Record Review 3

Asphalt Jungle takes it to the streets

MATHEW McCARTHY, RECORD STAFF

MATHEW McCARTHY, RECORD STAFF

The cast of Asphalt Jungle Shorts uses the textures and venues of downtown Kitchener to offer a theatrical surprise.

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September 08, 2007

COLIN HUNTER
RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER

Where can you go to watch 15 unique plays all in one night?

It's a secret.

What plays can you see?

Can't say.

When can you see them?

OK, that part can be revealed.

Starting Wednesday and continuing through Sept. 22, you can go . . . somewhere . . . in downtown Kitchener to enjoy an unusual night of theatre.

The secrecy is an important part of the show, Asphalt Jungle Shorts.

The experimental theatre project, now in its third production since last September, stages short plays at secret locations around downtown Kitchener.

The audience walks from one unusual venue to the next, thus turning the entire downtown into an impromptu theatrical space.

To give away the plays and their locations would spoil some of the fun.

What artistic director Paddy Gillard-Bentley will divulge, however, is that the upcoming incarnation of Asphalt Jungle Shorts is the most ambitious and surprising yet.

"It's such a different kind of experience," she says.

"I want to make it the best I can, and the way I can do that is keeping the mystery about it. I don't even tell my closest friends what's going to happen."

Half the time, Gillard-Bentley herself doesn't know what will happen. For instance, last year, audience members assumed (incorrectly) that a police takedown was all part of the show.

In a sense, downtown itself becomes a character in the short plays, and the actors must go with the flow when downtown steals a scene.

The plays of have been staged in back alleys, dumpsters, closed shops, hotels and City Hall.

This time, six directors and a cast of 12 will perform the 15 new plays, which Bentley narrowed down from nearly 300 submissions from playwrights around the world.

Among the directors are members of Lost & Found Theatre Kathleen Sheehy, Gary Kirkham and Richard Quensel.

The audience will be guided from one "stage" to the next by crew members, and Gillard-Bentley hopes it will help people appreciate downtown Kitchener.

"I love downtown, and I understand there's a need to reacquaint people with it."

For tickets and information on where to start the theatrical adventure, call 519-957-2228.

chunter@therecord.com

Lost in the jungles of Kitchener

Duncan Ramsay

This is, by far, the most difficult review I've ever had to write. Not because I’m not capable of telling you exactly how wonderful Asphalt Jungle was. Because I can. It’s just that I can't.

I should explain.

Asphalt Jungle Shorts III is, as theatre goes, a fairly unique experience. Upon ordering your ticket, you are given three things: a time, a location and advice to wear walking shoes. Beyond that, the production is a mystery; you have no idea who the actors are, where the stage is, or even what the basic plotline may be.

From that first location, you find yourself whisked off into a place where the lines between life and art begin to blur. Pieces of the play can take place anywhere; on the street, in buildings, above you, below you, even beside you as you wander through the heart of the city.

You get this weird, Alice in Wonderland sort of sensation, because you're no longer certain about the reality of city around you. Is that homeless person on the street up ahead an actor? How about that stairwell; is that the next stage? And while sometimes you might spot the next piece of the puzzle, most often you are kept off-guard, guessing, wary. It’s such an effective blurring that in a way, even the ordinary denizens of the city become part of the theatre.

As the production wends its way through the city, random passersby will, unknowingly add their contributions to the production, subtly changing it night after night.

Even the gawkers who simply stop to stare add to the production in their own way, because for this short time they are the stage; a living, organic backdrop to a fiction that makes its home in reality.

This then is why I must leave you so completely in the dark. The heart of this play lies in its mystery, and to pass on even the smallest portion of what is to come would break the spell that is so essential to the evening.

When the play first began, I had no idea I was in the centre of the opening scene until a minute or so after it started, when I realized that the first set of actors were chatting directly over my shoulder.

These smooth segues between theatre and reality continued throughout the night, and often the two meshed together in unexpected ways. Over the course of the evening I heard civilians heckling the actors, saw a teenage guy hand one of the lead actresses a condom (Yes, really) and watched as various vendors hawked their wares to the audience. Asphalt Jungle is appropriately named; you’re exploring through uncharted territory, and anything could leap out of the bushes.

Of course, I wouldn’t be doing my job as a reviewer if I didn’t discuss the nuts-and-bolts of the play, and on this score, Asphalt Jungle does fairly well.

Acting ranges from solid to very good throughout the play, with occasional hints of over-acting among some of the younger actors. Particular highlights included Jennifer Cornish’s comedic acting, Katharine Mills in her ongoing role and Kristopher Bowman in an episode of really well executed physical comedy.

One of the more interesting aspects of the play was that it brought together a wide variety of playwrights and directors, and this is evident in the eclectic nature of the various scenes, which range from pure drama to physical comedy.

The writing itself once again ranged from solid to excellent, and surprisingly included a number of more experimental pieces, which worked well within the slightly surreal atmosphere of the production.

The writing was not without its problems however, most of which stemmed from the setting of the play itself.

Certain scenes that would pass without comment on a stage seemed very written in the open air, mainly due to the contrast between the theatricality of the writing and the reality of the setting. Most of these scenes made up for this theatricality with their native wit, but I found the second and third scenes particularly rankled.

