Questions and Answers

GertrudeandAlice were never in Canada…until the last few weeks  and their arrival in Edmonton, Alberta will effect the city for a long, long time!

Just as the scrolling text in New York’s Time Square heralded their arrival in 1934, the Timms Centre for the Arts on the campus of the University of Alberta in its own way welcomed the Two Ladies from Paris with open arms with this extraordinary production, “The Gertrude Stein Project.”

I was so fortunate to be there to join the welcoming party for a preview and for opening night! (I only regret that I didn’t have an armload of yellow roses, Gertrude’s favorite flower, and an armload of lilacs, Alice’s favorite flower, to toss at the feet of the team that made all of this happen!)

I generally don’t like reviews because in a review a critic often feels obligated to write about the good, the bad and the ugly. In this case there is no “bad” or  “ugly” and as you’ll see in a bit, I will provide full disclosure because all the “good,” is so, so good, you may wonder “What did they pay this guy?!”

 

Instead of a “review,” I call this a ” tribute”  to everyone who made “The Gertrude Stein Project” the phenomenal event that it was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The core of the production is the company of soon-to-be-graduating BFA students who made up The Gertrude Stein Project Company. The performance magically and seamlessly intertwined Stein texts, movement and historical vignettes complemented by one of the best soundscapes I have ever heard in a production.

The historic GertrudeandAlice came to life as two Gertrudes, one of them male, and two Alices recounted key moments in their lives anchored in the story of Professor Leon Katz’s almost 60 year journey deciphering the Stein notebooks housed at Yale. Recent video of Dr. Katz recalling the months he spent with Alice in Paris reviewing the notebooks provided some of the most emotional moments of the performance.

Paper is also a key element in  the production. The 70 foot high white screen at the back of the stage reminded me of the blank sheet of the paper that has confronted and confounded writers over the years. On it were projected the typed letters and words as GertrudeandAlice have a  verbal duel. The scene  culminates with an awkward moment when the word “May” appears, foreshadowing the confrontation that  happens later when Alice confronts Gertrude about her Radcliffe-era lover.  The text from one of Leo Stein’s books is also typed on the screen, as a verklempt Leo recites the text and his litany of medical and digestive problems!

Paper plays a significant role in the opening scene when the actors are sleeping on large sheets of paper which serve as  their “yoga mats”. While paper folders are shuffled in choreographed precision during an amazing scene about the archiving of historical collections.  (Some members of the company spend time at the Beinecke Library at Yale gathering inspiration for the show.) And in one of the most entertaining scenes, Gertrude, carrying a riding crop, disciplines her subjects during a writing exercise as she walks about categorizing each of the hapless guinea pigs based on their writing and demeanor –“Blonde—category 2!!”

I have deliberately not singled out any individuals involved with this production since it was a true collaboration, a Gesamtkunstwerk – a favorite German word which literally translated means “total or unified work of art.”  Instead I’ve included scans from the program so the complete list of the Gesamtkunstwerkers, including two poodles playing Basket I & II, can be acknowledged.

And now for full disclosure:

When I reached Edmonton, a few items from my collection in tow to display in the lobby during the run of the show, I discovered that I was character in the production!  Several weeks ago I had done a Skype call with the cast speaking about GertrudeandAlice and some of the items I collected relating to them.  One of the items I described was the Smith-Premier typewriter I had found that was similar to the one Alice used when she first began typing Gertrude’s manuscripts.  Since our Skype call had not been taped, one of the company members played me talking about the typewriter acquisition.  His excellent impersonation was videotaped and played at one point in the production.

So at about 7:30 PM PST (8:30PM Edmonton time) during the run of the show, which closed on the 9th,  I’d be thinking “it’s about time for me to go on—project, smile, emote!”  What an honor to have been a part of this.  What an honor to write this tribute and it’s not all, all good, just because I was in it!

During a short talk I gave at the reception following the opening night performance, I mentioned that one way that I used to know that a play I was seeing was truly  engaging and very well-done, was that  I’d get a headache near the end of the show.  Well, this show gave me a headache as I recall only two others have over the years –”Amadeus” and “Marat/Sade!”

Following my comment the director came up to me,  “Would you like a couple of Advil?” Three Advils were resting in the palm of her hand.

“No,” I responded, “I’m really OK.”

Thinking about this the next morning in the taxi on  the way to the airport, I should have responded differently borrowing a phrase from domestic diva Martha Stewart:

“Headache? No problem, it’s a good thing, a really good thing!”

After all, Gertrude’s BFF had also been a domestic diva!

 

 

Tagged Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein, Leo Stein, Leon Katz, The Gertrude Stein Project, Timms Centre for the Arts