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Culture Stage

SummerWorks Review: Castor And Sylvie


CASTOR AND SYLVIE

Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace (16 Ryerson)

Aug 10 at 7:45 pm, Aug 12 at 5:15 pm, Aug 13 at 7:30 pm, Aug 14 at 5:15 pm, Aug 15 at 10 pm, Aug 16 at 12:45 pm. 1-888-328-8384, summerworks.ca.

Rating: NNN


Tara Goldstein’s two-hander examines the relationship between feminist icon Simone de Beauvoir (Mary Ellen MacLean) and Sylvie Le Bon (Tina Sterling), her longtime friend and fast companion, especially after the death of Jean-Paul Sartre.

Goldstein offers a revised definition of family, with de Beauvoir insistent that she adopt Le Bon, who can then be responsible for the older woman under French law. But the latter has always wanted a more sexual relationship, which de Beauvoir, whose nickname is Castor, can’t accept any more than she can put aside Sartre’s memory.

The story is a good one, but the script offers variations on the same idea time and again, diminishing the show’s theatricality. Sterling, though, gives a subtle, suggestive performance that keeps Le Bon’s passions always simmering beneath the surface.

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