John Beale (Left) as Kyle Best and Daniel MacIvor (Right) as Hamilton Best in the Tarragon Theatre’s production of The Best Brothers. Photo: Cylla Von Tiedemann
Next door to George Brown’s Casa Loma campus, Tarragon Theatre opens its 2013-14 season with the Toronto premiere of The Best Brothers, written by Daniel MacIvor, one of Canada’s best known playwrights, and directed by the award-winning Dean Gabourie.
MacIvor shares the stage as an actor with Nova Scotian John Beale who was involved in his previous plays Bingo and The Crucible. This artistic team sent up a trial balloon to the Stratford festival public last summer.
After being recognized The Best Brothers comedy-tragedy “found a better production here” in Toronto, said Gabourie.
“The Tarragon itself is doing so much work to reach out to the community. And I think it’s a great start, to us coming from Stratford to this theatre. They have been absolutely amazing and the team here is very young. This youth energy brings to the equation,” said Gabourie.
Uncovering a seeming natural sibling rivalry, MacIvor creates humour out of the tragic loss of a parent.
“There is darkness in the subject. I always found that to activate the sense of humour in those areas takes the pressure away from them,” MacIvor said. “It’s rich for humor. It’s also disrespectful to the sadness but it doesn’t feature the sadness. The sadness is part of it but the humour protects them from the sadness until they touch that.”
The play draws a picture of a universal family conflict. Hamilton and Kyle are the Best brothers. Hamilton is a straight-laced architect with a wife (MacIvor). Kyle (Beale) is a free-spirited, gay real-estate agent.
The sudden death of their mother in a bizarre accident at Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade brings them together to sort out the details of the funeral. As they look to celebrate their mother, their relationship is tested while they wrestle with fundamental questions of love and family: who did mom love more and who gets the dog?
“This play is interesting because it’s somewhat universal. Universality of that is all over the map. Everybody goes through grief, everybody goes through a string of relationships,” said Gabourie. “When you can compose yourself in a play, when you can project their lives with these characters, all of a sudden a work means something more to you.”
Feeling the same affection towards his own dog named Buddy, MacIvor increases the conflict by the presence of one more character in the play, Italian greyhound Enzo.
“I got a dog as an adult five years ago. The dog changed my life in many ways: how my day looks like, my concerns are. The dog was a big impulse. Without a dog that would be no play,” said MacIvor.
A minimalist stage set with simple decorations concentrates the viewer’s attention to the characters and the conflict even more. “It asks the audience to engage its imagination,” said MacIvor. “I was always a fan of New-York plain style which we acknowledged as a theatre. It’s interesting even for people who haven’t seen a lot of theatres.”
The Best Brothers is a universal story painted with dark humorous colors. The story, which in real life could not be fun, emerges as hilarious on stage. Bringing his own “experience of funerals” Gabourie finds the play balanced.
“Fortunately we all are very dark people. I was always worried that the play is too funny. That’s why we built those moments of real gravitas, of real emotion. So it wouldn’t be just a comedy,” said Gabourie. “And I think we kind of got balance ultimately. Comedy – tragedy that what it’s all about. How do you make God laugh? Tell him about your plans.”
The Best Brothers is playing at Tarragon Theatre’s Mainspace, 30 Bridgman Avenue, until Oct. 27. Discounted tickets available with student ID.
