Review: (Kingston) A Beautiful View

A Beautiful Play

by Will Britton

(Republished in collaborating with Kingston Theatre Reviews

It is through the partnership of Theatre Kingston and Volcano Theatre that A Beautiful View, Daniel MacIvor’s play about another partnership, is currently playing in the Baby Grand Studio.  Two women appear on stage and tell the story of their relationship.  Sound simple?  Of course it does.  But of course it’s not.

As is typical of MacIvor’s work, A Beautiful View is far from a neatly packaged, linear and straightforward night at the theatre.  In this case, though, such is entirely suitable because the same can be said of the nature of self-identity, friendship, and love as explored in the piece.  Just like any meaningful relationship, the play demands a level of commitment – a combination of effort and perseverance to see it through to its end.  For it’s only at the end that the various elements of the narrative come full circle and truly make sense.  For those who manage to navigate the entire journey of the two performers, it is a beautiful and touching experience.  The risk, however, is that there will, no doubt, also be some audience members who find themselves left behind, with more questions than answers – quite possibly appreciating the artistic merit of the production, but not fully understanding it.  Kind of like a box of light.

In a Word... Brett Christopher, Artistic Producer, Theatre Kingston

Make theatre necessary.
Build a theatre, bigger budgets, bigger shows, national tours, more staff, take over the world.
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

Brett Christopher has been an active member of the Canadian theatre community since graduating from George Brown theatre school in 2001.  Celebrated as both a professional actor and director, he has worked with a variety of theatre companies including, but not limited to:  Canadian Stage, Stratford Festival, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Theatre by the Bay, Segal Theatre, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, Magnus Theatre, Sunshine Festival, Port Hope Festival, Actors Repertory Company, and Convergence Theatre.  He is also the recipient of both the Masques and MECCA Awards for his performance of the solo show I Am My Own Wife at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal.  Before coming to Theatre Kingston, Brett was the Head of Marketing and Development/Artistic Associate at Gananoque’s Thousand Islands Playhouse under Artistic Director Greg Wanless.  Currently, he is the Artistic Producer of Theatre Kingston, sits on the Kingston Arts Council’s Advocacy Committee, and is the Chair of the City of Kingston’s Arts Advisory Committee. 

CHARPO:  First, tell us about you - especially the part of the journey that brought you to Kingston.

CHRISTOPHER: I had been a Queen's University student in the early 90s and then had left for theatre school in Toronto. But, as luck would have it, I ended up falling for and marrying a native Kingstonian. After a decade together in Toronto, we decided that it was time to move to a smaller community. In all honesty, it wasn't a very difficult decision - I was working consistently as an actor in Toronto but even more consistently on assorted mind-numbing 'joe-jobs'. I decided that, while I wanted to stay active in the theatre community, I needed something stable in order to raise a family. The opportunity at Theatre Kingston came along and I was lucky enough to land the job. It is an ideal situation because I have been able to continue to work as an actor/director in the industry as well as an administrator here at home. Each of those responsibilities informs the other and has made me so much more understanding of the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into each piece of theatre on this country's stages.