Barrington Stage, Pittsfield, MA
Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center
through June 8, 2013
by Jennifer Curran
It began as a twenty-page monologue written by Evelyne de la
Cheneliere. Later, it would become an Academy Award-nominated film and now
“Bashir Lazhar” is a one-man, 80-minute play. The story tells of a
French-Algerian political refugee finding solace and escape from unspeakable
horror and sadness in a Canadian elementary classroom.
M. Lazhar, portrayed with bravado by Juri Henley-Cohn, is
not a professional teacher. Rather, he attempts to become an educator, intent
on finding a way to start over and help his new students while healing from the
traumatic event that led to his employment. The story he tells unfurls in its
own time, perhaps too slowly for a one-act play.
“Bashir Lazhar,” directed by Shakina Nayfak, begins a
conversation about the constructs that attempt to define citizenry, education,
war, and what happens when those worlds crash together. In this tiny microcosm,
we see a single man try to come to grips with what has happened to his life
while attempting to instill in his students a love of life, play and learning.
If the length of the play wasn’t already a hurdle, Mr.
Henley-Cohn was also tasked with set changes. A risky choice and one that
doesn’t always work well and ultimately detracts from the final moments of the
play. Watching the actor side-step set pieces inexplicably left strewn around
the stage from an earlier scene distracts the audience.
Attempts at unique lighting and sound cues to signify scene
changes worked well enough, but at times, the play seemed more of a staged
reading than complete production. It’s too bad this was the case; the story and
the actor deserved more than creative cheats by the lighting and sound
designers.
What the play doesn’t do is tie it all up in a lovely bow by
curtain call. It opens the door and asks the audience to come inside and
reflect on what it means to be a teacher, a student, and a citizen of any
country. It reminds us that we are all three in our daily lives but nothing is
more important than remembering to carry a light in ourselves, that a do-over
isn’t always as easy as wiping a chalkboard clean, but it is always a
possibility.
