Summary
Embodying multiple personalities so skillfully has made [Daniel MacIvor] what one Canadian newspaper called the country's "most popular postmodern playwright." That MacIvor's plays often find him reaching beyond the "fourth wall" to speak directly to audiences has also earned his work the "metatheatrical" label - plays cognizant of their contrivance as plays.
For MacIvor, his approach has less to do with theory than with storytelling conceived as a highly social activity - a link with the Cape Breton of his youth, where oral narrative traditions thrive. "The fact that we've made a choice to be in this room together should be acknowledged," he says in a recent phone interview from his home in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He draws a distinction between his style and the more conventional "theater of observation and appreciation." The deeper engagement an audience may feel with his play, he says, gives it a heart that labels such as "postmodern" fail to imply.If there's something sinister in this suburban drama, it isn't the suburbs. [Leonard]'s neighbors don't cause his death, and yet they are guilty of something. Therein lie the most poignant questions raised in the course of this unique, powerful play. "It isn't about how we don't connect," MacIvor says. "It's about how it takes all of us to tell our story. I love all these characters." He's careful not to reveal a favorite, though: "I'm not allowed to say because the others will get mad at me."See the full content of this document
Extract
Street Theater; Preview: Cul-de-Sac
North American culture is wild about euphemisms. Rapacious oil companies are now "energy companies." Weapons plants make "anti-personnel products." Housing developments take their names from the wildlife destroyed to make room for them. But in Canadian playwright-actor Daniel MacIvor's new one-man show, Cul-de-sac, the ...
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