Applause for A Winter Tale
By Gwyneth Cumberbatch | Posted: February 07, 2006
The CaribbeanTales production A Winter Tale had an amazingly successful five-day run at the Alchemy Theatre at the beginning of Black History Month. On the following weekend, it played for two nights at the Mazaryk Cowan Community Centre in Parkdale, the neighbourhood where the story is actually set -- a typical downtown Toronto multi-racial, working-class community. Michele Lonsdale Smith, who came from Vancouver to direct the play, deserves special credit for translating what was originally a film script into a formidably well-staged ensemble theatre.
As the play unfolds six Black men come together tentatively to form a Black Men's Support Group in the hopes that this intervention will lead to their own salvation and to the redemption of their community under seige. A Winter Tale is at times bitter and tragic, at other times hopeful and funny, but always firmly rooted in the life of the street with the City of Toronto itself as a central character.
At the Alchemy, it played each night to sold-out theatre audiences that sat spellbound in the small dark space surrounded by scenes that unfolded or exploded, sometimes too close for comfort. The Toronto Sun's review, reproduced below is about the Alchemy run. The cast had thought that the Community Centre experience would be quite different because the play would be staged in the Gym. They assumed that it might be hard for the audiences to suspend their disbelief. But they were wrong. The Centre audiences seemed to be just as focused on the performance as the theatre audiences. They sat totally absorbed in the play from beginning to end.
The Centre audiences came from Parkdale itself and, at first glance, seemed to be mostly women, teenagers and young children.The young children sat right up front and never took their eyes off the action going on so close to them at times, as well as on the stage. On both nights, when the play came to an end, most people stayed back to engage the actors and each other in a group discussion about the issues raised by the play. They turned out to be youth workers, community activists, teachers -- even some bureaucrats. And of course there were the parents with their children, mothers and grandmothers. Everyone wanted to have a say, even the children. Especially the children!
Cast members explained that the tone and feel of the performance came from their own lived experience. They liked that so many of the audience said that the play had relevance to their own day to day lives. People talked about the many potential benefits to staging a performance like this for schools and for students of every age. This post-performance exchange of opinions and ideas was as valuable to the cast and crew as it seemed to be for the community members.
A Winter Tale was created and produced by Frances-Anne Solomon, and written by Frances-Anne Solomon and Michele Lonsdale Smith. The play was directed by Michele Lonsdale Smith. It starred Peter Williams, Leonie Forbes, Michael Miller, Valerie Buhagiar, Peter Bailey, Nicole Stamp, Dennis “Sprangalang” Hall, R. O. Glasgow, P. Barrington, Ryan Ishmael, Lucky Ejim, Mike G. Yohannes, Shakura S'aida, Finlandia Casellas and young Sabio Emerencia-Collins.
Over the next few months, an independent feature length film version of A Winter Tale with the same cast will be directed by Frances-Anne Solomon and shot on location in Toronto's Parkdale neighborhood for release in 2006. The film will be produced by Solomon's company Leda Serene Films.
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Reprinted below is the Toronto Sun's review of A Winter Tale.
A Winter Tale of our City by Sherri Wood.
As I woke up yesterday morning to the news of a triple shooting in Toronto's west end and a drive-by shooting in the east end, I had to wonder whether I was still dreaming as the lines between art and reality sadly, and so unbelievably, blurred.
The night before, I attended the opening of A Winter Tale. The city's latest artistic attempt to address the ongoing issue of homegrown gun violence was held at the shabby Alchemy Theatre.
Written by Michele Lonsdale Smith (who also directed the play) and Frances-Anne Solomon, founder and artistic director of the not-for-profit multimedia company Caribbean Tales, the play rings strikingly timely even though it has been in the making for more than two years.
It's a story filled with crime and confusion, desperation and gunshots -- and the brutal truth. An inner-city mentor/social worker/basketball coach named Gene, played by Peter Williams, tries to steer local gang-involved kid DX, played by Michael Miller, away from the street life.
As Gene becomes more discouraged by what he sees in his neighborhood, tensions continue to build around him. When a 9-year-old boy is killed by a bullet intended for an off-turf drug dealer, the social worker tries desperately to get the black men in the community to talk.
What ensues is a series of meetings at Miss G's Canadian-Caribbean Restaurant between Gene, DX and a group of disenfranchised men, including the murdered child's grandfather, a meek TTC driver, a trustless local businessman and a mysterious African visitor.
All are outraged and left feeling hopeless by the latest murder, but each has his own idea of an answer. When one man suggests "an eye for an eye," another retorts with a poignant discussion on the never-ending cycle of black men killing each other -- in turn, endangering themselves and their culture.
"We're black dinosaurs right now, man," he says. "When does the cycle end?"
Stellar performances from a broad and eclectic cast carry this multi-scened story with full momentum right to the very end. The overall effect, from the authentic street vernacular to the fearless peek into the lives of teen parents, drug dealers and frustrated mothers, is one of honesty and realness.
The theatre is dark and dingy and perfectly suited to the intimate tale.
Much of the effectiveness of the play can be attributed to the extraordinary sound production -- from friendly Caribbean music to chilling gunshots to the subtle sounds of street noise, beer pouring and cell phones ringing. The music and sound from Mauri Hall renders the play strikingly realistic.
The only downfall of this ambitious offering is what's sporadically left unsaid, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks, and with a story like this you want the message to be clear.
It's a small, independent production with a big, boldfaced point.
At times angering, at times humourous and always moving, A Winter Tale takes a raw, brave approach and forces us to face the realities of the breeding grounds for gun violence. My hope is that it will be seen by as many as possible.
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