Scorched Heats up the Evans
This year the Brandon University Drama Department took up the challenge of a play by Montreal playwright Wajdi Mouawad. Directed by Professor Jim Forsythe, the play gives room for every director to add in their own choices for music and poetry. The two choices listed in the program are both written by Russian poets that “speaks to a common humanity.”
The story begins with the death of a mother shrouded in silence. She leaves behind a task for her twin children to break through the silence and delve into a quest to uncover her past to fulfill her last wishes. What they discover is an incredible legacy of love, horror, and the tragedy of war. Walking into the theatre the stage is sloped and sandy coloured, aimed towards three white screens, the middle adorned with two tall ghostly images of white trees. Already without the play beginning there is the feeling of haunted mystery. With a stunning performance by the women singing, with particular love for Joanne Fabro’s solo that hit everyone in the theatre with intense emotion, “Like some angelic, heavenly being, of charm and beauty.”
The next great highlight of the show was the portrayal of the villain by Ripley Large. As he performed, I could feel and see the ghastly reaction in the faces of the entire audience in the theatre had. My friends and I felt greatly disturbed watching him. Truly a stunning performance on his part!
Others in the cast, specifically those who showed quite memorable talent, were Ashley Hancharyk and Brenda Lacerte. Hancharyk, who played Nawal as an adult showed a huge depth to the strength and courage of those who live in horror. She allowed their voice to rise above the terrors and finally found her inner strength to deal with the world surrounding her. Lacerte later portrayed Nawal in her eldest form, as survivor who was left to live with all that she had seen happen in a life torn apart from war.
Finally, kudos to Kenneth Jackson. His roles in the play were many, and his ability to adapt to the multiple stories and histories of each character were amazing. He has obvious talent as each characters were played by the same actor yet each character was identifiably different from one another.
The cast did a fantastic job hitting the audience with their emotions and causing us all to leave the theatre with a sense of enlightenment. This play truly does, as Forsythe mentions, speak to the common hardships of humanity. To take part in this play by being a member of the audience is truly an honour. In a discussion with cast member Johnson Apetagon, this play really spoke volumes to him as he returned to Brandon University after putting his mother to rest, that hearing the messages this play offers to the human spirit is golden. I hope that everyone had a chance to see this play, as it feels as if what I saw is going to stay with me for a very long time.
