Confessions of the Other Woman
At Performance Works until March 11
Tickets: 604-692-0885 urbanink.ca
This is a very polished production of Valerie Sing Turners first foray into playwriting. Well-known as a Vancouver actor, Sing Turner remarks in the program notes that, although shes astonished at the power of words, she feels they are often not enough. Hence, Confessions of The Other Woman is a merging of dialogue with music, dance and shifting light, often set against projections of old black and white movies (with projection co-designed by Candelario Andrade and Conor Moore). Its very poetic and beautiful with lights playing on several very large scrims-on-wheels.
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg choreographs Confessions and Sing Turner, not known for her dancing, surprises us with her high level of skill. Paired with hip-hop dancer Matt Wardlean, black and well over six feet tallthey make an exciting pair of dancers.
Eve (Sing Turner) is the other woman in the relationship with Sam, a married man (Kevin Loring). The story loops back on itself several times but always ends up at the end of the affair that began when Eve and Sam were cast in a Shakespeare play together. Their onstage kiss got longer and when the run concluded, they became lovers.
Sing Turner throws a lot into the mix including her relationship with her Chinese Grandmother, Poh-Poh, also played by Ward. We dont, however, get much of an idea about Sam other than that hes been married for 10 years and finds marriage to be the equivalent of fascism. Although Eve feels she has met her soulmate, Sam seems mostly intent on having sex.
Co-directed by Diane Roberts and Gerry Trentham for urban ink productions, Visceral Visions and the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, the story could be more focused and the relevance of the Poh-Poh relationship clarified.
The production, however, serves Sing Turners play elegantly.
