Roulston's voice at Blyth Festival as relevant as ever with 'Powers and Gloria'
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
The only reasonable place to start with this review is by admitting that, as someone who has worked for The Citizen and with Keith Roulston for almost 20 years and sees him as somewhat of a mentor, the path to objectivity in a review of his Powers and Gloria is practically non-existent. With that out of the way, the show is excellent, not just for its exploration of deep Roulstonian themes, but for its deep focus and limited scope; it’s the kind of entertainment to which I have always related.
Some of my favourite movies could reliably be referred to as “contained dramas” like Sideways or Lost in Translation. They don’t try to be everything to everyone. They don’t try to span the generations. They don’t try to solve the world’s problems. They’re uniquely human stories about one-on-one relationships, told over the course of a set period of time or within a specific geographical area. These are the experiences with which we’re most familiar as humans, and yet, many of the stories we’re told tell a person’s life from beginning to end, voyage to the stars in a fantasy land or deal in the extremity that few of us will ever know in our lives.
Stories like the ones I mentioned above could be described by some people as being boring, but it’s the quiet, tender and achingly real interactions between two accomplished actors that have always stayed with me. It’s the art of doing a few things really well instead of offering up everything in what’s sure to be a mixed bag of quality; the solitaire engagement ring with a smaller, top-quality diamond over the ring with dozens of small, cloudy stones that evokes the look of costume jewelry.
Powers and Gloria is that kind of story. At its core, it’s about Edward Powers, powerful local business owner, and his new caregiver Gloria. Powers’ son James and Gloria’s beau Darryl, played, respectively, by James Dallas Smith and Richard Comeau, are fine characters, played well, but they are largely there to tee up Randy Hughson’s Powers and Madeline Elliott Kennedy’s Gloria, setting things into motion, provoking conversations between our two leads.
Kennedy and Hughson are uniformly excellent in their roles. The type of story I’m talking about here essentially demands it. These kinds of contained dramas are often showcases for some of the best actors in the world because it’s those kinds of performances that keep the play or movie afloat.
The creative team is also similarly restrained and subtle with its work, all under the watchful eye of director Peter Hinton-Davis, who has made his mark all over Canadian theatre, culminating in being named as a Member of the Order of Canada. The lights are soft, warm and inviting and the production design is sparse. Projection art is used sparingly and in a way that enhances the story the actors are telling on stage.
We meet Powers and Gloria as they both stand on the precipice of new phases of their lives. Powers has suffered a stroke and is, at the beginning of the play, confined to a wheelchair. Gloria is learning her post as a caregiver, a relatively new job for her.
They begin their time together - spanning 12 months from September to September - with open animosity towards one another. Powers is critical and rude at first, no doubt thanks, in part, to being frustrated about his health circumstances. However, he soon sees that Gloria is no shrinking violet and she will stand up to his nonsense and is game to give it back to him as good as he gives; a challenge that, time shows us, is good for him.
As the story continues, Roulston’s script, Hinton-Davis’s direction and Kennedy and Hughson’s performances do something for the audiences that is another pillar of good storytelling, especially in theatre and film: show, don’t tell. Bad versions of these stories tell their audiences everything through voiceover or extensive exposition.
In Powers and Gloria, several things happen over the course of the aforementioned year. Powers is getting better and the two are becoming more comfortable with one another. We’re told this not by one of the characters remarking upon it, but through the physical acting and body language of our two leads. Gloria shows a comfortability around the Powers home, eventually, that shows us that she is more at home there and that Powers sees her as part of the team, if not the family. You know they’re drawing nearer to one another without someone beating you over the head with indicators.
The discussions between Powers and Gloria are deep and intimate as they discuss art, work, community, life and relationships and, as time goes on, real care between them emerges as one learns more about the other. And, as the story unfolds, they find something in one another that they’re not getting from those closest to them.
Speaking with Roulston before this season for the “Salute to the Blyth Festival” issue, he called this play a lesson in reading beyond the headline and not judging a book by its cover. Both Powers and Gloria do that by opening up their hearts and accepting the other for who they are, which, in a small community, can be difficult for some.
Powers’ dedication to his community and his vision for a viable operation there is not shared by his son, just as Gloria’s hopes for the future for her and her daughter are not those of her boyfriend. And yet, as Powers and Gloria spend more time together, it’s clear they understand each other’s motivations and goals more than anyone else does.
And while the play wrestles with questions of the global market, the viability of small towns and the responsibility, if any, that one has to the community that has supported them for generations, it really comes down to the our two lead characters and how they’re able to connect with each other, despite all odds.
Roulston’s play is quiet, beautiful and simple in all the best ways. It’s also a perfect fit for the Blyth Festival stage, which is, perhaps, to be expected from one of the Festival’s founders.
Powers and Gloria is on stage until Saturday, Aug. 30.