I saw Tosca Cafe today at the Vancouver Playhouse. It was excellent. It's the story of a cafe in San Francisco from the time of the First World War to the 80s, and the owner of the cafe and all of the people who come into the cafe, and their stories. It's conveyed completely in dance and movement, no dialogue at all. It's about 1 and 3/4 hours without intermission, but it seemed like 25 minutes. It was beautiful.
The music is from the ballet and movies and popular music of the different eras. The dancing is ballet, modern, jazz, disco. There's some beat poetry too. Dean Paul Gibson is splendid as the cafe owner. Rex Harrington is beautiful in a bunch of different roles, and Peter Anderson is a genius. That is all. Oh, Annie Purcell plays the orphan. She made me cry.
I like the Playhouse season because it always has things that stretch my imagination and invite me to look at something new, or a new way of doing something that's been done before. Tosca Cafe is an excellent start to the season. Lots of performances left - go see it!
question: how would you tell a story without words? and how do ballet dancers fold and extend their bodies in such a marvelous manner?
mompoet - full up with richness and beauty
No comments:
Post a Comment