Directed by Larry Moss, Written by Pamela Gien, by special arrangement with Matt Salinger
The Syringa Tree opened in Vancouver during the last season of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre’s line up. The interest in the story was so immense, though, that when the show left the theatre, there were many disappointed people who could not get tickets.
It was with excitement that the show was announced for this season’s line up, bringing back Caroline Cave to play the 24 characters during a span of almost 40 years. Not only are the 24 characters a range in age from an infant to 82 years old, they are English South African, Afrikaans, Xhosa and American.
The story if a white child growing up in South Africa during the apartheid came from the writer’s own life. Pamela Gien was the young girl who spent her childhood playing in the Syringa tree while singing her Xhosa nanny’s wedding songs and playing with her favorite neighbor Loeska.
She also experienced the murder of her grandfather by a Rhodesian freedom fighter and the fear and concealment of the birth of a black servant’s child brought upon the family and community.
The story was born in an acting class of Pamela’s. Her instructor, Larry Moss, asked the class to tell each other a story. What emerged for Pamela were the memories of her childhood in South Africa that still haunted her.
Over the course of a couple of years, Pamela wrote the stage version and worked with Larry to bring it to life. Random House then commissioned it as a novel, which was published in 2006, and she will star in a film version being shot in South Africa.
Caroline Cave takes the stage in the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre’s production of The Syringa Tree. From the moment the curtain rises and Caroline begins telling us a story as a 6-year-old child, she captivates with her bright, sparkling eyes and sheet force of presence.
There is not one moment when her energy wanes or concentration falters. The fluidity of her performance gives the audience a clear look at all of the various characters she inhabits, gleefully told through the eyes of an innocent child.
Vocal and physical changes in herself are all that’s needed to convey who she is personifying. She moves from one character to the next in a quick breath, changing her South African English accent of a child to a heavy Xhosa accent of a middle aged black servant.
Never once does the audience disbelieve that they are indeed watching a stage full of different characters. Our imaginations are left to fill in the blanks and create our own images of what these individuals look like physically.
The stage is bare save Caroline and a plain swing. Immediately the atmosphere is set, though, to the lush South African setting of her home. With the exception of a few sound devices, the entire play relies on just one actor's ability to convey a whole world.
Lighting designer Steven B. Mannshardt does wonders with the lights. The simple changes enhance Caroline’s performance without ever stealing the audience’s attention.
As a whole, one leaves the theatre with the overwhelming feeling of having seen something exceptional.
The Syringa Tree plays at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre from March 31-April 21, 2007.
For more information on the show and to buy tickets, contact The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre.
