Scarberia continues until Sun, May 1 at Young People's Theatre, 165 Front St E. youngpeoplestheatre.ca
Scarborough, Ontario does have a bad reputation. As one of the characters in Scarberia, a play that won't do much to counter that reputation, explains: the headlines will say "Girl Missing in Scarborough" or "Shooting in Scarborough," but if it happens in North York or even Newmarket, it will be "missing" or "shooting" in Toronto. The characters from Scarborough, Ontario are damned before they begin, a parallel that dovetails nicely with their strand of Scarberia, which deliberately echoes the gang aesthetics of Romeo and Juliet by way of West Side Story.
Scarberia juggles three plotlines, that intersect thematically and tangentially, in service of a tight relentless thriller of a play. It has been a long time since I have seen an audience member gasp and jump out of their seat at a climactic moment. He wasn't the only one - it's just that the rest of us were jaded opening night theatre-goers or theatre-workers or media, we don't jump and only gasp under our breath. And while Scarberia has a lot to say about loyalty, friendship, the agony of the closet, and class, racial and sexual warfare, it is as a riveting mystery that it is the most intriguing.
A woman disappears, presumably murdered, at the Scarborough bluffs and her body shows up on a beach in Scarborough, UK. Whatever logic, or illogic - one character is sure it has to do with alternate realities and quantum physics - one applies, it turns out, like all good mysteries, to be something else entirely. Alejandra Simmons plays the woman, the character or the body, who is just a pawn in the other stories. Playwright Evan Placy has given her a lot of dialogue and exposition to get through and, just to complicate it, written in a mash-up of Shakespearean prose and rap. Replacing iambic pentameter with the staccato rhythms of rap is at first off-putting but as it becomes thematically relevant and Simmons elides her character with the beat, it soars as ear caressing and mellifluous as Bernstein and Sondheim's classic score.
The male protagonist's are operatically inarticulate, trapped in their roles as men they talk around their feelings, particularly their sexuality, and their omnipresent smart phones illustrate the disconnect. They struggle to say what they think but Google, while providing solutions to trivia, can't solve their emotional dilemmas. Mishka Thébaud as the unquestioning Scarbourough, Ontario tough and the fragile Scarborough, UK cast-off, has two of the best arias: a comparison of gang life to the tenuous truce between fast food chains (and the McDonald's pizza fiasco), and describing his time in foster care as, "It's not like Oliver, all singing and dancing and please Sir may I have some more. It's like an aquarium where all kinds of species get thrown in together and how do you think a small fish like me did?"
Thébaud uses accents, different vocal registers, and contrasting physicality to keep the two characters distinct. Shelly Antony gets more comedy as he alternates between a wide-eyed buffoon who is overly fond of dick jokes and "wanking," and a slightly dim romantic lead. The duo work seamlessly and fearlessly together so that the stories, with a few awkward transitions, remain distinct yet conceptually linked. It is only in the climax that there is some confusion but by then the plot, revelations and action are moving so quickly that the audience is carried along unquestioningly.
Scarberia is a bravura piece of writing and great skill has been applied by the cast and director Nina Lee Aquino to make it tick with the clockwork precision needed to make it work. It is only after, that I questioned a few of the contrivances and whether Scarborough, Ontario high school students are really that embittered and gangsta while Scarborough, UK students are that innocent, but the contrast plays effectively. Scarberia pivots ingenuously on a confused lusty monologue by Simmons where she extols the object of her desire's features and the erotic power of his "man-boy stink." All three are trapped between childhood and responsibility, and all three prefer to flee, deny or disappear rather than face reality. For the characters, it doesn't end well. For the audience, Scarberia ends powerfully. For Scarborough and Scarborough, well, the tourist boards of either city will probably not be underwriting further productions.
Scarberia continues until Sun, May 1 at Young People's Theatre, 165 Front St E. youngpeoplestheatre.ca