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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

In Context: Helen Lawrence



Helen Lawrence, the hi-tech experiment in film noir from visual artist Stan Douglas and writer Chris Haddock, comes to BAM on October 14. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of articles and videos related to the show. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought below and by posting on social media using #HelenLawrence.

Program Notes


Read

Article
Helen Lawrence—Dreaming in Art (BAM blog)
The gap between protective role-playing and flesh-and-blood human interaction is the liminal space conjured and occupied by Douglas’ work.

Article
Illustrator Nathan Gelgud reflects on noir and how he came to love the many films and faces that embody the genre.

Article
“It’s a 3-D movie. It’s a film-noir play. It’s a great big, fingers-crossed experiment” (The Globe and Mail)
“It’s a huge puzzle, really kind of brain-melting,” says Douglas of his stage-meets-screen noir creation.

Article
“Lisa Ryder takes another ride in 'imaginary rodeo' with Helen Lawrence” (TheStar.com)
The Helen Lawrence femme fatale discusses what it’s like to act with amid blue screens.

Watch & Listen

Video
Circa 1948 (Time)
Explore the historic Vancouver of Helen Lawrence with a new app from Stan Douglas.

Video
Helen Lawrence 3D Technology (YouTube)
A dog demonstrates the world-creating technology used to recreate Vancouver, 1948.

Video
Interview with Writer Chris Haddock (YouTube)
The brains behind the show’s snappy dialogue describes the show.

Now your turn...

What did you think? Has film noir been successfully updated for the 21st century? Will you be fedora shopping soon? Tell us what's on your mind in the comments below and on social media using #HelenLawrence.

10 comments:

  1. You wouldn't immediately jump to film noir as fun but that's what it was. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance!

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    1. This was a hell of a show. Thoroughly entertaining, and super satisfying! Go see it, everybody, you will love it!

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  2. You wouldn't immediately jump to film noir as fun but that's what it was. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance!

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  3. Once one gets past the production's visual novelty, the viewer is left with a half-baked noir tale and community theater level performances. Were this a Christmas present, I'd keep the wrappings and throw out the "gift".

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  4. We enjoyed the technology and the film noir, which partly seemed a spoof of noir. A little slow in parts but our group of six thought it was a splendid evening. Loved seeing the actors in colorful clothes and the black and white screen. Black and white is so powerful

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  5. Thought it was a very good performance. On a technical level it was very fun to watch the 3D sets and people performing in them. The acting was also well done. Plot wise it was fine, it wasn't too contrived and at the same time thematically all the subplots work and intertwined together. I would definatly recommend this to both fans of film noir and people looking for a fun satisfying show.

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    Replies
    1. Terrific actors. Very witty and atmospheric. We loved it!

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  6. The vision is there--the merging film noir with reality is innovative. The cast managed delivering strong performances somewhere in the margins of 1948 grainy film and a film crew with an audience as witness to this theatrical experiment. For the first 30 minutes or so, it was so interesting you mightn't have paid much attention to the plot--but once you did---I thought I was in a 1948 "B" film...probably a second feature. It's a novel production....worth mentioning...but needs work.

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  7. Interesting technology does not improve a weak underlying product .. the film noir lite was too lite .. Had the feel of a soap opera .. the "play" was formulaic .. was it a parody of a 40s film noir or simply a poor written imposter?

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  8. I am afraid that the new BAM tendency is to select plays that relay more on the sceneries rather than on acting and the play meaning or message. Could be also that directors are relaying more on the grandiosity of sceneries rather than the talent of actors, writers and the reason or reasons writers had at the moment he or she wrote the play. I am referring to these two wave productions Antigone and Helen Laurence.

    Maybe is not BAM but a new international theater tendency that produce plays to show technologies advances applied to the sceneries and the scene instead of relying in pure acting and play messages. I am not sure, but these fancy and big sceneries tendency in plays is not working for me. This is not the first time that this happens but it is happening again.

    I watched different productions around NYC where actors and the play itself are the central focus, and the results where fantastic. Sceneries, on the other hand, even they are important part of any production and they play a significant role, should be designed to support the acting and the message that the director and the writer want to tell to the audience, not to be the main attraction in a production.

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