An elegant statement
NAC English Theatre begins its 2008 season with style
Cherniak: "She's just a woman, living everyday life"
Under the artistic direction of Peter Hinton, the National Arts Centre has undergone something of a beautiful little renaissance over the past few years. Productions have pushed outwards on every front, becoming more stylish and colourful, or more sombre and profound, depending on their purpose. This new season continues that elegance by beginning with Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, a slow and enigmatic look at the absurdity of human endurance.
The final written drama of Beckett’s career, Happy Days turns around the pivot of the Winnie character, who begins the play buried up to her chest in earth. There she stays for the rest of the play, with her companion Willie circling. “She’s just a woman, living everyday life,” explains director Leah Cherniak “but the audience will hopefully be seduced by her.”
Cherniak was approached for this project due to her experience with forms of physical theatre and commedia dell’arte. “Once you finish analyzing the play you find that it is a musical text, an active, physical play. The line between comedy and tragedy is very blurred here. I find I have an affinity for this kind of play.” She breaks into a good-natured smile. “This is probably going to be a really exciting experience for the audience.”
Tanja Jacobs (Winnie) has large, expressive eyes and a face malleable to a seemingly endless degree. Even trapped on stage in a single position she’s captivating to watch. “This is a very challenging part,” she says, “but exciting, because it uses the full range of an actor’s expression.” At one point, having earned a word from the silent Willie (Paul Rainville) with persistent questioning, she looks towards the audience with the kind of sugared smile you reserve for enemies and family. “Oh, he’s going to talk to me today,” she purrs. “It’s going to be a happy day. Another happy day.”
As appeared in the Ottawa XPress – Sept 25, 2008
http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/stage/stage.aspx?iIDArticle=15666
