Well MX FANS, we've got a special treat for you tonight.
A group of us from Titan went on down to the Berkley Theatre (just south of Front Street in downtown Toronto and directly behind the old Opera house - with plenty of parking right across the street from the theatre!) and saw our very own MALCOLM XERXES™ in TWO CAN PLAY this very night!
Before we get into specifics (which I promise to put a SPOILER WARNING on so those who are planning to catch this play can avoid having it ruined for them) let me paint some broad strokes with my first impressions.
1. We all enjoyed it very much. The play is a lot funnier than Malcolm gave indication here and quite frankly he has almost all the best lines.
Now we've seen Malcolm's sharp wit and precise comic timing on set and during rehersals and such for FSQ (even though the character of Finn doesn't allow much of this side to show) but tonight we got to see the man apply these skills to something none of us had ever seen or read before. And he's one funny cat, let us tell you. And the laughs aren't from straight comedy, there's a well balanced mix of pathos and re-active comedy that give the play a nice, realistic humour that's very refreshing.
2. Malcolm speaks with a solid Jamaican accent! OK, we've heard his Christopher Walken American, and his Sean Connery Scottish, and even his Montreal bi-lingual English, but never something like this. And the Jamaican accent is a hard one, particularly in a comedy because it's so prone to the stereotyped emphasis some comedians use, but not here. Many times tonight we found ourselves forgetting that it was Malcolm, and that Malcolm speaks with a British accent.
As a person who is usually accutely aware of such nuances it was doubly surprising because I knew, unlike most of the audience, that Malcolm doesn't speak that way! Kudos to the master!
3. The play is entirely just Malcolm and the Actress. And we found they play off each very well. Again, you might think from some of the comments here that you'd notice a friction where one didn't belong but that's not the case. I can honestly say that I think the off-stage tensions bring a level of authenticity to the performances that elevates the whole.
MALCOLM METER: Malcolm's on stage the entire time and his character is so energetic and entertaining that it's like getting a 139% Malcolm, which is more Malcolm for the Buck than normal and well worth the effort.
AREAS OF CONCERN: The accent is a little difficult to pick up at first, particularly since the Actress is either mumbling or not projecting her lines in the beginning, but like Shakespeare and Techno-Babble when the performance is in the right hands you get it and with Malcolm you get it big time!
RELEVANCE TO THE AVERAGE PERSON: The themes are universal for anyone who has ever been in a relationship, or ever moved, or struggled for a better life. I mean, come on, if you can't relate to this play then maybe you need to get out more often!
BOTTOM LINE: Go see it!
Now for the spoilers. What I like to call the details for those who cannot possibly get to Toronto.
Here goes...
The play is divided into two acts.
The first act really is the emotional cornerstone for Malcolm's character of Jim Thomas.
It's Jamaica, in the 1970's, during a period of huge internal struggles when the country was practically pulling itself apart. He's done what he can to get his kids to America, out of harm's way, but Jim is a patriot in a land that's become really hard to love.
In the course of this act he's come to realize there's just nothing left to stay for and so he and his wife come up with a plan to leave, a very difficult thing to do because of the rules of what leaving will cost them, what they'll have to leave behind and what they'll have to risk to get to the USA. Remember, this is a period of great political turmoil in their homeland.
The second act is more the wife's act. Here Jim is reacting to the changes that their decisions have made on her and because of her awakening, will make on them. Will they grow together, rekindle their original passion or has time and recent events put them on different paths?
Well, I won't give away the ending (my name is not Lin-Yee-Tang!) but suffice to say there is no going back no matter what they decide.
CRITIC'S CORNER: Now, the director of the play made some interesting choices, some of which work and some which don't.
WHAT WORKS: The second act uses the exact same set pieces, representing both bedroom, center hall, and kitchen, but the open concent stage allows the crew to completely flip the set for the second act. This thematically matches the dynamic of the characters and greatly helps draw your focus to the shift in space.
Also the crossed perspective is mentally stimulating. The first act layout has a detatched nature to it, and plays well to the early action. The second act layout amps up the intimacy of the space, which exactly matches the piece. A very good decision here.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK SO WELL: The transitions during each act are a muddled mess and its unfortunate that a single cohesive device couldn't have been decided upon instead of the seven different types of transitions used without rhyme or reason. Too often it leaves the actors hanging in mid-motion and mis-cues the audience on the pacing. It was an unfortunate decision which implies the director lacks experience with transitional storytelling but the moment the performances resume all is forgotten. When they happen they're just extra beats in an otherwise well paced tempo.
And some of the early sound cues, at least in the performance we saw, crowd out the dialogue and overpower the performance enough to make it a little hard to understand, at first, what the problem is. This is doubly hard if you don't have an ear for the Jamaican accent, but again the performers are able to communicate 95% of the intital crisis through their actions, which as I've indicated earlier, can make even Einstinian equations understandable in the right hands.
Fortunately these are either very early or very minor distractions and when the "acting" is on the focus is entirely on the performers.
END OF SPOILERS
Afterwards we gathered and walked casually back toward Union Station and our respective rides homeward, enjoying a lively exchange of what we'd seen. It was definitely one of the more rewarding theatre going experiences and I can't stress enough, if you're in range to attend, and know Malcolm, how worthwhile the experience is. It's your chance to see and hear him in delightfully different light.
KUDOS MALCOLM. We're very proud of you!