SMILE AT US, OH LORD

The two night run of Smile At Us, Oh Lord is a curious historical moment for Toronto audiences. As Richard Ouzouninan lightly, yet strategically pointedout in  his Toronto Star preview for the Russian theatre Company's current international offering, Pussy Riot  will be appearing this month as part of Toronto's PRIDE celebration. When asked by Ouzounian about the general atmosphere of censorship in Russia, and the presence of Pussy Riot in our fair city, director Rimas Tuminas responded with a bewildering and indirect comment that sheds light on the kind of generalizing poetic drama he appears to be interested in for his current theatrical venture.

Ouzounian: But what about the Putin government’s actions towards Pussy Riot, for example?

Tuminas: Russia is a medieval country. A dark country. It’s a healthy thing that some individual artists are censored because they confuse democracy and freedom with classlessness and lack of taste. Democracy is something that must be learned, nurtured. Only mediocre artists will scream about being censored.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2015/06/16/russian-director-rimas-tuminas-brings-smile-at-us-oh-lord-to-toronto.html

The whole concept of mediocrity in the theatre can be a complex and thoroughly subjective journey. In Smile At Us, Oh Lord, Tuminas has directed a huge ensemble with an impressive dexterity that mixes classic declamatory acting styles, verging on melodrama, with a poignancy and power that is  theatrically sublime by any standards. However, coming in at three and a quarter hours, with a first act that utilizes far too much exposition to get to the point, it is a very arduous journey for even the post patient theatregoer.

There are incredibly moving and entertaining segments that, at times, seem somewhat disconnected due to an excess of silent episodes with beautiful music that does not move the story along at any satisfying pace. Judicious cuts to the script and more integrated musical interludes could make this spectacle more spectacular - and politically astute. But the politics are there, in full force. One moment of brief poetic exclamation about the horrific history of oppression inflicted upon Jewish communities motivated an extended round of applause near the end of the first act. Through parables, storytelling, and a gradual movement toward immensely powerful stagecraft, ranging from a kind of waterboarding/hosing effect during the finale to the rise and descent of an iconic homage-like set piece, this production excels at getting its point across in beautiful, intense, and thought provoking ways.

Unfortunately, the director does not seem to see, in interview, how his production can be prone to an infrequent yet annoying form of theatricalized mediocrity due to a meandering style that would fare  much better were it to cross the finish line at just over two hours instead of three and a quarter (one twenty minute intermission).








But at the end of the evening, it is well worth the effort to stay attuned to each and every moment of political efficacy, in and out of the theatre, and to refrain from simply calling forms of anti-oppression mediocre under the guise of some curious interpretation of what democracy can be. Pussy Riot and Smile At Us, Oh Lord have some things in common. They both utilize the presence of women in order to further there anti-oppression causes. Pussy Riot gives women agency while this particular touring production of Smile At Us, Oh Lord presents dubiously effective, tired and problematic old cliches within a cast dominated by men - with women as the butt of a few strategically placed jokes to lighten the generally dark tone of the piece. For Tuminas to call some artists mediocre and then to rely upon misogynist old forms to further one's dramaturgical point seems a rather shortsighted view on the nature of politicized art, to say the least.

Smile At Us, Oh Lord is an extremely complicated, frequently powerful, and thoroughly spectacularized evening in the theatre that unconsciously acts as a curious and unlikely preface for what will come when Pussy Riot brings its particlulr brand of politics to Toronto's PRIDE festivities later this month.

Show One Productions

presents

The Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia

SMILE AT US, OH LORD

based on the works of Grigory Kanovich

Performed in Russian with English Surtitles

Elgin Theatre

189 Yonge Street, Toronto

Tuesday, June 16 and Wednesday, June 17, 2015 @ 8pm

Ticket prices range from $55-$155

Ticket prices do not include service charges or delivery fees

and can by purchased by calling

1.855.622.ARTS (2787) or online at

ShowOneProductions.ca

Photographer: Valery Myasnikov

Photos provided by 

The Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia