A doubtful diva
Impromptu on Nuns' Island
by Michel Tremblay (translation by Linda Gaboriau)
directed by Diana Leblanc
Centaur Theatre
I was justified in expecting Centaur's production of Michel Tremblay's new play, Impromptu on Nuns' Island, to be a highlight of the season. A good play, with actors we have come to expect great things from, and a director, Diana Leblanc, from Stratford.
I was disappointed.
Don't get me wrong. It is still a piece of masterful, witty, sensitive writing. It is an enjoyable evening of theatre. It's just that it could have been great, all through, not just in moments.
This is the story of opera diva Patricia Pasquetti, aka Patsy Paquette, who missed a note during a performance of Salomé in Paris. She has packed up and arrived in Montreal to visit her mother and daughter, both actors. The cause of her disgrace makes a terrific story, and she tells it at the same time as her accompanist tells it to his shrink.
The pretty set, by Guido Tondino, proves awkward. The business given to the actors—do the dusting in your Paris frock without getting your hands dirty, take your shoes off, put your shoes on, perch on this piece of furniture, move to a different part of the set and lean on something else—is largely pointless. One wishes more thought had been given to blocking.
My experience of opera divas is limited, I admit. But I once spent a day with Teresa Stratas, before she quite became Teresa Stratas. And I have read, like most, of their colourful lives: the opera diva is a storm that sweeps you along with it. She wants things her way and she gets it, but not by petulance. Just by having things her way. She is charming, but not because she cares a whit about you. Just because she is so intensely alive, and life is smoother if you enjoy it with her.
Tremblay gives Pasquetti the stories. Dixie Seatle's portrayal of the opera diva lacks, however, the overweening assurance and presence the role demands.
The singer is on a surprise visit from Europe, home to the apartment she maintains on Nuns' Island, demanding the presence of her mother and her daughter. Since Seatle was not playing large enough, the rest of the cast damped down. Robert Persichini, as Richard, Patricia's accompanist, had either nothing to do or was alone in the spotlight, so he suffered less, and was a lovable character.
While he is struck dumb in Patricia's apartment, he earlier remarks to his shrink, "Talking comes easy to me. Everyone complains about that."
Diana Donnelly, as Patricia's 30-year-old daughter, played 18. And a dull 18-year-old at that, while the script calls for her to be a formidable force in the Québecois acting milieu.
It is only when Patricia Hamilton, who clearly didn't give a hoot what the rest of the cast were feeling, blows on stage as the diva's actor mother do we see what the play might have been. She is a breath of fresh air, and gets it exactly right. Not that it's any great stretch for a fine actor to play a fine actor, but she isn't intimidated by script or director or set, or whatever it was that affected the others.
It couldn't have been just the lighting glitch that occasioned much remark by artistic director Gordon McCall after the show. (Don't worry, you won't get that. Technical problems are over after opening night.) Though the evening ends up being great fun, with another director—and another vision—it would have been wonderful from the beginning.
And I have one more quibble: those of us who are language purists are jarred by grammatical errors. I know that obligated is worming its way into the language, but in reality there is no such word. Careful users of the language, like translator Linda Gaboriau, ought to avoid such usages. They jar us nitpickers back into reality.
Impromptu on Nuns' Island continues at Centaur Theatre, 453 St-François-Xavier, to December 1. Tickets/Information: 288-3161.
[ Photo of Dixie Seatle, left, and Diana Donnelly by Yanick McDonald ]
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