WORMWOOD by Andrew Kushnir, directed by Richard Rose, with Benedict Campbell, Luke Humphrey, Chala Hunter, Amy Keating, Nancy Palk, Ken James Stewart, Scott Wentworth and Victor Mishalow. Tarragon Theatre (30 Bridgman). Runs to December 20, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Sunday and November 21, 28 and December 5 at 2:30 pm. $28-$60, some discounts, $15 rush if available. 416-531-1827, tarragontheatre.com.
At the heart of Andrew Kushnirs new play, Wormwood, is the realization that innocence and idealism tend to obscure lifes complex realities.
Two Ukrainian-Canadian brothers, Ivan and Markiyan, back in their homeland to observe the 2004 presidential election, get caught up in the Orange Revolution, a series of peaceful protests and political events that followed a contest many claimed was corrupt and fraudulent.
The action, with Ivan at its centre, takes place in a small town where Russian is spoken more commonly than Ukrainian. The tension between the two cultures lies just beneath the plays surface.
Welcomed into the home of a local professor, Ivan is cared for by the housekeeper and her daughter. The person who fascinates him, though, is Artemisia, the enigmatic young woman he spies in the garden next door.
Andrews writing opens up the humanity of the situation, both personal and political, in all its complexity, says Chala Hunter, who plays the mysterious Artemisia and has been involved with the script since Kushnir began writing it four years ago.
Hes done an incredible amount of meticulous research to present all the shades of grey in this truly convoluted world. I love the questions he asks about our capacity as humans for courage, love and hope, while at the same time acknowledging our fallibilities without condemning them.
Ivan wants to know Artemisia better, though her doctor father tries to keep them apart. The young peoples communication is sometimes non-verbal, which creates a special challenge for Hunter.
Ive had to find a way to speak without speaking, says Hunter, whos appeared in Titus Andronicus, The Stronger Variations and The Supine Cobbler. Her full thoughts are expressed in the script, but I have to channel those into movement by thinking the text and allowing the most integral, truthful gestures to emerge from it.
Its been a fascinating journey, especially working with Luke Humphrey, who plays Ivan. Hes a beautiful, encouraging listener. Just as the speaking of a line can change from one performance to another, so do the gestures with which I communicate.
The play has made Hunter more aware of the intricacies of Ukrainian history and contemporary politics.
Ivan brings his own perceptions to his homeland, thinking he understands it when he doesnt really know the culture from the inside, any more than he knows Artemisia and her history.
Music and poetry are as vital as politics in Wormwood, underlining the storys richness.
The audience gets a sense of that complexity from the traditional figure of the kobzar, the blind poet who is the shows narrator, accompanied by a musician who plays the bandura. The carrier of tales that go back centuries, the kobzar suggests the myth and ritual that are part of Ukrainian tradition.
When Victor Mishalow, our bandurist, plays his 168-string instrument, I get a sense of majestic history and emotion. Combined with the kobzars storytelling, this recreation of history becomes a kind of conjuring that has grandeur, sweep and scope.
Thats what I find exciting about theatre: it can burst open all the walls and suggest all sorts of possibilities.
