Bashir Lazhar presented by Theatre Projects Manitoba at the Rachel Browne Theatre, March 14, 2013
Reviewed by Stephanie Adamov
The passing of my grandfather this September engaged our family in countless discussions of his life as a new immigrant to Canada in 1948. Steadfast and dedicated at work, home and at church, he began his Canadian journey as a modest wooden pail maker for the Dyck Box Factory. In the years to follow, after much hard work, he would find himself as a certified veterinarian and later, the head health inspector working under the Department of Agriculture.
As a pillar of our humble yet vibrant parish of Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church, he and my grandmother would support more new Russian immigrants to Canada. Whether it was providing a hot Christmas dinner, or helping new families find work, they maintained by example a legacy of understanding, hospitality and generosity.
My grandparents, along with my parents, would actively support many new immigrants navigate the often confusing process of gaining Canadian citizenship. Though I was too young to know all the details, there was one family who was at high risk for deportation. The boy from that same family would later grow up to be the pilot responsible for flying the Canadian Prime Minister.
Bashir Lazhar as a play not only focuses on the roadblocks of the immigration process and culture shock of the Algerian title character, but also his relationship and influences on a grade six classroom experiencing a vastly different type of grief and shock. After the first scene, with accomplished actor David Adams rehearsing his multiple mock introductions to his future class, his name will begin to roll off your tongue long after the ninety-minute, one-act show.
Mr. Lazhar arrives at a Montreal school to act as a substitute teacher though he is at risk of immediate deportation. The class he is motivated to teach for is one whose teacher has recently hung herself from her classroom’s fluorescent lamp. He feels that after his own personal struggles with gathering courage and strength after a great loss, that he is qualified to help shape these young minds so that they may not be hardened by their experiences.
Due to the lack of space in the school, the children continue to attend classes with the ominous light constantly looming overhead. They are discouraged from any discussion of the incident unless it is with the school psychologist. Evelyne de la Chenelière’s play, translated from French by Morwyn Brebner, illuminates the battles Bashir must fight with both the education and legal systems.
Bashir, as played by the multi-faceted Vancouver actor David Adams, is forbidden from any engagement with his students on the subject matter of Martine Lachance’s death. The issue of pedagogy influencing psychotherapy is at stake, despite Bashir’s desperate attempts to allow outlets for the children to openly grieve.
Under opera and theatre director Ann Hodges’ attention to detail, the segmented scenes seem to run seamlessly through the cohesion of multiple production elements. Through the combination of Hugh Conacher’s lights and Chris Coyne’s layered sound design, the non-linear scene construction of Evelyne de la Chenelière’s transtlated script fits quite well.
Many theatre shows I’ve attended recently have used the minimalistic approach to set design. This has both been a varying strength and weakness depending on intent and execution. Joan Murphy Kakoske, of the National Theatre School, deploys a set in Bashir Lazhar that’s far from minimalistic.
The concept of a dystopian classroom setting was truly a feast for the eyes upon entering the Rachel Browne Theatre. In two separate piles, desks, chairs, books, and files were conscientiously manipulated and disfigured as they were stacked and suspended from the ceiling. They were piled up almost with a Dr. Seussian sense of gravity and physics. French-framed windows were suspended and warped. Over-head the infamous fluorescent light’s frame hung in a similarly disfigured fashion.
Adams as Bashir would whip around to a different part of the stage as he engaged in the consistent change of lateral time and space. The most prominent of these images that remains is one where he climbs one of the piles of student desks, a worn and tattered maple leaf flag holding his gaze. He endures this constant struggle to be courageous, strong and free in a land that projects promise, yet sets limits on both his classroom and his attempts at a fresh start.
Evelyne de la Chenelière’s plays have consistently gained critical acclaim. Along with landing multiple Governor General Award nominations, and a win for Dèsordre Public, her plays have a consistent thread of conscientious observation of human nature.
Bashir Lazhar was adapted and directed for the screen in 2011 by Philippe Falardeau. The adaptation title Monsieur Lazhar was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and expands many of de la Chenelière’s characters that receive only mere mentions in her script. The original play is a one-person show, while the screenplay explores many of the different character relationships that I found to be a great strength when compared to the play.
True, had I not seen the film prior to the play, I would have been left with several unanswered questions. However, perhaps the intentional openness of dialogue in the script allows for the discussion Theatre Projects Manitoba wishes to achieve through the community outreach portion of this piece. Still, I found that the combination of media complemented each other, rather than causing conflict. De la Chenelière’s focus on Bashir’s internal struggle in conjunction with Falardeau’s analysis of the impacted children left me in a state of increased awareness of the piece as a whole.
David Adams as Bashir Lazhar displays a full spectrum of aptitude as he characterizes one man’s desperate struggle to provide for both his family and classroom despite the opposition of the institutions at hand.
Adams performs in front of empty desks that represent the children he refers to as chrysalises. He seeks and yearns to provide them, and coincidently himself, with a blank slate, much as a messy chalkboard may be erased to start fresh.
