COMMUNION written and directed by Daniel MacIvor (Tarragon, 30 Bridgman). To April 4, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Saturday-Sunday 2:30 pm. $10-$39. 416-531-1827. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Do yourself a favour and take Communion at the Tarragon Theatre.
Communion, which refers to a sharing of thought and feeling as well as a religious ceremony, is both title and theme for writer/director Daniel MacIvor’s rich play.
That richness comes from a trio of characters – a self-deprecating mother, her estranged daughter and the mother’s therapist – who all carry secrets. There always seems to be a level of unspoken ideas and emotion beneath what each says..
Mother Leda (Caroline Gillis) doesn’t know how to communicate with her born-again daughter Ann (Athena Lamarre, read an interview here), and Leda’s therapist Carolyn (Sarah Dodd) doesn’t seem to be helping.
In a trio of nuanced scenes, each featuring two characters, the women start to share, to unburden themselves of tightly harboured emotions that stop them from reaching out to the others.
The writing is strong, both in its ironic humour and emotional tension, but the excellent acting and directing take the production to an even more resonant level.
You might not realize how much of this happens between or under the play’s words. At times the actors fill silences with anxiety-laden suggestiveness, while at others we get the sense that a few words, seemingly an aside, could be expanded into another equally compelling scene.
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
