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written by Morris Panych, directed by Dean Paul Gibson

Canadian Stage Company, Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto

November 12-December 5, 2009

Morris Panych’s neo-absurdist 7 Stories must have seemed like a breath of fresh air when it premiered in 1989.  Since then Panych has revisited the same themes and characters so often in plays like Vigil (1995) and Earshot (2001) that 7 Stories can no longer surprise as much as it once did.  Now it’s also clear that some of the author’s very best writing is mingled with much that is only so-so.  Nevertheless, the Theatre Calgary/Canadian Stage Company’s co-production for the play’s 20th anniversary is an exceptionally strong one.     

As most people know by now, the play focusses on a Man (Peter Anderson, a master of physical acting), clad in the Magrittean uniform of black trench coat, umbrella and bowler, seemingly contemplating suicide by jumping from a seventh floor ledge.  This he is prevented from doing by the intrusion of the bizarre goings-on of 13 people (played by only four actors) in the seven windows behind him.  The two high points are Christopher Hunt’s hilarious turn as a Leonard, seriously paranoid psychiatrist who sees conspiracy and accusation lurking in absolutely every word the Man says.  Then there is Melody A. Johnson’s wonderfully warm portrait of the 100-year-old Lillian, whose reflections of the simple beauties of life give the often manic show its depth.  Damien Atkins and Rebecca Northan are very funny as an adulterous couple who spice up their affair by repeated attempting to kill each other, and Atkins shines in another role as Marshall, a gay actor about to marry a woman for her money, who has become so involved in role-playing he’s lost his grip on his identity.  These four of the seven stories all contribute to the main question-- “Why should be keep living when we don’t ever know who we are and when we know we have to die anyway?”  These four also render the tales of the constantly redecorating couple and the bored misanthropist partygoers largely redundant.

Ken MacDonald’s abstract skyscraper as sky is built in front of the proscenium so that anyone wishing to avoid a neck-ache from looking upwards for 90 minutes would do well not to sit too close to the front.  Professional second productions of Canadian plays like this are essential for giving us perspective on our own drama.  We can appreciate 7 Stories for its wild flights of imagination, but we can also be happy that Panych has moved on from forcing life to look absurd to finding the comedy in everyday life.     

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2009-11-18.

Photo: Damien Atkins, Rebecca Northan and Peter Anderson.