The Bloody Cleanup

Theatre: A Bloody bit of theatre
Nick Pannu, The Peak

The Bloody Cleanup played at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, March 14-18.

In life there are often things taken for granted. Such items overlooked include the invention of sliced bread, the wheel, shoelaces, band aids, and last but not least the wonderful institution of democracy. Before free will and the equal opportunity to vote, the monarchy orchestrated the rule of law. As malicious and indifferent monarchs may have been to the masses, the means by which the monarchy in France was overthrown during the French revolution begs some empathy. King George XVII, his wife Marie Antoinette, their entourage, and many other royal dignitaries were executed with their heads cut off and held up to the jeering masses.

Manon Beaudoin writes and stars as the pre-beheaded version of Marie Antoinette in The Bloody Cleanup. The beheaded Marie Antoinette — played by Lois Anderson — is less feminine and tranquil, but a rather bitter incarnation that often utters phrases such as “piss off and fuck off.” In the opening scene, a chorus emanates the sombre disposition of a blindfolded and bound Marie Antoinette as she awaits her beheading. It seemed to foreshadow a provocative, introspective take on the last days of Marie Antoinette. The production didn’t entirely live up to this expectation. Mostly the play is a comedy and farce on the monarchy.

The queen’s entourage consists of two Siamese twin sisters, who are preoccupied mostly with their own tragic dilemma. One of them will die once they are surgically separated. Many scenes are devoted to this calamity within Antoinette’s prevailing despair and ostracisation. In one scene, while one twin is sleeping, the other one has sex with the doctor. Being awoken in a jealous rage, the sister stabs and kills the doctor. Amidst the comedy, Manon Beaudoin is still successful as an actor when she is able to depict the extent of propaganda bestowed upon Marie Antoinette. Through a mock court scene, the new Republican government is shown trying to slander the queen so she can be executed forthright. A bogus witness claims that the queen had an incestuous relationship with her eight-year-old son. Vehemently, Beaudoin performing as Antoinette stands up and declares, “If I have not replied, it is because nature itself refuses to respond to such a charge laid against a mother.”

The production displays ambition as it attempts to depict many issues at once. Death is inclusive to everyone, even the privileged. It was hard to grasp and understand the other multi-themes occurring in the play. There are too many ambiguities. When the characters die at the end, it’s not clear where they are. Are they in Hell? Also, was it being implied that Hell isn’t that bad? It was confusing at times.

As a playwright, Manon Beaudoin shows a lot of promise. Although it didn’t necessarily come to complete fruition in this production, Beaudoin’s attempt to manufacture something that is funny, serious, unpredictable, and introspective simultaneously is quite innovative and could possibly set a new precedent in the future for other playwrights.