CAKE AND DIRT by Daniel MacIvor, directed by Amiel Gladstone, with Maggie Huculak, Bethany Jillard, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Laara Sadiq, David Storch and Maria Vacratsis. Tarragon Theatre (30 Bridgman). Previews through Tuesday (March 10), opens Wednesday (March 11) and runs to April 12, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Sunday and some Saturdays 2:30 pm. $50-$55, previews $27, $15 rush for all shows except opening (subject to availability), some discounts. 416-531-1827, tarragontheatre.com.
Daniel MacIvor is troubled about the selfishness that drives many people living in big cities.
Inspired by urban theorist Jane Jacobss book Dark Age Ahead, MacIvor wrote Cake And Dirt, a dark comedy about a self-centred group of privileged people whose lives he reveals at a condo penthouse birthday party.
Daniel is angry about life in Toronto right now, about how people treat each other, says the plays director, Amiel Gladstone. The prophecy voiced by Jane Jacobs takes us on a downward spiral, one in which generosity and compassion have been replaced by feelings of precariousness and danger.
In terms of the creative process, recalls Gladstone, MacIvor wanted to write a dinner party that the audience would experience in one way before having their impressions turned upside down.
He focuses on people who have all the money and everything else they could want but who can only treat each other badly. If theres any hope in the play, it has a hard time shining through.
The birthday party is for Jeff, a corporate lawyer whos shed one wife, Bryn, and wed another, Nalin. Riley, his daughter from the first marriage, is smart and sharp, not close to either of the older women, though she seems to dote on her former nanny, Nina, who still works for Bryn. Add disgraced politician Jason to the mix, someone for whom Jeff feels utter contempt, and there are all sorts of potential explosions at the drunken party.
Jeff is in the middle of a crisis deciding who he is. He has trouble dealing with his ex as well as his current wife, both of whom come from privilege. He thought Nalin would offer an end to his search but realizes that he made a horrible mistake. Jeff hopes he might be better getting back what he had before, but thats not a good choice, either.
Gladstone, a playwright as well as a director, has worked across the country his most recent Toronto directing and co-writing gig was Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata. I have fond memories of Fringe and SummerWorks shows he helmed and/or wrote when he was part of Victorias Theatre SKAM.
Cake And Dirts party scene, in which people talk at cross-purposes but dont always discuss what theyre actually concerned about, was a major focus in rehearsal.
This celebration/kitchen party, where everyones rude from the start and then becomes increasingly drunk and more vicious, has so many things going on that its tricky to coordinate whos talking to whom and how to time the lines. Fuel the characters with more wine, champagne and vodka and you get a tricky piece of choreography. And at nearly 40 minutes, it feels quite epic.
Its in the nastiness that the comedy appears. Somehow we enjoy watching people being cruel to each other theres something delicious in seeing characters shift their witty thoughts from one target to another. The humour resembles that in a Joe Orton play, where anything is a potential object of satire. When we began we thought we were rehearsing a realistic show, but over time its become more stylized.
