Du 24 octobre au 11 novembre 2007

The Carpenter, Part III of A Carpenter Trilogy

By Vittorio Rossi
Directed by Gordon McCall
With Andreas Apergis, David A. Calderisi, Giovanna Carrubba, Guido Cocomello, Paula Costain, Ellen David, Anita La Selva, Patricia Yeatman, Richard Zeppieri

Welcome to The Carpenter, the final chapter of Vittorio Rossi’s original Montreal series of dramas entitled, A Carpenter’s Trilogy; three powerful plays, inspired by true events, about an Italian family finding new life in Montreal over the course of 40 years.

What happens when a man of superhuman strength, will power, and death-defying love for his family enters mortal combat with the remorseless memories of a time gone by; a time when all the people in his world seemed to have turned against him? To find out, come with us to the home of 82 year-old, Silvio Rosato, a man removed some four decades from the day of his arrival in Montreal, an aging carpenter now inexplicably engaged in the dismantling of his own life, a life he had constructed with the care and devotion of a master builder.

Set Design by John C. Dinning
Costume Design by Elli Bunton
Lighting design by Luc Prairie
Stage Manager Melanie St-Jacques
Assistant Stage Manager Alexie Lalonde-Steedman

Productions Centaur

Théâtre Centaur
453, St-François-Xavier
Box office : 514-288-3161

 

 

review by Geneviève Germain

Playwright Vittorio Rossi is back this year at Centaur Theatre with the third and last part of A Carpenter’s Trilogy . Inspired by his own family’s history, starting with his father Silvio confronting his estranged father in Chicago in 1956 (Hellfire Pass, February 2006), continued with Silvio and his wife, mother, daughters and newborn son undertaking a new life in Montreal in 1957 (Carmela’s Table, October 2006), Rossi’s story now brings us into this fully grown family in 2004 with The Carpenter.

The first two plays were filled with animated discussions between family members as secrets and emotions were unravelled. This third play makes no exception: still exploring relationships, sometimes using a little humour to lighten the ambiance. But it is clearly the softer play of the three, as the young and hot-tempered Silvio is now aging and less present, leaving it to the rest of the family to argue over difficult matters. As 82 years-old Silvio is slowly falling into an unforgiving illness, his wife and kids must learn to accept him as he is and try to accompany him as best as they can along the tough road of memory loss.

Raising many questions about relationships between parents and children and how we don’t always fully understand the people we are closest to, The Carpenter takes us at times down memory lane. Luciano, Silvio’s son, tries to discover as much as he can about his father’s past thereby reintroducing younger Silvio (always fiery Richard Zeppieri) and his wife Carmela (Anita La Selva), who play the roles they already held in the first parts of the trilogy.  These inputs in the play could seem at first a little confusing for those who haven’t seen the other plays, but the story holds itself well enough together for a newcomer to follow the plot.

Directed by Gordon McCall, who also directed part I and II of the A Carpenter’s Trilogy, the play unfolds smoothly at first, graced with dynamic dialogues between the characters. Patricia Yeatman as the older Carmela is striking as she metamorphoses entirely into this determinated and loving elderly wife. Ellen David and Giovanna Carruba, as Maria and Liliana, Silvio’s daughters, both bring great energy to the stage and unique characteristics to the roles they play, Maria being more free-spirited and Liliana more down-to-earth. In the role of Luciano, Andreas Apergis brings great depth in his character who is torn by many questions.

Unfortunately, the second part of the play doesn’t appear as brilliant. Even tough David Calderisi manages to incarnate perfectly the now growingly confused and lost Silvio, giving way to a better understanding of what Alzheimer’s disease stands for, the play holds no surprises and falls into easily presumed and foreseen emotions. Words and sentences fall flat as we seem to have heard and seen the pattern before, leaving us craving for just a little more sincerity, or maybe more silences that talk for themselves.

As The Carpenter marks the end of Vittorio Rossi’s trilogy, we can only applaud the continuity that has been ensured between every play. This last play levels with Hellfire Pass, but I must say that my favourite part of this trilogy remains Carmela’s Table.

16-10-2007