Sean Power - Reviews & Interviews

The Threepenny Epic Cabaret
28 Apr 1996 - The Toronto Star:
"Madcap Brechtian collisions hilarious and insightful" (by Vit Wagner)

Madcap Brechtian collisions hilarious and insightful

THE THREEPENNY EPIC CABARET
Written by Stan Rogal and Bald Ego Theatre.
Directed by Adam Nashman.
Lighting by Jean-Yves Tessier.
A Bald Ego Theatre production to May 12 at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Ave.

BY VIT WAGNER
THEATRE CRITIC

German writer/director Bertolt Brecht is a hallowed figure of 20th century drama, more so in the halls of university drama departments, where the reverence accorded his name knows few bounds.

Scratch a saint for very long, however, and you will find a sinner. Bald Ego Theatre, the stylish young Toronto troupe responsible for Cafe Naked and other impressionistic dramas, has done just that in The Threepenny Epic Cabaret, newly opened at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace.

The play, based partly on John Fuegi's 1994 biography, casts its subject in the role of plagiarist, philanderer, charlatan and, finally, artist and genius. In the end, the play doesn't castigate Brecht so much as it asks: And what did you expect? Artists borrow - from life, from their colleagues, even from their own previous works. So what?

The Threepenny Epic Cabaret, written by Stan Rogal, with input from the rest of the company, and directed by Adam Nashman, is a lively deconstruction of the making of the famous 1928 Brecht/Kurt Weill musical. In a daringly anachronistic twist, the historical figures - Brecht (Sean Power), Weill (Bob Wiseman) and collaborator Elizabeth Haupbnnn (Christine Brubaker), as well as various performers (Kristen Thomson and Rogal) - interact with three latter-day characters, an academic writing a thesis on Brecht (Lisa Ryder), a Brecht/Weill groupie (Selina Martin) and a photographer (Christopher Brauer).

The play, obviously intended to mirror the reality of Toronto, theatre today, depicts the hectic three weeks leading up to the musical's premiere: Material is cut from whole cloth and sewn together, as fretting producers are kept at bay. All the while, Brecht, the artist flying by the seat of his paints, is juxtaposed with Brecht, the dramatist who would be remembered for his epic theatre and alienation theory.

The collisions can be insightful and hilarious. And the company's execution, overall sense of purpose and plain willingness to have hollering, feetstomping fun is impressive.

Power is intensely kinetic in portraying Brecht as a kind of human radio, capable of receiving and synthesizing several signals at once.

Like the original, it all has the feel of something that's been madly thrown together. But works.