July 8, 2008
How to Build an Empire: A Boy Scout’s Guide
Written by Stacey Douglas
Presented by No More Time for Metaphors
Featuring Stacey Douglas and Diana Yoo
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace
Reviewed by Matt McGeachy
Seamlessly weaving multimedia with a superbly written script, Stacey Douglas presents a funny and compelling account of Canada’s history of imperialism in How to Build an Empire: A Boy Scout’s Guide.
The show is divided into three different story lines: Sam, a young cub scout sent to camp; an earnest drama teacher; and silhouetted “historica” moments. Each storyline is separated by multimedia presentations of Canada’s unsavoury propaganda, including some real doozies from Rudyard Kipling’s visit at the turn of the century about preserving the “white race.”
As the young scout Sam, Douglas nails the character’s precociousness on the head, and does not for one moment lapse into cliché to bring the character to life. As the drama teacher who decided to present Jungle Book as the Grade 12 play, Douglas raises some of the most important points of her excellent play: that stories exist not only in and of themselves, but are also a part of the larger political fabric of their own time and our time. That is, she delicately asks the audience to take a stand on artistic merit and authorial intention while simultaneously confronting us with our history.
The show never becomes preachy or irritating thanks to fantastic writing and a hilarious performance. Music plays a large part as well, and the band’s various renditions of “O Canada” and “Take Me Home Country Roads” were not only amusing but also proved excellently weaved into the story. This show is a must-see for anyone interested in Canada’s history and good theatre.
2 comments:
You know, that's a great review, but their credibility is jeopardized when they can't spell the main subject's name properly...
Wow - that's a fantastic review! I can't wait to see it tomorrow!
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