Walter Borden is here to rock our worlds, and change our perspectives, with his solo show The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time. Dealing with everything from legacy to memory and how we pass all of that on, Borden’s incredible work is a moving, thought-provoking look at our lives and how we choose to stitch them together. Beautifully directed by Peter Hinton-Davis in association with the National Arts Centre (this is a remount of an NAC and Neptune Theatre production), The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time is truly a marvel.

Borden describes the play as a call for people of colour to redefine who they are, who they’ve been, and who they might one day be. He then takes us on a mesmerizing journey through childhood memories, tough times on the street, and hopes for the future. Punctuated with messages from the ancestors in the great beyond of the universe, there’s a fascinating flow to how Borden tells this story. We seem to jump around in time quite a bit, yet the projection, music, and lighting combine to allow us to easily follow Borden on his journey through time. The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time is also accompanied by an awesome setlist of music; I bopped along as Borden travelled from time to time, genre to genre, telling his inspiring tale.

The set for The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time is unlike anything I’ve seen before. On the stage itself there is a large circle which is lit. At three visible points on the circle, aligned like a compass, there are other lines creating small squares where some of the action takes place. In the centre of the stage there is a booth, which appears to be a sort of toll booth, with posts surrounding it. The back wall of that booth, along with the back wall of the stage, are both screens which at times show live video, at others magnificent designs. All of this was created and brought to life by Andy Moro, who created a dynamic space wherein Borden weaves his tales.

Walter Borden’s performance is, in a word, electrifying. His vivacity and tenacity shines in every moment of the production; the script flows from him like poetry and he keeps the audience rapt with attention throughout the play. Borden seamlessly changes from one personality to another, the props and costumes smartly hidden in the booth (or magically appearing from the dark). I am still in awe of how mesmerizing he was and how poignant the message of his work is. There are times when a play just hits you in the right and The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time certainly had moments like that for me.

One of those moments was right at the end of the play, when Borden shows us a beautiful quilt. He talks about how his Mama used to say that our lives were like a quilt, how each moment is like its own patch on our quilt; apart they don’t look like much, until you start to stitch them together. And it’s our drive, our gusto, that stitches it all together, so you have to make sure you’re stitches are even and that you’re putting it all together in the right pattern. This spoke deeply to my heart; I think at times it’s hard to see the quilt through all of the patches, especially if we’re not liking how a certain patch is turning out. But it’s just one part of the larger entity that is you, and that’s absolutely what my heart needed.

You cannot miss The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time; this is a work that will make you think and rethink about our lives, how we live them, and how we write our own stories. I can’t seem to stop thinking about this show, and I doubt you’ll be able to either! Make sure you get your tickets before it closes on October 15th! For more information and tickets, visit: https://tarragontheatre.com/plays/current-season/upcoming/the-last-epistle-of-tightrope-time/

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Walter Borden in The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time, from the Neptune Theatre production. Set, lighting, costume, projection design by Andy Moro. © Stoo Metz.

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