Last night,
I saw Lally Katz’s new show, Stories I
Want to Tell You in Person. This isn’t a review, but a few things I was
thinking about after. The show opens tonight at Malthouse. I saw the final
preview.
I first
became aware of Lally Katz’s work through The
Apocalypse Bear Trilogy, which was presented at the MTC in 2009. That show featured
Brian Lipson, who went on to appear in Lally Katz’s A Golem Story at Malthouse in 2011. The Apocalypse Bear Trilogy was a Stuck Pigs Squealing production.
Their latest show – night maybe – opens
at Theatreworks this week. Brian Lipson’s in that one, too.
Last night,
Brian was in the audience of Lally’s show. After the show, Lally said she was
trying to figure out a way to mention Brian in the show, but she decided to
stick to the script. A script about her life. A script about writing and being
a writer. Mentioning Brian would have fit right in.
Ever since
the Apocalypse Bear Trilogy, I’ve
been keeping an eye out for Lally Katz’s work – which became really easy in
2011, when she had three mainstage productions. A Golem Story at Malthouse. Neighbourhood
Watch at Belvoir. And, finally, Return
to Earth at MTC, which featured Anne-Louise Sarks, who directs Katz’s
current show. She was also in the audience last night and is mentioned in the
show. In the dramatic finale.
 | ||
| Lally Katz on "the phone" to Marion Potts |
If it feels
like I’m obsessing too much over connections here, I probably am. But that’s
part of what this show is about. It’s about how Lally creates theatre. It’s how
she battles with her subconscious. It’s how she uses people in her life to
create the characters in her stories. We travel from the Apocalypse Bear all
the way through her career to last night, final preview at the Malthouse
theatre.
Lally Katz
is an engaging speaker. I’ve read interviews with her. There are great
interviews of her online. I’ve heard her speak at the Wheeler Centre. Stories I Want To Tell You In Person is
an extension of her chatting about her life, just in a room full of – mostly –
strangers. Some of whom have seen the shows she’s mentioned. Some of whom have
been in them. And some who have been written in as characters.
What I
personally enjoyed about the show was the connections I had to the moments she
discussed playwriting, and the honest moments of reflection she had when
talking about her career. And she answered several questions I had about her
career in the show, specifically - what happens the year after you have three
mainstage productions on? The show is mostly about that year and what led her
to making this show.
Theatre
productions are so often defined by the fact they are ephemeral. They exist for
that season, then disappear. This is the second season of this show, after it
premiered at Belvoir earlier this year. But because of the way Katz talks about
her last few years, just the mention of A
Golem Story and Neighbourhood Watch
and the Apocalypse Bear make them seem more alive. When Katz reflects honestly
about the critical failure of MTC’s Return to Earth, the truth is buoyed by the
fact that this was the production that made her the most money in her career.
And all
that money led her to a psychic in New York, where she asked them about lifting
a curse… a curse that seemed to doom her love life, while her career was going
great. The psychic stories are a good hook for the press release, but the
reason I enjoyed the show was because I’ve been watching Lally Katz’s career
for a few years now – and this show proved why. She’s a great writer. And a
wonderful presence on stage.
Comments