The Clockmaker by Stephen Massicotte
In 2014 we partnered with Embrace Theatre and brought a wonderful show to the Live Five Independent Theatre stage. This was our first full scale production and one of our favourites!
A Play by Stephen Massicotte
A Co-Production with Embrace Theatre
Jan. 15-18 & 22-25, 2015
As part of Live Five’s 11th Season
Synopsis
““Who are you?” is the question. Heinrich’s answer sets in motion a mystery. Interrogated by a distrustful immigration official Heinrich must come to terms with forbidden love, and crimes he may or may not have committed. Is it possible to be guilty of being about to commit a crime?”
Why The Clockmaker?
The Clockmaker is a really unique piece of theatre. It is an award-winning play by a prominent Canadian playwright, Stephen Massicotte. It won the Betty Mitchell Award for Best New Play in 2009 and was named best Canadian play of the 2010-2011 season at the inaugural Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards.
But why should it be seen? Because it is unusual, challenging, inspiring theatre. The Clockmaker is a love story, but not a conventional love story. It centers on the lives of two soul mates who never truly found one another. Though deeply metaphysical, the play is not heavy-handed about its timeline shifts or its exploration of the mysterious. It is a deceptively simple play that reveals itself to be so much more than a whodunit or a superficial boy-meets-girl. The light-bulb moments of the play are truly breathtaking. It is also a play of deep innocence and understated humour.
ENSEMBLE
Mann – Charlie Peters
Frieda – Alex Hartshorn
Adolphus – Grahame Kent
Madame Pierre – Jamie Lee Shebelski
CREATIVE TEAM
Director – Johnna Wright
Stage Manager – Laura Andreas
Set Designer – Jenna Maren
Sound Designer – Chris Donlevy
Costume Designer – Miranda Hughes
Lighting Designer – Will Brooks
SUPPORT TEAM
Social Media Coordinator for Embrace Theatre – Lauren Allen
Embrace Theatre Associate Artist in Charge of Fundraising – Bethani Jade
Neverending Highway Head of Fundraising- Jordan Svenkeson
“Backstage” Videos Consultant/Trailer- Red Mango Media
Poster, Program, and Publicity Design – Maureen Schimnowsky
Reviews
Time flies in The Clockmaker, a play that tick-tocks past the 90-minute mark without you even noticing.
It moves fast because it’s intriguing and engaging. Rather than telling a conventional romance, playwright Stephen Massicotte arranges the scenes so they seem out of order and perhaps even in different dimensions, giving the characters a constant sense of déjà vu. There’s also a mystery. Charlie Peters, as clockmaker Heinrich Mann, finds himself being questioned by a bureaucrat. Johnna Wright’s direction brings out the comedy here. Madame Pierre (Jamie Lee Shebelski) expertly lets the nervous man, seated in a wobbly chair but too afraid to call it uncomfortable, blurt things out that are unintentionally self-incriminating.
For example, by denying adultery and especially murder, he’s somehow admitting to adultery. Enter Frieda (Alex Hartshorn) who needs a clock fixed. She and Heinrich are apparent strangers, but there’s something between the two that remains agonizingly out of reach.
This much we do know: Frieda is the victim of a beastly husband (Grahame Kent as Adolphus) who takes his belt to her in one disturbing scene. Instantly established as repulsive, Adolphus is first seen eating an onion and, with his fingers, sardines out of a can. After the beating, he couldn’t be more sorry; you can see the cycle of abuse starting to repeat.
Kent is convincing enough that you really, really don’t like him.
Frieda and Henrich’s blossoming romance is the heart of the play, and it’s delightful because the two are so innocent and the acting so good. Peters invests Heinrich with an endearing quality and you can’t help but put yourself in his position when he’s intimidated by authority and then cheer on his increasing confidence.
And Hartshorn is nothing less than a revelation as Frieda, an actor with great emotional range, fresh and naive in some scenes and haunted and troubled in others. At Friday’s opening, she was completely in the moment and delivered a magnetic, flawless performance.
Jenna Maren’s interesting set, unlike the flow of the play, is linear: the clock shop at one end, the interrogation table in the middle, the home of Frieda and Adolphus at the other end, set against shipping pallets to make it look rundown. There’s a bit of magic as well, when an umbrella appears to give shelter from the rain.
The story can be frustrating to follow because key details are maddeningly withheld. And since we’re dealing with the concept of time, even when it’s over, it takes awhile to realize what seemed to have happened. But it comes, it just takes time.
- Cam Fuller, The StarPheonix
Backstage Videos
Ever wanted to know what goes into making theatre?
How exactly does the play you see on opening night come to be?
Look no further than Embrace Theatre and Neverending Highway Production’s
Backstage Videos!!