THEATRE REVIEW: THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
17 Apr'10

‘What Happens Next’ keeps us on edge

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 5 out of 5

TORONTO - It may seem counterintuitive, but in the world of art, we often value most the things we cannot see. That includes the painter whose technique is all but invisible, the musician who can change our world with a single musical phrase and an actor who completely disappears into a role — all with the simple lift of an eyebrow or movement of a hand.

Daniel MacIvor has been that kind of actor for years, dazzling his fans with mercurial changes in character as he spins out elaborate and entertaining yarns that keep an audience on the edge of its seats and guessing until the very last moment.

Now, with the Toronto premiere of his latest one-man opus, titled THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT (which opened on the Berkeley Street Theatre mainstage Thursday), he seems to be moving closer to making his prodigious skill as a playwright every bit as invisible as his acting.

A Canadian Stage presentation of a Necessary Angel production, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT is yet another in a long line of one-man shows created by MacIvor, who supposedly retired from this particular genre a few years back, only to rethink it. It is also yet another collaboration with his long-time work-mate Daniel Brooks, who balances MacIvor’s writing and performing credit here with a directing and dramaturgy credit — in more ways than one.

As MacIvor’s one man shows go, there is much here that might seem familiar. But while it is in fact yet another kaleidoscope of colourful characters that use MacIvor’s body to have their say — all while leading us on a voyage full of delightful, spooky and surprising twists and turns — there’s something wildly different here as well. For while there is absolutely no discounting the fact that this is a major new work for the stage, it is almost impossible to see where MacIvor’s own voice leaves off and his playwright’s voice begins.

Certainly, as he hits the stage, entering in character through the audience, it’s almost possible to believe he’s the hyperkinetic MacIvor — running late thanks to a screw-up at the local coffee bar. And as he discusses his life — a marriage gone sour, an ongoing struggle with various addictions and a seemingly never-ending search to find or make peace within himself — it’s clear MacIvor is working with ink coloured by his own blood.

But before you can get caught up in sorting out the salacious details and separating the wheat of truth from the chaff of fiction, he’s off and running, supported at every turn by Brooks’ all-but-invisible direction and the elegantly simple design work of Kimberly Purtell (lights) and Richard Feren (sound).

And he crams a whole lot into 80 minutes, including visits with his alter-ego Warren, a jaded lawyer named Susan, an en route transsexual named Arron and a little boy named Kevin, referencing everything from The Little Mermaid and John Denver to the willful philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer.

And all of it seemingly flows in an unedited, unshaped stream of consciousness common of MacIvor — so if you’ve seen his work before and it’s not to your taste, chances are THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT isn’t going to change your mind. But if you’re a fan, you might want to catch this one soon because at the rate MacIvor is going, he might soon just disappear entirely.