Platypus Theatre
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PLatypus Theatre: Delights
March 8, 2010, 12:00 am
Centennial Concert Hall teemed with excited children and their parents Sunday afternoon as the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra hosted Ottawa-based Platypus Theatre and its engaging musical show, How the Gimquat Found Her Song.
Kids listened and laughed as the wizard, played by theatre co-founder Peter Duschenes exhausted all his powers helping the forlorn bird, the gimquat, played superbly by Emmanuelle Zeesman, find an appropriate song.
No easy task, as the gimquat, (a life-sized puppet) for all her desperation, turned out to be quite fussy. Of course, this delighted the young audience -- and also gave Duschenes the opportunity to take us time-travelling through different major periods of music.
Conductor Richard Lee guided the orchestra through the diverse program, and the musicians, to their credit, treated this seriously, playing beautifully. They made each piece sound its best, from Bizet's Carmen to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. Principal flute Jan Kocman sparkled in the Badinerie from Bach's Suite No. 2.
The one-hour show flowed right along, with Duschenes' high energy and Zeesman's brassy bird keeping us involved. The wizard's velvety, bejewelled robe swirled magically- and the gimquat, with her buggy eyes and striped legs, looked as odd as can be -- perfect to capture children's imaginations.
And while a few props or a backdrop might have added interest to the performance, no one seemed to mind. We all sang along to a Bach chorale taught to us phrase by phrase by the wizard, chanted the magic spell "Jiminy Cricket, Raggedy Ann, etc..." using hand motions, and laughed at the poor gimquat who described her singing as "horrid, like goo!"
Dr. Seuss-like rhyming made up much of the dialogue. There were a few instances where Duschenes' speedy speech was a little hard to decipher, but Zeesman was clear as a bell with her often indignant, impatient retorts.
Clever misunderstandings (the gimquat thought the wizard said "gory man's pants" when he actually said Gregorian Chant) and terrific body language kept this show vibrantly alive. Kids obviously got the jokes, as laughter regularly broke out around the hall.
And in the end, the gimquat did find her song, in a most touching and mysterious way. Sitting by a lake, soaking in her surroundings, she suddenly erupted into a sorrowful cry -- the hauntingly lovely call of the loon.
In her excitement over the discovery of her true song, she tumbled into the water, only to emerge as a striking and graceful loon flying across the stage. Finding her song meant finding herself.
This was a painless way to introduce symphonic music to youngsters. And from my standpoint, any show that keeps my year-and-half-old granddaughter sitting attentively in my lap is a winner.
gwenda.nemerofsky@shaw.ca
Concert Review
How the Gimquat Found Her Song
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Centennial Concert Hall
March 7 Attendance: 1,749
Four and a half stars out of five
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 8, 2010 D4
Winnipeg Free Press
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