In The Chamber: 2010

Last night, I went to the theatre for a school assignment. I love plays, and I had never visited this particular venue before. I was very excited to see what it was all about. Our class went to watch a two-part production titled Last Men. Each part was fifty minutes long, both had a single man as the actor.

I will first talk about the venue itself, as this was the most exciting part for me. The theatre is located at 211 Bannatyne Street, in the heart of the Exchange District. It is a hop, skip, and a jump from school, which was a bonus. The building is very old, with wide, creaky stairs and high ceilings. I love it. There is nothing better than watching something artistic in an old building downtown.

Of the two plays, the first really affected me. It was titled Last Man in Krakendorf, and was written and acted by Gordon Tanner. He was fantastic, and really made the play come alive for me. He was funny, ironic, and dry at times. He was also quite good-looking – for an older man, at least. That, however, is the extent of the good things I have to say about this play.

The entire fifty minutes basically consisted of one large PowerPoint presentation about how pigs in Manitoba are being mistreated. It is true that pigs are forced to live in horribly small spaces, and that there have been a number of fires that have caused a high number of the animals to perish as of late. I didn't disagree with Tanner`s idea to write a play in an attempt to highlight this unfortunate situation. What I disagreed with was the comparisons Tanner made to prove his point.

I stopped appreciating the play around the time a joke was made about the poor souls who perished during 9/11. Tanner related pigs burning to death with people who decided to jump out of the World Trade Centre buildings to avoid a similar death. He made a very dry joke about it, and even mentioned that it might not quite be time for that particular bit of humour yet. It wasn't. This is the time of year when magazines, television shows, and news stations are revisiting the last decade. A lot of people are remembering and reflecting on 9/11. He shouldn't have gone there. There was also another comparison between the death of pigs and Christian martyrs, but I think i’ve said enough.

I have learned that a one man show is not the type of theatre that appeals to me. I prefer larger productions with more actors. The scripts in both plays were well written, and the actors were talented, but I can`t see myself attending a production such as this ever again.