Those of you who think this part of the continent has always been a safe haven for slaves, think again. Over the past two weeks, audiences (including those students who could afford to sneak away from the essay-writing crunch for a few hours) that ventured out to see Hart House Theatre’s latest production, Angelique, were presented with a time in history when things were not so equal north of the 49th.
Angelique, Hart House’s second major play in what is turning out to be a stellar season, tells the story of a black slave girl in 18th-century Montreal who is mistreated by her owners, wrongly accused of arson, and eventually hanged. Even though the story takes place over a century before Confederation, it still seems strange to think that slavery was commonplace in Montreal (then part of New France). It was even more odd to hear characters in the play say that there was more freedom in New England than in the future destination for thousands of Underground Railroad slaves.
Just as the play worked to reveal to its audience a hidden part of Canadian history, the actors fittingly hid their full ranges at first. The play began in a tranquil enough manner, but with a definite undercurrent of fear and corruption, as Francois Poulin, a nouveau-riche fur trader, bought a black slave girl who had caught his eye. Most characters seemed stiff and reserved in the early scenes, with the exception of Poulin, portrayed with aplomb by Matt White, who came out swinging (theatrically speaking) with a spirited and very natural opening monologue.
After the sinister figure of Poulin suddenly died from illness (as was common in those days when health care meant a blanket and a prayer), the other characters were free to openly express themselves. And they did, from Poulin’s suddenly assertive widow, played with fierce emotional range by Irena Huljak, to Helen Farmer’s complex Manon, a servant in a neighbouring household.
But no one commanded the stage as much as Courtney Simon, who as Angelique delivered a heart-wrenching performance, full of anger, despair, hope, rage, moments of pure joy, and courage. The play used song, dance, African drumming and poetry to create the complete picture of a unique woman, and Simon did a superb job in showing us the many sides of Angelique.
Seen by most people around her as a mere slave, or even as only a sex object, Simon’s Angelique experienced the joy of motherhood, the anguish of a child’s death, the indignity of forced marriage, the humiliation of slavery, the joy of song and dance, the elation of love, and the pride of being human, and expressed each with such intensity and passion that she drew in the audience to suffer and succeed with her.
Director (and U of T grad) Eric Rose, playwright Lorena Gale, the production team and the cast took great care in developing this story, one that was difficult to watch but so full of the ups and downs of life.
The cast took a short, blunt passage from a history book and crafted an emotionally-wrenching drama that challenged and captivated the audience, while also inserting many clever modern references to make us question whether slavery has really been abolished, or whether it has simply changed its shape.
You won’t find Angelique’s story in a Heritage Moment commercial any time soon, but Hart House Theatre’s intense telling of it was definitely something worth seeing.
