Toronto Review: "Trout Stanley" at the Factory Theatre
Joe Szekeres, Chief Toronto Critic
Congratulations to Toronto’s Factory Theatre for providing 50 years of Canadian stories highlighting the work of all Canadian artists.
Tonight’s opening of Claudia Dey’s ‘Trout Stanley’ marked its return to Toronto where the production played over ten years ago.
And this story is a quirky and surreal one which pulls out the oddities of human nature and life. My initial reaction at the conclusion was a perplexing one. What did I just see? My guest was of the same ilk. Have we really learned anything about human nature or are we the better for understanding human nature after the curtain call?
To be honest, I didn’t learn anything further about the complexities of human nature in Claudia Dey’s script. Where the production does shine is the chemistry between the three performers.
Set in northern British Columbia, twin sisters Sugar and Grace Ducharme (Shakura Dickson and Natasha Mumba) who don’t resemble each other in the least are celebrating their thirtieth birthday. This celebration also marks the tenth anniversary of their parents’ death. The television news has just announced the murder of a Scrabble champ stripper. While Grace is working at the dump she owns, Sugar for some strange apparent reason is housebound where she meets drifter Trout Stanley (Stephen Jackman-Torkoff) whom we initially believe could be the murderer of the stripper because he behaves weirdly. Trout then becomes involved in an extraordinarily weird love triangle with the two sisters.
Shannon Lea Doyle’s set was a realistic indication I was not in a downtown Toronto building. There is a rustic appearance for the evergreen tree far stage right next to the frame of the house and playing area. The furniture is solid but not the kind one would find in an upscale condominium or apartment. I loved the appearance of the wood figurines that dotted the top of the frame of the playing space. Two huge playing spaces of the kitchen and the living room are used nicely and to maximum effect. The entranceway from the front door also offered a strong passage for the exits and entrances of the characters. Sound effects of crickets and outside northern noises nicely accentuated that we were not in Toronto.
Director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu clearly keeps the story’s pace clipping along nicely where I didn’t lose any interest in the plot so that was a bonus. Ms. Otu got me to like these three weirdo co-dependant oddballs for some strange apparent reason. It was magical to watch these three solid actors in tune and in synch with each other.
As the ‘nice’ sister who has worn her dead mother’s ugly tracksuit for over ten years, Shakura Dickson’s Sugar captured the obedient loneliness within her life without bordering into the maudlin. The fact that bold twin sister Grace has ordered Sugar not to venture out of the house during the day emphasizes even further the burgeoning temptation Sugar feels when Trout enters the picture.
Natasha Mumba’s Grace offers an in your face, bold, brash and sexy performance. I got the impression that Grace has had to rely sadly on these defense mechanism techniques while working at the dump and her contact with the other workers. Pay attention to the top of the show where Trout breaks into the house and he tries to avoid Grace’s detection as they both move around the room. Wonderful, in synch physical comedy and movement work here all done in complete silence which had the audience around me howling with laughter.
I found the name ‘Trout Stanley’ rather interesting. Stephen Jackman-Torkoff’s Trout wondrously becomes a wide-eyed, maniacal speedball foil who allows the sisters to discover the emptiness, lies and deception which has existed in their lives since their parents tragically passed away. Yes, Trout does play one sister against the other sometimes emotionally and other times physically for comic effect. I admired Mr. Jackman-Torkoff’s agility in moving around the stage with vitality, vigour, and stealth so often.
FINAL COMMENTS: It is the Ms. Dey’s script which leaves me puzzled at the end of the story. Yes, there are positive connections and yes people walk away happy. I still found a sense of loneliness and hollowness within these characters. There’s an emptiness in the supposed happiness at the conclusion and that confuses me still.
Anyway, ‘Trout Stanley’ is worth a look especially to see wonderfully solid performances from the three characters.
‘Trout Stanley’ continues to November 10 at the Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto. For further information, please visit www.factorytheatre.com.
Running Time of 100 minutes with no intermission.
Photo L-R: Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, Natasha Mumba and Shakura Dickson by Joseph Michael Photography.