It might not be perfect, but this is what the future of musical theatre looks like.
A spartan set, jaw-dropping light and sound design and one of the most stellar ensembles to ever grace the Persephone Theatre stage — Catalyst Theatre’s The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a standout modern musical theatre endeavour.
The script by Jonathan Christenson (who also wrote the music and directed the show) is richly entertaining. The show follows six women recruited in England to be spies in World War II France and their spymaster. The merits of a female spy cell is doubted early and regularly, but the women constantly prove to themselves and their superiors that they are just as capable as the men — as the terrible realities of war set in all around them.
It cannot be stressed enough that a small ensemble musical lives and dies on the strength of the ensemble more than it does on the strength of the writing or directing. Christenson’s writing is solid if unevenly paced and the overall direction is creative, but this cast makes what would otherwise be a good show become something verging on spectacular.
It must be said the show is gorgeous. Kudos to set, light, costume and projection designer Bretta Gerecke and sound designer Matthew Skopyk, who deserve just as much credit as any cast member for making this show a success. This is A-plus design work that is impossible to take your eyes off. The light and sound design define the show with bold flavour, creating stark and contrasting scenes.
The seven women in the show play their parts incredibly well, adding a physicality to each character that helps set them apart from each other. Chariz Faulmino as the streetwise singer Madeline, Amanda Trapp as the Canadian nurse-turned-explosives-expert Betty and Tahirih Vejdani’s portrayal of the honest and steadfast telegraph operator Anna really stood out with their performances, but each and every part of the six-woman spy cell deserve praise for their magnificent ensemble work.
But it’s in the second act where Melissa MacPherson (playing spymaster Evelyn Ash) steals the show. The first half of the show follows the women in their training and eventual deployment to France, but in the second half MacPherson portrays a deeply conflicted leader grappling with the reality of sending people she hand-picked and trusted into a warzone. MacPherson’s authoritative stance and tone devolving into panic and horror as things start going wrong in France makes for a spellbinding performance.
The music is heavy, rich and punchy. While it might not be the most lyrically or melodically complex, it sets the scene well — drawing from big-band styles of the era or sticking with almost militarily-regimented rhythms to guide the cast. And can this cast ever sing — Faulmino, in particular, has almost unbelievable pop and power to their voice, but this ensemble is top-tier from top to bottom.
But it also felt like this show left a lot of meat on the bone. When these characters are introduced, it’s done in a compelling way to learn everyone’s motivations for partaking in war — but those motivations were widely cast aside for the single trait (demolitions expert, marksman, comms specialist, etc.) that defined the characters for a large part of the production.
The Invisible is a thoroughly creative alternative story-style endeavour, but character is too often set aside for the big picture. And that’s to the show’s detriment — the cast of this show is so slick and so tight and so phenomenal to watch, we almost needed more opportunity to develop those characters in front of the audience. It would have been spectacular to give each character their own character-defining song in place of some of the full ensemble numbers, which added to the atmosphere but didn’t always do much to advance plot.
But it is not hyperbole to say this is what the future of musical theatre looks like, especially for shows developed here in Canada. Creativity and agility over grandeur in the set design, brilliant use of light and projections, and relying on the strength of the ensemble and the bombastic music to carry the show — it might not be perfect, but you’ve never seen anything like this on the Persephone stage before.
And with flash and panache of this quality, you might never again.
Catalyst Theatre’s production of The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare will be at Persephone Theatre until Nov. 3, 2024. Tickets can be purchased online at persephonetheatre.org.