Bashir Lazhar presented by Theatre Projects Manitoba. Performances March 14-24, 2013, at the Rachel Browne Theatre, 211 Bannatyne, Winnipeg MB.
Life, Loss, and Wiping the Board Clean
Columns
Bashir Lazhar presented by Theatre Projects Manitoba at the Rachel Browne Theatre, March 14, 2013
Reviewed by Stephanie Adamov
The passing of my grandfather this September engaged our family in countless discussions of his life as a new immigrant to Canada in 1948. Steadfast and dedicated at work, home and at church, he began his Canadian journey as a modest wooden pail maker for the Dyck Box Factory. In the years to follow, after much hard work, he would find himself as a certified veterinarian and later, the head health inspector working under the Department of Agriculture.
As a pillar of our humble yet vibrant parish of Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church, he and my grandmother would support more new Russian immigrants to Canada. Whether it was providing a hot Christmas dinner, or helping new families find work, they maintained by example a legacy of understanding, hospitality and generosity.
My grandparents, along with my parents, would actively support many new immigrants navigate the often confusing process of gaining Canadian citizenship. Though I was too young to know all the details, there was one family who was at high risk for deportation. The boy from that same family would later grow up to be the pilot responsible for flying the Canadian Prime Minister.
Mr. Lazhar arrives at a Montreal school to act as a substitute teacher though he is at risk of immediate deportation. The class he is motivated to teach for is one whose teacher has recently hung herself from her classroom’s fluorescent lamp. He feels that after his own personal struggles with gathering courage and strength after a great loss, that he is qualified to help shape these young minds so that they may not be hardened by their experiences.
Due to the lack of space in the school, the children continue to attend classes with the ominous light constantly looming overhead. They are discouraged from any discussion of the incident unless it is with the school psychologist. Evelyne de la Chenelière’s play, translated from French by Morwyn Brebner, illuminates the battles Bashir must fight with both the education and legal systems.
Bashir, as played by the multi-faceted Vancouver actor David Adams, is forbidden from any engagement with his students on the subject matter of Martine Lachance’s death. The issue of pedagogy influencing psychotherapy is at stake, despite Bashir’s desperate attempts to allow outlets for the children to openly grieve.
Under opera and theatre director Ann Hodges’ attention to detail, the segmented scenes seem to run seamlessly through the cohesion of multiple production elements. Through the combination of Hugh Conacher’s lights and Chris Coyne’s layered sound design, the non-linear scene construction of Evelyne de la Chenelière’s transtlated script fits quite well.
Many theatre shows I’ve attended recently have used the minimalistic approach to set design. This has both been a varying strength and weakness depending on intent and execution. Joan Murphy Kakoske, of the National Theatre School, deploys a set in Bashir Lazhar that’s far from minimalistic.
The concept of a dystopian classroom setting was truly a feast for the eyes upon entering the Rachel Browne Theatre. In two separate piles, desks, chairs, books, and files were conscientiously manipulated and disfigured as they were stacked and suspended from the ceiling. They were piled up almost with a Dr. Seussian sense of gravity and physics. French-framed windows were suspended and warped. Over-head the infamous fluorescent light’s frame hung in a similarly disfigured fashion.
Adams as Bashir would whip around to a different part of the stage as he engaged in the consistent change of lateral time and space. The most prominent of these images that remains is one where he climbs one of the piles of student desks, a worn and tattered maple leaf flag holding his gaze. He endures this constant struggle to be courageous, strong and free in a land that projects promise, yet sets limits on both his classroom and his attempts at a fresh start.
Evelyne de la Chenelière’s plays have consistently gained critical acclaim. Along with landing multiple Governor General Award nominations, and a win for Dèsordre Public, her plays have a consistent thread of conscientious observation of human nature.
Bashir Lazhar was adapted and directed for the screen in 2011 by Philippe Falardeau. The adaptation title Monsieur Lazhar was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and expands many of de la Chenelière’s characters that receive only mere mentions in her script. The original play is a one-person show, while the screenplay explores many of the different character relationships that I found to be a great strength when compared to the play.
True, had I not seen the film prior to the play, I would have been left with several unanswered questions. However, perhaps the intentional openness of dialogue in the script allows for the discussion Theatre Projects Manitoba wishes to achieve through the community outreach portion of this piece. Still, I found that the combination of media complemented each other, rather than causing conflict. De la Chenelière’s focus on Bashir’s internal struggle in conjunction with Falardeau’s analysis of the impacted children left me in a state of increased awareness of the piece as a whole.
David Adams as Bashir Lazhar displays a full spectrum of aptitude as he characterizes one man’s desperate struggle to provide for both his family and classroom despite the opposition of the institutions at hand.
Adams performs in front of empty desks that represent the children he refers to as chrysalises. He seeks and yearns to provide them, and coincidently himself, with a blank slate, much as a messy chalkboard may be erased to start fresh.
Bashir Lazhar presented by Theatre Projects Manitoba. Performances March 14-24, 2013, at the Rachel Browne Theatre, 211 Bannatyne, Winnipeg MB.