King Lear

Photo from the Ottawa Citizen

I watched King Lear at the National Arts Centre last night and relived my passion for Shakespeare. This was my first Shakespearean play since four years. The last time I had seen a play was As You Like It performed by a middle school. The show last night was creatively directed in a native American setting by an all-aboriginal cast. Lorne Cardinal from Corner Gas, a Canadian comedy, performed and played the Duke of Cornwall.

I thought the acting could have been more 'natural'. I caught lines being stuttered twice and some characters lacked chemistry. Maybe my background in high school drama made me a little critical of these things. Nevertheless, the best actress on stage was one who played two roles, both Cordelia and Fool. The fact that she can act within the same play two completely different characters showed her versatility as an actress.The lights, sounds, costumes and minimal props were brilliant. They utilized the stage very effectively. The atmosphere of darkness, outdoor and nature were very well captured. I did get goosebumps from the use of total darkness to incite fear and thunderstorms during the play.

I originally had mixed feelings about converting the whole play into aboriginal culture. But near the end, I thought the directing team probably attempted to depict colonialism and its effects to send a message to the audience. The arts, be it in music, visual or dramatic form, frequently convey something meaningful. On the social scale, I am not quite sure how well that message was conveyed. Given how the lead woman in the play, Goneril, was portrayed as a manipulative and seductive temptress. To think what stereotypical effect this may have on aboriginal women is worth questioning. Aboriginal women are in fact, most vulnerable in the Canadian population. But then again, Shakespeare comes off as a misogynist. Maybe it was hard to alter character traits, but I personally think the overall message should have been more clearer.

I guess the performance was worth my 12 bucks.
On a 5 star scale, I'd rank it 2.5 to 3.

A Thousand Farewells

I finally finished Nahlah Ayed's A Thousand Farewells. The book is written like a true journalist. Impartial, and concise. Fact-based and informative. I loved that it was an easy read. While I was a little disappointed that it was not a comprehensive analysis of the Arab Spring, Ayed echoes the voices of dissent in the most humble and humane manner. Such, that it was almost haunting to read. She is a very descriptive writer. What I enjoyed most, was her capability to intertwine an autobiography to the events in recent history she witnessed, which gave voices to those trapped between wars.

Her heritage and background worked to her benefit, and in many instances she would capture the essence of middle-eastern culture in the book. I appreciated the bits of poetries, songs and arts which depict the richness in civilization and culture many of the Arab countries possess. This is something frequently overlooked by the media's projection of the middle-east as barbaric and chaos.The atmosphere during the Egypt protest was probably my favourite, along with the Libyan gratitude towards foreign intervention, which very much surprised me. Although there is much tendencies to homogenize the series of events as the "Arab Spring", Ayed really highlighted the differences in character each tumultuous occasions had. From Iraq, to Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Libya....

It made what Mr. Breen, my Canadian History teacher in grade 10, said rang true. "Countries are a lot like people."