ONEGIN A SPARKLING, EXCEPTIONALLY ENTERTAINING SHOW
Pushkin’s novel gets a clever, sly update in Catalyst production, writes Tom Murray.
ONEGIN
When: Until Sunday, Jan. 28. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. There are no performances on Mondays.
Where: Maclab Theatre, Citadel Theatre, 9828 101A Ave.
Tickets: $29 and up, available at the Citadel box office or in advance from the website
Love, regret, and copious amounts of vodka flow through Catalyst Theatre’s production of Onegin, playing at the Maclab until the end of the month.
An indie-rock re-imagining of Tchaikovsky’s beloved opera, taken from Alexander Pushkin’s novel in verse, this version of Onegin quite wittily destroys the idea of Russian art being “heavy.”
Actually, strike that; there’s no way you could tamper with the sombre themes that run through Onegin, but Vancouver artists Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille have added just the right amount of sly humour and irreverence to update the musical without undermining the main thrust of Pushkin’s work.
Alessandro Juliani is magnetic as the sardonic, swaggering Eugene Onegin, a dandy from the big city living at his deceased uncle’s country estate. Dressed stylishly in black, headphones ever-present around his neck, he’s by turns amused and bored by those around him.
The aristocrat is visiting an adjacent manor by invitation of his friend Lensky (Josh Epstein), a poet the exact opposite of Onegin: sweet, open-hearted, and more than a little naive. Lensky is also in love with Olga (Lauren Jackson), his childhood sweetheart, whose older sister, the literate Tatyana (Meg Roe), has fallen for Onegin.
Onegin himself is far too detached and cynical to take seriously any declarations of the heart, and just caddish enough to suggest Tatyana take on the same pose. Still, he’s invited to Tatyana’s name-day celebration, where his reputation is on the lips of everyone present. Angered at the constant prattling, he pushes back at village gossip by stirring up trouble on the dance floor. The fallout from his reckless actions lead to just about everything you would expect from 19th-century Russian literature, including a fateful duel.
It’s a very fluid production. Actors occasionally turn into musicians, melting into the background with a violin or guitar, and then back into actors. Other musicians (dubbed The Ungrateful Dead) are on cello (Jennifer Moersch), drums and guitar (Barry Mirochnick), and piano/ keys (Chris Tsujiuchi), deftly performing Hille and Gladstone’s catchy, eclectic tunes, which use and reuse a few musical motifs in very nifty ways. The set is simple but striking, with piles of books scattered across the stage, including a copy of How to Look Things Up, and Find Things Out, which looked remarkably like the one that used to sit next to this writer’s computer.
It might seem clichéd to call the acting note perfect, but it really is. While Juliani makes the most of his role as the smirking, insincere title character, charging down a path toward horror-filled selfrealization, it wouldn’t work quite as well without the support of his castmates. Roe’s transformation of Tatyana from wide-eyed naif is quite remarkable (her performance of Let Me Die while strumming a tenor guitar is a highlight), while Epstein as the impulsive, heart-on-sleeve Lensky impresses not only as an actor but as an electrifying vocalist.
The supporting cast is noteworthy as well. Lauren Jackson as the warm and bright-eyed Olga is the necessary pivot on which the eventual tragedy hinges, while Caitriona Murphy (Madame Larin; others) and Andrew Wheeler (Prince Gremin; others) turn small roles into big, colourful moments. Another actor charged with multiple roles, Nadeem Phillips, has a strange-yet-charming interlude (and song) in the name-day festivities as a clownish Frenchman.
It isn’t necessary to fill up on vodka to enjoy this sparkling, exceptionally entertaining production (they do serve White Russians at the bar, if that’s more you’re speed), but you might be offered a shot if you’re seated near the front, so keep that in mind when purchasing tickets.