Thankfully though, they were short and lonely amidst the rest of the play. I was also very impressed by the way certain directors (namely Paddy Gillard-Bentley and Tracey Kenyon) made use of distance, angles and pedestrian traffic to camouflage actors from the audience until their scene was well under way, adding to the audience’s perplexity and enhancing segues between scenes.

I do wish I could have seen a bit more improvisation in the dramatic scenes to better match certain heated dialogues to their very public settings, but I think that this was more a symptom of the need to make sure the audience heard, than any fault of the cast and crew.

Overall, Asphalt Jungle was a well-executed and solid production with wit, verve and a great deal of fun.

So there you have it. I wish I could say more, but my hands are tied by the nature of the production, and in the end it isn’t really necessary. You should see Asphalt Jungle not because of its plotlines, but the experience it creates.

Maybe you’d like to know more, but you’ll just have to trust me. Go. Lose yourself in the jungle.

Breathing new life in city's 'energy block'

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September 18, 2007

MARTIN DeGROOT

After about 40 or 50 years to get it right, The Mackenzie King Square may finally be receiving its makeover.

This is the "take-off" season: Over the last couple of weeks there have been various launch events in and around the square (also referred to as the civic district) in Kitchener that have some interesting connections with one another.

On Sept. 6 the spotlight was on the district itself: This was the first public presentation of a plan that proposes a major transformation of the block that contains the greatest concentration of cultural and civic institutions in the region: The Mackenzie King Square which is the area bounded by Queen, Ellen, Frederick and Weber streets.

It was a fairly low-key affair, with just a few invited guests -- some folks from the neighbourhood, along with people associated with the various cultural institutions involved, like the Kitchener Public Library, Centre in the Square, Registry Theatre, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Grand Philharmonic Choir, and Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.

As Centre in the Square general manager Jamie Grant explained in his remarks, back in the 1950s and '60s there was a grand, integrated plan for the area. But that vision was never fully realized.

The proposal is to finish what was started 30, 40 and 50 years ago. The first step in the planning process is an open, public invitation to "imagine the possibilities."

Go to the Kitchener Public Library, KWAG, Centre in the Square or City of Kitchener website, and you'll find links to background information, an online survey and a brief introductory video.

That video is a link to another event that took place the following day: the official public launch of a new local media project called CAFKA.TV.

The "imagine the possibilities" trailer is a CAFKA.TV production.

CAFKA.TV is the brainchild of the creative minds behind the Contemporary Art Forum, Kitchener and Area, the region's biannual contemporary visual arts celebration.

Part of the purpose is to spread the word near and far about CAFKA.07: Haptic, which will have an official launch of its own on Thursday.

The intention is also to supplement the limited coverage of local, national and international contemporary art in the mainstream media with something fresh and vital. But above all, if you click on CAFKA.TV you'll see the aim is to have fun.

There are some interesting synergies: CAFKA, building on a long-standing relationship with KWAG, now involved with the entire civic district.

These kinds of synergies were even more evident at an after-work season launch reception at The Registry Theatre last Thursday.

Almost all of the other civic district cultural organizations are involved in some way: The KW Symphony, for instance, is part of a Classics at The Registry series. KWS trumpeter Larry Larsen spoke about playing improvisational jazz with references to paintings provided by KWAG behind him on the stage.

Through The Registry, the connections extend to some of our most dynamic theatre arts ensembles: Lost & Found Theatre (which will be presenting Some Assembly Required on Oct. 25 through Nov. 3); the MT Space (Pinteresque/Exit Strategy, Nov. 15-24); Poor Tom Productions (The Anorak, Nov. 28-Dec. 1). The Old Chestnut Song Circle, which presents a Folk Night at The Registry series, and the K-W Children's Drama Workshop (Nuncrackers, Dec 12-16) can also be mentioned in this context.

It felt like a real celebration; there were very good energies in the room.

By all accounts, the energy was also flowing at the gala launch of a new era for the KW Symphony the following evening, the first regular season concert with conductor Edwin Outwater. I couldn't make it to that one, so I'm relying the Phil Bast's video coverage on www.therecord.com and Sandra Deefholts' review in Saturday's paper.

What I did do, though, is catch Asphalt Jungle Shorts III -- another presentation of a sequence of short plays -- 17 of them altogether -- performed on-site in various downtown locations.

The reference may be somewhat out of place here, although there are people in the current production connected to almost all the theatre groups mentioned above. But there is no civic district location, and the stage is the very antithesis of the world-class concert hall facilities at Centre in the Square: They are literally "taking it to the streets" here.

The main reason I'm mentioning it is that the run continues tomorrow through Saturday, so there are four more opportunities to see it, and this is my only chance to say "don't miss it."

The box office is in the K-W Book Store (308 King St W). The show starts at 8 p.m.; for tickets ($15/$5 eyeGO) call (519) 957-2228 or e-mail flush-ink@skyedragon.com. For more information, visit www.flushink.net.

Martin DeGroot is executive director of the Waterloo Regional Arts Council. He comments on arts and culture Tuesdays in The Record. You can reach him by e-mail at mdg@golden.net.

Asphalt Jungle Shorts III

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