Tarragon Theatre: Bremen City (World Premiere). Written & directed by Gregory Prest; solid: Tatjana Cornij, Oliver Dennis, Farhang Ghajar, Sheila McCarthy, Veronica Hortigüela, Dan Mousseau, Nancy Palk, William Webster. Continues till October 26, 2025 at Tarragon Theatre; tickets right here.
The world is a horrible place, filled with terrible individuals doing terrible issues, everybody will get outdated, and the whole lot ends.
And but…
That’s basically the course of Bremen City, a Tarragon Theatre manufacturing that stars Nancy Palk as Frau Esel.
Set in what might be nineteenth century Germany, Frau Esel has been the uber-dedicated housekeeper of the distinguished Völksenhaus, in a city simply outdoors Hanover for 45 years. Because the story opens, she’s been unceremoniously canned by a brand new mistress of the mansion.
She’s setting out for Bremen to go stay together with her son, who she says is a musician, however in fact there are mishaps and detours alongside the way in which, and a parade of characters who be a part of her, a minimum of for a time, together with bumbling magician Herr Hund (Oliver Davis), would-be musician Herr Katze (William Webster), and Frau Henne (Sheila McCarthy).
Their paths cross with many others who provide each comedic and darker moments to their journey in a mix of the excessive and the sharply practical.
Whereas this model is a world premiere, Bremen City started its life as a venture by the Soulpepper Academy. It was carried out in an preliminary model throughout the Subsequent Stage Competition in 2023.
Tip: Should you didn’t catch the connection between the names and the title of the play, there’s a helpful reference right here.
The Play
The play opens with Tatjana Cornij (Vogel) who serves as intermittent narrator and musician, enjoying the accordion to intensify the feelings of the scenes as they play out. Cornij composed the music, and her narratives generally act as a sort of conscience to Frau Esel. When Frau Esel repeatedly mentions going to stick with her son in Bremen, for instance, she asks her, “Will he know you?”
Frau Esel squirms for a second, tellingly.
The story veers from foolish bodily comedy to the blackest of black humour. Oliver Dennis’s magician with cash issues has a cute bit with a fish that recurs to viewers laughs. Just a few scenes later, grownup kids need to promote their mom.
Animals… don’t fare so properly within the play, let’s simply say.
Like the unique folktales that the Brothers Grimm collected and compiled, and in contrast to the customarily sanitized film variations, it runs the gamut; whimsical to tragic, truthful to fanciful.
The play is stuffed with telling particulars — a kite pageant, Herr Hund’s magic tips, crowns of flowers. Whereas the stage is just about naked aside from a few rugs, intricate costumes by Nancy Perrin and a vibrant array of props flesh out the scenes. Actors on stage flew the kites and knelt to create the ruffling of Frau Esel’s skirts within the wind, bits of stagecraft that added to the fairytale mode of storytelling, moderately than detract from its impact.
Logan Raju Cracknell created fascinating lighting results that added to the folktale vibe. The Dora-nominated designer’s starry night time impact was significantly magical.
Performances
Nancy Palk’s Frau Esel is the emotional coronary heart of the meandering and fanciful storyline, and he or she gives a nuanced portrait of a girl confronting the concept of her redundancy in a world that now not appears to wish her. She’s led a life filled with goal and devoted to outcomes, solely to have the rug slipped out from below her.
She’s bitter and biting, however nonetheless possesses a coronary heart that may be reached, and hopes that may be ignited. Frau Esel is any of us confronting growing older in a world that doesn’t worth what the aged can carry to it, and he or she says the onerous components out loud unflinchingly.
Stage and display veteran Sheila McCarthy provides a shiny observe to the manufacturing because the not so barely befuddled Frau Henne. Her musical contributions to the story (with out giving a lot away) are one of many present’s comedic highlights, and along with Herr Hund and Herr Katze, she provides a number of the sweeter emotional moments to the combination.
The solid is uniformly robust, and particular kudos to Farhang Ghajar, Veronica Hortigüela, and Dan Mousseau, who juggled a wide range of roles (together with non-human) with a properly tuned sense of comedy.
Remaining Ideas
In Western society, the norm is for the aged to largely disappear. When you’re now not of use to society, you grow to be an inconvenience. Because the outdated fairytale about Bremen tells us, it’s a theme that has resonated all through centuries.
Frau Esel’s journey might not be heroic in a standard sense, and will depart concepts and points unresolved, however in it, Gregory Prest has created a bittersweet messiness that’s akin to what we expertise in actual life.
Are you seeking to promote an occasion? Have a information tip? Must know the most effective occasions taking place this weekend? Ship us a observe.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the day by day arts information straight to your inbox.
Join the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — native classical music and opera information straight to your inbox HERE.
Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 a long time, and a artistic writing teacher for Ontariolearn.