The Two Faces of The Mechanicsville Monologues: Caught Between Reality And Myth
-Oracle theatre review by Sterling Lynch
Chamber Theatre Hintonburg’s production of The Mechanicsville Monologues, written and directed by Donnie Laflamme, is a collection of monologues that tell the — sometimes interlocking — stories of people and places firmly rooted in Mechanicsville.
There is much to be admired in this production but it is hampered by an uncertainty of intention. The production wavers like a drunk between a desire to mirror the history of this neighborhood and a desire to glorify its many myths.
On the one hand, there are monologues which seem genuinely illuminating about the history of Mechanicsville.
For example, “Taxi Driver”, expertly performed by Robert Reynolds, is almost pitch perfect. As soon as this guy wandering through the Carleton asks, “Someone order a cab?” I know I’ve met him before — probably picking up my grandmother — and, thanks to the story he tells, I feel I learn something about him and this community.
On the other hand, there are a number of monologues which fail to ring true.
For example, Will Somers plays the part of a lovable doofus who tells us the story of how he was busted for soliciting sex from an undercover police officer. The performance is comically entertaining, but the piece feels like a sketch and his character is a caricature. If I’ve ever met this guy before, it’s only on television.
The uncertainty of the production is also nicely illustrated by the two monologues performed by Victor Cornfoot.
In the first piece, Cornfoot gives a nuanced and expert performance which resonates in truth, even if it the story he tells is almost too crazy to believe.
In sharp contrast, in the second piece, Cornfoot resorts to every stereotype in the American television tough cop lexicon to tell a story that — even if true — does not feel true for one second. If Mechanicsville ever had a police officer who decided to execute a criminal in a drunken fit of fear and anxiety, I doubt he acted and spoke like this.
I also think this production would have been a much stronger piece of theatre, if it challenged the blue-blood Westboro view that Mechanicsville was only ever a neighborhood of pimps, hookers, welfare moms, tough cops, and drunken abusive husbands.
Where is the story of the hard working immigrant family who successfully starts a new life here and helps transform the community? Where is the story of the working class dad who loves his family and can have a few beers down at the Carleton without risk of a fight and a call to 911? Where are the stories of love, friendship, and kindness that undergird even the most down-on-luck neighborhoods?
The only monologue that really enters this territory is undercut by the fact that the character’s family is curiously poor and comically misinformed about the nature of the universe and the CBC.
I was born in Mechanicsville and an important part of who I am grew up in these streets. It was a delight and a pleasure to hear the whispers of ghosts from years gone by and to catch glimpses of people I knew — or thought I knew until I heard their story told in a new an unexpected light.
The Mechanicsville Monologues would have been even more satisfying if more of the ghosts had been given flesh and bones and their whispers full and true voice, In doing so, the production might have challenged rather than glorified the many myths of Mechanicsville that are rooted in class-prejudice instead of reality.
- Chamber Theatre’s “The Mechanicsville Monologues” play the Carleton Tavern, 223 Armstong St, November 18-21 & 25-28, Wednesdays to Fridays at 7:30, Saturdays at 5pm. For information and ticket reservations: 613-791-0097 / 613-791-4471 or tickets may be purchased at the Carleton Tavern. For more information visit the Chamber Theatre website.
