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We Quit Theatre’s Dasha Plett and Gislina Patterson are effectively recreating for me the sort of eccentric, bizarro experiences I imagine experimental theatre of the 1970s offered to those fortunate enough to have attended. I’m very into this duo—not in a weird way. Well, maybe kinda weird. *awkward smile*
I caught i am your spaniel at SummerWorks back in August and was transfixed. Such a playfully fetishized bit of arcane scholarship! Passion Play is, well… an experience. I appreciated it, even rather enjoyed it, but it didn’t affect or impress me the way spaniel did.
A major contributing problem is the space. No shade thrown at a beloved cultural institution; I have great affection for the venue, but if you aren’t sitting in the first couple rows, Tallulah’s Cabaret at Buddies kind of sucks. Your vantage point is almost always askew or obstructed. Way at the back, I just didn’t feel particularly immersed in the vibe.
You wouldn’t think that would be too much of an issue since the experience is predominantly auditory; however, because of their intense presence and the abstracted religious ambiance of candlelight and solemnity, I think I needed to be closer to really feel it.
Essentially, Passion Play offers two shaggy dog stories with interstitial biblical passages and a psychedelic trance session. There’s also a glass aquarium with candles in it. As a fan of David Lynch, I’m totally on-board for kooky artifice from which I’m supposed to intuit cosmic significance.
In one story, an exploited florist named Molly finds fulfillment in a sexual encounter with a mysterious stranger. Another story was about Jesus and his, uh, boyfriend Luke having a fraught, complicated relationship to the other disciples. I mean, they aren’t officially his disciples here; all the Catholic baggage is there, but only in our brains, conditioned as they are to attach reverential significance to those names.
The storytelling is casual, meandering, improvised. There are striking, relatable, very evocative images conjured, and many funny asides, but the plentiful uhs and ums often frustrated me. The gently kinky queer eroticism and genuine sweetness give the stories a certain charm. Is there some allegorical significance? *I shrug, but with twinkle in my eye.*
I preferred the rigorous craft of spaniel. This looser format is haphazardly compelling, but not nearly the same level of artistic achievement. That said, the hypnotic atmosphere and innovative aesthetic further establish Plett and Patterson as masterful curators of quirky, theatrical fever dreams.
Passion Play
ran January 16 to 21, 2024
Buddies In Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street)
running time: 60 minutes
Image provided by the company