Haley McGee fascinates with his talent as a blacksmith and actor in Age Is A Feeling

Soulpepper & Londons Soho Theatre, in association with Luminato Festival/Age is a Feeling, written and performed by Haley McGee, directed by Mitchell Cushman (original direction by Adam Bruce), closes June 23. here.

I could listen to Haley McGee read the proverbial phone book, because I'm sure she would put all sorts of sense into reciting names and numbers. That's the kind of actress she is. It elevates words and language.

McGee is also a writer and has become something of a queen of solo exhibitions. In 2022, Soulpepper put together the sensational McGees The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale, and now, thanks to the company and Luminato, we can experience the richness of his latest offering, Age is a Feeling. The show hails from London, where Canadian-born McGee now lives, riding a wave of fame with two sold-out performances at the Soho Theater and an Olivier Award nomination, not to mention being a winner at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The actor/playwright tells stories. That’s what she does, but the beauty of her pieces lies in their profound look at the human condition. We can all relate to her stories on a very personal level because she speaks about us, just as she speaks to us. McGee is a master storyteller, plain and simple.

Age is a Feeling is the chronicle of a life told in the second person, so a sentence could be: At 30, you did such and such. What's amazing is that McGee begins the play in her own age group, but then moves to middle and old age where she has no personal experience, yet everything she says has a sound of truth. It starts at age 25 because, as she tells us, that's when the brain stops developing, and after that, you're pretty much left to your own devices.

Zo Hurwitz's set is built around a very large lifeguard chair. Twelve large flowering plants, suspended by invisible wires, surround the chair, each containing a card with a word on it, such as a bus, oysters and a wild apple.

These words represent an incident in a lifetime, but here's the kicker. Audience members choose the stories we'll hear, selecting from the cards McGee pulled from the plants. These unchosen plants/words are cut into a metaphor for life if there ever was one.

These fundamental truths that the cards denote are not earth-shattering events. Rather, they are the seemingly random incidents that make up a life. Unresolved past issues with parents, wanting a dog and finally getting one, meeting a stranger on a bus and forming a relationship, regretting not becoming a mother, finding the first facial wrinkle, coping with the growing disability of old age is just trouble. some of the stories I heard the night I attended.

So, as surprising as it may seem, McGee gives a different performance each time, depending on the cards chosen. I'm impressed by the skill McGee displays in the way she weaves the chosen stories together, as if they were the only storyline. It's a monumental acting achievement

What's interesting is that McGee compiled these stories into a book, for sale in the lobby, so that an interested person can read the ones not told in the show, but then again, we never know everything about another person, right? ?

There are so many metaphors in the play. The symbol of the lifeguard chair, for example, because sitting there gives an overview of the entire beach, or a life in this case. The randomness of life illustrated by the audience's choice of stories. Cutting plants symbolizes what has passed from your memory, while standing plants are those memories that remain fresh. She also taps a metal cup, like a gong during a Buddhist prayer service, for emphasis whenever she makes a particularly strong statement.

McGee imbues his writing with wry humor and there are laugh-out-loud moments in the play. There are of course many poignant ones too, not to mention a brilliant use of repetition. Every time she says the saying, “Drink more water, eat more vegetables, and exercise more,” it’s in a different context and has a different meaning. The breadth of McGees' writing skills is impressive.

The best way to describe Age is a Feeling is that McGee weaves a spell with his narration and captures us in his grip.

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Paula Citron is a freelance arts journalist and broadcaster based in Toronto who hosts her own website, paulacitron.ca. For more than 25 years, she was senior dance editor for the Globe and Mail, associate editor of Opera Canada magazine, arts critic for Classical 96.3 FM and dance preview contributor to Toronto Life magazine. She has been a guest speaker at various cultural groups and universities, particularly on the role of the critic/reviewer, and has been a panelist on COC podcasts. Before pursuing a full-time career in journalism, Ms. Citron was a member of the drama department at the Claude Watson School for the Arts.

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