PIECES by Sarah Illiatovitch-Goldman, directed by Jill Harper, with Jim Downing, Rosemary Dunsmore and Allison Price. Presented by Cue6 at Unit 102 Theatre (376 Dufferin). Opens tonight (Thursday, May 24) and runs to June 9, Thursday-Saturday and June 6, various times (see cue6.ca). $20 advance, $30 door, $5 return visit. secureaseat.com. See listing.
You could be in the audience at Sarah Illiatovitch-Goldman’s Pieces dozens of times and never see the same play twice.
The story of a husband and wife, Jim and Susan, who receive an unexpected visit from Jodi, Jim’s former lover, is told in an unconventional fashion. Flashbacks to the characters’ pasts are interspersed with the five contemporary episodes of Jodi’s visit. Where those recent scenes fall is determined just before every performance.
“It’s not a gimmick, though,” says the playwright, “and in fact the structure came as an afterthought to the narrative I wrote, which focuses on relationships, marriage, family and what it means to be happy.”
As she was developing the play, Illiatovitch-Goldman wondered what might happen if Susan rather than Jim opens the front door. When do they all have a conversation about who Jodi is, and who starts it? Or do they avoid it?
“I realized that how you hear a story affects who you side with and what you think happened. So I started to work with a structure that mirrored that idea: how the presentation of information can lead to different conclusions about the characters.”
Director Jill Harper – Illiatovitch-Goldman’s partner in Cue6 Productions – suggested that she write various key scenes involving the trio, including a dinner, a fight and various confrontations.
Surrounding those scenes are past histories, all set in the bedroom.
“It’s clear that the relationships are loving ones – these are all potentially sympathetic people, both flawed and good – and I thought that placing Jim alternately in bed with each woman was the perfect intimate moment. In different scenarios, you side with different people.”
One of the key artists in Pieces’ recent history is Rosemary Dunsmore, who plays Susan.
“I was beyond elated when she agreed to be part of the production,” says the playwright, a Ryerson theatre grad whose recent work includes playing a liberated maid in Pains Of Youth and a randy satyr in Euripides’ Cyclops.
“Rosemary’s been the person who, when others question the way I’ve structured the play, has always gone to bat for me.”
Each evening a random draw decides which order the five scenes will be played. You can return to see the production – later visits get you discounted entry – and be guaranteed a different theatrical experience.
“It’s funny how we had to fight every time a new actor came on board to read in a workshop, convincing them that the shifting structure would work. We kept saying ‘Just try it, listen to it and see.’
“They all came around.”
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
