The Eyes Of Heaven

By Beverley Cooper

Director: Gina Wilkinson

Blyth Festival Of Canada (www.blythfestival.com)

Blyth Theatre

Runs: June 26^th to August 11^th 2007

4 ½ Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Known for being the most perpetually progressive theatre in Canada for Canadian playwrights, this year’s Blyth Festival is showcasing another batch of its finest including Beverley Cooper’s play The Eyes Of Heaven. Cooper is this years Blyth Festival’s playwright in residence, courtesy of the Canadian Arts council; it is the generous support of Canadian writers by the Council that has allowed for many writers to focus on their craft and produce compelling stories. Cooper is no different in this regard, as she has moulded and shaped a riveting and authentic story of family and life outside the norm in The Eyes Of Heaven.

Eloise (Laura Shutt) and her Mother Glenn (Susan Stackhouse) are recovering a year later from the loss of Eloise’s father and Glenn’s husband. With grief playing a wicked undercurrent of unresolved issues, Eloise and Glenn go to task as a Mother-Daughter team on the verge of crumbling. Neither of them want to be part of this team and neither one is willing to relinquish the bond, after all Eloise is fifteen with all the teen angst involved in that, while Glenn seeks to create a ‘normal’ home life while taking charge of both parent roles and being chief bread maker. Aside from the natural push-me-pull-me banter of the relationship, Glenn sees Eloise slipping away as her grades start to plummet, her interest in Shakespeare and Science class have considerably dulled. Glenn allows Eloise to go to a party, but when her curfew has expired and Eloise is nowhere to be seen, it is Glenn’s mothering duty to stay vigil at the front porch until her daughter’s return more than two hours late. Eloise tells of an unbelievable experience that rivals ‘the dog ate my homework’ excuse, but it is Eloise’s intensity at explaining a bizarre and supernatural event in a cornfield that has the audience questioning how much of her explanation is a devised excuse. What follows is a heart rendering story of a family broken, a girl whose lost her way, a mother who has to stand on her own two feet and an undefineable event that has the whole small town talking and the new ‘black’ science teacher Mr. Barlow (Andrew Moodie) searching for answers from Eloise.

The acting was exemplary as newcomer Laura Shutt, played a young girl with all her annoying teenage habits to an awkward realism. Shutt really stood out and stood her ground against her Mother counterpart Susan Stackhouse, whose had a considerably longer career onstage. Both women, Stackhouse and Shutt played off of each other with dynamic magnetic pull, one drawing the other closer while the other pulled away. The chemistry between Stackhouse and Shutt was delightful to watch and eerie in their truthful performances. Even watching the two make breakfast in the morning seemed so typical and everyday, but also a fluidity of motion equivalent to a dance. Andrea Donaldson plays an enigmatic college student back for the summer as a news reporter for the local paper; Donaldson’s performance was hard to pin down, so I think she was possibly well suited to play the role of Christine. Andrew Moodie plays a multi-faceted philosophical science teacher amidst the reality and underlying perceptions of his community towards him. The role is complex as Moodie must border being a light-hearted teacher and a man on a mission. Moodie plays the role with an understated depth that is compelling for the audience to watch and decipher.

Aside from the great acting, the well thought out set design and the strong direction from Gina Wilkinson, it was the story by Beverley Cooper that made The Eyes Of Heaven so fascinating to experience. I couldn’t tell truthfully whether I was enjoying the play so much because of the quality of the production, or because the storyline was so intimately connected with my own life story as I too lost my father at a young age. I connected to The Eyes Of Heaven, that was easy enough to feel, but it was Cooper’s script that seemed so deliberately honest and ingrained in the human experience that had myself, and many others in the audience planted to our seats.

The Eyes Of Heaven is a production well worth seeing at the Blyth Festival Of Canada and a play worth performing elsewhere after its debut.