To call The Rat King a rock opera is a bit of a misnomer. It’s a strange piece of avant-garde musical theatre written, produced, and performed by members of Toronto’s renowned indie music scene. It is in actuality an ‘indie musical,’ and a damn timely one at that.
Set in the not-so-distant future, the world has begun to succumb to all the vicious and unforeseen consequences of pollution and waste. The plot involves the isolated Cannon household where father Ed has been molesting his only surviving daughter in order to re-populate the dying, mutant-infested earth. Troubled by an incessant rodent problem and desperate to find a fertile suitor to complete the job of impregnating his daughter, Ed decides to welcome a strange traveling worker (with a horrible secret) into his hermetically sealed household.
Many aspects of this splendid theatrical warning jump out as genius. The sets, decorated in true D.I.Y. aesthetic, appear cohesive, thoughtful, and meticulously crafted. The result is Brechtian in the sense that everything is obviously created for a set (with papier maché, old wallpaper, Christmas lights, random pieces of furniture), but it actually works against the effect of audience alienation by being so consistent and dazzling that MacDonald’s world draws you in instead of keeping you at arm’s length.
Featuring original music composed and performed by local iconoclast Bob Wiseman and starring Gentleman Reg, members of the Hidden Cameras, and the Phonemes, the show has enough indie-rock star power to run a fucking solar system.
Not only did the cast further prove their music chops, but stars Jeremy Singer (Ed) and Magali Meagher (his distrustful daughter Carlyn) displayed an acute skill for the stage, rattling off hundreds of lines of MacDonald’s terse verse as if it was the most natural thing.
Glen Sheppard (possibly the only person in Toronto not also in a band) gave a great performance as the boy traveler. One of the highlights of the show featured his personal backstory as told through the hilariously creative use of shadow play.
As with most things MacDonald, The Rat King carries a stern social message about the future path of human existence. The play serves not only as a witness to a possible reality best avoided, but also as a call to action for real environmental change before it’s too late.-JORDAN BIMM
