Reefer Madness - A Review
Caitlin Hawes as Mae and Joel Bernstein as Jack
"Hey man!"
Oh god, someone I know is approaching me. A former classmate had me trapped at an intersection, the kind of acquaintance you're friendly with but never know what you should say. This would normally be tolerable, but I'd been high since my celebratory wake-n-bake at 4:20 AM, and the brownies I took at 4:20 PM were just starting to kick in. Come on, focus. My bloodshot gaze started burning a hole in their forehead.
"What's up?! Where are you heading?"
I was suddenly pointing. Maybe two edibles was too many. "A show."
"Oh cool! Which one?"
"It's sold out tonight."
"Oh. What's the-"
"Reefer Madness!" I took off running up the hill.
With glassy eyes I saw myself reflected in shop windows, a ghost flying through different costumes. Gummo, the infamous MTL queen, once told me that St. Laurent is a fashion show nobody asked for. Mistakenly, I find myself a participant in spirit.
Finally I arrived at the theatre. Oh MainLine, comfortable like my friend’s house where, as a teenager, I would hide out because I was tripping too hard to be seen by my own parents. I sat shrunken in a corner of the theatre's atrium trying to mellow out. So many faces and a mad scramble to fit as many people as possible into the 101-seat house. A row of foldout chairs had been added; the so-called "splash zone."I knew that I was going to see a musical, a spoof of an American anti-cannabis propaganda film released in 1936. What I wasn’t aware of was the all out trip I was about to have, stoned to the bone on a Thursday night. I wasn’t aware that a clarinet could be lethal. I wasn’t aware of all of the dangerous effects of the stuff, and decided to quit smoking.
Structured as a play within a play, the innovations to the script allowed the actors to immediately build a very strong relationship with the audience. It’s great to see such a playful approach to envisioning a piece. The cast must have been involved in discovering those new moments.
Speaking of the cast, everyone was on fire. Since the isolation of the pandemic it’s become such a pleasure to see large casts again. This group of 13 performers seemed to relish their time on stage together, supported by Contact Theatre’s production team. I was entertained by the bizarre chemistry between the lead couple played by Cathal Rynne and Casey Marie Ecker (whose unleashing the audience adored), and thrilled by every shift to the drug den in which Joel Bernstein, Caitlin Hawes, Erin Yardley Jones, Joseph Salvatore Vitale never missed a beat. Each character was performed with an excellent understanding of the archetypes they were satirising, finding new laughs with every line.
The band was tight from their picket fenced pit at the back of the stage. A lot was done with minimalist set pieces which flew in and out around a couch that refused to move. The lecturer, played charismatically by Jonathan Vanderzon, carried his podium with him all over the stage to where he saw fit to orate. A cardboard cutout drove the action forward. Projections filled in the back wall providing additional context to the scenes. One stage hand always seemed to be lagging behind in the transitions - wait, is that Julie d’Entremont?!
I’ve always admired the athleticism required for musical theatre. How are they holding these notes while nailing meticulously choreographed swing dances? The true challenge of an intricate performance is making it seem spontaneous. Not only was the dancing dazzling, it was executed with enough precision that the characters ensemble could insert little slip-ups, moments of personality.
Outside for the 15 minute intermission I lit up the last tokes of a filterless roach. I guess quitting was a bit aspirational. A familiar soul grins at me foolishly. “My face hurts from smiling.” she says.
Shows this fun can make you laugh louder than you ever have at your laptop. You forget the job you don’t like and your mild substance issues. Sometimes you forget how to breathe, and need to resume respiration manually. And then, full of inspiration, you restrain yourself from bursting out into song. I might've wet myself, just a little bit.
The irony of going to see Reefer Madness today is that Mary Jane is hardly taboo. Although there may still be a certain stigma amongst older generations, pot has never been more popular in Canada. Far from being an underground operation in which only the rebels of society partake, the cannabis industry makes the government billions of dollars. In that context, is a satirical demonization of drugs actually just sensationalising drugs, an advertisement for the institution? And I mean, murder and animal abuse aside, Jimmy and Mary Lane (with an L) got wayyyy cooler after they started smoking anyways, right?
“Though cannabis is now a legal substance here in Canada,” says director Debora Friedmann, “the systemic issues that led to the success of the original Reefer Madness propaganda film can still be seen in society today. Even though the show itself is hilarious and fun, audiences will be offered moments to reflect on how their fear is still being exploited today.”
When weed was legalised on 4/20 there was no better place for a stoner than at the base of Mont Royal. Endless joints cascaded down through the blissed out crowd. Upon the magic minute, we were engulfed in smoke. And on April 20th 2023, there’s no place I would rather have been than in the audience of Reefer Madness. I will be sure not to miss the next Contact Theatre spectacle. I hope that one I can remember.
The Cast of Reefer Madness
Reefer Madness, presented by Contact Theatre, runs from April 20 to 29, 2023 at the MainLine Theatre.
For tickets, visit the MainLine Theatre.