“What is Hell?”

Take Wilde, famously charged with indecency in a time where it was still illegal to be queer who said: “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.” Or take Huxley, who was so much more than the dystopian fiction we’re forced to read in school, who said: “Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.” Or take Sartre, who at the height of the Second World War wrote: “Hell is other people!” in No Exit. Or, you can take rimbaud, a passionate philosopher and writer, just like these other three, who wanted nothing more than to bring beauty into a world he saw as ugly. Susanna Fournier’s take rimbaud, deftly directed by ted witzel, does just that – brings beauty into the world through its truth, through the hard lens with which it views our society and the hopes it has for the future. Blending time and place to create an impossible world, take rimbaud was the inspiration and validation I’ve been searching for.

Verlaine, Rimbaud, Sappho, and Sylvia Plath are at a party…no, this isn’t the beginning to a wonderfully queer joke, it’s the wild world which Fournier has created for take rimbaud. Four stage managers/narrators guide the audience through take rimbaud, fully aware that they’re creating a play and that we are all there to witness it. In this play, R and Paul are indie filmmakers who met online and fell in love, until Paul meets Sylv that is. She’s an aspiring writer who meets Sapph at a writer’s retreat. All four of them are passionate artists who feel lost in the world around them, desperately seeking love, understanding, and beauty in times where it feels like those things have forsaken them. Can they make a difference? Or is it too late?

Fournier’s text rings with the truths of not only our society, but of the times of its characters as well. Punctuated with facts about events happening on the same day throughout different periods of history, this melange of timelines reminds the audience that humanity has cycles it goes through: times of hardship, but also times of relative peace. The constant throughout all of these times is the tenacity of the human spirit and our desire for a better world. To me, take timbaud reinforced some of the core tenants by which I choose to live my life and made me feel seen in a way I haven’t in a long time. Every bit of art we make, every act of love we show to another human, and every spark of pure joy is an act of rebellion. “It shouldn’t have to be that way!” You’ll respond, and I’ve had the same thoughts myself. But in a world where the horrors come “not as single spies, but in battalions” as Shakespeare wrote, the most simple thing for us to do is to keep loving one another. Though it can be a hard choice, and one the people in power don’t want us to make, love, as these characters discover, can be the answer.

In the design and staging take rimbaud certainly plays on our constant state of surveillance in two different yet impactful ways. Firstly, the four stage manager/narrator characters are almost always on stage, watching the action, even calling out cues at times. While all four might not be on all of the time, there’s always at least one. This is aided by Ting – Huan 挺歡 Christine Urquhart’s industrial set design which dominates Buddies’ chamber space. With scaffolding to climb on and several levels of risers for the characters to walk on, there were plenty of places for them to be out of the way yet still observing the action. Second, is the use of live video throughout the production. Because Paul and R are making a film, it seems natural within the context of the play. However, thanks to Nicole Eun-Ju Bell’s projection design, it also has some of the most intimate moments of the play taking place on massive tarps and pieces of wood strategically placed around the room for all to see. This not only allows for all of the audience to witness moments which might otherwise be obstructed, it also gives this unnerving sense of consistently being watched and scrutinized which has been ingrained into our current society.

take rimbaud features a truly stellar cast of performers whose passion and artistry shine through every moment of this production. Breton Lalama, Hallie Seline, Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, and Cameron Laurie play the aforementioned narrator figures, noted as merely 1-4 in the program. This talented quartet not only have a great deal of physicality in their roles, but also change to become other characters as needed throughout the play. Thomas Mitchell Barnet’s R embodies the spirit of its inspiration – he’s seemingly always looking for the beautiful things in life. Barnet has a vulnerability and ferocity befitting the role. Julian De Zotti brings a vivacity and charisma to Paul which makes it no wonder that he’s at the peak of the love triangle in the story. Ruth Goodwin’s Sylv is gentle and yearning, and Goodwin brings that all to life perfectly. Rose Tuong’s Sapph is funny and wise, fitting for a character who happens to be thousands of years old. Each member of the cast brings their whole selves to their parts, making take rimbaud an entrancing experience.

“I need to believe that love makes fighters of us all.”

During take rimbaud, I found myself writing fewer notes about the play itself, and more of the lines which rang true for me, like the one above. To resonate so deeply with a work is refreshing, uplifting, and heartening – something I desperately need as I move out of one busy season and into another. But it has also kept me thinking about what we can do, even when we’re so burnt out, to keep up the fight. How have you made art lately? Made joy? Or shown love to someone? What has your little act of rebellion been today? In the director + playwright’s note for the play, Fournier says she wants the audience to feel “Seen. I want artists and thinkers and change-makers and anyone trying to keep moving towards aliveness and away from numbness to feel seen in this work.” Mission accomplished.

take rimbaud runs at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre until May 23. For more information and tickets, visit: https://buddiesinbadtimes.com/show/take-rimbaud/

---

Cover Photo: Photo of Julian De Zotti, Ruth Goodwin, and Thomas Mitchell Barnet by Wade Muir. Set and costume design by Ting Urquhart, lighting design by Darren Shaen, projection design by Nicole Eun-Ju Bell.

---

Thank you to my Patrons:
Natalia, Steve, Brendan, Deborah, and Phil

And to my supporters who’ve bought me a coffee:
Angelica and Paul, Anonymous, Adrianna, Caitlin, Jonathan, Jada, and Courtney

Would you like to become a Patron? Check out my Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/AViewfromtheBox

Or, you can buy me a coffee at: buymeacoffee.com/aviewfromthebox