STUMPING THROUGH HISTORY
From Patton to Trump, Bigmouth highlights the political power of a good speech in the hands of a good speaker,
Bigmouth
(out of 4)
Written and directed by Valentijn Dhaenens. Until Feb. 7 at the Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge St. Mirvish.com or 416-872-1212.
Who’s the most memorable speaker in politics right now? If we go by recent headlines, U.S. Republican candidate Donald Trump would win by a landslide, which says a lot about the current state of political discourse.
As people around the world denounce his racist, sexist, ableist, basically any kind of “ist” arguments — and Britain debates whether or not to even let him into the country — he has also become a joke; a caricature of himself and power-hungry, capitalist ideals.
But Belgian theatre creator Valentijn Dhaenens reminds us that this is definitely not the first time a political figure has used xenophobia and fear to gain power. So why is it that Trump’s speeches are so easy to dismiss? If you ask Dhaenens, it’s because he has no eloquence.
In his Edinburgh Fringe Festival hit solo show Bigmouth, in Toronto now as part of the Mirvish Productions Off-Mirvish series, Dhaenens traces a selected history of politics through famous speeches, beginning with “The Grand Inquisitor” in 1583 to Ann Coulter (the only female represented in the show) and George W. Bush in 2001 (perhaps marking the beginning of the end of the powerful political speaker in the United States).
Dhaenens’ choices reflect his personal interests in European and American history, specifically speeches that either support war or offer comfort in the aftermath of war, with short interludes that touch on cultural topics such as abortion, the civil rights movement and the Challenger disaster in 1986. Early excerpts are more personal pleas from Nicola Sacco and Socrates. But all demonstrate how powerful orators can turn their individual ideals, ideas and beliefs into national movements.
It’s an intriguing concept, even if the total effect isn’t as clear as Dhaenens may intend — perhaps the translation of European and American contexts to a Canadian audience misses a few key targets.
But Dhaenens himself is a compelling presence on stage, manipulating his voice, face and body language as he travels through oratory history, as well as the length of a large table holding 10 microphones and five glasses of water. In addition to creating spot-on replications of historical figures, including a chilling mashup of Joseph Goebbels and General Patton, Dhaenens uses his voice also as his own instrument by looping vocals into musical interludes of “America” from West Side Story, or “Fly Me to the Moon.”
At the end of Bigmouth, the trends in political speeches are clear — no matter what era, what part of the world or what end of the political spectrum, a good speech and a good speaker all involve similar tactics to sway their audience.
That isn’t a new discovery, but Bigmouth lays it all out in a new way by a mesmerizing performer. This audience, at least, was hooked.