Laura and Samara spend their days as non-profit unicorns and fill every spare minute exploring the world of musical theatre as BFFs (that’s Broadway Friends Forever). Follow @bffs613 on X, Instagram and Facebook.
The English Theatre program brings the Shaw Festival production of Snow in Midsummer to the NAC for its Ottawa premiere. The story follows a young widow, Dou Yi, who is wrongly executed for murder and has placed a curse on her town to prove her innocence. Three years later, we see Dou Yi all but forgotten outside of the town’s struggle for relief from the three-year drought. A wealthy and pragmatic businesswoman moves to the town to expand her business, but her spiritual young daughter’s ghostly experiences prove too hard to brush off and leave her and the townspeople searching for answers in the realities of their shameful past.
An adaption of a Chinese folktale by acclaimed playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Snow in Midsummer touches on many powerful themes with strong uses of imagery in both the dialogue and stage production. The story looks at how one can’t outrun their past while playing on the thin line between revenge and redemption.
Photo by Dahlia Katz
Set as a theatre-in-the-round, the simple central staging of broken down walls serves as the perfect base for the beautiful weaving of imagery and intertwining stories seamlessly moving through the past and the present. We have never seen a show in the NAC’s Azrieli Studio set up this way, but it was an ingenious approach to have the audience feel as though we were peering in on character’s lives while also having the characters move through the audience’s physical spaces, bringing an element of immersion to the story and timelines. The many uses of ‘theatre magic’—inventive and creative use of props, staging and effects—brought another dimension to the story and themes.
A weighty and demanding show, the entire cast pulls it off impeccably. Each role brings heft and emotion and is thoughtfully and intentionally brought to life. As they work through themes of power, status, corruption, belief, and honour, each character brings depth and perspective to the complexities in how we make decisions and prioritize ourselves over the needs of others and how power and privilege affect that relationship.
Photo by Dahlia Katz
Like many classic folktales, the story is heartbreaking but leaves a glimmer of hope with seeds that have been planted for future generations. You will likely never see another show quite like this, with so much pain, told through such immense beauty. It’s yet another powerful production from the NAC English Theatre, so don’t wait for snow to fall in June before grabbing your tickets!
Snow in Midsummer runs until November 9 with evening and matinee performances and it runs 2 hours and 10 minutes with one intermission. Tickets start at $61 with reduced ticket options for those under 30 and the Indigenous community.
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