SUMMERWORKS RUNS AUG 7-17. L’HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT RUNS AUG 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16 (TIMES VARY). FACTORY THEATRE MAINSPACE, 125 BATHURST. 647-267-7673. WWW.SUMMERWORKS.CA.
Igor Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat (A Solider’s Story) as written with novelist C.F. Ramuz in 1918 under tight times, when the composer was living in Switzerland, severed from most of his finances due to the Russian Revolution. The piece — a transposition of a Russian folk tale about a soldier who trades his violin to the devil for great wealth — was thus a strategically low-budget affair, planned only for seven musicians, a trio of actors and a dancer, and designed, because of its cheap versatility, to go on tour.
For Vanessa AvRuskin, producer of and performer in a new SummerWorks mounting, Stravinsky’s original context suits her present one perfectly. “Nowadays it’s primarily done in more elite venues,” she says, “but what makes SummerWorks such a great place for it is that it’s an opportunity to share this music with a broader audience.”
AvRuskin, a musician as well as an actor, developed the piece with the Art Farm collective, who initially asked her to narrate all of its parts in a barely rehearsed production in a much smaller venue than their current one (Factory Mainspace), upstairs at the Victory Café. It was a success, proof that Stravinsky’s music and Ramuz’s libretto work on a gut level.
“Some people think Stravinsky wrote it about the Russian Revolution, but it’s pretty much timeless,” AvRuskin says about the Faustian story. “It’s individual as well. I remember when I first explained it to one of the artists involved in the project, I saw his eyes light up with personal recognition: ‘It’s about me,’ he said, ‘about a choice I made when I was 16.’”
L’histoire may possess that timeless accessibility for audiences, though AvRuskin also speaks of the daunting, almost punishing rigours it places on its performers. (In this sense, it is not unlike the insinuating devil of its tale.) The musicians play Stravinsky’s trademark mix of modernism, jazz and classical idioms and the actors follow suit, combining movement, pantomime and naturalism. In an illustration of these intersections, the musicians will share the stage with the actors, forming a loose semicircle around them.
AvRuskin notes, however, that the musicians will not be moving; they couldn’t possibly. “The music is so tough,” she says. “The time signatures keep changing, and it would be difficult for them to memorize it.” In a later email exchange AvRuskin mentions that one of the actors, Jimi Shlag, actually injured his back in rehearsals due to the “very physical” work they were doing, and so will be replaced for the SummerWorks show.
“To be with the ensemble onstage is challenging, amazing,” asserts AvRuskin, speaking of how much of her discipline as an actor comes from her background as a musician. “What makes this particular production unique is that oftentimes the show is done with a narrator who’s off to the side, standing by and passively watching. Same with the musicians. They tend to be in the pit and not involved in the action. SummerWorks is such an atypical venue for this show, but in another sense, it’s perfect. It’s bringing all [Stravinsky’s] elements together for a fresh audience.”