Someone had better tell Andrew Lloyd Webber and Donny Osmond that the Technicolor Dreamcoat has been stolen back, dyed black and sent to Europe. Veteran Canadian playwright Jason Sherman’s latest effort, Remnants, is a dark re-imagination of the biblical story of Joseph. Set in 1920s Poland, Joseph’s less-than-pious brothers decide it’s time to secretly ship their father’s favourite son off to Canada. After his arrival in Toronto, Joseph, who decides to hide his devout Jewish faith, is raised from the gutter and made an advisor to Prime Minister Mackenzie King. Joseph’s bizarre ability to interpret dreams and forecast future events earns him a position of influence in the Prime Minister’s inner circle. The biggest test for Joseph comes when his deceitful brothers arrive in Canada seeking asylum from Nazi persecution in Europe. Since he has become King’s point-man on immigration, Joseph is given the power to decide their fate.
The opening production of Tarragon Theatre’s season, the first remarkable thing about this play is the set-it’s all luggage. The stage is littered with vintage suitcases and travel trunks. These large rectangular boxes of varying shapes and sizes are constantly reoriented and reorganized to create every location in the script, from a horse-drawn carriage on a dusty road in Poland to a cramped sweat-shop in Toronto to the office of Mackenzie King. The creative set arrangements and the commitment to the everything-is-made-of-luggage décor make the locations completely believable in their simplicity, despite their obvious lack of detail.
This also makes for speedy and interesting scene changes. Handled entirely by the cast, the luggage is reorganized quickly and cleverly so as to give the effect that one scene simply becomes the next. This seamless technique works to hold the audience’s attention by keeping the plot action moving forward while the set change is taking place.
Luckily, the cast more than lives up to the theatrical conceit. Only seven people appear on stage, but well over twenty distinct characters are written into the script. This calls for almost every actor to play three or more large supporting roles. At some points, actors have only a few seconds to change their costumes and their characters. Making the transition between different characters within the same play (let alone the same scene) can often prove problematic for actors to accomplish, and difficult for audiences to believe. This however is where the cast of Remnants succeeds most. The actors playing multiple roles quickly create believable, well-defined characters while keeping in step with the fast-paced scene transitions and fulfill their additional stagehand duties all at the same time. This is no easy feat.
The successful co-ordination of consistently creative scene changes, intelligent and efficient set construction, believable role swapping and rock-solid performances from every member of the ensemble cast creates a holistic theatrical force generally attributed to one thing: smart direction. For director Richard Rose the work of Jason Sherman is nothing new-the writer/director duo have collaborated on at least four other projects in the past. For this effort, Rose does an excellent job of bringing Sherman’s biblical adaptation to life by making sure that every scene is interesting to watch aside from just listening to the witty dialogue.
This is not the kind of play that will put you to sleep. The quick pace will keep your attention, while the strong writing and deep political and religious themes will make you think, laugh, and if you’re anything like the ladies who were sitting in front of me, maybe even cry.
