Teatro Live! Presents Stewart Lemoine's Imaginative Play 'I Meant What I Said'
Teatro Live! is currently showcasing Stewart Lemoine's latest theatrical creation, I Meant What I Said, at Edmonton's Varscona Theatre, with performances running through March 8. This innovative production offers audiences a unique journey into the realm of imagination and narrative control, featuring a talented ensemble cast led by Bella King.
A Protagonist Controlling Her Own Story
The play centers around Dinah, a character approaching her thirtieth birthday who finds herself contemplating life's possibilities rather than dwelling on typical milestone anxieties. As portrayed by Bella King, Dinah actively manipulates the narrative structure, starting and stopping scenes at her discretion and even removing characters when it suits her vision. This narrative device reflects her aspirations to become a novelist, creating a meta-theatrical experience where the boundaries between creator and creation blur.
Dinah explains her perspective clearly: "The happy person, the thoughtful person, I'd gladly be seen as either of those. But not the controlling person." Yet throughout the production, she exercises remarkable control over the unfolding events, gathering various characters together to observe their interactions while already knowing the broad outlines of what will transpire.
An Ensemble of Colorful Characters
The production features a diverse cast of characters who populate Dinah's imaginative world:
- Helen (Jayce McKenzie), who occupies the ambiguous space between friend and acquaintance, previously a ringette teammate now married to her former wealthy employer
- Alex (Sam Free), a PhD student involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Beth
- Yuris (Eli Yaschuk), a recent immigrant from Latvia working as a server at a coffee shop
- The Oddball (Nida Vanderham), who serves as an agent of chaos assuming multiple roles throughout the production
These characters interact within Dinah's carefully constructed scenarios, though she maintains firm control over their trajectories. When characters threaten to wander beyond her intended narrative boundaries, she promptly reels them back into her envisioned storyline.
The Unstructured Nature of Imagination
I Meant What I Said deliberately avoids conventional plot structures, instead embracing the free-flowing nature of imagination. The production takes audiences to unexpected and sometimes outlandish places, much like daydreams that wander without predetermined paths. The play creates a world where impromptu poetry readings, musical epiphanies during Saint-Saëns symphonies, and celebratory drinks for all become possible realities.
This theatrical experience offers what might be described as a glimpse into Lemoine's creative process, with ideas constantly evolving, characters developing or being discarded, and witty dialogue transitioning into moments of genuine self-discovery. The constantly shifting locales and scenarios mirror the fluid nature of creative thought.
Production Details and Ticket Information
The production runs at the Varscona Theatre located at 10329 83 Avenue in Edmonton until March 8. Tickets range from $25 and upward, available in advance through Teatro Live!'s official website. The play is both written and directed by Stewart Lemoine, featuring performances by Bella King, Sam Free, Jayce McKenzie, Nida Vanderham, and Eli Yaschuk.
For theater enthusiasts seeking an unconventional narrative experience that explores the boundaries between reality and imagination, I Meant What I Said presents a thought-provoking examination of how we might shape our own stories if given the opportunity. The production invites audiences to consider what their own narratives might look like if they could control the direction of their lives as Dinah controls the events on stage.
