The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz performed at the Rachel Browne Theatre by Theatre Productions Manitoba, Thursday, April 7, 2011
Reviewed by John Herbert Cunningham
Can a Mennonite farmer whose loins have been afflicted by the swelling of mumps and the rashness of poison ivy expect to find fertility both in his fields and in his wife? Or does he need help? These are just two of the questions Armin Wiebe poses in his first play, The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz – a play that was a long time coming.
Any good story begins with a kernel of truth. In this case, the kernel is a blueberry. Wiebe, the Altona boy, was raised with the story of his grandfather’s adventures with a blueberry patch. While picking the berries, Wiebe’s grandfather responded to nature’s second calling using a handful of nearby leaves to clean himself. Unfortunately for him, the leaves turned out to be poison ivy. Unable to put pants on, he harvested his crop wearing a dress.
Blatz began his sonata way back in 1996 with the blueberry patch playing a dominant chord. Originally conceived as a novel, the concept of a play occurred to Wiebe, who then responded by taking a playwriting course at Prairie Theatre Exchange. Teaching the course was a person who would become one of Canada’s top directors and dramaturges—Kim McCaw. It was workshopped umpteen (which is roughly six) times—Wiebe making extensive rewrites after each. Theatre Projects Manitoba became interested in 2008, when they and the Manitoba Association of Playwrights presented a directed and staged reading at the Carol Shields Festival of New Works. Finally, here it is in its world premiere.
Obrum and Susch Kehler have been married for two years, but Susch remains without child. Each wonders privately whether this is a result of Obrum’s bout with the mumps, which had swollen much more than his cheeks. We enter their homestead as they struggle to push an upright piano, the Klavier, inside. Shortly thereafter, the piano is followed by the piano tuner: a Russian immigrant by the name of Beethoven Blatz. As the play progresses, Blatz will be called upon to play more than just the piano in fulfilling his responsibilities of being tutor to Susch as well as tuning her (the piano) up. Susch’s best friend, Teen, is the conscience of the group as she attempts to unravel the mystery of the baby to whom she will become mid-wife.
Blatz begins a bit slowly as a result of the twisted syntax of the play, set in the fictional southern Manitoba town of Gutenthal. As Wiebe stated in the playbill: “the play wants to use language fringed with… Flat German… that is, buggered up English sprinkled with Mennonite Plautdietsch and some High German.” But once the audience gets used to the dialect, the play blasts off like a rocket, shedding tremendous humour in its wake. This is slapstick at its finest. Miriam Toews could not have done better, and indeed Wiebe put Manitoba and Gutenthal on the national literary map back in 1984 with his novel The Salvation of Yasch Siemens.
Tom Keenan as Obrum and Tracy Penner as Susch, with Obrum in Susch's skirt
The actors are superb at carrying off this humour. Tom Keenan portrays Obrum Kehler as a shy, kindly character deeply in love with his wife and concerned for her wishes and welfare. Troubled by her childlessness and its effect on her, he arranges to absent himself from the family home by taking a job in town ostensibly so that he can raise money to buy a better house but, in a true Chekhovian undercurrent, so that Susch and Blatz can be left alone. His is an excellent portrayal of the rash-plagued Obrum who, refusing to put on one of Susch’s flowered dresses, opts instead for her black wool skirt which “scratches like barley.” Discovering the rashness of his decision, he remarks “Men use underwear, what use women?” Susch is shocked when he puts on her wedding underskirt but Obrum finds that he rather enjoys it—“How come only women can wear such smooth things?”
Eric Nyland, a talented classical pianist in real life, plays a gangly, bumbling Blatz obsessed with his sweetheart, Sonia, who has been left back home on the Russian steppes and therefore substitutes Susch for her, repeatedly referring to Susch by the name Sonya. This annoys the bejeezus out of Susch resulting in this snippet of conversation as they sit side by side on the piano bench facing away from the piano: “Mustn’t we sit the other way?” asks Susch. “Sonya, what mean you?” responds Blatz. “Susch, I am Susch, mein dummer Herr. Aber to play Klavier, mustn’t we sit the other way? The piano thing is behind.”
Tracy Penner, as Susch, is endearing as she portrays this simple Mennonite girl with an outlook more worldly than her age and upbringing would indicate.
And then there’s Daria Puttaert, who plays Teen, the upright mid-wife who is shocked by the shenanigans taking place in the Kehler household.
Not being one of the big three theatre groups in Winnipeg, my expectation was that this production would be rather pared down, perhaps requiring Wiebe to take on more than just his playwriting role. Then I learned that Theatre Projects Manitoba had been around for over twenty years and had as part of its mandate the staging of new Manitoba plays.
The support staff brought in to work with this play was more than impressive. Kim McCaw was brought in from Edmonton as director. Hugh Conacher, who has worked with everything from the Warehouse Theatre to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to Jolene Bailie’s dance productions, was lighting designer. Brian Perchaluk, one of Canada’s top set and costume designers, created an incredibly elaborate yet simple set which took the audience immediately into the pioneer days of Mennonite life around the prairie town of Gretna, Manitoba. Greg Lowe provided the musical direction and sound design. This was a stellar support staff demonstrating the high regard Theatre Projects Manitoba has earned over its existence.
Scirocco Drama published the text of the play, and it was available for purchase in the lobby.
Everything was brought together to ensure that this was a truly great theatrical experience. Wiebe’s literary talent shone through in the writing of this his first play. The production will satisfy any itch you may have for an entertaining theatrical performance.
