2007-11-14 Cave captivates crowd By Julia Gerke, The Suburban Some plays stay with you for a long time. Centaur Theatre’s last production of The Carpenter was one such play — as is their current show, Pamela Gien’s The Syringa Tree, brought to Montreal by special arrangement with producer Matt Salinger. Accomplished actress Caroline Cave stars in the one-woman piece about the effects of South African apartheid on two families, one black and one white. She performs 26 roles, among them the main character, six-year-old Elizabeth “Lizzie” Grace; her family, her nanny, the nanny’s child, servants, friends and neighbours. The story itself is enthralling, not because of what is said but because of what isn’t. It is told mainly through the innocent eyes of a child, who instinctively knows that bad things are happening or are about to happen, but can’t quite give them a name. Gien wrote the semi-autobiographical play in the 1990s and initially starred in it herself, winning awards such as the OBIE Best Play of the Year Award for her writing and portrayal of the emotionally charged characters. Gien was born in Johannesburg during the early days of the official implementation of apartheid, a system of racial segregation. South Africa gained independence from British colonial rule when she was about five years old. The play gets its title from the Syringa tree in her backyard, a fragrant, flowered tree that is robust enough to survive in the scorching sun. It became much more than a tree in Gien’s memories and the play. Beneath the Syringa tree is where the young girl likes to spend time to play and reflect on her life; it becomes a hideaway for her black nanny, who doesn’t want to be separated from her child, while ancient wisdom says the tree is a place where spirits go after death. Fittingly, the set design by Kenneth Foy consists of a sturdy swing in front of a half-moon backdrop, which provides a blank canvas for lighting designer Steven B. Mannshardt. The latter uses lights and projections to produce images of the tree, a window or a door, for instance, which in turn allows Cave to switch between roles quickly and effectively. The sound, designed by Tony Suraci, also plays a pivotal role in setting the mood and filling in the gaps. Cave makes use of every inch of the stage, acting goofy one moment and dead serious the next. But 26 roles are a lot, and since they all come with different accents and mannerisms, it is confusing at times. And maybe that is part of its appeal. Running until Dec. 2 at the Centaur. For more information, go to www.centaurtheatre.com or call 514-288-3161.
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