The physical stuff, the kids, and relationships at 64… or is it 66?

Barbara Moser

Talking to Susan Freedman is like talking to an old friend. The last time we spoke was just before the Montreal Fringe five years ago. At the time we spoke about her second play Sixty With More Lies About My Weight, titled after her first play in 1999 entitled Fifty-Seven and Still Lying About My Weight. Now she’s back with less of a vengeance in her third installment, Sixty Four and No More Lies, and as she put it on the phone from her home in Vancouver, she’s “a bit more thoughtful and vulnerable.”

“After my other shows, people would say, ‘she has no problems,’ but after this one, they’re going to say, ‘she has problems.’”

Freedman has just turned 66 but kept the title because she wrote the play two years ago.

Although we are seven years apart, Susan and I share the same worries. “Physical problems are definitely a part of aging – and a part of the show,” she said. And then, there are “the kids” (actually in their 30s) and how they talk to us and “react” to everything – or over-react.

“They can only act like kids with us,” Freedman says. “They do it when they’re 30 or 35 because, in lots of cases, they’re still single and at their age, we were probably married and had a kid. This generation is very different.

“You can’t say a goddamn thing because everything you say is wrong,” she says. “If you say things that upset them, they respond, and everything you say upsets them.”

In her third 45-minute one-woman show coming to the Fringe this June, Freedman will “ruminate on life” in the context of feeling chest pains.

After blood work and X-rays, being angry at her husband and kids about not being there for her, and rationalizing about how the pain must be from something she did at the gym, her character reminisces about her life and makes “strong references to the rocks in the path.”

What does this theatrical expert on aging say about other relationships such as marriage?

“I’m an incorrigible optimist,” she says. “I’ve been married three times. You realize it’s about letting things go. Not reacting to everything.”

Like our kids do.

Sixty Four and No More Lies is at the Fringe June 13 to 22 at Geordie Space, 4001 Berri. Tickets are $9.

Redemption through foolishness: The Wise Men of Chelm

Kristine Berey

Long before the rise in popularity of alternative medicine, it was known that laughter is good for the soul. In Jewish culture, humour has been more than therapeutic – in a very real sense it has been a lifesaver. Perhaps the suffering that underlies the humour that makes one laugh from the depth of one’s soul – the kind of laugh that draws tears and provides an incredible feeling of relief and rejuvenation when it’s spent – is also the source of its strength.

In Freud’s Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious he notes: “The occurrence of self-criticism as a determinant may explain how it is that a number of the most apt jokes… have grown up on the soil of the Jewish popular life. They are stories created by Jews and directed against Jewish characteristics… I do not know whether there are many other instances of a people making fun to such a degree of its own character.”

From Wednesday, June 11 to Thursday, July 3, the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre will present The Wise Men of Chelm, a collection of stories culled from Eastern European Jewish Folklore, set to music by Eli Rubinstein and directed by Bryna Wasserman. Chelm is a mythical town populated by foolish people and thought by some to be the home of the famous schlemiel, that stock character of Jewish anecdotes. While the main characters are foolish, they convey the lasting wisdom of being able to laugh at oneself.

Supertitles make the original Yiddish easy to understand for everyone.

Showtimes are Monday to Thursday at 8 pm, Saturdays at 9:30 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm and 7 pm (except Sunday, June 15 at 1:30 pm). $25 - $47 (group rates available).

Info: 514-739-7944 or segalcentre.org

Train ride to Hudson Village Theatre

Carolyn Flower (Director of Marketing & Promotion), Clint Ward (Director – A Little Music in the Night), Andrew Johnston (Artistic Director), Irene Arseneault (Director – All Grown Up), Rick Blue (Playwright – Campbell’s Sutra), Mary Vuorela (Director – Campbell’s Sutra).

Saturday, June 21, Les Aliments M&M and Hudson Village Theatre offer an express train trip to the premiere of the musical All Grown Up, kicking off the theatre’s 16th Summer Season.

Written by Leslie Mildiner, Lori Valleau, Ellen Kennedy and Bonnie Panych, directed by Irene Arsenault with musical direction by Rob Burns, All Grown Up features songs that tell the story of a generation, weaving in and out of the lives of three very different women.

The express train leaves Montreal Saturday morning, stopping in Beaconsfield and continuing on to Hudson, with a return trip in the evening.

The $50 ticket includes admission to either the 2 pm or 6 pm show, with time for shopping and relaxing, and must be reserved by contacting AMT at 514-287-7866 Monday to Friday from 9 am – 5 pm or escapadesentrain@amt.qc.ca.

For all other Hudson Village Theatre tickets and Flex Passes call 450-458-5361 or visit villagetheatre.ca.

Regular showtimes are Wednesday to Saturday at 8 pm, with matinees Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm. 28 Wharf Road, Hudson. $29 - $34.

