Colonialism, Memory, and (White) Guilt: The Syringa Tree at the GCTC |
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| Written by Wayne Current |
| Tuesday, 22 September 2009 00:00 |
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Last week, the Great Canadian Theatre Company kicked off its 2009/10 theatre season with Pamela Gien's award-winning and internationally acclaimed play, The Syringa Tree.Patricia Fagan brings a wonderful physicality to the performance. It is an ambitious choice for the GCTC, not only because Gien's script calls for one actress to play 24 separate characters, but also because the climate, history, and experience of apartheid-era South Africa is so far removed from our own (and the production team's) life experiences as Canadians living in Ottawa. Gien's script is a compelling and engaging fiction that draws upon profoundly personal experiences. The narrative is told as a memory play, and the audience is taken through
Patricia Fagan stars in GCTC’s The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien. Set & costume design by Robin Fisher. Lighting design by Jock Munro. Photo by Alan Dean.
As a child, Elizabeth is able to act as an innocent witness to the apartheid. Her role as innocent observer is, however, subverted by her intimate understanding of how the system works, as well as her privileged place within that system. Memory plays are often as much about what the protagonist is repressing as what they are recollecting, and The Syringa Tree is no exception. Gien's play has many humorous, warm, and poignant moments, but at its heart it is about Elizabeth's (white) guilt and her fervent desire for redemption. Patricia Fagan is the solo performer in the GCTC's production. She plays all 24 characters and brings a wonderful physicality to the performance. For much of the play, she transitions from character to character with startling fluidity. Fagan differentiates the characters through exaggerated physical movements: a child reaching high up into the air to hold the hand of an adult, a mother stroking her forehead in exasperation, the slow and deliberate movements of an old man... For the first half of the play, Fagan is able to keep on top of these transitions, but by the conclusion, the characters begin to blend into one another and the performance becomes muddy. This is, perhaps, partially a problem with the script. 24 characters is an enormous amount for one actress (or an audience) to keep track of, and by the play's end there are A white actress playing black characters in this exaggerated fashion is somewhat troubling.jumps in time that complicate and confuse the narrative even further. While Fagan's exaggerated movements serve to differentiate the characters admirably for much of the play, a white actress playing the roles of black characters in this exaggerated fashion is also somewhat troubling, for the performance can occasionally descend into caricature. This is especially unfortunate for a play dealing with the history of apartheid, because these exaggerations come very close to reinforcing racial stereotypes, rather than challenging them. Regardless of some of the weaker aspects of the later portion of the play, the GCTC's The Syringa Tree is certain to provoke discussion about the ruptures caused by colonialism in South Africa. Given the GCTC's involvement in this particular staging of the play, perhaps the discussion will expand beyond South Africa and turn to Canada's own colonialist legacy, and our nation's treatment of Aboriginal peoples. The Syringa Tree runs until October 4 at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. If you see it, please come back here and let us know what you thought of the play in the comments field below. Wayne Current is a writer, communications expert, director, and blogger. Check out manyfacesofwayne.wordpress.com for more of his work.
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Hello Jessica: |
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