before taking off for stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei. Original cast members Dean Gilmour, Michele Smith and Colombe Demers are joined by two fine new members, Natalie Breton and Michelle Monteith. The show is outstanding in its engaging storytelling, its inventive theatricality and in the beautiful simplicity of its presentation. It takes us on a dark journey into questions of truth, fate and justice.
Based on Chekhov’s late novella In the Ravine (1900), the play chronicles the rise and fall of the Tsybukin family in a small Russian village. Employing only minimal props (nine bricks, four chairs, a few pieces of cloth) and Kimberly Purtell’s creative lighting, the cast plays multiple roles to conjure up the whole complex world of village life--its merchants, peasants, animal life--and the pride and rivalries that will lead to tragedy. The cast’s ability to mime is so precise, you’ll think you see windows, tables, clotheslines and more where none exist. The brilliant central wedding scene bursts forth in an almost cinematic flow of images. This is an affirmation of the power of theatre that no one should miss.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2006-03-16.
Photo: Ann-marie Kerr, Colombe Demers, Liisa Repo-Martell, Michele Smith and Dean Gilmour. ©2002.
2006-03-16
Chekhov Longs ... In the Ravine