Reviewed
by Robin Breon
Although
this production (its third visit to Toronto in ten years) is slated to close on
March 10 just on the cusp of a new Aisle Say issue, I wanted to review it
here because this durable classic has created a remarkable life for itself
since its 1997 premiere in Vancouver. It is still touring internationally and
if it comes to your city don't hesitate to treat yourself to an inspiring
evening of theatre.
Nicolai
Gogol's 1841 short story begins: "In the department...but perhaps it is
just as well not to say in which department." Just as well because the
faceless, vacuous world of the bureaucracy is the universal element that Gogol
plays upon here as well as in his play The Government Inspector . The hapless and harassed civil
servant in need of a new winter overcoat is again played by Peter Anderson who has been with the show since
its inception. Anderson moves with the grace of a mime and acts with the genius
of a Chaplin. The whole production of this "play without words" is
very reminiscent of silent cinema, with its strong soundtrack (here the music
of Shostakovitch) and the melodramatic acting that is held together by fine
tuned choreography as much as taut stage direction.
And
it is here that Morris Panych and Wendy Gorling have reminded us what collaboration in the
theatre is all about. With their tender care and handling, the ensemble of
twenty-two actors has kept the show fresh and vibrant over its lifetime.
Viewing it for a third time I won't pretend to say that I could recognize the
nuance in the refreshening, but it still holds the same energy and drive as the
first time I saw it several years ago.
Perhaps
it is time for Panych to pair with Gorling on a new project. Although a
prolific playwright who has been given ample support by major theatres, nothing
of Panych's own work over the past decade has surpassed The Overcoat. Although topping yourself as an
artist is not really the point, is it? When Joseph Heller was once asked by a
journalist if he was bothered by the fact that he had never been able to write a
novel that surpassed Catch-22, he answered: "Not really. No one else has
either."