WINNIPEG - A man's quest for answers only leads to more questions for him -- and the audience -- in thought-provoking genocide drama Goodness, now playing at Prairie Theatre Exchange.
The intense work from American-Canadian novelist Michael Redhill starts off on a bright enough note, as its perturbed protagonist -- also a writer named Michael Redhill, played by Toronto actor Gord Rand -- breaks down the fourth wall and jokes with the audience.
But things quickly fade to black as he tries to get over his recent divorce by digging into the dark past of family members killed by Nazis during the Second World War.
After a worthless stop in Poland, he winds up in a London bar where he hears of a woman named Althea (Lili Francks) who holds some of the answers -- or so he thinks. She's the former prison guard of Alzheimer's-afflicted Mathias Todd (Layne Coleman), a man who may or may not have had a hand in an unnamed genocide that killed hundreds of thousands.
As the tragic story unfolds, the characters -- including Todd's beautiful daughter Julia (Amy Rutherford), a young Althea (Tara Hughes) and prosecutor Stephen Part (J.D. Nicholsen) -- toy with the most delicate parts of Redhill's soul.
Goodness is bleak, unorthodox in its structure and lives up to its reputation as one of Canada's hottest draws. The pain one man feels from his divorce is hardly comparable to the suffering of an entire genocide-affected nation -- but the stories that unfold on his journey will send chills up your spine.
Of course, the piece has had years to go from Goodness to great. Since it first hit a Toronto stage in 2006, it has travelled to Vancouver, New York, Edinburgh and, most recently, Rwanda -- a country torn apart in 1994 when Hutu extremist attempted to eliminate the Tutsi community, killing nearly one million people in the process.
The second, unspecified genocide in Goodness may have been based on the Rwandan tragedy -- but the playwright purposely, and effectively, avoids identifying it.
Having had the time to hone their performances, the cast members are at the top of their games -- if not a little over the top. Scruffy Rand has the charm of Paul Rudd in a romantic comedy, but the chops to unleash Redhill's anger -- in one case, with a machete in hand. Hughes, Nicholsen and Rutherford capture some of the play's most passionate moments without overacting -- while Coleman and Francks take it up a notch.
Altogether, the cast provides much of the soundtrack live, chanting various folk songs from Zimbabwe to Eastern Europe, which are far more moving than pre-recorded sounds.
As Redhill -- both the man and the character -- strive to unravel their violent past, the biggest question being asked is, why do good people rush to do evil? You'll be left to work out that answer for one yourself -- but Goodness is a great place to start.
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