Singing ghosts, talking rats and corrupt politicians infest the small German town of Hameln, where the popcorn is never forgotten, but the children are.
In their first show, students in the Fountain School of Performing Arts鈥� third-year Acting Program class enter the kaleidoscopic world of Canadian playwright Colleen Murphy鈥檚 The Piper, and find themselves transformed into an ensemble of memorable, malevolent and misguided characters. 聽
Members of the Council (Gregory Dimitri Mansour, Andrew Chen, Zilong Chen) have a cordial request for Mayor Pops (Rebekah Leon).
Director Pamela Halstead, herself a theatre graduate from AV俱乐部 (BA鈥�88), says it鈥檚 a fantastic show for university students.
鈥淭he students get to use a lot of different skills, whether [it be] their physical skills, singing skills, or their acting chops,鈥� she explains.
Halstead, who has worked in theatres from Newfoundland to British Columbia, says that when she saw the original production of The Piper in Toronto that she was, 鈥渢ransfixed by this statement on our society and [Colleen Murphy鈥檚] use of the rats as a subclass of society.鈥澛�
Oh, rats
Dal鈥檚 production, a number of years in the planning, has five actors taking up the roles of Hameln鈥檚 resident rats, rising to the challenge of playing the anthropomorphic rodents who are adversaries integral to the tale of the Pied Piper. Despite their harsh appearance (thanks to John Pennoyer鈥檚 astounding masks and costumes), some of the rats have deeper desires and drives than one might expect from historically plague-ridden vermin.
The Rats (Maegan Taverner, Kyla Fleming, Cody Musteffe, Stephanie Mah) invite Alvina and Hannelore (Frances Howlett and Katie Graham) to a photoshoot.
Cody Musteffe, who plays the role of Kingsley, depicts his character as 鈥淸a] philosophical rat who longs to be a human being.鈥� The play鈥檚 author, Colleen Murphy, has said Kingsley is her favourite character, since he is just as likely to be found quoting Nietzsche as he is to be found eating fresh garbage.
鈥淚t is extremely difficult balancing human emotions and motions with animalistic ones,鈥� says Musteffe, discussing the dichotomy of acting as a different species on stage.
With choreography and movement training from V茅ronique MacKenzie, it is a visual and comedic delight watching the rats move across Danielle Wilson鈥檚 gorgeously anachronistic set.
Riddled with darkly comical song and dance, The Piper exists in a unique realm somewhere between a full-blown musical and a smartly-written play. Musical Director Chuck Homewood describes the unique style of the show as 鈥淎 mishmash [that] borrows from 鈥lues, jazz, musical theatre, and Kurt Weill...鈥�
The music is especially exciting aspect of the production, as Homewood and Halstead have been given free rein by the playwright to adapt and edit the score. Homewood believes that 鈥渋t鈥檚 because of the nature of the piece that it needs to reinvent itself and be reinterpreted.鈥�
Audiences can look forward to a distinctive spin on Don Horsburgh鈥檚 original score that innovates while honouring the wonderfully eclectic source material.
Thoughtful themes
Distinctive not only in its style, but in its substance, The Piper is a play that delves into many unconventional themes, most strikingly a town鈥檚 disregard for their children.
Julia MacVicar, who plays the headstrong 16-year-old Pink, feels that 鈥渢hese children don鈥檛 know their place in this town鈥� and that the parents, 鈥渂y neglecting their children, [are] neglecting their future, which is quite sad.鈥�
Pink (Julia MacVicar) is determined to retrieve stolen property from one of Hameln鈥檚 rats (Stephanie Mah).
Rebekah Leon, who plays Pink鈥檚 corporatist father, Mayor Poppenheimer, feels as though 鈥渨ith this show you peel back the layers鈥� Behind the raunchy jokes and children鈥檚 arms being ripped off, there鈥檚 a warning.鈥�
鈥淭he more important story isn鈥檛 about the adults, it鈥檚 about the kids,鈥� says Dimitri Mansour, who plays Ludwig Theobald, the Deputy Mayor of Hameln. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about that fact that we are greedy, we are terrible, and we are willing to destroy the rats and neglect our children to 鈥榤ake ourselves better.鈥欌��
The Piper is a play about the loss of children, both physically and emotionally, where the apathetic adults believe that 鈥渆verything ever lost is found again in Hameln.鈥� Through the appealing songs and appalling characters, the play offers a sobering look at what is at stake when we hide ourselves behind the masks of corporation, politics, and self-pleasure. Colleen Murphy has managed to create a theatrical vision that flirts between deeply disturbing and sidesplittingly silly in such a manner that can only be described as 鈥渢ransformative.鈥�
The Town Council fawns over a particularly entertaining Polaroid.
(Stephanie Mah, Jasmine Shenandoah Ashfield, Katie Graham, Emily Pratt, Rebekah Leon, Logan Robins, Kaylin Dean, Frances Howlett, Zilong Chen, Kyla Flemming)
The Piper runs from February 6 to 10 in the AV俱乐部 Arts Centre鈥檚 David Mack. Murray Studio, with performances nightly at 7:30 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday. For tickets, .