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CALGARY - There's something truly haunting and majestic about Theatre Calgary's folk rock musical Beyond Eden.
Written by Bruce Ruddell with music by Ruddell and Bill Henderson and a sprinkling of Haida inspired music by Gwaai Edenshaw, Beyond Eden tells the story of a controversial expedition in 1957 to remove Haida totem poles from their sacred location in B.C.'s Queen Charlotte Islands.
Canadian anthropologists reasoned that the totem poles needed to be preserved in museums because the elements were deteriorating them rapidly. Haida elders maintained this decay was part of an important religious cycle.
The totem poles were removed and now rest in museums of natural history.
In Ruddell's play, Lewis Wilson (John Mann) is the anthropologist who started and leads the recovery expedition.
The ghostly Watchman (Tom Jackson) represents the voice and conscience of the Haida people while the half-breed photographer Max Tomson (Cameron MacDuffee) represents the bridge between the two cultures.
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Watching Lewis grapple with doubts and fears about his expedition is electrifying because Mann is such a powerful presence both vocally and emotionally.
Physically, Mann is not a big man, but when he sings he turns into a giant because he turns his songs into compelling arias allowing the audience to share in Lewis' angst. His version of the show's title song Beyond Eden is mesmerizing.
MacDuffee shines in his rendition of Max's dilemma of trying to live in two worlds with Disconnection because he makes the song so heart-wrenching,
Jackson's wonderful booming melodic voice serves him and the production so well but it's the sly humour he brings to role that makes his scenes so memorable. Andrew Kushnir captures the youthful exuberance of Lewis' son Jack, especially when he tries to sing his Elvis tunes with a Haida flavour.
Of the strong supporting cast, Telly James is a standout as the young Haida man vehemently opposed to the removal of his people's sacred artifacts. Erika Raelene Stocker is a show-stopper as the Haida woman whose intoning is as chilling as her mysterious presence.
The five-man band gives Ruddell's music such gusto but the true hero of the show is sound designer Chris Jacko who ensures every note the band plays and every lyric the cast sing is clear and distinct.
Dennis Garnhum's staging is as dynamic as the music and the lyrics and Bretta Gerecke's set is as much a character as any of the actors. It is a beautiful landscape with its crisscrossing poles and columns.
In a stroke of design genius when the totem poles are cut down Gerecke's set becomes ugly and sterile, which is precisely what Ruddell set out to say.
Under Garnhum's guidance, it is becoming a trademark of Theatre Calgary that our homegrown shows have few rivals.
Beyond Eden is not flawless, but it has genuine heart and it is world-class theatre.