VASILY
THE LUCKLESS
By James Fagan Tait
Boca del Lupo
Prospect Point Picnic Area
Stanley Park
July 28-August 14
Free at 604-684-2622
www.bocadellupo.bc.ca
In years past there was usually very little theatre here in summer,
the argument being that sun-starved Vancouverites wanted to be outside
in good weather, not indoors watching a play. Nowadays, enterprising
producers solve that problem by merging their shows with our great
outdoors.
Theatre Under the Stars has been doing it since 1940. Bard on
the Beach has shown us Shakespeare under their Vanier Park tents
against backdrops of the North Shore mountains and the kite-filled
sky since 1990. This summer Kendra Fanconi treated us to Other
Freds along the shore of Granville Island. And Boca del Lupo
has established a tradition of free, all-ages summer shows that
roam the trails of Stanley Park, featuring actors hanging from the
tops of high trees.
Vasily the Luckless, Boca’s
latest, is an absolute charmer. James Fagan Tait has adapted a Russian
folk tale in which rich, ruthless Marco (Alex Ferguson) is visited
by angels who tell him that a boy named Vasily (Jonathon Young)
will end up with all his money. Marco throws him off a cliff, tries
to drown him, and sends him to collect rent from King Dragon (Mike
Enns), all to no avail. With the help of the angels, hapless Vasily
marries Marco’s daughter Anastasya (Tara Fynn) and turns the
tables on his father-in-law, much to the delight of the audience
which follows the characters along the trails of one of the most
beautifully wooded areas of the park.
Along the way an angel (Jay Dodge) appears to us hanging on guy
wires between trees 100 feet above our heads. We meet Marco at his
desk atop a 20 foot high stump, Anastasya suspended in a hammock
above him. Two black-clad priests go up and down like counterweights
attached to a giant church bell way up in the crook of a Douglas
fir. Vasily reaches King Dragon’s lair by crossing a river
in a ferry, a remarkable two-person cedar contraption like a PNE
ride in the middle of the woods.
All the while we’re accompanied by composer Joelysa Pankanea
and two other musicians on accordion, banjo and percussion who help
tell the story in delightful songs, like Anastasya’s lullaby
to baby Vasily: “Sweet kitty, pretty kitty, I think your baby
fat is more like fur.”
Director Sherry J. Yoon’s inventive staging is aided by
the lovely acting of everyone involved (including Donna Soares and
Mac Dodge), especially the always likeable Young as Vasily and sweet,
gap-toothed Fynn as Anastasya. Even nasty Marco endeared himself
to the kids at the matinee I attended, muttering “Excuse me”
as he plowed through the audience, “I’m evil but I’m
polite.”
I would have liked a little more adult substance to the story,
but hey—it’s magical, it’s free, and you can bring
your kids.
Jerry Wasserman |