Theatre Review: Factory Theatre tackles stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s Beatrice & Virgil

Canadian novelist Yann Martel's Life of Pi was reworked into a blockbuster Hollywood movie directed by Ang Lee and now his 2010 novel Beatrice & Virgil is getting in on the act, this time reworked for the stage. The world premiere is on now at Toronto's Factory Theatre, and although an appreciation for the novel might help, the new work is certainly strong enough to stand on its own. 

Martel’s novel Beatrice & Virgil did not resonate with me, but my hope that Lindsay Cochrane’s new stage adaptation might distill the best from the book was not misplaced. Her ambitious debut as a playwright surely benefitted from fine-tuning with Factory Theatre’s resident dramaturge Iris Turcott. Along with actors Damien Atkins and Pierre Brault, a third star of the show is Amy Keith, whose magnificent set design makes tangible the textured layers of the story.

When I read Beatrice & Virgil upon its publication in 2010, I had wondered whether it might one day do well on stage—the novel is centred around a theatrical work-in-progress by an aging European taxidermist who enlists the help of a famous writer named Henry. In fact, the action contained in the novel fits neatly into the 90-minute production directed by Sarah Garton Stanley, premiering at Factory Theatre Studio until May 11th.

The narration is self-reflexive, as Henry takes the podium and addresses the audience, “You probably know me from my second novel, the one with the animals.” Seeing Atkins as Henry giving a reading is not dissimilar to seeing Martel do a reading from Life of Pi, but Henry becomes more animated as the play progresses.

Henry, who has not been writing for some time, visits the enigmatic European taxidermist, played by Pierre Brault. Working on hides throughout the dialogue, the old man says he became a taxidermist “to bear witness.” His life’s work is a play he has entitled “Twentieth-Century Shirt,” but he wants the much younger Henry to help him complete it.

A howler monkey named Virgil and a donkey named Beatrice are the allegorical characters in the play-within-the-play, but they are also animals the taxidermist has preserved for display. The curt taxidermist explains that the donkey and the monkey live on an immense shirt, as if the shirt were their country.

When Henry questions these peculiar choices, the taxidermist insists, “It’s symbolic.” Asked what happens in the play, the taxidermist says, “Beatrice and Virgil talk about how they are going to talk about what has happened to them.” They settle upon the term “The Horrors” to refer collectively to the compendium of atrocities they have lived through.

As Henry and the taxidermist work through various scenes, Atkins assumes the role of Beatrice and Brault becomes Virgil. Stanley has her actors switch from human roles to animal roles and back, seamlessly maintaining mood and narrative flow.

Although the characters of Beatrice and Virgil are brought to life by the actors and through a bit of shadow puppetry, the representation of their stuffed bodies—which Henry examines and describes—would have been better left to the imagination rather than as miniscule toys in a display case. Apart from that, the staging is spot on.

Keith (set and costume designer) incorporates Martel’s contrived shirt motif into fabric projection screens that get peeled away. Sound effects are well coordinated with pantomime to enhance the impact of parts of the story better described than shown (sound designer Christian Barry).

The subject matter is distressing and emotionally provocative. I’m not a fan of the novel, but the stage adaptation of Beatrice & Virgil more than does the story justice.

$23-$45. Beatrice and Virgil is on-stage at Factory Theatre until May 11.

Evan Andrew Mackay is a Toronto playwright and humorist who writes about culture and social justice.

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO