Review: Les 3 exils de Christian E

(photo credit: Nicola-Frank Vachon)

Me, Myself and I
by Shannon Christy
@schristy79

In this play, one guy alone on the stage successfully draws you into his world and shows you your own.

Les 3 exils de Christian E. is a one man show actually based on the experiences of actor Christian Essiambre and his own exiles: from his family, his old job and professional environment, and his past. 

This is a travelogue of a recently arrived immigrant from McKendrick, New Brunswick to Montreal. It develops as an introspection about the choices made when leaving the stability of a small town to try to make it in the big city, Montreal, and failing… and it is also a mystery and a family drama.  With all this at hand, it would be easy to assume that it is way too much for one man to handle but Christian Essiambre’s energy makes for a remarkable show and with humour to boot.

Review: Les Fourberies de Scapin/Scapin's Deceits

(photo credit: Marc Lemyre)

Fear and loathing in Naples 
by Shannon Christy
@schristy79

The TfT’s production of Scapin’s Deceits is a vacation from the cold realities of aristocracy and the grey skyies of Louis XIV’s France to a sunny Naples where a valet, Scapin (Nicolas Van Burek), with a noble heart intent on vengeance, aids and physically beats his masters. Welcome to a happy-go-lucky comedy by Molière.

Scapin’s Deceits is a lighthearted play with a twisted plot that tilts towards slapstick on the level of Asterix & Obelix. For instance at one point there is a hilarious scene where a valet, Silvestre (Sébastien Bertrand) disguised as a brother intent on restoring his sister’s honour, parades on the pier with exaggeratedly violent gestures and words meant to petrify his master, Argante (Robert Godin) who cowers below. The plot is to scare Argante to death and extract a large sum of money from an otherwise dolt of a man.