DIVE adapted by Richard Sanger from a story by Giuseppe di Lampedusa (Mermaid Collective). At Array Space (155 Walnut). Runs to August 9. $30, August 6 gala $55. dive.bpt.me. Rating: NNNN
In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses ties himself to his ship’s mast so as not to yield to the seductions of the sirens.
You won’t be quite that powerless in the Mermaid Collective’s production of Dive, but you’re sure to be drawn to the extraordinary energy of Fides Krucker, who takes on the role of the work’s central finny figure, a mermaid, as well as all the other women in this play with music.
Poetically adapted by Richard Sanger from a short story by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, the narrative follows the growing relationship between a pair of Sicilian men, young journalist Paolo (Matthew Gouveia) and elderly scholar and politician Rosario (Earl Pastko) in 1938 Italy. Paolo has forsworn love after being dumped by two women in one day, while Rosario’s one sexual experience decades earlier has spoiled him for any other female contact.
That affair was with Lighea, a mermaid the young Rosario met during a hot summer. Not only did she give him lessons in the pronunciation of classical Greek, but – and this was even easier – the siren seduced him with her words, voice and presence.
With the audience in café-style seating around the venue, director Alex Fallis weaves a tale that brings us into the flowing action. Composer Nik Beeson’s contribution, just as alluring as the story, blends wild, uncontrolled ocean sounds, whale cries and Lighea’s songs (in English and ancient Greek).
He contrasts that sensual, organic sonic element with the clicking precision of marching boots and snatches of Mussolini’s speeches, both of which suggest Fascist control and lack of freedom. In the hands of Andy Trithardt, the acoustically precise sounds rise, sink and float tantalizingly around the viewers.
Pastko captures the brusque and secretive prof – known for “his lively, almost carnal sense of classical antiquity” – who becomes excited by the beguilements of the mermaid on a Sicilian beach, while Gouveia, the story’s narrator, begins as a self–centred personality and by the end starts to experience the possibilities of true eroticism.
While their early scenes together function as set-up for what comes later, the action in the Turin bar where they meet could use more theatrical spark.
It’s Krucker, though, who rightly controls the action, first as a put-out lover, then as a pastry shop owner crooning her wares, a bored bar server and a right-wing landlady.
But these all pale when Lighea makes her entrance. She’s enticing in the flesh, but it’s Krucker’s voice, both live and recorded, that’s truly a marvel. The singer is equally capable of singing sweetly and then producing a rasp or squeal that echoes around the room. At times she manages to turn the sound into a pair of notes that vibrate simultaneously, several tones apart.
Drawn to Rosario by his recitation of Homer, Lighea is an independent female who follows her whims, not those of the men she’s bedded over the millennia – her litany of former lovers is extensive and somehow beguiling.
And you’ll understand her alluring attraction after seeing Dive. As one of the characters says, no one escapes the sirens.
jonkap@nowtoronto.com | @nowtoronto
