A table, a chair, a notebook, a drink, and a script that feels like an evolving work: These elements suggest Spalding Gray, or his scion, Mike Daisey. They set us up for monologues of intensely personal self-revelation delving into the finest grain of culture and sociology through riveting storytelling.
We get most of that at Winners and Losers (through Sunday at On The Boards), but here there are two chairs and two drinks, and they’re beers—not a glass of water. There’s also a pair of bells. These pairings are the effects of camaraderie and competition. This is no cooperative game; the contestants work together only long enough to see who wins. It is a discomfiting distillation of the sociological side of our capitalist culture. It’s also hilarious, heartfelt, and a hell of a lot of fun.
Vancouverites (BC) James Long (Theatre Replacement) and Marcus Youssef (Neworld Theatre) are longtime friends and theatre artists who have been performing this show since 2012. It is a testament to their maturity, professionalism, and the strength of their friendship that they are still at it. What begins as a couple of friends nattering wittily and discursively gets serious and, finally, brutal. There is no comfort here but it’s about as exciting and engaging as theatre gets.
Part of the fun of the show is the surprise of immediacy. The script is structured to create spaces of improvisation. The performance often relates to the audience in a similar frame to stand-up comedy. There’s a high awareness of our presence—the houselights remain up for most of the show. We want to join the conversation and are even explicitly welcomed to offer contributions.
Sometimes the improvisational structures remind one of magic act (or J.L. Moreno’s Theatre of 100% Spontaneity) in which audience involvement and timely references serve as proofs of the improv. A reference to the tunnel boring machine, Big Bertha, fell flat at a recent performance (maybe they’ll try car tabs for the rest of the run) but over all this show provides more spontaneity and authenticity than one will see anywhere outside of postmodern dance.
Another key to the success of making a conversation about competition, capitalism, and privilege non-threatening and wildly entertaining is that the subject sneaks up on us. It is shown before it’s told. The ding of a bell punctuates the Winners and Losers game, in which Long and Youssef debate and declare whether Mexico, Tom Cruise, or a variety of other subjects are winners and losers. This places the structure of sport around the internal monologue of judgment and prejudice that accompanies many of our social interactions. Ping Pong ensues with a monologue broken up across the point breaks. There’s even an intense wrestling match (no fight choreographer here).
This is raw performance and feels a little unsafe. Thankfully the houselights come down before things get really ugly on stage. Without that stage and the commitment to tour and remain engaged with one another this kind of debate could tear friends apart. There are good reasons we don’t often talk this openly about privilege.
The intimacy of OTB’s studio theatre is perfect for this show but the run is too short. This is an absolute must-see. Good news/bad news: it is being filmed for On The Boards TV and I will be interested to see how it plays, safely distanced on a screen. I suspect it will still be useful and good but as a live show it provides that rare elusive quality that makes all those mediocre shows worth seeing on the off chance that one might turn out to be more like this.
