This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
Mariposa Arts Theatre’s play, The Thanksgiving Play, now on at the Opera House is a look at the stereotypes of the personalities one might associate with the radical, politically correct crowd.
The character names of the cast of 4 are: Logan (female), Jaxton, Caden and Alicia. The latter is the least stereotypical of the type, even if she is identifiable as an ingénue.
Before uttering a word we know who these people are, the kind who take offence on behalf of others, or haven’t clued into the current prohibitive speech, or dimwitted gainers. Logan dresses butch, maybe she’s not. Jaxton wears culottes, a shawl and sandals (and states emphatically several times he’s a white, heterosexual male), Caden, a former teacher, puts a clashing tie on a loudly and multi- coloured, checked, short-sleeved sport shirt, and Ashley has something to sell other than acting talent.
It’s a hard sell about who these people are, but how many plays would work if costuming wasn’t a hard sell and we had to guess at the start what they are about?
They are gathered together to take advantage of a grant to produce a play about Thanksgiving for a school, but emphasizing Native involvement in the historical perspective.
Caden keeps offering ideas he’s researched, many of which are untrue propaganda about the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving, much to the horror of of Logan and Jaxton. Alicia has to have it explained why it’s a bad idea, to which she responds one time with, “I don’t want to know.”
Jaxton flip flops sides after expressing a position and then reading the room, meaning Logan, who is in charge of the affair.
The play is written by Larissa FastHorse, who is Sicangu Lakota. Clearly she is taking aim at those who, with good intentions, and get in the way of advancing Native perspective in social and political affairs.
Snookered at every turn, from ideas to casting, Logan dispairs at not getting anywhere, losing the grant and her job over this mess. Until, someone suggests they just do the same old, Mayflower landed, Natives came out of the woods, they all ate storyline as a means of highlighting the fallacy of it all.
To do that no one gets credit, which bums three of them out. But, Caden will get credit as being the dramaturge because it was his idea. To which, Alicia asks, “What’s a dramaturge?”
Caden replied, “No one knows,” which is about the truest thing anyone said in the previous 80 minutes.
There is no credit for set designer or dresser, but one look at it says classroom. It’s visually way too busy, like most classrooms, with posters on the wall arranged to overlap each other because there are too many posters, and with knick knacks resting on every available space. Its set in late October or early November, so obviously there hasn’t been time to put up student’s artistic masterpieces, with grant writing and play production taking up time.
Of course, It never occurs to have the students act in the play because, ‘we’re making a statement.”
The play is also commentary about the mass media and public perception of progressives being only about the lunatic fringe, when in fact they are just a few loud ones clamouring for attention in the corner of the auditorium.
The play runs to February 16, with a Sunday matinee. You can get tickets online.
MAT’s next film night is February 12 at the Galaxy with Treasure. They have Good One playing February 26. You can get tickets ($10, $5 for students) at the door; showtimes are 4 and 7 p.m.
Passings
Two artists left us recently. Doug Sneyd died January 21. He was a rather famous cartoonist, if you happened to have been a reader of Playboy. 400 cartoons for Playboy, really? Granted not many took notice of the artist’s signature, focusing on the drawing and caption (some of which Jim Foster wrote), but you’d be excused for that. Otherwise you’d have to have a long memory to recall his cartoons which were syndicated in many Canadian newspapers. He also wrote a screen play for an Ontario government film, Black-eyed Susan, an educational movie about spousal abuse, and a play, Boobs, a critique of society’s anatomical fixations.
Doug was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Book Illustrators and was a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and the National Cartoonists’ Society. The National Archives of Canada in Ottawa has 235 of Doug’s works.
Doug was a character himself, as anyone who met him would say. Insightful, but still a character. He is missed.
Doug Symes died January 29. He and his wife, Christine were fixtures on the Images Studio Tour and other art shows, he with his wood sculptures and functional turnings, she with her paintings. I remember visiting their Atherley studio several times and Doug was always a gracious host. The arts community has lost a great contributor to the mix and will be missed.
OMAH Opens
The Orillia Museum of Art and History opened three exhibits recently. They are Four Seasons in Orillia , Nathalie Bertin’s Loup Garou and Mocassins, and Harley Duck’s Behold A Man Who Is A Bean.
Four Seasons is a collection of art and objects illustrating life in Orillia weather-wise. There are many pieces by several artists whose names will be familiar and some not so familiar. Even though some of the works are not by resident’s of the area, each piece or artist has some connection to town. Of interest are two pieces by Rev. Cannon Richard Greene. He taught Franklin Carmichael to paint, and made an appearance or two, or three as Dean Drone in Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.
The art of Loup Garou is vivid. Paintings take up all the space of the main floor room, along with pillows made in the style of how moccasins are made. Duck’s ehibit has a few self portraits of interest.
This week, at Hibernation Arts, plan to attend the Love Arts and Artists meet and greet on February 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. In light of the devastating fire, Hibernation has stepped in to create a social atmosphere for those who lost their businesses and those who used space at some time. There is also a lot of new work hanging around to see.
Peter Street Fine Arts several large pieces by Maria Skrypnik featured for the month of February.
The Shorts
- North Simcoe Arts have a series of dates every quarter for their Art and Culture Roundtables. The first is Feb. 20 at Creative Nomad Studios. They are inviting representatives from area arts groups to attend. You can drop a note to communications@NorthSimcoeArts.ca that you are going.
- The Mariposa Folk Festival’s 13th annual Gospel and Blues concert is Feb. 22 at the Opera House. There are a few tickets left on the main floor of Gord’s Room and the balcony is filling in. Lance Anderson orchestrates the affair and the band includes Jimmy Bowskill, Brittany Brooks, Emily, Selena Evangeline, Gary Craig, Roger Williams and Andrew Craig. Tickets are also on sale for the Mariposa-in-Concert spring show March 15 at St. Paul’s Centre with Amanda Rheaume and School House.
- Arts Orillia has Black in Canada performed by Shameka Blake, Artists in Motion and Ty the Poetess happening Feb. 28 at the Opera House. It’s an evening of dance, song and spoken word celebrating Black communities. Get tickets online.
- The second annual Acoustics for Green Haven Shelter for Women happens March 1 at Couchiching Craft Brewing. Bleeker, Alex Kaye Black, and Mel and Dan Bazinet are performing. Get tickets online.
- Fridge-A-Palooza: A Rock N Roll Benefit Show For The St. Paul’s Food Pantry/Fridge happens at St. Paul’s Centre March 22. Music is by the Terry Collins Band, Kasey Kohring, and Tangents. It’s an all ages show, so no alcohol. Tickets are $15 at the door, or $10 in advance.
- Tickets for the Saturday, March 29 performance of the Orillia Youth Centre’s fundraising concert with Tim Barry, Billy the Kid and Nixon Boyd at the youth center are sold out, but there are still some left for the Friday Creative Nomad Studios gig left. The same is the case for the Ben Nichols, Spencer Burton and Rebekah Hawker gig March 7 and 8. Get tickets online.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied) Main: Jack Quail (Jaxton) and Caitlin Robson )Logan) in MAT’s The Thanksgiving Play
