Reviews for Life in the Raw
Theatromania July 15, 2012 by Lauren Gillett
Hope and heartache collide in this harrowing family drama
It may be a humid summer evening, but the audience shivers along with three sisters huddled around a stove on stage. Set in Montreal during the grey days of the Depression, Life in the Raw follows the lives of one family as they struggle both with their own individual dreams and the heartbreaking reality they must face. On stage at this year's Toronto Fringe Festival, the production was crated from memories and stories passed down to Montreal native Barbara Larose from older relatives who has experienced the great Depression firsthand.
From the very first scene, it is clear that this is a tightly-knit family who care for each other a great deal. Kathleen (Denise Norman) is the strong matriarch of the family. Her daughters Hope (Brianne Tucker), Faith (Rielle Braid), and the youngest Nellie (Kaitlin Lane) are three vastly different personalities, but all look out for and support one another. Their father William (Rick Jones) is a complex character whose extra-marital affairs are alluded to by his daughters throughout the production.
The audience is able to connect with the characters early on in the story through the very effective use of individual songs performed with passion and emotion. Little Nellie reveals that she wants to work for the Eaton's Catalogue when she grows up, Faith wants to be an MGM movie star, and Hope wants to help others through her work with the Salvation Army. Kathleen has had to take in laundry to earn extra money, happy to do so for her family, but her husband William describes the shame this has brought upon him as the man in the family.
A devastating twist is revealed half-way through Life in the Raw that shocks the family, and the audience, to its core. Because of this shock, the family must become closer than ever before, and the audience is on the edge of their seats hoping they will all pull through. Rounded out by beautifully performed songs, Life in the Raw tells a story rich in emotion and heartbreak. Not a dry eye could be found at the end of the performance, but hearts were warmed by this hopeful, inspired story.
It may be a humid summer evening, but the audience shivers along with three sisters huddled around a stove on stage. Set in Montreal during the grey days of the Depression, Life in the Raw follows the lives of one family as they struggle both with their own individual dreams and the heartbreaking reality they must face. On stage at this year's Toronto Fringe Festival, the production was crated from memories and stories passed down to Montreal native Barbara Larose from older relatives who has experienced the great Depression firsthand.
From the very first scene, it is clear that this is a tightly-knit family who care for each other a great deal. Kathleen (Denise Norman) is the strong matriarch of the family. Her daughters Hope (Brianne Tucker), Faith (Rielle Braid), and the youngest Nellie (Kaitlin Lane) are three vastly different personalities, but all look out for and support one another. Their father William (Rick Jones) is a complex character whose extra-marital affairs are alluded to by his daughters throughout the production.
The audience is able to connect with the characters early on in the story through the very effective use of individual songs performed with passion and emotion. Little Nellie reveals that she wants to work for the Eaton's Catalogue when she grows up, Faith wants to be an MGM movie star, and Hope wants to help others through her work with the Salvation Army. Kathleen has had to take in laundry to earn extra money, happy to do so for her family, but her husband William describes the shame this has brought upon him as the man in the family.
A devastating twist is revealed half-way through Life in the Raw that shocks the family, and the audience, to its core. Because of this shock, the family must become closer than ever before, and the audience is on the edge of their seats hoping they will all pull through. Rounded out by beautifully performed songs, Life in the Raw tells a story rich in emotion and heartbreak. Not a dry eye could be found at the end of the performance, but hearts were warmed by this hopeful, inspired story.
Mooney on Theatre July 8, 2012 by Crystal Woods
Life in the Raw is perhaps the most ambitious play I've seen so far at the Fringe, incorporating music, historical detail and family drama into one 60-minute show. This production follows the story of Montreal family living through the Great Depression. Three sisters (Kaitlin Lane, Brianne Tucker, and Rielle Braid) have their own dreams of escaping their situation, which include living with their under-appreciated mother (Denise Norman) and philandering father (Rick Jones). But their dreams are interrupted when a family tragedy - no-spoilers - turns their already bleak lives upside-down.
Each character stops the action at one point to sing their own back-story musical number, but that's about the extent of the musical component in this show. I felt like the music could have been integrated into the story more, instead of pausing the action the way it did.
That said, the actors are all good singers and the numbers I did enjoy were Hope's Hollywood song and Faith's Salvation Army song (performed by Tucker and Braide respectively). I also liked some of the staging, including an intense fight scene, and the attention paid to the period detail of the sets.
Life in the Raw is a good family Fringe offering, as it has a Little House on the Prairies historical earnestness t it. I feel like it might be a good show to perform in schools to give kids an insight into this period of time.
That said, I do think further development could be done. The groundwork is here for a good play, but the story could be expanded to go deeper with the characters and make the music more organic to the story.
Each character stops the action at one point to sing their own back-story musical number, but that's about the extent of the musical component in this show. I felt like the music could have been integrated into the story more, instead of pausing the action the way it did.
That said, the actors are all good singers and the numbers I did enjoy were Hope's Hollywood song and Faith's Salvation Army song (performed by Tucker and Braide respectively). I also liked some of the staging, including an intense fight scene, and the attention paid to the period detail of the sets.
Life in the Raw is a good family Fringe offering, as it has a Little House on the Prairies historical earnestness t it. I feel like it might be a good show to perform in schools to give kids an insight into this period of time.
That said, I do think further development could be done. The groundwork is here for a good play, but the story could be expanded to go deeper with the characters and make the music more organic to the story.
