Luminato in Toronto: “Indian Summer” performances.
It was Indian culture weekend for us, as part of Toronto’s newest “artsfest”, Luminato, the second edition I think (well it is for us at least – last year went to Philip Glass’ concert, a sort of multimedia affair built around Leonard Cohen’s “Book of Longing” – poems and drawings).
First “A Throw of Dice”. The 1929 classic silent film directed by German Franz Osten, telling the mythical story of a beautiful girl and the rivalry between two blood-related kings, the generous King Ranjit and the treacherous King Sohat, for Sunita’s heart. Great photography; black & white establish contrasts in the image that are lost in color films. And those dramatic close-ups on such expressive faces, exaggerated as if to compensate for the lack of sound and color… The novelty though is the score; by Nitin Sawhney, the Indian cultural icon. Absolutely fitting and inspiring! (For more on him and the show see: http://www.luminato.com/festival/eng/events/ID16/index.php) Sawhney was there, playing the piano and accompanied by a couple of female vocalists, a flute player, and a drummer (playing a “tabla”) – all Indians – and the whole of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (at the – open-air and only partly covered – Molson Amphitheatre, where Nitin and the orchestra had to compete with the raging thunder of a summer storm that brought drops of rain blown into the Amphitheatre and water running down the angled cement floor…Great evening, nonetheless!)
(Note: had a quick bite at “Cowbell”, bistro-like resto at the far end of Queen West. Open less that a year ago; very popular judging by the crowd that was there – had to sit on the one-table terrace fronting the restaurant on the sidewalk. Heavy fare though: Angus beef, pork, duck, etc. Went for the appetizers only – charcuterie plate and asparagus dish and glass of wine. The cook – I assume – came out, for a breath of fresh air I suppose; telling us about his produce garden on the rooftop and “lovage”, a very potent herb with which he was spicing the pork dish tonight…)
And then, the day after, Shakespeare à la Indian, or should I say à la sub-Continent. Fascinating! A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, by a troupe that expresses itself in Tamil, 5 other Indian dialects and English, none of which I can really understand (certainly not Elizabethan English!) But what “gestuel”! I remember the same play, some 35 years, in London, put together by Peter Brooks. As fascinating but different (I was just a kid then, discovering the world – London is a good place to start!) But however different, both were wholesomely inspiring – I guess that is the virtue of the Bard…the universal value of it all. I enjoy and wish it on every one that reads this. Whoever puts it together (I think our national Robert Lepage did it too in London some 15 years ago), go and see A Midsummer’s Night Dream – erotic, young people at play, whatever; enjoy it - it does reconcile you with life…
Toronto (actually, mid-air, on my way to Vancouver), June 17, 2008
