Too much grit, with too much time: In the Chamber 2010

When it comes to the ugliness of systemic flaws, Gordon Tanner and Steven Ratzlaff have important stories to tell.

Unfortunately, the importance of their message is undermined in its presentation which relies heavily on exaggerated attempts to be ‘edgy’ and long-winded explanations.

Friday night’s performance of Theatre Project Manitoba’s fifth instalment in their series In the Chamber, showcased the talents of Gordon Tanner and Steven Ratzlaff. These local artists both penned and performed their 50 minute one-act plays, entitled Last Man in Krakendorf (Tanner) and Last Man in Puntarenas (Ratzlaff), which united under a common storyline of men experiencing an identity crisis brought about by the failings of certain social institutions.

(TPM)

Tanner’s character, Douglas, is an agriculture engineer dealing with the emotional aftermath of investigating a hog barn fire at a Hutterite colony. Upon realising that the systemic flaws in the agricultural industry were responsible for the death of the hogs, he tries desperately to explain the seriousness of the situation to his boss, via a video recording and Powerpoint presentation which Tanner enacts as his performance.

Tanner shines in his ability to portray a man on the very brink of emotional collapse: his unpredictable, energetic outbursts and frequent digressions from the presentation at hand weaves a complicated portrait of an employee trying to come to terms with the horrors his company creates.

Minimal props are used to maximum effect: Chinese takeout boxes describe quantum physics, pulled back bed sheets map out the cages in hog barns, and images of charred and exploded hog corpses are projected onto the set to give staggering visual impact.

Equally maximized, but less effective, are Tanner’s colourful language and analogy. While small theatre companies are known for pushing the envelope when it comes to their productions, Tanner’s attempts to push the boundaries feel stretched for controversy’s sake, and some audience members may find his jokes cross the line between artistic freedom and offensive commentary.

In addition to giving the 15,000 hogs killed names of various Christian martyrs, Tanner shows a slide of the infamous Falling Man photo from 9/11 alongside the caption “it seemed like a good idea at the time”, somehow trying to equate the hogs’ experience of burning to death with the fate of those who perished in the Twin Towers.

Tanner’s monologue is also littered with profanity that comes off as an attempt to be “edgy”, rather than – presumedly – to communicate his frustrations. But what makes the turn to vulgar language more disappointing is that Tanner’s theatre experience is evident in his focus and delivery (making the audience feel like eavesdroppers on a life changing confession), yet he chooses to do with four letter words what he easily could have expressed through tone and emotion.

Ratzlaff uses his share of cursing too, although Tanner’s generous use in the previous act dulls any impact that Ratzlaff might have hoped to achieve in his own performance.

His character, Hugh, is a middle aged man who uses his retirement dinner as a chance to come to grips with the death of his infant son due to flaws in the healthcare system which he claims disables, rather than supports, its patients.

(Trevor Hagan, WFP)

Ratzlaff's performance employs the creative use of balloons tied to the tops of dinner chairs to act as the heads of his gathered audience. One by one they depart (with Tanner, returning as a waiter, to march them off backstage) sometimes fed up, often times offended by the remarks made by Ratzlaff’s character.

Like Tanner, Ratzlaff impresses with his theatrical abilities, portraying a man who, despite the celebratory setting, is obviously still dealing with his own ghosts. A carefully crafted script gradually develops his character from prostitute user to grieving father and husband. Ratzlaff even manages to slip in a few quips about Winnipeg, voicing aloud his suspicions for those who come to the city with no connections, remarking “if you’re any good, why did you end up in the middle of Siberia?”

But it is Ratzlaff’s character that also detracts from the story. He is the typical distracted professor - trying desperately to make a point, but who’s insistance on covering every detail, and tendency to go off on tangents, makes that point a long time coming. And when it does come, the realisation that it could have been summarized in a few sentences is of little satisfaction to the weary audience.

Tanner and Ratzlaff deserve to be commended for tackling these hot-button issues; however, such issues have enough of their own edge, and can be discussed succinctly to avoid too much flash and losing audience interest.

**/ *****