In adapting Ann-Marie Macdonald’s hit 1996 novel, everything from clapping, humming and stomping to moody piano notes evoke the lyrical and rhythmic qualities of the book
Actor Tim Campbell is sitting before an upright piano, brows furrowed in concentration. His hands move to the keyboard, and the opening ofring out, Beethoven’s moody, dark chords echoing through Canadian Stage Company’s vast Toronto rehearsal space. Campbell abruptly stops playing and strikes one note repeatedly as he leans forward, tilts his head sideways, then looks up at the dark wooden cabinet of the piano.
The piano also represents temporal concerns and changing social mores. “Much as we’re going over time periods of characters, we’re also talking about the evolution of piano music over the course of 60 years,’’ said production dramaturge Mel Hague, “and the changing use and styles of the music and the instrument throughout that time.
Those sounds, as demonstrated in a recent rehearsal, feature a vivid mix of elements, including a diverse and sizable cast , who sit onstage and clap, hum, stomp their feet and provide sound effects alongside four musicians. Classical pieces , ragtime , Middle Eastern lullabies and original material mix easily, evoking a range of atmospheres and emotions.
Actors Deborah Hay and Tim Campbell, as father and daughter James and Frances Piper in the stage version of Fall On Your Knees, rehearse a scene on Jan. 6.Palmer said the music is “a vein that goes into the cultural roots of all the characters” and aims to capture both the lyrical and rhythmic qualities of MacDonald’s writing, as well as the literal and symbolic ways in which it functions within the narrative.
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