A Feast of Words
Pat Donelley, The Montreal Gazette
If you can name the Governor General Award-winning Montreal poet who was born on Valentine’s Day 100 years ago, you’re probably a CanLit professor – or an A.M. Klein fan.
Haunted House, by Endre Farkas, is a poet’s tribute to a poet.
This biographical play dedicated to Klein, launched this week at the Segal Centre Studio by a young company called Tableau D’Hôte Theatre, offers a journey into the “labyrinth” of the dead poet’s mind.
Farkas seeks to right the wrong of the relative obscurity of a writer who wore so many hats that his reputation for lyrical eloquence slipped between the cracks of historical categories.
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| audrey finkelstein, nem jetovic, paula jean hixson |
Farkas, who attended the same Baron Byng high school as Klein, has been obsessed with this story for a long time. Twenty years of gestation have produced a unique, worthy effort that serves its pedagogical intention well.
We learn from the play that Klein, who lacked the self-promotional instincts of his most obvious successors, Irving Layton and Leonard Cohen, was a hard-working lawyer and family man, active in the Jewish community, who had a mid-life breakdown, followed by a mysterious silence.
Layton once wrote of Klein: “You were a medieval troubadour/Who somehow wandered into a lawyer’s office/and could not find your way back again.”
Perhaps it was as simple as that. We’ll never know.
But, to their credit, Farkas and company make us wonder about what might have been, offering liberal excerpts from Klein’s poetry within a narrative context that is anything but linear, although it respects the chronology of the poet’s life.
Of the six-member cast, only Eric Hausknost, as Klein, maintains a single character throughout the 90-minute play. His low-key portrayal rings true. The others slip back and forth between roles, some more effectively than others.
Paula Jean Hixson is a standout as Klein’s wife, Bessie, and as an English teacher struggling with an insubordinate adult education class.
Nem Jevtovic, as Samuel Bronfman, for whom Klein ghost-wrote speeches, also steps in, convincingly, as F.R. Scott. Christopher Moore is feisty as NDP leader David Lewis, a close friend of Klein.
Saro Saroyan and Audrey Finkelstein, as Klein’s shtetl-raised parents, Kalman and Yetta, make one wish the play had been tackled by the Segal Centre’s Yiddish Theatre. Finkelstein slips into stereotype here. She’s closer to the mark, however, as Sophie Lewis.
Lara Kaluza’s minimalist set, with its frosted panels, furnished sparely with a couple of chairs and a desk bearing an antique typewriter, allows for fluidity of movement and locale, as it sets a near-Gothic mood. Noémi Poulin’s lighting and costumes are equally apt.
All of which, along with the disciplined choral work, suggests that director Liz Valdez has brought rigour and vision to her task.
Haunted House is theatre for literati and spoken-word aficionados. It may not be a grabber, in the dramatic sense. But it is informative, succinct – as biographies go, evocative and offers a delicious feast of words.
Haunted House is a Masterpiece, Creative Intelligent Theatre
Davyn Ryall Artistic Director of Village Scene Productions
What do you get when you combine the following: inspiring and timeless poetry by A.M. Klein, smart and clever text by Endre Farkas Amazing and powerful set design, accurate and well balanced costume design. Flawless performances by a well cast ensemble. Stellar direction by Liz Valdez?
Haunted House - truly intelligent theatre.
Written by Endre Farkas it is inspired by the poetry and life of A.M. Klein, a Canadian writer of Jewish heritage, who wrote about a Montreal reality during turbulent times and how he imagined the city to be. He read the dictionary for amusement to learn new words, and then used the words that he learned in his daily conversation and in his writing. A community and political activist, lawyer, journalist, and poet, Abraham Moses Klein, like most poets, was relatively unknown and unappreciated during his own lifetime. It is through this play that we discover the impact of his accomplishments and his legacy.
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| eric hausknost, saro saroyan, nem evtovic |
The writing of the text by Farkas accompanied by the perfectly choreographed blocking and steady pacing of Valdez's direction, are a clear indicator of the clear understanding of the source material by both playwright and director; And the incredible synergistic relationship between the two is apparent in the result on stage with the energetic and enthusiastic performances of the entire ensemble.
One slight criticism would be with the lighting. Although accommodating the projection, -with lights hanging high we don't always get a clear enough view of the actors faces and on a few occasions they find themselves either not lit or under-lit, particularly in the latter 15 minutes of the play, where the action shifts to more still moments, the set tends to be too dark.
Presented by Tableau d'Hôte Theatre (http://www.tableaudhotetheatre.com/upcoming.htm)
@ Segal Studio to March 5th. You don’t have to be an intellectual to appreciate intelligent theatre. Go C It!
Haunted House: une délectation
Hélène Rousse Theatre
Je me suis retrouvée au Centre Segal non pas à une pièce de théâtre mais plutôt toute ouïe à une présentation de poésie anglophone sous forme théâtrale dirigée par Liz Valdez du Théâtre Tableau D'hôte.
En fait, la vie et l'œuvre du poète Abraham Moses Klein est présentée sous forme originale de multiples facettes du labyrinthe poétique dans la tête de A. M. Klein. Avec l'imagination et la détermination des designers, Lara Kaluza et Noémi Poulin, Haunted House s'est révélé être la lecture d'un livre de poèmes : si vous aimez les mots et votre anglais est parfait, vous pourrez vous délecter à écouter cette production de Endre Farkas.
Audience Comments
It was really moving -- imagine what Klein could have written if he hadn't broken down? I only wished the actors had taken more time over the poetry, because the words were so beautiful. Elise Moser co-editor of Lust for Life: Tales of Sex & Love
We enjoyed the play tremendously. We talked about it all the way home – the intricacies of how you moved the action forward, the performances and also, the introduction to a man I know only a little about. Chapeau to you and Liz Valdez for an outstanding production.
Gina Roitman, author of Tell Me a Story, Tell Me the Truth,
I have been unable to get the play out of my mind...
Linda Marics
Kudos to the show; for the writing, the staging, and the acting. It'll send me back to check out Abraham Moses: I don't think I've seriously looked into him since my Dudek days.
Patrick Hutchinson of the musical group Swift Years
Congratulations, again, on a wonderful play. We were both very impressed and enjoyed the play very much as well. You've brought Klein back into people's consciousness.
Stephen Morrissey and Carolyn Zonailo poets
The text is so beautiful - pulsing, melodic, I really enjoyed it.
Kati Kurtosi
Professor of Literature
Szeged University
Hungary
