Drama

Last year proved a healthy one for the publishing of dramatic texts, both in terms of quantity and quality. 2003 saw the return (although not necessarily the return to familiar form) of several high-profile writers, as well as new efforts from a growing cohort of notable emergent dramatists, many of whom offered promising forays into innovative thematic and formal territory. While the concentration of publishing and published works remains conspicuously central Canadian, the year also produced some intriguing voices from beyond the reach of Ontario's aesthetic and professional influence. Intriguingly, the year offered few 'first plays,' and those that did emerge were the work of recognized practitioners from other areas of theatrical production. Beyond these initial efforts, the works submitted for review are predominantly from emerging authors, with firmly established dramatists rounding out the package. For the purposes of this essay, the plays reviewed are discussed in an order that reflects these three general categories of playwright experience. The individual play publications are then followed by consideration of the various anthologies submitted.

The two 'first plays' to be considered here are both by familiar female performers and, whether or not coincidentally, are both intensely personal reflections on challenging moments of passage. Kristen Thomson's I, Claudia is the more celebrated and accomplished of the two, and has become a small-scale legend within recent Toronto theatrical lore. First staged at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre in April of 2001, in a production directed by Chris Abraham, the play has been remounted by that company virtually every year since, and has regularly played to sold-out houses. Earning Thomson two Dora Mavor Moore Awards in the year of its first production (for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role), I, Claudia is the work of a talented and skilled performer. As Thomson describes in the published introduction, the play is the product of an extensive exercise in improvisation, as taught by instructor Pierre Lefevre, utilizing a series of four masks (selected from a larger set of twenty-six) designed by the Anglo-Algerian stage designer Abdel Kader Farrah. Thomson notes, 'Anything that doesn't come from the masks feels false. I incorporated this fact into the writing process by tape recording all of my improvisations and then transcribing it all word for word, believing that every "um," "like," misused or repeated word was essential. [...] Then, combing through the transcriptions, I tried to uncover the guiding logic of a larger piece.' The results, while not 'predictable,' are certainly recognizable in light of this process.

The play revolves around Claudia, 'an official pre-teen, still reeling from her parents' divorce.' In a series of disarmingly candid and free-wheeling entries into a virtual performance diary, Claudia discusses the trials and tribulations of puberty, social hazing, embryonic creative expression, and - above and throughout everything else - the disintegration and reformulation(s) of her family. Neither the characters nor their situations are unfamiliar or unusually intriguing; Claudia moves through a logical progression of despair, resistance, and speculation (including the anticipated reversals and impractical attempts at resolution). Likewise, the additional characters - Drachman, the immigrant custodian at Claudia's school; Douglas, Claudia's grandfather; and Leslie, her father's new girlfriend - provide efficient avenues into Claudia's world and its challenges. However, there is no denying the emotional clarity and resonance of these characters, or of the powerful empathy that they evoke.

CLAUDIA. ... Like, it's not even so much, like sometimes, I don't even know why I think it's my fault. I don't even know why. Like, sometimes the only thing I could think of is that my dad thought I was just too ugly. Maybe that's why he left ... but that doesn't make any sense ... but maybe I'm a butterfly. Maybe I'm just in my cocoon right now. Maybe nobody thought of that but maybe I am. And maybe I will get better so that they, so that my mom...