I love live theatre! The immediacy. The energy. The heavy breathing of that big guy taking up the arm rest next to me. All of it.
And last night I had the chance to see Proud by Michael Healey, put on by Theatre Projects Manitoba.
It takes place in a fictional future where Stephen Harper's party has won a colossal majority government in Canada. Harper, along with his chief of staff, Cary Baines, attempt to game the system with the help of a new, feisty MP named Jisbella Lyth.
As my title suggests, this Parliamentary parody was a something of a cross between the CBC's well-regarded but mostly-forgotten Royal Canadian Air Farce and the recent Netflix political drama House of Cards.
It is NOT easy to make Canadian politics interesting. I loved Air Farce and The Rick Mercer Report but it was their chemistry and sarcasm that interested me, not the MPs or MLAs.
All that being said, Proud, was a hilarious look into the 'what-might-have-been' of Canadian politics.
The Prime Minister, imitated exceptionally by Ross McMillan, becomes a parody of himself. Over the course of the play, he reveals that he really doesn't care about the things he says he cares about. In reality, every step he's taken to getting where he is has really been about making the country just a little bit more self-sufficient.
He's the Frank Underwood in this story, without the chilling soliloquies or southern drawl. Or the handsome features. Or the intimidating thousand-yard stare.
OK, maybe he's more like like if Frank Underwood were played my Mike Meyers.
The congressional conundrum causes a catastrophe for the Conservative cabinet captain. Cue Jisbella Lyth, played to the rafters by Daria Puttaert.
She has run and won in her riding by being nothing more than a warm body, and her entrance to the play (busting into the Prime Minister's Office asking if anyone has a condom) sets her character up for the rest of the night.
Much of Proud's comedy comes from Lyth's lack of filter, her sex drive, or the combination of the two. My only real gripe with the performance was that too many of her moments were overly excited for the space she was working in. Imagine watching Chris Farley do King Lear.
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| “Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.” |
I had a great experience this last summer at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival. I went to as many shows as I was able, all-in-all about a dozen.
I am always drawn to comedic plays over drama, so Proud had me a bit nervous. That being said, I think Proud did as good a job as I've seen balancing the "drama" of the political backdrop, with the absurdity of the personalities involved in the plot.
I can't say this play had any sort of profound impact on me. It was certainly a fun look at a form of politics that I'm sure don't make up a huge percentage of the real life political landscape.
Something that added to my experience was the talkback session after. The director and actors hung out for 20 minutes and answered questions from the audience. Being a huge comedy nerd, it was a nice change to hear the actors discuss mechanics of dramatic acting opposed to comedic performance.
If for some reason I wanted to sum up all my feelings about the night in one concise .gif it would be:
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