Now, I must apologize for the spoiler. Spoilers never fazed me. Sometimes I actually prefer to know. But most people hate spoilers, so here goes. SPOILER ALERT!
The death of the character played by Matt Van Boeyen in Cranbrook Community Theatre’s production of “Clue” (directed by Bob McCue) is one of the greatest death scenes in history.
It is certainly one of the greatest death scenes I’ve ever seen, on stage or film. It is so fabulously over the top — it’s like the entire absurdity of Life compressed into a space too small to contain it, then exploded like the atom. I would pay good money to see this death scene again, over and over, perhaps. But then, I’d pay good money to see “Clue” again, now playing at the Studio Stage Door.
But all the money in the world — which, of course, I have — won’t get me a ticket to see “Clue.” The play sold out even before opening night, a first for CCT.
It’s not just Matt Van Boeyen — the entire cast of Tessie Ward, Stephanie Moore, Trevor Lundy, Erin Dalton, Shannon Edmonstone, Alexander Gilmour, William Nicholson, Sanjay Fisk, Michael Prestwich, Nikki Van Boeyen and Sean Cloarec — has taken the ridiculous and made it sublime. And Matt Van Boeyen’s character isn’t the only over the top death.
But still, to quote a different play, a musical: “Oh what an exit, that’s how to go.” So much so that when they’re bringing my curtain down — in real life — I’m thinking of demanding that death scene for myself.
Death is heavy, and tragic. It comes unexpectedly, or you see it coming from a long way off. It ends our life, the only one we will ever have, always too soon, and we all fear it. But sometimes, in plays, we can fly it like a kite, and marvel at it.
Here are 10 great death scenes, in no particular order:
Hamlet, in “Hamlet;” Roy Batty, the replicant in “Blade Runner” (“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe!”), Kane in “Alien” (the alien popping out of his guts — that’s a role to die for!), Captain Quint in “Jaws” (followed shortly thereafter by the death of the shark that chewed him up); Cleopatra, in “Antony and Cleopatra” or elsewhere; Boromir in “Lord of the Rings;” The Wicked Witch of the West; Bonnie and Clyde, Hector in “The Iliad” (though the entire Iliad is a series of spectacular death scenes); and Matt Van Boeyen’s character in “Clue.”
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Four times a year, for years, the Symphony of the Kootenays has been holding open rehearsals at the Key City Theatre in advance of their concert later the same day. This is a unique and remarkable aspect of Cranbrook’s arts and cultural life. When I think about it, to watch a symphony in rehearsal is such a wonderful experience I almost want to keep it secret from the rest of the world (but here I am writing about it…).
Consider Saturday, April 20 — ahead of the Symphony’s final concert of the 2023/24 season, a season which celebrated the seasons, one could simply wander in the the theatre and see Conductor Jeff Faragher running an ensemble of top-level musicians from southern Alberta and southeast B.C through Vivaldi’s “Spring” from “The Four Seasons,” recomposed and reinterpreted by Max Richter, the Neo-classical, minimalist composer who is absolutely top of the charts these days. With Concert Master Cvetozar Vutev on violin. And Saint Saëns’ cello concerto, with soloist young phenom Garron Stuart. And Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.
To see this concert in rehearsal doesn’t detract at all from the magic and mystery of the formal concert later in the evening. To the contrary, seeing the musicians in their mufti, performing this beautiful music, with Maestro Faragher walking around in the aisles to check the levels, is a transportive experience. Can you imagine having this kind of street level, every day opportunity with, say, the Berlin Philharmonic?
Thanks and congratulations to the Symphony of the Kootenay for the year of music. Looking forward to next season.
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You can tell the level of civilization of a society by the importance it places on the written word, its libraries and bookstores. To quote Neil Gaiman:
“What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.” (From American Gods)
“And I’ll take any excuse to celebrate that!” says Erin Dalton, proprietor of Huckleberry Books in Cranbrook.
Saturday, April 27, marks Canadian Independent Bookstore Day, an annual cultural celebration and opportunity for book buyers, authors, illustrators, and publishers to acknowledge the vibrant literary ecosystem created by bookshops.
Bookstores are our wells of wisdom — where unlike Odin, we don’t have to leave our eye in exchange for all that time travel, consciousness expansion, enlightenment, entertainment, escapism — the past, present and future there for the asking. Bookstores are community nerve centres and cultural storehouses — something to celebrate, for sure.
Huckleberry Books is celebrating Canadian Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 27 — come down and join in. There will be a colouring contest, bona fide Fridge Door poetry (April is also Fridge Door Poetry Month, and the Huckleberry Jam. This latter will feature Dalton and Anie Hepher, reading stories and playing songs — first Jam at 11 a.m., second Jam at 1 p.m. Plus treats, prizes, games, and a chance to enter the 2024 Contest for Booklovers.
Celebrate bookstores at Canadian Independent Bookstore Day, at Huckleberry Books, Saturday, April 27.