Theatre Review: Helen Lawrence blends stage and film for an engaging experience

Blending film technology and live theatre, Helen Lawrence is a Bogart-esque tale of murder and intrigue set in 1948 Vancouver, an era of corruption and post-war upheaval in which police “managed” crime rather than fought it. What makes this Canadian Stage production great is its list of fine ingredients: internationally renowned visual artist Stan Douglas, award-winning screenwriter Chris Haddock (DaVinci’s Inquest), the well-loved genre of film noir and a fantastic cast. The result is a 90-minute suspense story that is both theatre and film, both colour and black-and-white, both entertaining and impressive.  

The stage is nearly bare, a blue-screen studio (yes, like in the movies) with a scrim between the cast and audience, onto which are projected close-ups of the live performance (cameras operated unobtrusively by actors in darkened parts of the stage) layered into a CGI set which changes as instantly and completely as in film—because it is. Sometimes the stage disappears as the scrim becomes a (black and white) movie screen; other times the scrim is invisible and you see only the actors on stage. Often you see both, giving dual perspectives on the action. You can, for example, watch two actors on the mostly bare stage (the “wide shot” that theatre usually gives you), or you can see onscreen that one of them is standing in the office doorway and the other is at the window, through which you can see the street outside. You get both the realism of life-sized people on the stage and the intimate detail of film that directs your gaze and lets you see subtle changes of facial expression. Rather than being a distracting gimmick, the effect is a stereoscopic view of a unified performance, your eye following a choreographed flow between stage-focus and screen-focus.

Although Vancouver ended prohibition in 1921 (a dozen years before the United States), liquor laws remained strict in 1948. Police (played by Greg Ellwand and Ryan Hollyman) were business partners in prostitution, gambling, and bootlegging. Lisa Ryder nails down the titular heroine, a cool and determined femme fatale. She comes to town looking for shady characters Percy (Nicholas Lea) and Buddy Black (Allan Louis). The story sifts through the tangled lives of these and other characters. Ethnic diversity and racism figure in the tone of the show, but the action is all about individuals struggling with their various pasts and trying to find a place in the new order of things in the aftermath of World War 2.

It’s not often a theatre reviewer has a director of photography to praise, but Brian Johnson is central to the success of this ground-breaking presentation. Other visual cornerstones are laid by lighting designer Robert Sondergaard, scenery designer Kevin McAllister, costume designer Nancy Bryant, and a team of video artists and technicians.

Completing the ambience is the recorded work of more than a dozen topnotch musicians, including Andrew Downing (bass), Mike Murley (tenor sax), Dave Restivo (piano), and John Gzowski (guitar). Composer and sound designer Gzowski makes this production as satisfying to the ear as to the eye.

Under director Douglas, the engaging story, convincing characters, and Haddock’s crisp dialogue combine with committed and nuanced performances to provide constant momentum. Twenty years ago, this film-theatre hybrid would have been sensory overload, but in an era when TV news streams secondary coverage in text below onscreen interviews, an era when (foolish) people text while they drive, the average theatre/movie goer is ready for this innovation.

This avant-garde nostalgia piece is the bacon-chocolate-chip cookie of theatre. Not all who love film and theatre will appreciate this media mashup, but some may see it as the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Helen Lawrence runs until Nov. 2 at the Bluma Appel Theatre (27 Front St. E.). The show begins at 8 p.m. and will run approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. 

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

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