THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE by William Saroyan, directed by Albert Schultz (Soulpepper). At the Young Centre for the Performing Arts (55 Mill). To April 16. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Despite a Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, William Saroyan’s deeply moving 1939 assessment of American life remains relatively unknown. That’s why Soulpepper’s faithful remount of its acclaimed 2008 revival is so welcome: this is an important play that shows the power of understanding, generosity and interdependence in action – values we too often suppress.
The action focuses on Joe (Joseph Ziegler, reprising his Dora-winning role), a mysteriously wealthy and eccentric street-level philanthropist who, by doling out cash from his table at a seedy San Francisco honky-tonk, tries to improve the lives of those around him. Surrounding Joe in the realistic bar are 20-plus characters – including a cop, a union worker, drunks, wealthy “society people,” prostitutes, struggling entertainers – all hoping for something better.
The ensemble benefits from many veterans of the 2008 production, including Stuart Hughes, whose work as Kit Carson, the old, hard-drinking Indian fighter now out of time and place, also won him a Dora. Hughes expertly balances the reckless humour and implied sadness of this obsolete figure.
However, the heart of this show is the paternal relationship between Joe and Tom (Kevin Bundy), his naive, awkward and childlike assistant, whom Joe is trying to marry to Kitty Duval (Karen Rae), a world-weary prostitute.
Director Albert Schultz keeps the pacing slow and lifelike, and positions the audience as barflies-on-the-wall. Despite the work’s two-and-a-half-hour length, Schultz avoids tedium by playing up – especially in a chewing gum scene – Saroyan’s touches of comedy. A nice addition to the production is jazz vocalist Denzal Sinclaire, the saloon pianist, who adds live accompaniment throughout.
