The fairy tale has been one of the magical — but unsung — glories of literature over the centuries. Sadly, productions by Walt Disney and others have too often watered them down, reducing powerful, mythic, meaningful stories into empty pablum.
What an unexpected pleasure, then, to see The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs at the Tarragon Theatre, a gripping and powerful re-telling of Charles Perrault’s classic fairy tale, Bluebeard. John Murrell superb translationFrench-Canadian playwright Carole Fréchette has written a striking 90-minute, intermission-less evening of theatre, which provides more thrills than a roller-coaster ride. (Fréchette's work has been superbly translated into English by John Murrell.)
I am torn between raving about the acting, especially that of the two major stars, Nicole Underhay (best known for her always top-notch performances at the Shaw Festival) and Rick Roberts (who has graced Soulpepper with his myriad talents many times), and Fréchette's extraordinary writing skills. Also making this a near-perfect evening of moving, thought-provoking theatre are the terrifying and terrifyingly crisp set by Astrid Janson, the eerie sound design by Thomas Ryder Payne, and the Dora Award-demanding direction by Weyni Mengesha (of Da Kink in My Hair fame). They combine to create a near ecstasy of pleasure, insight and shudders.
Perhaps a quick recap of Bluebeard is in order, for those who are unfamiliar with Perrault's century-old tale. The French writer is best known for his Cinderella, and one can quickly see why it has been far more popular and more often read to children than his frightening story of a dream lover (Bluebeard/Henry) who marries his head-over-heels-in-love young bride, Grace. Mysteriously, he forbids his lady the right to enter one single, small room at the top of the stairs of his giant, 28-room mansion. What on earth could that forbidden room contain? The murdered bodies of earlier wives? Who knows? But the image of a handsome groom who is hiding awful secrets from his purported beloved is enough to give any spouse shivers — especially when acted so brilliantly by Underhay and Roberts, with the other key roles played by Claire Calnan, Sarah Dodd and Raquel Duffy.
This is truly live theatre at its most lively and at its most challenging — just like the best fairy tales. The Tarragon has rarely presented a quality play so perfectly, and how marvellous that some of the best performers in Canada today are presenting such excellence from one of our finest French-Canadian playwrights. My very safe prediction: The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs will sweep most of the top Dora Awards this year. How could it not?
Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave., 416-531-1827. To April 8.
As a result of an error during editing, an earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that John Murrell had translated Bluebeard.