When the Feb. 23 issue of Canadian Mennonite arrived in my inbox last week, I set it aside. My schedule was just too busy to spend time with it.
When I opened it again yesterday, however, I was amazed. My early skepticism about editor Will Braun‘s use of illustration, similar to a graphic novel, to tell a little-known yarn from Indigenous-settler history, dissolved within a few pages. Here was a compelling story, carefully written and drawn to capture nuance while shepherding the reader from page to page. Within minutes, I was putty in storyteller Jonathan Dyck‘s hands.
Faith-based publications don’t often use graphic-novel-style storytelling as a mode of reporting and discussion. The Feb. 23 issue of Canadian Mennonite does — to superb effect.
I’ve been fascinated by graphic novels since childhood. I remember my parents’ disapproving looks when I checked out volume after volume of Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin from the Leamington Public Library. And at one point, our neighbour, Paul Morse, sold me his entire collection of comics — mostly Superman, Batman and Peanuts — for a few dollars. Admittedly, I’ve paid scant attention, during the intervening decades, to the rise of the graphic novel as a art and literary form that extends far beyond children’s or niche markets.
The story told by Dave Scott, an elder in the Swan Lake First Nation in Manitoba, and beautifully illustrated by Dyck, is called The Secret Treaty. It chronicles the early interactions between Mennonite settlers in Manitoba and Indigenous peoples during the latter half of the 19th century. It contains a few interesting surprises.
As a former magazine editor, I appreciate the resources, time and editorial risks that must have gone into those 12 pages. I expect that some readers will push back against this style of storytelling in a faith-based magazine. Too unserious, they might say. Too worldly.
In Seven Days, playing until March 2 at London’s Grand Theatre, is billed as “a comedy about death.” That’s somewhat miscast.
To be sure, playwright Jordi Mand‘s characters wrestle with death in the same way that Jacob, the Hebrew patriarch, wrestled with the angel at Peniel in the first book of the Jewish Torah. And there are comedic moments: about childhood antics, about culturally correct bagels, about parental expectations of their children, and so on.
But In Seven Days is no more “about death” than Grow, the musical that had its world premiere on the Grand stage in April 2022, is about marijuana. Yes, those themes are prominent. And yes, both scripts were birthed in their writers’ imaginations by recent changes in Canadian law. However, like Grow, Mand’s script deals just as much with the messiness of family relationships, the clashes of secular and religious cultures, the concern of parents for their loved ones’ prospects, and the secrets we decide to reveal or keep from those closest to us. Like a good Torte Napoleon, the sweet complexity lies in the layers.
From left: Shelley (Mairi Babb) and Rachel (Shaina Silver-Baird) argue about their father’s decision to end his life in a week’s time in In Seven Days. Photo by Morris Lamont
Set in London, Ont., In Seven Days takes us into the home of a Jewish family, just as daughter Rachel, flustered by a series of minor tribulations, arrives for what was to be an uneventful weekend visit with her ill and widowed father, Sam, and his partner, Shelley. Rachel soon learns that her father, suffering from a cancer that has spread from his prostate to his bones, has chosen to end his battle with chronic pain through medical assistance in dying (MAiD), to be delivered by a doctor from University Hospital. Rachel is horrified, as is Eli, their rabbi and family friend. Both argue with Sam about his need to change his mind — Rachel as a daughter, convinced that the right treatment could yet prolong Sam’s life; and Eli, as the spiritual leader of the local Reform synagogue, whose congregation still largely regards MAiD as murder and anyone present, when it’s administered, to be an accomplice. To further complicate matters, Darren, Rachel’s deejay boyfriend, makes the two-and-a-half-hour trip to be try to be of use or comfort to the family, despite the fact his relationship with Rachel is teetering.
Death is not the only passage with which the play deals. As we ride along the bumpy road toward some sort of certainty about Sam’s ultimate choice, we brush up against a host of others: single-parent childhood, career choice, marriage, pregnancy and inheritance, among them. Those themes provide a rich, vivid palette with which to tell a relatable, relevant story.
From left: Eli (Ralph Small) visits his childhood friend Sam (Ron Lea) to reminisce, but also to weigh the implications of Sam’s decision to end his life. Photo by Morris Lamont
One of the show’s important conceits doesn’t quite work. As a sufferer of incurable cancer, Sam declares himself to be in so much pain and suffering that the option of ending his life seems the only realistic one. Yet his ability to move around his home, with the help of a pair of canes, seems manageable. His voice is strong; his memory, sense of humour and caustic wit are unimpeded. He jokes. He sings. He raids the refrigerator for late-night ice cream. In the real world, he would likely not, in this moment, meet the requirement of being in “an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability.”
