No stage
No setting
No costumes
No theatrical lighting. No lights up, no lights down. Not at the beginning, not at the end.
No soundscape
No special effects
No director
No Stage Manager
No Makeup
No character
No curtain call
After the presentation… a chat.
* * *
Two Letters is based on two actual letters sent to “middle-men” of the Canadian cultural scene: a film/television producer and two theatre critics.
Letter One articulates an actor/writer’s struggle with cultural stereotypes in Canadian theatre/film/tv.
Letter Two challenges misconceptions about commedia dell’arte by present-day theatre critics and directors. It explores a history of an ‘actor-less’ theatre culture in Canada at the hands of ‘director’s theatre’, in which, increasingly, a tradition of over-trained actors and under-trained directors is encouraged.
“…And Counting!” (Letter Three) is a postmortem of Two Letters, and a journey into the present state of theatre, culture (and funding).
* * *
“… surely the most provocative pieces of performance art ever staged in this country. Nardi doesn’t just bite the hand that feeds him; he chews it up and then spits it out.”
Michael Posner, Globe and Mail
“Nardi uses dramatic acid to burn the rust off truth, and to blister complacency until it turns into awareness. He takes no prisoners….The questions that troubled him so deeply have to do, not just with identity and cultural stereotyping, but also with the nature of storytelling.”
Joe Fiorito, The Toronto Star
“In England, Italy, Germany, et cetera, Two Letters would be front-page news on the arts or culture page. Not so in Canada, of course.”
Keith Garebian, author, poet, theatre critic Stage and Page
“un virulent plaidoyer contre la complaisance du milieu théâtral, l’ignorance de la critique, l’incompétence des metteurs en scène et j’en passe. …Et ça frappe fort. À toute allure, comme s’il était maître d’oeuvre d’un véritable bombardement, Nardi attaque de toutes parts. Des prises de parole de ce genre-là, on n’ose même pas en rêver dans le milieu francophone québécois. Pourtant, la situation est bien peu différente…. Ceux qui ne voient pas de théâtre dans la série de lettres qu’il lit, ou plutôt qu’il performe …. doivent être sourds ou aveugles. Passons vite sur les qualités de présence et la fougue du comédien, car ce serait oublier l’essentiel. Ce qui compte, c’est que Tony Nardi dit des choses importantes, que personne d’autre que lui n’ose dire avec autant de passion.”
Philippe Couture, VOIR