Trudeau and Levesque

Richard Alan Campbell as Rene Levesque, Mac Fyfe as Pierre Trudeau. Photo by Michael Cooper.

Michael Hollingsworth recaptures the zeitgeist of 1970s Canadian culture and politics in Trudeau and Levesque, part of Video Cabaret's 21-part cycle: The History of the Village of the Small Huts, 1971-1982, now on stage at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

Staged in the company's signature "black-box" style, the play unfolds at a cinematic pace (120 scenes in two hours), exploring a period of Canada's history when the future of Quebec was a topic of violent debate. Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his political opponent René Lévesque (former Quebec premier and founder of the Partis Québécois) had irreconcilable visions: Trudeau believed strongly in a united, bilingual Canada while Levesque fought doggedly for a sovereign (separate) Quebec.

Beginning in the aftermath of attacks by the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), the show dramatizes the rise of Levesque and the Parti Quebecois, the decline of Trudeau's flower child wife Maggie Trudeau, the first separatist Referendum, and ultimately Trudeau's role in the repatriation of Canada’s constitution.

Seven talented cast members embody 70 different characters including, of course, Trudeau (played by Mac Fyfe, who took home a Dora for his performance in the role last year), Margaret Trudeau (Aurora Browne), Rene Levesque (Richard Alan Campbell), PQ Minister Jacques Parizeau (Cyrus Faird), PQ Minister Claude Morin (Craig Lauzon), Queen Elizabeth (Linda Prystawska) and Keith Richards (Michaela Washburn) to name a few.

The result is a comedy noire with enough backstabbing, spies, sex and drugs thrown in to rival an episode of Game of Thrones. Featuring colourful costumes and wigs, clever props and drawings, video and music, this eccentric production reminds us that Canadian history is anything but boring.

Trudeau and Levesque runs until June 13, 2015 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Visit soulpepper.ca for more information and to buy tickets.