Theatre Review – 4th Line Theatre/Shirley Barrie’s Queen Marie

Marie Dressler was a force of nature whose fascinating life was crying out to be made into a play.  The Oscar-winning actress/comedienne was born in Cobourg and raised in Lindsay, and that made her the perfect subject for a 4^th Line Theatre production.

The company only does original plays anchored in Northumberland and Peterborough counties and the Kawartha Lakes district. Its outdoor productions, performed in the courtyard between three barns, are epic in nature because the company can field a large cast. Equity actors are surrounded by recent theatre school graduates and members of community theatre. There are 24 cast members in Queen Marie who play a multitude of gender-bending characters.

Playwright Shirley Barrie has created a play that is bursting with life, with the help of dramaturge Maja Ardal. Justin Hiscox has written the delightfully droll music that turns Queen Marie into a musical. Designer Julia Tribe’s colourful costumes are brilliant. They cover the period from the Gay Nineties to the Roaring Twenties, but are cleverly fashioned for quick costume changes, of which there are many.

Director Kim Blackwell has crafted a production rich in action, gilded by Monica Dottor’s to-the-point choreography. Blackwell has cleverly included a bevvy of nine nubile young dancers to be Dressler’s Greek chorus. Apparently, Dressler surrounded herself with gorgeous chorus girls when she was on Broadway, and these mostly teenagers do a terrific job with both singing and dancing, as well as reflecting Dressler’s highs and lows. Blackwell has loaded Dressler’s story with marvelous vignettes. A highlight is the scene detailing Dressler’s first foray into silent film where the actors move their mouths and physically act out the melodrama. It’s a laugh-out-loud moment.

The action covers Dressler’s early life beginning in 1874, and ends with her death in 1934. There is reference to her lesbian inclinations, but she also had a long liaison with a married man. Dressler’s ups and downs are chronicled in seamless fashion, but the second act does sag a bit with Dressler’s final films, and a portentous chorus, swaying back and forth, moaning about wind and rain.

The play details Dressler’s life in vaudeville, music hall, Broadway and film. Her signature song was “A Great Big Girl Like Me” that stressed her large frame and homely face. Barrie has created a larger than life character whose self-deprecating humour was her stock in trade. Dressler was the first to laugh at herself.

Shelley Simester gives the performance of a lifetime as Dressler. She is absolutely charismatic and holds centre court with her commanding presence. She can sing and dance, and can be very funny. She absolutely lives and breathes Dressler in a relentless performance that never stops. As she travels through the actress’ highs and lows, Simester shows subtle nuances that make her performance three dimensional. Her Queen Marie is complex and in-your-face, all at the same time. Simester is as vibrant at the end of the show as she is at the beginning.

The other equity actors are strong. Jeff Schissler is particularly effective playing everyone from movie mogul Louis B. Mayer to song and dance man Dan Daley. He has an excellent singing voice and can dance up a storm. I’d really like to see more of this young man and his compelling presence. Robert Winslow, Alison J. Palmer and Sedina Fiati all bring depth to their various characters. Fiati, with her character’s cynical reality check, is Dressler’s maid, and later friend, Mamie Steel. She is the perfect counterpoint to the outgoing Dressler and her eternal optimism.

Mention should be made of two young women who are recent theatre grads and show tremendous promise. Allie Dunbar really finds the dramatic arc of Claire Dubrey, Dressler’s lover, while Heather Maitland makes a sympathetic Nella Webb, Dressler’s long-suffering friend.

This production is a run don’t walk. Its grandeur, its comedy, its poignancy make it a most satisfying evening of theatre. 4^th Line, and director Kim Blackwell, have scored another winner.

Queen Marie, written by Shirley Barrie, (starring Shelley Simester, Robert Winslow, Alison J. Palmer, Sedina Fiati and Jeff Schissler, directed by Kim Blackwell), 4th Line Theatre, Jul. 3 to Aug. 4, 2012