REVIEW: Anxieties speak louder than words in Small Mouth Sounds
Six distressed souls find their way to a silent spiritual retreat in upstate New York. They hope to find relief from their troubled lives – casting off the mental and emotional baggage they have picked up along the way. There, amongst the mosquitoes (and what sounds like a pack of ravening wolves and one pissed off bear), they kick off their shoes and turn off their phones.
Well, for a while anyway.
In the Canadian premiere of Bess Wohl’s play Small Mouth Sounds by Wild Side Productions at the Roxy on Gateway until March 24, the group is greeted by the unctuous disembodied voice of an unseen guru (Nathan Cuckow) who demands they take a vow of silence. Rain is thundering down as the participants assemble for their orientation talk.
“You have come here to meet yourself,” the voice tells them cheerily.
They don’t know each other and we don’t know them either. They can are free to move about the lake – and clothing is optional.
Much is said here by saying nothing. Personalities and problems slowly emerge through physical moves and wordless body language – a gesture here, a personality trait there. Nothing moves quickly in this play. Under the sure physical choreography of director Jim Guedo, and the transparent performances from his skilled cast, every shrug and gesture says something about the anxieties beneath. The sound of silence speaks volumes about all involved.
In the silence, Rodney (Richard Lee Hsi) briskly unfurls his Yoga mat and disappears into a Zen state – establishing the manner of a man used to having his own way. Alicia (Amber Borotsik) breathlessly catapults into the room, arriving late with enough luggage for several people, interrupting the flow of the group. Desperate in her need for her phone, she just won’t let it go. At one point, even the unseen guru’s instructions are interrupted by his phone ringing, and he disappears muttering, “Sorry, I have to get this…”
Rivalries spring up, forbidden liaisons are established. Subtle connections evolve and occasional animosities arise. We perceive that the snuggling lesbian couple Judy and Joan (Kristi Hansen and Belinda Cornish) have a delicate relationship that will be severely tested in the days ahead.
The hapless Ned (Garrett Ross) is the only character to get a monologue and he recounts a heart-rending tale not heard since God cursed Job.
Hsi is hilarious. Blessed with the body of a Greek God, the actor willingly doffs his clothes and participates in a series of scenes where the other characters enter, and come into close contact with various parts of his anatomy. He has another funny scene when mismatched with Ned in sleeping quarters, his nightly Zen exercises are an amazement to his nebbishy partner.
Alicia is obviously uptight and flighty but she is pretty and attracts the amorous attentions of Rodney. Jan (Dave Horak) is a feckless fellow who seems to have wandered in from elsewhere, and is constantly attacked by mosquitoes that only seem to target him.
It becomes become more and more obvious that escaping from our technologically-obsessed world may be impossible, and that probing our roiling depths may render us even more miserable.
Wohl’s play is a model of ingenuity and compassion – and before the final curtain we feel that we have grown to know these people intimately. The play is not all turmoil and tumult. There is a wry humour, a ready intelligence and vulnerable human poignancy at work from beginning to end – that despite the play’s many virtues is a bit long in coming. The script contains few of what you would call funny lines but the fine cast is consistently watchable.