Byron’s picks for the 18th Montreal Fringe Festival

Byron Toben

This year the festival runs from Thursday, June 12 to Sunday, June 22. Fringe goers can get a free copy of the program to decide which of the 37 free events and 89 paid events they wish to see. It’s best to buy the six-show Gold Card for $50 or the 10-show Platinum Card for $80. Both have a $2 service charge. When the credit on the card runs out, it can be exchanged for a beer at the Fringe Central tent on the corner of St-Laurent and Rachel. The average cost for individual tickets doesn’t typically run higher than $9, plus a $2 service charge.

Fasten your seat belts:

Three Old Bags, featured in this issue, stars accomplished British ex-pats Emma Stephens and Mary Harvey.

T.J. Dawe, a Vancouver based fringe circuit veteran, is involved in three shows this year. He performs a 90-minute monologue about personal mythology in Totem Figures, and also directs Teaching The Fringe, written and performed by Keir Cutler from Westmount. The show, part of his award-winning “teaching series,” depicts a Fringe audience member reporting Cutler to Manitoba authorities. The subject of the play was a teacher harassing a teenage student and the complainant confused the fictional character with the actor. Rather than suppressing the event, Keir made a show out of it. Dishpig, also directed by Dawe, is a one-person show featuring co-writer Greg Landucci. Landucci portrays 15 restaurant employees during a summer spent scrubbing dishes.

Songs of an Immigrant, written and performed by Marni Rice of New York, tells the story of an American woman who moves to Paris with her accordion to perform “old style” chansons. Those in need of an Edith Piaf fix should make a beeline to this act.

The Beekeepers, a Toronto production, brings back some of the people from last year’s popular King of 15 Island, plus hundreds of new but flighty friends. Please, no jokes about Fringe buzz.

Between Takeoff & Landing, written and performed by Michael Walsh of New York, recounts his experience of being stranded with 6000 passengers in Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11. His flight was from Dublin, so if you’re stuck for four days, who better to be stuck with than a bunch of Irish folk? Walsh was here last year with the popular show If Tap Shoes Could Talk.

The Tricky Part, a true story of trespass, forgiveness and redemption, comes all the way from South Africa. Running close to 90 minutes, it is one of the longer Fringe performances, so it is a bargain.

Wonderbar, of Winnipeg and Toronto, stars Britain’s one and only Alex Dallas who is fondly remembered here as one of the Sensible Footwear femmes, a hit from the early years at the Montreal Fringe (during a time when the New York show High Heeled Women reigned there.) This show explores the world of glamour and international fraud.

Find Me A Primitive Man, from London, England, has a British beauty tutoring minor members of the Royal Family in a “scintillating cocktail comedy and drama.”

GREED, from Perth, Australia, is the tale of four lives influenced by unbridled big G, in 1987. Sounds like they have been influenced by Gordon Gecko’s creed, ‘Greed is Good.’

Jem Rolls: How I Stopped Worrying And Learnt To Love The Mall has been described as “dynamic” and “innovative.” Jem, of Edinburgh, Scotland, performs his rapid-fire wordsmith performance as he starts his annual trek across the Canadian Fringe Empire. If you haven’t seen his show, you should. If you already have, you’ll want to hear his new material.

Sixty Four and No More Lies brings back Susan Freedman of Vancouver, with her series of shows inspired by advancing years. Remember Sixty and More Lies About My Weight and Fifty Seven And Still Lying About My Weight from previous years? This funny girl has a sinecure here as she marches into her 70s, 80s and, we hope, beyond. She is worth seeing and that’s no lie.

Mating Rituals of the Aging Cougar stars Toronto’s Andrea Thompson, as she takes the art of the spoken word back to its roots. Fans of spoken word may want to see her as a bookend to Jem Rolls.

Barry Smith’s Baby Book will have its premiere at this year’s Fringe. It’s based on Smith’s obsession with documenting every detail of his existence. He presents a multimedia show of his own Fringe hits, Jesus in Montana and American Squatter.

Boom is a one-person show about people and bombs. Andrew Conner, from Seattle, portrays a multitude of characters as a sentimental returning prodigal with a dangerous plan to revive a small town. His voice and body change at a dizzying pace.

Info: 514-849-FEST or montrealfringe.ca

It's all in the bag at the Fringe

Three old bags (photo: Robert Ménard)

Barbara Moser

What is there about bags and ladies, especially old ladies, that go together? Three women “of a certain age” explore this theme in their play Three Old Bags, playing at the Fringe Festival this month.

“We all knew each other and we wanted to do something together,” said Gissa Israel, one of the three actors/writers, from her home in Knowlton. Israel and her contemporaries, Pina Macku and Emma Stevens, all in their 60s, performed the play at Theatre Lac-Brome last summer. The characters they play are in their 80s. Could this be because these actors don’t see themselves as “old bags?” Only the director, Mary Harvey, is a “young bag,” Israel said.

