There is intense emotion and heart felt discoveries, as well as beautiful music, but did she really have to take off her pants?

PuSh Festival

Stage Review

Double Bill: “My Mind Is Like An Open Meadow” and “Best Play/Worst Play”

Venue: Club PuSh (Performance Works,1218 Cartwright St, Granville Island)

February 2nd, 2012

Reviewed By Alex Hutt

My Mind Is Like An Open Meadow

Company: Hand2Mouth Theatre

Cast: Erin Leddy  

There’s no question that My Mind Is Like An Open Meadow is a brilliant play, but it’s absolute abstractness and rather creepy factor might rub some people the wrong way. Erin Leddy spent a whole year living with her grandmother, and through a series of recordings and live song, she celebrates the woman who was her grandmother. There is intense emotion and heart felt discoveries, as well as beautiful music, but did she really have to take off her pants?

I kid of course, as the semi-nudity is incorporated fairly well into the play, but if you are adverse to everything but the underwear being thrown off, avoid this play. Disclaimer aside, the other negative was that the whole play seemed a little too melancholy and saddening, which, in an odd sense, is proving exactly what Best Play/Worst Play conveyed to us, but more on that later. A little mix of more happy moments would have been welcome.

Having said that, the presentation of the fickleness of memory was excellent, and the moments in which Erin donned a wig to caricature her grandmother were at once funny and haunting. As was having her grandmother Sarah’s disembodied voice booming out of a tape deck, which to be honest, will send a few shivers down your spine. On the other hand, that was probably one of the intentions behind it, and it is by no means done inexpertly. We are, after all, firmly interested in just how much this voice and person have influence Leddy, inside and outside the play.

Adding to the nervous atmosphere is the fact that you are effectively watching a person have a nervous breakdown, augmented by the great sound design of the play. Through manipulation of her on-stage sound board and the off stage one, Leddy creates a landscape full of different layers. We may hear Grandma on the house speakers, or through the boombox, or all around the club. The original songs by Leddy are very heartfelt and well crafted; in addition, Leddy has a sweet and tender voice that reminds me of Katherine Calder, not only for the fact that they both wrote songs about dying loved ones (Calder wrote most of the songs on Are You My Mother?, while her mother was slowly dying).

Though it was more than a little abstract, it doesn’t deter from the fact that My Mind is Like An Open Meadow deserves the Drammy Awards it received and I do suggest that you try it out.

Best Play/Worst Play

Company: The Chop Theatre

Cast: Emelia Syminton Fedy, Christie Watson

Ever wondered what would make us the best play, and conversely the worst play? Best Play/Worst Play has your answers! In 30 minutes, Emelia Syminton Fedy and Christie Watson present to us the findings from a survey while acting out some of the scenarios.

Punctuating the findings of the survey is Fedy acting out suggested lines for final lines, opening lines, central conflict, fatal flaw for the protagonist and more. Watson then backgrounds this with beats from his drum set, and at one point a song. Most of the reactions to the findings were laughter, either because of Fedy’s delivery of them, or the absurdity of them. In an odd parallel to Erin Leddy, Fedy appears first on the stage in only underwear, to later demonstrate the point that the majority of an audience likes a simpler outfit. In another instance, the number of times “The End” was suggested as the final line of a play was staggering, though there was one entry of “The End – or is it?” Adding to the comedy is the straight man performance by Fedy, doing it all with a permanent smile on her face.

It also validated why I attributed the sadness of My Mind Is Like An Open Meadow as a negative aspect, since the survey showed the majority of people don’t enjoy a sad ending or sad plotline. Perhaps the most interesting fact was that the least liked kind of play was not a tragedy, but with only 0.6 percent of the vote, a farce.

Especially mirthful was the way they capped off the play, with Watson reciting the suggested last lines. While he maintained a constant monotone, Fedy didn’t use any language but did a clown-like routine of dressing up her pet dog, which lead to a predictable “aww” from the crowd. It was funny because we knew that we were being pandered to, but still enjoyed it all the while.

It was a very unique experience, and a great experiment in what people like a play to be made up of. Hopefully Chop Theatre makes more of these sort of plays, though it would be even better if they were more than 30 minutes, which felt a little lean. All the same, a sincere recommendation to see!

Written by :

alessandro