Mennonites Who Make Us Laugh
Articles
The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz performed at the Rachel Browne Theatre by Theatre Productions Manitoba, Thursday, April 7, 2011
Reviewed by John Herbert Cunningham
Can a Mennonite farmer whose loins have been afflicted by the swelling of mumps and the rashness of poison ivy expect to find fertility both in his fields and in his wife? Or does he need help? These are just two of the questions Armin Wiebe poses in his first play, The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz – a play that was a long time coming.
Any good story begins with a kernel of truth. In this case, the kernel is a blueberry. Wiebe, the Altona boy, was raised with the story of his grandfather’s adventures with a blueberry patch. While picking the berries, Wiebe’s grandfather responded to nature’s second calling using a handful of nearby leaves to clean himself. Unfortunately for him, the leaves turned out to be poison ivy. Unable to put pants on, he harvested his crop wearing a dress.
Blatz began his sonata way back in 1996 with the blueberry patch playing a dominant chord. Originally conceived as a novel, the concept of a play occurred to Wiebe, who then responded by taking a playwriting course at Prairie Theatre Exchange. Teaching the course was a person who would become one of Canada’s top directors and dramaturges—Kim McCaw. It was workshopped umpteen (which is roughly six) times—Wiebe making extensive rewrites after each. Theatre Projects Manitoba became interested in 2008, when they and the Manitoba Association of Playwrights presented a directed and staged reading at the Carol Shields Festival of New Works. Finally, here it is in its world premiere.
Obrum and Susch Kehler have been married for two years, but Susch remains without child. Each wonders privately whether this is a result of Obrum’s bout with the mumps, which had swollen much more than his cheeks. We enter their homestead as they struggle to push an upright piano, the Klavier, inside. Shortly thereafter, the piano is followed by the piano tuner: a Russian immigrant by the name of Beethoven Blatz. As the play progresses, Blatz will be called upon to play more than just the piano in fulfilling his responsibilities of being tutor to Susch as well as tuning her (the piano) up. Susch’s best friend, Teen, is the conscience of the group as she attempts to unravel the mystery of the baby to whom she will become mid-wife.
Blatz begins a bit slowly as a result of the twisted syntax of the play, set in the fictional southern Manitoba town of Gutenthal. As Wiebe stated in the playbill: “the play wants to use language fringed with… Flat German… that is, buggered up English sprinkled with Mennonite Plautdietsch and some High German.” But once the audience gets used to the dialect, the play blasts off like a rocket, shedding tremendous humour in its wake. This is slapstick at its finest. Miriam Toews could not have done better, and indeed Wiebe put Manitoba and Gutenthal on the national literary map back in 1984 with his novel The Salvation of Yasch Siemens.
Tom Keenan as Obrum and Tracy Penner as Susch, with Obrum in Susch's skirt
The actors are superb at carrying off this humour. Tom Keenan portrays Obrum Kehler as a shy, kindly character deeply in love with his wife and concerned for her wishes and welfare. Troubled by her childlessness and its effect on her, he arranges to absent himself from the family home by taking a job in town ostensibly so that he can raise money to buy a better house but, in a true Chekhovian undercurrent, so that Susch and Blatz can be left alone. His is an excellent portrayal of the rash-plagued Obrum who, refusing to put on one of Susch’s flowered dresses, opts instead for her black wool skirt which “scratches like barley.” Discovering the rashness of his decision, he remarks “Men use underwear, what use women?” Susch is shocked when he puts on her wedding underskirt but Obrum finds that he rather enjoys it—“How come only women can wear such smooth things?”
Eric Nyland, a talented classical pianist in real life, plays a gangly, bumbling Blatz obsessed with his sweetheart, Sonia, who has been left back home on the Russian steppes and therefore substitutes Susch for her, repeatedly referring to Susch by the name Sonya. This annoys the bejeezus out of Susch resulting in this snippet of conversation as they sit side by side on the piano bench facing away from the piano: “Mustn’t we sit the other way?” asks Susch. “Sonya, what mean you?” responds Blatz. “Susch, I am Susch, mein dummer Herr. Aber to play Klavier, mustn’t we sit the other way? The piano thing is behind.”
Tracy Penner, as Susch, is endearing as she portrays this simple Mennonite girl with an outlook more worldly than her age and upbringing would indicate.
And then there’s Daria Puttaert, who plays Teen, the upright mid-wife who is shocked by the shenanigans taking place in the Kehler household.
Not being one of the big three theatre groups in Winnipeg, my expectation was that this production would be rather pared down, perhaps requiring Wiebe to take on more than just his playwriting role. Then I learned that Theatre Projects Manitoba had been around for over twenty years and had as part of its mandate the staging of new Manitoba plays.
The support staff brought in to work with this play was more than impressive. Kim McCaw was brought in from Edmonton as director. Hugh Conacher, who has worked with everything from the Warehouse Theatre to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to Jolene Bailie’s dance productions, was lighting designer. Brian Perchaluk, one of Canada’s top set and costume designers, created an incredibly elaborate yet simple set which took the audience immediately into the pioneer days of Mennonite life around the prairie town of Gretna, Manitoba. Greg Lowe provided the musical direction and sound design. This was a stellar support staff demonstrating the high regard Theatre Projects Manitoba has earned over its existence.
Scirocco Drama published the text of the play, and it was available for purchase in the lobby.
Everything was brought together to ensure that this was a truly great theatrical experience. Wiebe’s literary talent shone through in the writing of this his first play. The production will satisfy any itch you may have for an entertaining theatrical performance.