“We carry our life in our bags,” Israel said of the double-entendre theme, which includes the notion of bag ladies. But Israel doesn’t see the connotations as negative.

The message is hopeful, she said. “These three characters never give up. Each one has a situation in their lives that would make her want to give up.

“The hope is that there’s a renewed interest in life. It’s about renewal and it’s about friendship.”

Bring your bags to the performances Saturday, June 14 to Sunday, June 22. For the full performance schedule call 514-849-FEST or visit montrealfringe.ca.

Three Old Bags will also be “in the bag” at Piggery Theatre from Wednesday, July 2 to Thursday, August 14. To reserve call 819-842-2431.

The anatomy of messiness

Kristine Berey

John Evans and Rod Beattie as Oscar and Felix (photo: Scott Philip)

If one person’s junk is another person’s treasure, then perhaps one person’s disaster is another’s foolproof filing system. Conventional wisdom dictates that neat is better than messy, and certainly no one has ever been ashamed of being too neat — but not everyone agrees. Albert Einstein, whose desk was famous for its precariously balanced stacks of papers, once posed the question: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?”

Neat Freaks and the Hopelessly Disorganized have always been divided in different camps, with those on the neat side stereotyped as needing control and the messy ones as being somewhat “out to lunch.”

In The Odd Couple, now playing at The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre, playwright Neil Simon draws a hilarious portrait of two people on the opposite sides of the tidy/messy spectrum, living under one roof and attempting to endure each other.

“What drives ‘Francis’ crazy is not just a matter of Felix’s insistence on neatness, orderliness and timeliness but also that he’s being a control freak,” says actor Rod Beattie, who plays the pathetic Felix, thrown out by his long-suffering wife. In his personal life, Beattie says he is worlds away from Felix. “I have a vision of my home environment as being free of debris — but it never happens.”

He suggests that Felix and his nemesis Oscar may march to a different drum, that they have a different “time-set”. “There’s a scene where Oscar comes in for their double date an hour late and he’s not even aware of being late. But Felix has scheduled this date up to the minute, with cocktails at 8 o’clock. When the food is burned and dried out, Felix is furious.”

Beattie cites the great painter Tom Thompson as a real-life example of people being differently “tuned”. “Thompson’s external life was chaotic and disorderly but he had the gift of being able to stop time. At one point he tried to paint the process of spring in Algonquin park, but couldn’t keep up with it. In his case, ‘outer time’ was incompatible with his ‘inner time’.”

Being a slob is not much better, says actor John Evans, who plays Oscar Madison, who could be described as Martha Stewart’s antithesis. “Blanche left him, because he’s such an unmoveable slob who assumes everything revolves around him. He thinks he’s loveable, charming, terrific with the guys, but with his wife he’s like a teenager.”

But there is a darker side to slovenliness, Evans suggests. “With Oscar, it’s more of a case of ‘all right, you don’t care about me so I’m not gonna care about myself’.”

For over 20 years, J.F. Laforte of Creative Visual Concepts has helped design optimal environments, including stage sets, window displays, trade show kiosks, wedding halls, daycare classroom environments and residential spaces. He believes that environment can reveal a lot about the person who lives there. “People have particular styles that describe who they feel they are at that point in time,” Laforte says. Sam Gosling, psychology professor at the University of Texas and author of Snoop: The Secret Language of Stuff, also believes that bedrooms and offices reveal key aspects of your personality. He finds, among other things, that a diverse collection of books and magazines reveals openness and well-lit airy spaces indicate emotional stability.

Marijana Kuljik of Organized! says clutter is a byproduct of our consumer society: “Our houses have become bigger but our possessions take up much more space. We’ve become a society where we just collect so much stuff.”

By the time clients reach out to Kuljik, they are at the end of their rope, overwhelmed and unable to part with their mountain of possessions. “Sometimes there is emotional attachment to objects, memories they feel bad about letting go of. Also, sometimes people come from humble beginnings and are taught to hold on to things.”

She reaches her clients through teaching them systems to gain control of their stuff. “I can help you organize a filing system where you will find anything you’re looking for in 30 seconds or less,” she says.

Laforte says everyone has a little Oscar or Felix in them, that they are different sides of the same coin. He says the upside to mess is that it allows you to relax and be spontaneous while the upside to neat is that it allows you to live freely, averting that feeling of dread when an unexpected visitor shows up. “Comfort level is personal and your home is your sanctuary. But you’re also a social being and need to feel comfortable in your home when friends drop by. Oscar and Felix, we all have them — we just have to learn to manage them so that one doesn’t take over. But we need both.”

Short Story Long

Wednesday through Sunday until May 17 at 8pm, Mainline Theatre presents Short Story Long, written and directed by Joel Fishbane, about a writer who leaves his money to his wife, but the proceeds of all his writing to the mysterious A.K. $15/$12 seniors. Fridays 2-for-1, Sundays pay-what-you-can (2pm). 3997 St-Laurent. Info: 514-931-5449