Gift of Screws [theatre review]

I attended one of the last shows of Gift of Screws at the Jericho Arts Centre (it closes on October 17th so you have ONLY TWO DAYS to go and check it out) and I am ever happy that I did. Thanks to an invite by my friend Simon Ogden, I was able to check it out tonight. In Gift of Screws, we witness two intense back-to-back plays (well, if you *really* have to go technical, we witness three plays, since What Then Must We Do has a play-within-a-play, thus becoming a meta-play). Bill Merchant is an incredibly talented man, and his Gift of Screws is a blessing. Bill makes both What Then Must We Do and Muzzle of Bees enjoyable plays by adding elements of laughter and humour to otherwise very heavy and loaded themes.

Yes, you will laugh at What Then Must We Do, an exploration of how some theatre directors are not as nice as we make them out to be. The main actress (portrayed by adorable and incredibly talented Nadine Wright, whom I had already met at The 21st Floor) and the fragile co-protagonist (uber talented Daniel Letto, a newcomer to the scene) fall prey to the dominant, sadistic and sexually corrupt director (an absolutely stunning and incredibly powerful Stephen Park). Not to forget, Matt Fentiman as lovely Franklin (who follows and obey’s the director’s every whim)… I’m not revealing why but at the end of the first play, I almost felt like relishing. Go check it out and tell me if you agree.

What Then Must Do allowed Nadine Wright (an actress that I already admired from her work in The 21st Floor) to explore the duality of being another actress within a play (in a meta-play, so to speak) yet to provide a convincing (and yet very distinct) portray of herself. Yet in no way does her acting (nor any of her fellow actors) seem overwrought. In fact, as I mentioned to Stephen, I almost hated him right on to the second or third frame of the play.

Muzzle of Bees (the second part of Gift of Screws) is not an easy play, and I have to commend all five actors for not only tackling themes that are incredibly thorny to explore (including, and not limited to exploitation, violence, submission, pain, male bonding, homophobia, slavery) but also for doing so while fully naked and with their head covered in hoodies. I was incredibly impressed by the actors’ ability to quickly go beyond the initial impact that the full nudity has on the spectator. Because yes, you can see five beautiful, completely naked men in front of you. But you quickly erase that view from your mind as the actors engage in a vivid exploration of what it feels to be vulnerable and a slave to external forces. Not being able to see and not being able to help each other creates a bonding process that is at the same time, intense but filled with fear.

The actors’ nudity and the fact that their heads are completely hooded, thus rendering them unable to use their facial expressions to convey emotions on to the viewer, indeed helps shape Muzzle of Bees. I have rarely witnessed such a crafty use of full nudity to express and display vulnerability, raw emotion and helplessness. All of the Muzzle of Bees actors are great, but especial kudos to Blaine Nosworthy and Shane Michael Leydon (both of whom I had a very quick chat at the end of the show).

Little trivia – Bumped into Cassidy Freeman (Tess Mercer on Smallville) as she was chatting with Bill Marchant at the end of last night’s show (which was the first opportunity I had to make it to the Jericho Arts Centre, with my super busy schedule). We had a nice little chat about Kitsilano, the fame and being recognized on the street (although I am in no way, shape or form as famous as she is). Cassidy is lovely and very down-to-earth. I commented on how sometimes people stopped me on the street and said “hey are you Hummingbird604″ and I found it delightful that Cassidy responded “and of course, you tell them ‘uh, no, my name is Raul’, right?” which is, indeed, totally the case.

But back to Gift of Screws… I was fully impressed with the agility of both plays, particularly because neither explore themes that are easily developed. I have witnessed other shows where, to reach points of resolution and breakdown, the actors take substantially more time than I saw in this play. This contributed to the agility of the show, and made it really enjoyable. Kudos to the cast and crew, and kudos to Bill Marchant for creating art that will stay with me for a long while.

Note: Gift of Screws has a few scenes with full nudity and coarse language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Disclosure: The tickets to attend the play were sponsored very generously by the team of Gift of Screws. This has not affected in any way my opinion of the play, though. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.

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