Ontario Arts Review, July 9, 2012 by DG
Montreal in the dirty 30s is familiar to me... I WAS THERE! IT was the depression and many of the details that Barbara Larose and Rick Jones have included in this musical memoir reverberated. The frequent hunger pangs; scavenging coal; and landlord avoidance were endemic to both the poor Jewish and French Catholics of our St Urbain 'hood. This play showed me that the English/Gentile community was not unaffected by the period. Kaitlin Lane, Rielle Braid & Brianne Tucker are three siblings with different dreams, ambitions and philosophies that are presented through dramatic solo arias composed by Jones. The focal personality is Denise Norman as the mater familias and she is a powerhouse, in both portrayal and characterisation. She subtly exudes the strength that holds her group together as a unit despite the challenges and deprivation of that era. Her Kathleen epitomizes both my Grandmothers! Director Larose wisely includes a post-tragedy denouement of later success and happiness that reflects female indomitability, thus ending this effort on an optimistic note. Life in the Raw is a very professional and obviously exceedingly dedicated effort by the creative team as well as the talented cast and crew
Reviews of other work by Thick and Thin
NOW Magazine, Thursday July 8, 1999
Anti-Harris Musical Fine
Millennium Madness Sale!, by Rick Jones, directed by Barbara Larose, with Catherine Glenn, Sharon Heldt, Kate Hewlett, Christopher Sharp, and Evan Tsitsias. Presented by Thick and Thin at the George Ignatieff: NNNN
On paper, Rick Jones' Millennium Madness Sale! sounds dreadful. A musical about the effects of cutbacks on human lives, it might seem too sincere, too liberal, too dull. Instead, it's a moving and rousing peak behind boardroom doors and newspaper headlines. It's socially aware entertainment. Kurt Weill comes to T.O.
Set during the auctioning off of social undesirables, the piece focuses on the re-education of auctioneer/MPP Martin MacDonald (Tsitsias), a former liberal who's become blind to the effects his governments's policies have on individual lives.
Earnest propaganda? Slightly sentimental? A variation on A Christmas Carol? Sure. But it's also a clever, inspired and efficiently directed look at our social problems.
Starring the most consistently strong vocal cast I've seen at the fest, the show never tells us what to think, but instead allows us to see and feel. That's good theatre. Whatever your politics.
Glen Sumi
Millennium Madness Sale!, by Rick Jones, directed by Barbara Larose, with Catherine Glenn, Sharon Heldt, Kate Hewlett, Christopher Sharp, and Evan Tsitsias. Presented by Thick and Thin at the George Ignatieff: NNNN
On paper, Rick Jones' Millennium Madness Sale! sounds dreadful. A musical about the effects of cutbacks on human lives, it might seem too sincere, too liberal, too dull. Instead, it's a moving and rousing peak behind boardroom doors and newspaper headlines. It's socially aware entertainment. Kurt Weill comes to T.O.
Set during the auctioning off of social undesirables, the piece focuses on the re-education of auctioneer/MPP Martin MacDonald (Tsitsias), a former liberal who's become blind to the effects his governments's policies have on individual lives.
Earnest propaganda? Slightly sentimental? A variation on A Christmas Carol? Sure. But it's also a clever, inspired and efficiently directed look at our social problems.
Starring the most consistently strong vocal cast I've seen at the fest, the show never tells us what to think, but instead allows us to see and feel. That's good theatre. Whatever your politics.
Glen Sumi
Critical acclaim for Barbara Larose
John Kaplan NOW Magazine, calls Barbara Larose's production of Wit by Margaraet Edson - "strong and moving", and "full of heart and wit" NNN
Glen Sumi NOW Magzine, "Awesome Albee" of Barbara Larose's Fringe production of The American Dream by Edward Albee "Razor sharp production"... "Director Barbara Larose and an across-the -board fine cast capture the right tone of barely restrained hostility in a play tha...holds up incredibly well today. Not to be missed." NNNN Critics Pick
Christopher Hoyle, eye Weekly of Barbara Larose's production of The Real World? by Michel Tremblay "gripping Alumnae Theatre production" "Director Barbara Larose has drawn such finely detailed, highly naturalistic performance for the whole cast" "The tension never lets up as Larose guides the action to its devastating conclusion" 4 STARS
Jon Kaplan NOW Magazine of Barbara Larose's production of The Real World? by Michel Tremblay "strongly cast", "The best Alumnae production in several years" NNN
NOW Magazine of Barbara Larose's production of Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf by Edward Albee "This Woolf has bite" Barbara Larose's production captures most of the animosity and tension of the script - breathtaking for several reasons" NNN
Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine of Barbara Larose's Fringe production of Wanda's Visit and Funeral Parlour by Christopher Durang "a battle charge production", "nails the laughs" NNN
Glen Sumi NOW Magzine, "Awesome Albee" of Barbara Larose's Fringe production of The American Dream by Edward Albee "Razor sharp production"... "Director Barbara Larose and an across-the -board fine cast capture the right tone of barely restrained hostility in a play tha...holds up incredibly well today. Not to be missed." NNNN Critics Pick
Christopher Hoyle, eye Weekly of Barbara Larose's production of The Real World? by Michel Tremblay "gripping Alumnae Theatre production" "Director Barbara Larose has drawn such finely detailed, highly naturalistic performance for the whole cast" "The tension never lets up as Larose guides the action to its devastating conclusion" 4 STARS
Jon Kaplan NOW Magazine of Barbara Larose's production of The Real World? by Michel Tremblay "strongly cast", "The best Alumnae production in several years" NNN
NOW Magazine of Barbara Larose's production of Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf by Edward Albee "This Woolf has bite" Barbara Larose's production captures most of the animosity and tension of the script - breathtaking for several reasons" NNN
Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine of Barbara Larose's Fringe production of Wanda's Visit and Funeral Parlour by Christopher Durang "a battle charge production", "nails the laughs" NNN