A piece of theater so rich, so fresh, so brilliant as The Overcoat has rarely been staged. This wild experimental show with no words clearly projects its mimed message over the footlights to the powerful music of Dmitri Shostakovich. There is not an ambiguous nor unnecessary movement in the entire execution; the actors move in precise synchronization as they jostle along to work on the crowded subway, slog through their drudgery at the office and energetically operate machinery at the sweat shop. This is not to say they are like a chorus line of indistinguishable moving parts. Each actor has his own distinctive characterization and style of movement, like the seamless flow of Peter Anderson's The Man, or the jerky rhythm of Allan Morgan's Boss. Sets use the stylistic simplicity of a huge pen signifying the office, an enormous wheel-and-pulley arrangement to suggest the sweat shop, and rolling white metal beds (with which the actors actually dance) to eerily set a mental hospital scene. Costumes are generic 1920s vintage.
The production, which won a number of Jessie Richardson awards following its original Vancouver run in 1997, is loosely based on a short story by Russian novelist, Nikolai Gogol. He writes about a colorless clerk who is finally noticed by his colleagues and is then transformed when he has an elegant overcoat made for him. The etiology of this magnificent production is a rather unusual one. In 1997, Governor General Award winning playwright, Morris Panych, was invited to direct a show for Studio 58, Langara College's professional theater training program in Vancouver. He wanted to create a non-verbal piece set to music and asked Wendy Gorling, a choreographer and acting teacher at the college, to work with him. When the artistic director of the Vancouver Playhouse saw the piece, she commissioned Panych and Gorling to create an original work for her professional theater. The Overcoat was the result. The cast of 22 included 12 students, who are all now professional artists. Almost all 22 of the original ensemble have returned to the cast, which is now touring across Canada.
Because of the universal language of movement and mime coupled with the riveting action and clarity of message, this piece could play anywhere and, in my opinion, should move directly to Broadway.
