LUCIDMEDIA

The Magic Fire is playing at the Court House Theatre from June 11th to October 8th at the Shaw Festival.  

Written by Lillian Groag, the Magic Fire takes place in Argentina during the Nazi regime's reign in World War II and follows the lives of one family in hopes of finding peace in the new life they imagined across the ocean. The story is narrated by Lise, who is first presented in the present as an adult, and then carried into the actual story via shifting memories and her own childhood. The play hosts a variety of actors and actresses each developed with impeccable character and detail. They all carry the weight of the play at one point or another, but the real story lies with Lise and the startling recollections of her childhood.

Lise, played by 3rd season Shaw actress Tara Rosling, is an innocent portrait of a young girl; a victim of her families sheltered interests and the turbulent upbringing in the shaking Argentina. Although not a tour-de-force performance, she is capable and directs us through the play without any unnecessary emotional pit-stops. She makes every fragment of speech relate to the greater picture she is trying to paint. At times her presence was diverted from the audience as veterans such as Jennifer Phipps, playing the outspoken grandmother "Nonna", and Michael Ball, the sincere uncle Juan, took the stage. Lise is more of a catalyst so the play's events have an axis to rotate around on. Groag's decision to adopt this narrative element, much like Tom's role in The Glass Menagerie, allows her to manipulate the scenarios of time. At certain points the present day Lise interacts with the past and finds revelations to the way she lived; or the way she thought she lived. 

Other stand-out performances include the the cunning and deceptive General Fontannes, played by Dan Chameroy. The general is the only one who connects to young Lise with an admirable father-like manner; bringing her presents, reading her stories, dancing with her, basically just providing her the attention she desires. It is an interesting moral dilemma when the general turns out to be more villainous than the audience first imagined, and the family's world comes crashing to a grinding halt. It is played with wrenching poignancy and the audience is given greater scope into the depths of each characters' faults and personalities. 

What is most enjoyable though is the way that the family interacts. The play relies very heavily on the subtle, and outstanding, writing of Lillian Groag. The characters are given details beyond even what is performed and the actors are able to become the characters fully. Half way through the play I had forgotten it was even written; the play was able to carry itself so naturally that it felt as though I was actually standing watch over the family's raucous dinner table. 

The set design was reminiscent of the 1930's and involved only two or three scenes. The first major one was the living room with the central focus on the  record player and radio which played the family's beloved passion; opera. The second and more vital scene was the dinner table which hosted several bottles of wine and the family members in typical italian fashion. There were moments when the audience was swept away and very involved in the scene but the minamalist set didn't seem to envelope the actors in their environment. Always they were somehow distant from where they were meant to be, even though the acting and characters were well developed and well portrayed.  

What lies beneath the story of the play is, in my opinion, the true essence of it though. The simple idea of the story can be taken from the line "I'm an immigrant in a country of immigrants - a stranger - everywhere." But when put into action it becomes a deep analysis of our own humanity. The hopelessness of everyone's situation, no matter how enriched they are culturally, spiritually, or physically, becomes evident in the final scenes of the play. The play carries a strong message and probes deeply into the things which make us human, and for that it is beyond a simple piece of entertainment; it retains its artistic merit.