Shaina Silver-Baird gives a frenetic performance as the anxiety addled Rachel, while Mairi Babb, as Shelley, is nearly the polar opposite, so serene and understated is her character of the partner of a dying man. Ralph Small, as Eli, offers the sturdiest and most convincing turn among the cast. He appears every inch the philosophical rabbi who might stop by Sam’s home between his work at the synagogue and Hebrew school. By the time Sam arrives at his final decision, it is almost anticlimactic — so engrossed (or maybe distracted) have we become in a series of other mini-dramas unfolding in the lives of the other characters.
In Seven Days is a brave attempt by Mand to explore a timely, controversial topic with balance, empathy and love. Theatregoers will need to approach it as such. It’s not so much an evening’s entertainment as it is a jumping-off point for introspection and conversation about the issues at hand. As such, it succeeds. But it also represents a programming risk for the Grand, whose audiences historically tend to prefer lighter fare or, when controversial, deal with subjects not quite as close to home as their own mortality.
To push the show’s bagel motif a pinch past its limit, In Seven Days is a good schmear: crusty on the outside, tender and warm within, topped with unrelenting honesty.
In Seven Days By Jordi Mand Directed by Philip Akin A world premiere
Sprint Stage, The Grand Theatre 471 Richmond St., London, Ontario Until March 2, 2024 Tickets: http://www.grandtheatre.com
Greenwin Theatre, Meridian Arts Centre 5040 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario May 4-16, 2024 Tickets: http://www.hgjewishtheatre.com
Playwright Jordi Mand could not have known, when she began writing In Seven Days several years ago, that the show’s world premiere would occur just weeks after Canada’s Members of Parliament decided to boot the discussion about expanding medical assistance in dying (MAID) to sometime beyond the next federal election.
But then again, that’s often the function of art. It provokes discussion about sensitive topics and issues that even politicians can be too timid, perplexed or cagey to handle.
Jordi Mand says her new play originated from a discussion with her brother about how, hypothetically, they might say goodbye to their father if he chose MAID. Photo by Morris Lamont
Mand acknowledges upfront that her drama, billed as “a comedy about death,” will be provocative. It’s meant to be. With her script, however, she’s not advocating a position on assisted death so much as she’s hoping audiences will see the humanity in the conundrums families face.
Co-produced with Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company, In Seven Days peers into the life of a fictional Jewish family in London, Ont., as their patriarch, Sam, decides, after nearly a decade of dealing with cancer, to end his life in a week’s time. Daughter Rachel must wrestle with whether to change her father’s mind or honour his wishes.
Director Philip Akin says In Seven Days is “a play that is detailed and nuanced” in its attempt to portray the stark choices of assisted death. “It’s been a joy to figure out.” Photo by Morris Lamont
An experienced writer for theatre, TV and film, Mand says the development of In Seven Days was “the most thoughtful process I’ve ever been part of as a writer.” Her mother and father, who recently moved to London to retire, were heavily involved, with assistance from director Philip Akin and Rabbi Debra Stahlberg Dressler of Temple Israel, London’s Reform Jewish congregation.
The cast of In Seven Days, left to right: Ralph Small (Eli), Brendan McMurtry-Howlett (Darren), Ron Lea (Sam), Shaina Silver-Baird (Rachel) and Mairi Babb (Shelley). Photo by Morris Lamont
Mand’s parents have more than a familial interest in their daughter’s script. Jason Mandlowitz is the current president of Temple Israel and, even within Judaism’s more liberal circles, the belief that MAID amounts to murder is prevalent. Mand says she honestly doesn’t know what kind of reception In Seven Days will get from her own community, let alone the general public.
Nevertheless, Mand says she feels the currents of change breezing through her new work: “This show had to happen here. There’s something fortuitous about this whole thing.”
In Seven Days officially opens Friday night.
In Seven Days By Jordi Mand Directed by Philip Akin A world premiere
Spriet Stage, The Grand Theatre 471 Richmond St., London, Ontario February 13-March 2, 2024 Tickets: http://www.grandtheatre.com
Greenwin Theatre, Meridian Arts Centre 5040 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario May 4-16, 2024 Tickets: http://www.hgjewishtheatre.com
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