Political play is full of wit and heart
(out of 4) By Michael Healey, directed by Miles Potter. Until Jan. 27 at the Berkeley St. Theatre, 26 Berkeley St. canadianstage.com or 416-368-3110 Doofus from out West. Progressive Conservative nobody. Philosophic unicorn deathbaiter.
You may be surprised to learn that the play by Michael Healey that includes these fragrant descriptors of former prime minister Joe Clark is actually proClark. Healey sympathetically portrays Clark (Philip Riccio) as deeply principled and therefore doomed to failure, and presents the hot second Clark spent as PM as a turning point toward the present uncivil, name-calling, post-truth times.
The play is a satire packed full of research and strong opinion, and also a lot of wit and heart. It’s a deep dive into Canadian political history, but I stand as living proof (having moved to this country six years ago) that you don’t have to have lived through the turbulent period it represents to find it provocative, educational and funny.
This Toronto premiere is a restaging of an Alberta production featuring the same cast, who are superb. Calgary-based actors Christopher Hunt and Jamie Konchak rise to the showy task of playing multiple characters, sometimes crossing gender and, in one amusing in- stance, portraying the same person at different times.
The anchor of the show is Riccio’s Clark. Riccio is hardly ever offstage for 80 minutes and, through understated but profound character work, draws the audience into Clark’s psyche and his dilemma.
It’s the late afternoon of Dec. 13, 1979 and later that evening, there will be a parliamentary vote on the controversial austerity budget spearheaded by Clark and John Crosbie, which is almost certain to lose and bring down Clark’s government with it.
There are all sorts of things Clark could do to forestall the vote or bring people over to his side, suggested by several friends and foes who visit, including Allan Lawrence, Flora MacDonald, Brian Mulroney and Clark’s wife, Maureen McTeer. None of these encounters is more delicious than Clark’s faceoff with Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Hunt), who sails through the door with a chainsaw in hand, dancing to the Tragically Hip.
Along with the role-swapping, another of the play’s notable theatrical features is the projection of text that provides background and commentary on the action (“Trudeau hated the press. The feeling was increas- ingly mutual”). Some may find this geeky or cheating, but the projections were helpful to me in appreciating what was going on and frequently added to the entertainment value.
While essential to Healey’s deep exploration of the evolving values associated with conservatism, the late encounter with a young Margaret Thatcher-loving parliamentary assistant named Steve (who like Clark started his political career in Alberta, if you’re picking up my hints) is the only point when the otherwise breezily paced and well-structured play bogs down.
A final coda that moves for- ward in time offers damning commentary on lagging official recognition of Clark’s contribution and features some very touching moments by Riccio.
The play’s final minutes also communicate Healey’s belief that Clark left a part of himself behind in the PMO, and that the country would be a better place if its more recent inhabitants acknowledged this. You have to wonder what Clark himself, and everyone else portrayed in the show who’s still with us, would make of it.