Review: The World Premiere of Tomson Highway's ROSE at the National Arts Centre
Rose is unmistakably a labour of love and reflects the devotion and hard work invested by the cast and creative team.
This week, National Arts Centre Indigenous Theatre held the world premiere of Tomson Highway’s long-awaited musical, Rose, directed by Kevin Loring. Written in 1992, Rose is the final piece in a series, beginning with The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. This third instalment revisits many of the characters from the prior productions, but focuses primarily on Emily Dictionary (Patricia Cano), Pussy Commanda (Melody McArthur), and Liz Jones (Nicole Joy-Fraser), three friends who were part of an all-female Harley Davidson motorcycle gang, until one of the members died in a tragic accident and the group parted ways.
As Emily is navigating yet another tragedy in her life, Pussy and Liz unexpectedly arrive back on the Wasaychigan Hill Reserve. The trio form a singing group and decide to take their show on the road to help raise funds to keep the community hall from becoming Big Joey’s (Trevor Duplessis) new casino. Emily asks her friends to spy on Joe and his henchmen to get the scoop on their plans. Meanwhile, Chief Big Rose (Renae Morriseau) is trying to get enough votes to prevent the casino from opening, while preparing for a event where the land will be ceded back to the community, with a special guest in attendance.
Highway’s score is a mix of jazz, 50s style pop, and country music. The cast's vocal talent and gorgeous harmonies make musical numbers like “Kisaageetin”, “Lookin' for Love”, "The Place Where I Belong ", and “Rio in High January” stand out.
Highway counters Rose’s dramatic and occasionally graphic content with humor. That being said, there are some scenes that are still difficult to watch and may be triggering for some audience members.
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The set design (Bretta Gerecke) separates the stage into distinct sections. The front of a cliff can be set aside to reveal Big Joe’s bedroom or his basement casino. Other props move in and out of the space, allowing the stage to be as full or as empty as required for each scene. A rear projection screen (projection design by Candelario Andrade) is multipurpose; it is used for translation, as a backdrop, for a photo montage, and even to allow ghostly communication to occur. Lighting (Jeff Harrison), sound design (Troy Slocum), and props (Bretta Gerecke) perfectly come together to make a powerful recreation of a motorbike accident.
The various elements that make up Rose function effectively on their own, but when combined, they tend to compete, resulting in a sense of existential uncertainty. Is Rose a comedy, a tragedy about loss, a Scorsese-style crime drama, or a Broadway-style musical? Rose incorporates aspects of all these genres and demonstrates a high level of proficiency in each. However, it seems that Rose might be more impactful using a more singular focus.
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(Back) Nicole Joy-Fraser, Josh Languedoc, Patricia Cano in the NAC-CNA's Rose. Photo by Curtis Perry.
Rose is told in three acts; with a runtime of three and a half hours, including two intermissions, some of the secondary character arcs appear to be less integral to advancing the central narrative and could be reworked and/or reduced. The use of humour is an important element for Highway, and it helps to lighten the atmosphere following the portrayal of traumatic events, but at times, it feels misplaced. While the ideal mix of elements is unclear, currently, the show feels somewhat disjointed. Despite this, the underlying story is compelling and with some fine tuning, Rose has the potential to be an exceptional piece of theatre.
Rose is unmistakably a labour of love. The energy within the theatre is palpable, with every moment on stage reflecting the devotion and hard work invested by the cast and creative team. Their commitment to bringing this musical to life is evident throughout the show, creating a unique and memorable experience for the audience. See Rose at the National Arts Centre’s Babs Asper Theatre through April 4. Tickets are available at the link below. Click here for more information, as well as for content advisories.
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