The December Man (L'homme de décembre) by Colleen Murphy
Brian Dooley, Rylan Wilkie and Nancy Beatty asBenoit, Jean and Kathleen in The December Man (L'homme de décembre).
Photo by Brian Harder.
How did The December Man (L'homme de décembre) make you feel?
Please share your comments on the play.
Please share your comments on the play.
12 comments:
I was nearly in tears at the December Man. It was an incredible performance. It made me contemplate my own courage and ability to deal with the loss of a family member. I stongly recommend this play. Thank you.
The acting was superb in this play. It dealt with a difficult subject in an interesting way. I feel it could have been tighter, less onerous details and pauses. It is hard to keep your attention when you can hear a pin drop most of the time.
Loved it. I found the parents to be a sympathetic couple, and the fact that I found I liked them, whilst being ambivalent towards their son speaks to both the quality of the writing and acting. The choice for closing scene was inspired. I always like it when the play provokes debate in the car on the way home.
Also thought the acting was spot on. However, I felt the early part of the play was confusing and dragged. Did the playwright change history, and we are seeing Marc Lepine's parents - what is the boy's connection to the incident – what is the motivation for suicide by the parents and, then we wonder, by the son? I found that I was spending too much effort trying to sort out the story in the early stage. Also, the critical moment of the son’s suicide did not seem to have enough weight. The play is focused mostly on the parents. Only later in the play do we really begin to see how the son felt that he had totally failed to do his manly duty and protect the young women, one of whom may have been special to him. At this moment everything began to fall into place for me - the total sadness of the situation. My heart went out to all the characters. I will recommend this play but will be more forthcoming about the story so that others will be able to immerse themselves in the play and not spend time trying to decode the plot in the early stages.
What else can be said about the performances displayed in this show? They're brilliant. I've been lucky to see a large majority of the shows at the festival this year (can’t wait for This Is Cancer), and naturally, I was moved the most by this piece. Of all the shows I’ve seen over these past few weeks I think it’s the best written. I have a hard time watching shows and movies ect. that capitalize on the drama for the sake being profound, but the way this show was played in reverse cut the melodrama right out and instead I was immediately drawn into the world of this family. I was entertained and provoked by the other shows but this show was a definite favorite. It’s so encouraging to see a first production and have it be so spot on. Go see this show! Don’t think about it- just go!
I don't like anything especially plays that start at the bottom and work their way to the top. I missed the first 3 minutes of the play and was lost throughout. It was well written but another patron had to tell me how it began -
lost!
This was the best play of the festival. The question of why none of the men present at the massacre were able to defend the women has troubled me ever since it happened (could I have done any better?), but I've never seen any discussion of this question. Thank you; it was very moving. Ordinarily I object to full-length plays presented without intermission, but I can see why this one was so presented.
Paul Denham Saskatoon
Going backward in time is a way to go counterclockwise and stop what happed but unfortunately it happened…The end was uncompleted or unfinished and I would rather see it as the start (the couple on the couch unconscious) because we can't do anything now.
AK
this play was boring and very slow paced. I didn't care at all about any of the characters which made 90 minutes feel like a lifetime. The constant set changes were distracting and often unecessary.
I feel that this was a very good exploration of "the footnotes to a catastrophe" -- excellent acting by all 3. hr
I was shaking at the end. I was living in London at the time of the attacks on the Tube and the whole memory of trying to contact loved ones that day came flooding back.
I loved the originality of this play in how it moved back in time. That really emphasized the emotions of the characters and not on the initial event. One thing I would like to suggest is that the first scene be repeated at the end of the play, as to be able to understand exactly where the mom and dad are coming from.
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