Think
back to the days of your childhood. Were you ever guilty of bullying
someone? Were you bullied yourself? Or were you like the many
spectators who stood by and did little to intervene? We all seem to
fit into one of these categories although it’s difficult, if
not impossible, for some of us to reflect honestly about the past.
For
Eugene Michael Carter II, the central character of Stephen
Guy-McGrath and Steven Mayoff’s Bully,
it’s not only an experience that needs re-examining,
the grim consequence is severe enough to necessitate scientific
context.
Floating
helplessly in a universe of fear, 10-year-old Carter (Stephen
Guy-McGrath) attempts to “go back to the beginning”
when he once called his tormentor a friend. The imaginary Stephen
Hawking (Alex Poch-Goldin) rides along with Carter for
a cosmological journey to analyze the data.
By
replaying the traumatic events that lead to a tragic conclusion,
Carter aims to prevent the inevitable.
There’s
more to this nightmare than just his bully, Robert Glassco.
Carter’s mother and priestly headmaster are of no help
to his plight while functioning as psychological persecutors in their
own sense. Alex Poch-Goldin plays both of these
characters with barmy conviction and ravenous speed.
It’s
no surprise that Stephen Guy-McGrath lends Carter
courageous merit in the course of prevailing chaos. As author and
actor, he knows full-heartedly how the essence of the story should
lead his character. His suspended harnessing act, which episodically
breaks up the show, won’t guarantee him an audition with Cirque
du Soleil but the actor’s accomplishments
with feet on level ground is where his talent is most impressive.
Theory
heavy at times, with chat of quantum physics and thermodynamics,
lacing Bully with science-speak is a mixture of risk
and innovation. Unlike Darren O’Donnell’s
[boxhead], which left a similar theatrical fingerprint
when staged at Theatre Passe Muraille last June, Bully
never loses sight of what its narrative is intended to be.
Preventing
the play’s polemically driven theme from decelerating the
action, director Ted Dykstra manipulates the dark text and
triggers humour in all the right places. He keeps his cast in motion
throughout the low-tech set and maintains pace and intensity while
encouraging perfect support from his design team to convey a variety
of locations and moods.
Bully
shows that imagination can be a catalyst for escape when all
else fails. For Carter, it’s an experiment he hopes
will lead to redemption.
