Theatre Review: My Old Lady, at the Saidye Bronfman Centre till May 14, 2006

Author: Christina - Published 2006-04-06 23:11 - (1212 Reads)

From Left: Chip Chuipka as Mathias Gold, Marthe Turgeon as Chloé Giffard and Béatrice Picard as Mathilde Giffard in Israel Horovitz's My Old Lady on until May 14 at the Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre.

The photographer is Lydia Powalek.

Mathias Gold arrives in Paris from New York intent on starting a new life by selling his recently inherited apartment. However, he discovers that his father has bequeathed the apartment to him complete with perpetual tenants: The wily, determined and very commanding ninety-somethng Mathilde and her bewildering and headstrong daughter, Chloe. Mysteries and histories unravel as these three learn how radically lives can change in one short week. In My Old Lady the themes of compassion, forgiveness and loss are expertly woven into a funny, poignant and moving drama.

The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre, 5170 Cote Ste. Catherine Rd.

The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre in collaboration with La Compagnie Jean Duceppe presents My Old Lady from April 23-May 14, 2006.

For tickets call (514) 739-7944.

Theatre Review by Christina Manolescu

Theatre Review by Christina Manolescu</MARQUEE>

The Sins of the Father

Brash, penniless, all-but-washed-up yet loaded with 'psycho-baggage' America, in the guise of Mathias Gold (Chip Chuipka), arrives one day on the banks of the River Seine. Unwittingly he gate-crashes his way into the sedate, 'oldie-worldie' demesne of a daunting Parisian mother-and-daughter combo: 90-something Mathilde Giffard (Béatrice Picard) and 50-something Chloé Giffard (Marthe Turgeon), literally speaking, a formidable united 'pièce de résistance.'

At Parisian real-estate prices, the gracious apartment the two ladies occupy — much like a siege fortress — is worth a mint. Liquified into US dollars, it would be the answer to a prayer; this stone-and-mortar bequest from Mathias's estranged father represents the sole buffer between himself and the inhospitable back-alleys of destitution, whether at home or abroad.

Besides, who wouldn't pine with nostalgia, given the sumptuous setting — oak paneling, upholstery, wall mirrors and chandeliers — marvelously conjured up by stage and props designers, John C. Dinning and Norman Blais, evoking the fin-de-siècle elegance of Old Europe's architecture and design. Romantic musical interludes (Rob Denton, sound designer) from the 'twenties complete this re-creation of a world 'in the passing.' Even the Parisian skyline appears through an opaque screen by means of a complex simulacrum of rooftops and greystone buildings. Whenever the 'windows' are opened, in filters the roar of traffic, nature, the sound of the street.

Under France's home purchase viager system, however, Mathias may take possession of his inheritance only once Mathilde vacates the apartment or dies. Statistics bear out the truth that longevity does indeed favour French females, and chère Mathilde is in no rush to comply.

Instead, she presides over this coveted dwelling-place as custodian of her own long and secret history that in some strange fashion concerns himself, and which she divulges at times — at other times, dissembles — as the occasion seems to require.

'My Old Lady' sparkles with an exceptionally clever dialogue of ideas, quite a feat for all concerned.

It dredges up allusions to 'individual' versus 'national' guilt, tossing in scornful allusions to France under the 'Vichy' régime, acts of treachery, betrayal, unholy alliances, ruptures and marriages of convenience, coupled with the morality or immorality of such. The stage transforms itself into a comic, as well as vengeful battleground of rights and wrongs. Mathilde's defensively pragmatic rationalization of past sins is hurled into the face of Mathias's juvenile naïveté.

His simple 'black on white' perspective of good and evil versus her grey-grim, 'sophisticated' overview.

The acting is unequivocally excellent on all sides. Both Quebec actresses of authentic French origin portray a cultural realism that is absolute. Chloé's diction and voice is particularly strong, hard-edged, autocratic, intimidating and precise. Mathilde's presence is milder, more generous and accommodating on the surface. Yet neither woman is prepared to concede a fraction of the power and status each holds. Erudite, worldly-wise Mathilde and her spiked lion-heart of a daughter, Chloé, are more than a match for the good-natured but weak-willed, self-deprecating Mathias who nevertheless, like his Biblical counterpart, takes it upon himself to 'record' their story as it happens, leaving only the final pages reversible or blank.

During his 'book of revelation', a slew of opposing forces are hurled against one another: Jew and Christian, past and present, good and evil, self-delusive rationalization and proselytizing naïveté, unwilling repentance and grudging forgiveness, non-blissful ignorance and damaging truth.

However, despite the 'Sins of the Father,' this mortgaged legacy offers the chance to restore and redeem a life. For, in the final outcome, all three persons are chastened and changed by their mutual encounter. Through a pragmatic irony of fate, Mathias has no choice but to accept and forgive the latter-day adversaries he'd never known existed. Apparently none are completely to blame, nor completely blameless. Only Time heals, reveals, reconciles, in the end buries and obliterates all.

Review by Christina Manolescu

Invisible Cities Network

http://www.invisiblecitiesnetwork.com

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Theatre Review by Christina Manolescu</MARQUEE>

The Sins of the Father