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photography by Michael Cooper
The Company
VideoCabaret
The History Of The Village Of The Small Huts a.k.a. Canada's History Plays
Critical acclaim for recent History Plays
The play begins with Louis Riel’s execution, opposed by Wilfrid Laurier in a courageous act that propels him to the leadership of the Liberal Party. The death of Conservative Prime Minister John A. Macdonald in 1891 ends a political era and launches a tumultuous inter-regnum. In the 1896 election Liberals form the government and the Age of Laurier begins.
The play portrays Ottawa society from top to up-and-coming as they revolve around the duelling salons of Laurier's wife Zoe, and his best friend's wife Émilie Lavergne with whom Wilfy has a long and intimate relationship. The child of this ménage, Armand Lavergne, joins the Quebec 'separatists' in opposing everything Laurier stands for. Other salonistes include the liberal whigs Lord and Lady Aberdeen, arch-imperialist Lord Minto, and the grandsons of the 1837 Rebels Mackenzie and Papineau – rising lawyer William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Quebec nationalist Henri Bourassa.As Canada begins its growth from colony to country, Laurier grapples with the controversies of Canadian troop support for the Boer War, and funding for religious schools. The great conflicts between Nationalism and Imperialism, Federalism and Regionalism, the Canadien Laurier and the Quebecois Bourassa, resonate with the urgent debates of Canada's 21st century.
The play runs approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
Laurier asks the question, What is a Canadian? And answers it.
" Je suis Canadien." Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier is a member of Parliament for Arthabaskaville, under Liberal Leader Alexander Mackenzie. His courageous stand against the execution of Louis Riel vaults him into the leadership of the party. In 1896 he begins his long run as Canada's first Quebecois Prime Minister.
Zoe LaFontaine is the wife of Wilfrid Laurier, and she loves him more than life itself. Earthy and generous, naive and simple, she would rather have stayed in Arthabaskaville.
John A. Macdonald was Canada's first Prime Minister, then disgraced Opposition Leader, then Canada's third PM.
Joseph LaVergne is Wilfrid Laurier's law partner, ardent campaign worker and closest friend. This does not prevent Laurier from forming an even closer relationship with Joseph's wife, the femme fatale Emilie LaVergne.
Émilie LaVergne is the wife of Joseph LaVergne, and intimate of Wilfrid Laurier. Her cosmopolitanism and social polish help shape the young Wilfrid into the Great Laurier. Their rumoured affair and 'love-child' create enormous strife in the Laurier and LaVergne households.
Armand LaVergne is the son of Emilie Lavergne and, most likely, Wilfrid Laurier. Armand was a disturbed individual with a serious identity crisis who became the right hand man of Wilfrid Laurier’s mortal enemy Henri Bourassa and helped form the Nationalist League of Quebec.
Henri Bourassa is the Father of 20th century Quebec Nationalism. Like Lucien Bouchard in modern times, Bourassa began his political career as a protégé of the Prime Minister of Canada before becoming his fiercest opponent. He is the Founder of the Nationalist League of Quebec.
Azélie Bourassa is the Aunt of Henri Bourassa She was a formative influence in shaping Bourassa’s religious and political ideas on Race, Language and Destiny.
Lord Aberdeen was the Governor-General of Canada during Laurier’s first term in office in the 1890s.Lady Aberdeen is considered by many historians to be the first Governess-General of Canada. She was the founder of National Organization of Women (NOW) and a genuine intellectual.
Lord Minto was the Governor-General of Canada during the Boer War. He was an Arch-Imperialist who believed that Canada was a British colony, not a country.
John Abbott, John Thompson, Mackenzie Bowell, Charles Tupper were the four Conservative Prime Ministers who succeeded Sir John A. Macdonald between 1891 and 1896. They collectively served one term in office before being replaced by Laurier.
Robert Borden was Charles Tupper’s protégé and replaced Tupper as Leader of the Conservative Party in 1901. He defeated Laurier in the famous 1911 Free Trade Election and lead Canada during the First World War.
Alexander Mackenzie is Leader of the Liberal Party before Blake and Laurier. He famously defeats the scandal-tainted John A Macdonald, but is infamously trounced by John A. at the next election by an electorate who "prefers John A drunk to Mackenzie sober".
Queen Victoria was the reigning monarch of the British Empire from 1837 to 1901. As the Head of State, she was known as the Queen of Canada.
Mackenzie King was the grandson of the Leader of the 1837 Rebellion, William Lyon Mackenzie. He became Wilfrid Laurier’s protégé and eventually replaced Laurier as Leader of the Liberal Party. He went on to become the longest serving Prime Minister in the History of Canada.
Isabel King aka Mother was the daughter of William Lyon Mackenzie and the mother of Mackenzie King. She was the dominant, formative influence in her son’s life.
