“Dip dip, swish swish.”
With this haunting chant, actress Kate Story memorizes the audience in Bernie Martin’s powerful one-act play Myrmidon, running from March 26th to 29th at The Theatre On King (TTOK) in downtown Peterborough. Directed by Ryan Kerr, Myrmidon is the feature play as part of Public Energy’s Emergency #21 festival of new dance and performance.
Originally presented in 1995 at The Union Theatre, this revival of Myrmidon has been a labour of love for Ryan Kerr and the company at TTOK.
Kerr was involved with the original production 20 years ago, and this is the first in a number of shows that Kerr plans to revive in the months to come at TTOK from the heyday of the Union Theatre. Furthermore, in 2016 Kerr plans to help keep Bernie Martin’s legacy alive by putting on an entire festival of the late playwright’s work. Myrmidon is just a taste of much more to come.
Bernie Martin was a much-respected and influential playwright, actor, and songwriter in the Peterborough arts scene during the early ’90s. It was after being diagnosed with throat cancer in 1994 that he wrote Myrmidon. Bernie passed away a year later in 1995, having never seen the production on the stage.
As a result, the production is a dreamy yet dire look at life and death, written by a performer who was facing his own mortality. It’s a powerful presentation full of song, story, comedy, and fear.
For Myrmidon, TTOK is turned into a river bed with a genuine Newfoundland dory set in the middle of the theatre, surrounded by dangling illuminated lights that glow like fireflies throughout the stage area.
While Driedger acts as a silent enigma in the back of the boat, Story is chatty and whimsical as she tells the audience the story of “The Fisherman and his Wife”, a 19th-century German folk tale originally published by The Brothers Grimm.
With pauses in the story, Story talks about the things she sees along the riverbank, such as mysterious beings that call out to her, abandoned properties that seem to haunt her, and glimpses into her disturbing past.
As her journey continues, a dark undertone seems to grow. Is she going somewhere, or is she running away from something? Is it just another quite day along the river, or is this a descent into madness along the River Styx?
Many questions are left unanswered, but a powerful impression is left upon the audience.
Although Driedger is always present upon the stage and his presence is duly noted through his brilliant musical accompaniment, Myrmidon is primarily a one-woman show and Story shines in the spotlight in an endearing but powerful performance.
As her moods vary through different moments of her often-fragmented narration, she takes on the role of an expert storyteller during her telling of “The Fisherman and his Wife”. Through voice and body language, she changes characters between the narrator, the fisherman, his wife Myrmidon, and the magical fish.
It’s a mesmerizing performance from a brilliant actress.
However, there’s a rich dark undertone of danger and madness in the production, with subjects ranging from murder to rape to incest hinted at throughout the juxtaposed narration.
Although there are a number of genuine laughs, there’s a sense of despair as Story and Driedger continue their surreal trip down the river.
The eerie atmosphere of Myrmidon was constructed with much imagination by the talents of Martha Cockshutt, who also designed Story’s beautiful costume. The mood is further enhanced by imaginative lighting design by Spencer Allen.
Haunting and surreal, Myrmidon is an inspired piece of alternative theatre and is a much-needed relief from the endless flow of musical theatre that has flooded Peterborough this season. Something extremely different, Myrmidon is a performance piece that will stick with you long after the show has ended.
Myrmidon runs from March 26th to March 29th at The Theatre on King (159 King St., Suite 120, Peterborough). Showtimes are 8 p.m. on March 26th and 27th, 5 p.m. on March 28th, and 1 p.m. on March 29th. Tickets are $15 at the door or available in advance from the Market Hall Box Office, by phone at 705-749-1146, or online at www.markethall.org. You can also purchase a 3 Show Flex Pack for $35 to see any three scheduled performances in the Emergency #21 line-up, including Myrmidon, Program A, and Program B.
A Newfoundland dory comes to Peterborough
Here’s a short video on the origins of the dory used in Myrmidon and how Wayne Eardley’s promotional photos were taken for the play.
