Theatre is
something that is often very personal for me. When I have see a show
with characters I can relate to, with situations I can relate to,
they become instant favourites. My favourite musical of all time is,
Rent, very closely followed by Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolour Dreamcoat, and Les Miserables. Rent
is a story of struggle, disease, and, above all else, love and
acceptance. Joseph was the first musical I'd ever seen in a
large theatre and I remember being enchanted by what was going on in
front of me. It is also a story about struggle and overcoming
impossible odds. Les Miserables is just a show that
tugs at the heartstrings and as I've matured and had a few life
experiences, I find myself relating to it more and more, especially
the character of Eponine. Unrequited love is my speciality.
But, I digress; I'm
not here to talk about those three aforementioned shows. I'm here to
talk about a show a friend of mine has just debuted in Toronto. Out
Of The Lens made its mark first at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
in 2014 and received rave reviews. It made its mark in my life the
year prior. Out Of The Lens is the brain child of a good
friend of mine, David Kingsmill. If you've been keeping up with my
blog, you may remember an entry about a booked entitled, The
Puppet Master: An MSCE Investigation. (If you
haven't bought yourself a copy of it, do so now. It's a great piece
of literature. I'll provide the links at the end of this post.) Out
Of The Lens comes from the same mind
as The Puppet Master, but covers a much different subject
matter.
Out Of
The Lens follows three weeks in the life of Joseph
(portrayed by: Victor Pokinko), a photographer in desperate need of
inspiration. That inspiration comes to him in the form of Ryan
(portrayed by Kholby Wardell), an exuberant, gay man, who opens his
eyes in a way he never thought was possible. Ryan becomes Joseph's
muse, model, confidante, and the person Joseph didn't realize he
needed in his life. It is a story of discovery, art, pushing
boundaries, following one's dreams, and love in its purest form –
friendship.
The show I saw was
the concert form of the Edinburgh production. It is not perfect.
There is room for improvement (the creator had a talk back session
with the audience to get feedback on what we thought of the show and
ways it could improve – a very brave thing for an artist to do),
but I believe it is definitely headed in the right direction.
Something I think it could use is, perhaps, an extra 15-30 minutes to
expand on some points that are brought up in the show. There are many
things that could be explored that the 60 minute window doesn't allow
time for. However, the bones are there and they are strong. It has
the potential to go far, and I think, with some tweaking, it will.
The show was extra
special for me because, like with The Puppet Master, I
remember having conversations with David and listening to him
formulate what was nothing but a mere idea and some lyrics. It's like
meeting someone for the first time when they're an infant and the
next time you see them, they're a young adult. It's amazing to see
what that person has become, and it was amazing to see what Out Of
The Lens has become.
All
in all, Out
Of
The
Lens
is a beautiful story created by someone I consider a beautiful person
inside and out, and brought to life by a pair of talented actors and
Musical Director, Kieran MacMillan.
I'm excited to see it evolve further and I hope it does. It belongs on a
larger stage and is worthy of its acclamation.
As I stated
earlier, here are the links for some (shameless) promotion for David
Kingsmill:
For more information on David Kingsmill's current and future projects, check out his website: Dragon Literature