Edward Blake is a former premier of Ontario, former Minister in the Liberal cabinet, and finally, at last, Leader -- but not for long.
Donald Smith controls the Hudson Bay Company, and the Bank of Montreal is his personal piggybank. In the famous photo of the completion of the CPR, 'The Last Spike', Smith is the man with the Hammer.
Louis Riel is the founder of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Raised in Manitoba, educated in Montreal, he becomes the natural leader of the Red River Rebellion. Hunted for bounty he is elected 3 times as an MP from Manitoba and never allowed to take his seat. He spends years in mental asylums and in exile before returning to lead the Saskatchewan Rebellion and become the unsung Father of Confederation.
Gigue LaGigue is a hanger-on at Emilie LaVergne’s salon. He is a gigolo and an artiste of La Belle Epoch.
Like all VideoCabaret productions, Laurier challenges actors and designers to conjure up dozens of characters in tiny shards of light with Dervish-level choreography. The acting company includes superb artists of the style: Paul Braunstein, Greg Campbell, Richard Alan Campbell, Kerry Ann Doherty, Linda Prystawska, Anand Rajaram and Dylan Roberts. The cast plays 30 roles including Laurier's wife Zoe, his best friend's wife Emilie Lavergne, plus the enfant terrible of this ménage and his separatist chums. With hyperbolic costumes by Astrid Janson (5 Doras for The History Plays) and Sarah Armstrong, wigs by Alice Norton and props by Brad Harley, the characters magically appear and vanish in the 'black-box' stage design by Andy Moro (2007 Dora Award for da da kamera's Here Lies Henry) originated for VideoCab by Jim Plaxton. VideoCabaret's plays and stagecraft have won more than twenty Dora Mavor Moore Awards and over sixty nominations.
VideoCabaret's stagecraft is influential with theatre artists, beloved by audiences, and recognized by scores of awards and honours. The company has premiered more than forty productions by founders Michael Hollingsworth and Deanne Taylor including plays, operas, and multi-media cabarets. From ancient and Renaissance theatre, the company adopts the epic tale and minimal stage where actors, words and costumes alone evoke infinite locations and eras. To this classic approach they add the cinematic vocabulary of close-ups and quick juxtapositions, effects they learned from working with video and then reclaimed for their 'black-box' plays by using light to frame and edit the staging. To fill these flickering scenes with memorable images, the designers create exaggerated costumes and props influenced by VideoCab's decades of collaboration with international Carnival artists.In 2000, at the invitation of the Cameron House, VideoCab refurbished a cozy theatre space in the same building where their longtime studio now triples as the costume-wig-prop-shop and dressing-room. Working under one roof enhances the collaboration of the many artists involved in these large-scale multi-character productions, allowing five week rehearsals with light and sound, integrating dozens of costumes and scores of props en route. This season the company is supporting extended workshops for seven guest playwrights, and developing Deanne's play Mirajistan for production next season.
The History Of The Village Of The Small Huts a.k.a. Canada's History Plays
Michael Hollingsworth's play cycle dramatizes Canada's "state of the art colonialism" from Chief Donnacona and Jacques Cartier to Prime Minister Mulroney and Bush the First. Each play pays homage to the theatrical style of the period, from Moliere to multi-media. The plays premiered 1985-99, delighting audiences with their spectacular style and hearty substance. VideoCabaret is now re-inventing the Repertoire, and winning new audiences and honours.New France · The British · The Mackenzie Papineau Rebellion
Confederation · The Red River Rebellion · Canadian Pacific Scandal · The Saskatchewan Rebellion
Laurier
The Great War · The Life & Times Of Mackenzie King · WWII · The Cold War
Trudeau & The FLQ · Trudeau & The PQ · The Life & Times Of Brian Mulroney
Critical acclaim for recent History Plays:
"Incredible virtuosity... vivid visuals and non-stop action... Long may [Hollingsworth] wave." Toronto Star '07
"Toronto's Top Playwright..." NOW Magazine '07
“Absolutely go and see VideoCabaret's latest satiric poke at Canadian history…
Hollingsworth has written and directed with wit, style and a keen eye.. putting the story back into history.” –CBC Radio '07
"New heights of performance and visual excellence…" –Globe and Mail '07
"Critic's Pick... VideoCabaret makes Riel impact" -- National Post
"Meticulous...spectacular. There's a degree of ambition, creativity and play at work...
(greater than) most of Toronto's independent theatre scene..." – Eye Weekly
"Satiric history hits targets...hilarious, non-stop...whirlwind show." NOW Magazine
"VideoCabaret puts the 'story' back into history, and the result is hilarious and irresistible." – CBC Radio
"Anyone who can make Canadian history this witty and amusing deserves a medal –the Order of Canada perhaps?" – Toronto Star
"Toronto's Best Playwright" NOW Magazine Best of Toronto 2007
