UBC Theatre’s performance of Timothy Findley’s The Wars was chosen to connect viewers to the chaos of the First World War to the present day. While the play featured exceptional acting by UBC BFA students and excellent use of sound, the choice to perform this play made me leave the theatre feeling more confused than enchanted by the storytelling.
The story is based on The Wars, a novel published in 1977. It tells the story of a young, upper class, Canadian man Robert Ross who joins the war effort after the death of his sister. It attempts to display the humanity and inhumanity of war, its struggles, and the people who make it. UBC’s adaptation includes interludes from the war as well as flashbacks from Ross’s past. The story ends with murder and horse-napping.
One of the most telling parts of the play was that by the end of the second half at least one member of the audience was audibly snoring and about a fourth of the audience members on the right wing were on their phones.
The Good
By far the greatest aspect of the play was what it sounded like. I have never experienced such well timed and well tuned music and sound effects at any theatrical production. The sounds of the planes, gunfire, thunder and any other sound effects were easily the best parts of the production.
David Volpov who plays Ross does an excellent job of communicating the emotional tone throughout the play. Fortunately he was also alongside Hana Cripton-Inglis, who plays his sister Rowena Ross, whose performance was equally spectacular. Her master control of the wheelchair and the intonation of her voice truly carried the audience into the world she inhabited.
Their onstage chemistry is nothing less than superb. They worked in unison to convey what would otherwise have been a waste of time into something quite good — but only when they were onstage, together.
Ishan Sandhu, Ava Maria Safai and Pamela Martinez are also of notable exception. Each added to the scenes they were by helping to connect the audience with the given scene.
An honourable mention here is the lighting. I found it brought too much attention upon itself on a few occasions but mostly it was noticeable.
The Bad
To say that the story was lackluster wouldn’t be unfair in the slightest. I thought it was slow. There are moments where it seems like it could get good, but it doesn’t.
It is meant to be a story about the Ross’ love for animals and how he sees them as an integral part of his life. He cares for them throughout his life and the crescendo of the play even sees him murder his superior officer, as well as a few soldiers, to save the life of a few horses. But that emotion isn’t conveyed by the story. The script doesn’t help convey any love for animals that cuts directly through to the audience. Volpov does all the heavy lifting to convey the true nature of Ross’ love for animals.
Whoever chose this story made a brave and risky move. I see why they did it, but in the end they failed and in doing so they let down the actors and crew who would have otherwise performed a good story.
The Ugly
In my opinion, there was a lot about this play that didn't live up to my expectations. This play had the weakest set design I’ve ever seen come out from UBC Theatre. The costumes didn’t seem up to par with many other productions. The horses were inconsistently costumed too. Sometimes they had wraps around their legs, other times you could clearly see that they were using crutches.
At one point the characters stand atop a ship on their way to Great Britain and begin relationships that are integral to the story itself. Except there is no ship. The characters are standing on a piece of scaffolding that looks like a safety hazard in and of itself. It squeaked as it rolled onstage and squashed any suspension of disbelief.
Moments like this were not rare either. I found myself more intrigued by the changing set than I did most of the story.
I felt the stage direction was preposterous as well. At numerous times characters turned away from the audience and said their lines to the crew backstage and not to the audience leaving audience members looking at each other trying to figure out what was going on.
Overall the play can be described as significantly below the standard that UBC Theatre usually adheres to with two brief stops; the sound design and the acting. The story is slow and inconsistent, the set design and costumes were substandard, and the directing could use more direction. Timothy Findley’s The Wars, adapted by Dennis Garnhum is uninspiring.
2/5