TEN CENTAUR HIGHLIGHTS
The Great White Computer (1970) Centaur’s first Canadian play was from Montreal-born journalist Peter Desbarats. It centred on a real-life student riot at Concordia over perceived racism and resulted in a stage invasion by protesters who believed it was problematic for white artists to tackle black issues.
Balconville (1979) The breakthrough play of Centaur’s first writer-in-residence, David Fennario, this bilingual production slammed the two solitudes together as resentments boiled over. The recent public reading in Centaur’s Legacy Series proved its bitter humour, anger and sheer theatrical energy remain undiminished. A sequel, Condoville, followed in 2005.
K2 (1983) Frequent Centaur collaborator Marcel Dauphinais provided Maurice Podbrey’s favourite set design in Patrick Meyers’s intense two-hander about survival on the world’s second-highest mountain. Centaur veteran Michel Perron, a student at the time, recalls being gripped by Robert Haley and Stephen Markle’s performances: “I walked home in a daze. I remember saying to myself: ‘That’s the kind of actor I want to be.’ It’s stuck with me all this time.”
Master Class (1985) Podbrey himself took to the stage in this black comedy about music during the Soviet Union’s Great Terror. It was clearly a memorable performance. “Maurice and I went to see a movie a couple of years ago,” recalls Elsa Bolam, “and, at the end, someone came up and said, ‘We really liked you as Stalin.’”
For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (1998) The English translation of Encore une fois, si vous permettez, Michel Tremblay’s beautiful two-hander about his relationship with his mother arrived at the Centaur just a few months after it premièred in French at Théâtre du Rideau Vert. Centaur favourite Nicola Cavendish played the lovable Nana, Dennis O’Connor her son.
Mambo Italiano (2002) This smash-hit sunny comedy about a young man coming out to his socially conservative family began a fruitful relationship between Centaur and Steve Galluccio. It was adapted into a film in 2003, and there are hopes for a Broadway-bound musical next year.
A Carpenter’s Trilogy (2006-07) After a steady stream of Centaur hits, beginning with The Chain in 1988, Centaur writer-in-residence Vittorio Rossi was commissioned by Gordon McCall to write this triple whammy of plays — Hellfire Pass, Carmela’s Table and The Carpenter — about an Italian-Canadian Second World War veteran and his estranged family.
Schwartz’s: The Musical (2011) Rodgers and Hammerstein it wasn’t, but Bowser and Blue’s unashamedly populist tribute to Montreal’s legendary smoked-meat emporium proved an instantly satisfying meal for audiences looking for an uncomplicated good time. Centaur’s Legacy Series will serve up seconds with a staged reading from Dec. 14 to 16.
God of Carnage (2011) One of Centaur’s most popular productions in recent years, and one of Roy Surette’s personal favourites. Centaur stalwart Ellen David in particular shone as a liberal mom faced with the underlying savagery of playground politics in Yasmina Reza’s black comedy.
The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God (2015) All stops were pulled for this National Arts Centre/Centaur/Black Theatre Workshop collaboration, which saw Djanet Sears directing her own music-soaked family drama about spiritual crisis and resistance to racism. A predominantly black cast of 22 made for powerful emotion, epic imagery and heavenly sounds. Jim Burke