REVIEW: Trace at Theatre Passe Muraille/ReDefine Arts
Sharp, personal, and deeply moving, Trace at Theatre Passe Muraille doesn’t quite fit under a single label. It’s a solo show, yes, but it’s a solo show featuring a large choir. It’s stand-up, but it’s stand-up against a backdrop of often unfunny, bittersweet memories. It’s a sound installation, but it’s also a diary; a time capsule; a kaleidoscope of the self through various stages of transition.
In short, Trace isn’t just any one thing. And neither is its creator and performer, Tristan R. Whiston, a trans man whose female-coded childhood lives deeply within him in the form of memories of boychoir (which, though traditionally reserved for pre-pubescent boys, has more recently allowed young children of any age to participate). As Whiston recounts elements of his transition — the day he found the first suit that fit him, the day he chose his new (rhyming) name, the day his father died — he gestures towards videos of his childhood boychoir, which play on large screens behind him. Boychoir plays an enormous role in Trace, right down to the repertoire Whiston and co-creator Moynan King have chosen to include, a timeless arrangement of “The Water Is Wide” and a more retro take on “Come Sail Away” by Styx.
If Trace sounds non-linear, that’s because it is. When the show begins, it’s not too clear what’s in store. Onstage are several ostentatiously placed speakers (with blue, glowing buttons), as well as two large screens and three striped tents, like those you’d see at the beach. When Whiston enters his own tent after walking onstage, a tent kitted out with state-of-the-art sound design equipment (and a brightly logo’d MacBook), abstract images and animations appear on the screens, pulsing rhythmically while a multitude of high-pitched voices say, “can you hear me now?”
Those voices are Whiston’s, we soon learn, recorded at various stages of transition. The recordings are intricate, and often confessional in nature — we hear Whiston document his journey with testosterone, musing about how his voice might change, and what parts of his voice might be lost as he continues on. Through these tape recordings and a healthy dose of retroactive sound editing, Whiston is able to harmonize with himself, and the effect is haunting and quietly brilliant.
There’s a participatory element, too. Those additional tents house tables with tape recorders, and after the show, the audience is invited to experiment with the devices, recording anonymous answers to a series of prompts. Whiston, who does not specify his age but is well into his adulthood, jokes that younger audience members might struggle with the arcane technology — and he was right, at the performance I attended, when a young child from the audience offered to demonstrate but needed help pushing down the buttons all the way.
Trace becomes less personal and more hopeful for the future when, after nearly an hour of boychoir footage and music, we meet a new choir: The Epic Choir of Traceland. Described in online marketing materials as “a newly realized trans/non-binary/gender-queer choir,” the group of young people follow Whiston, singing and taking up space in their changing and changed identities. Their performance of “Come Sail Away” is musically imperfect and choreographically simple: and as such it’s exactly right, a work in progress with just the right amount of heart.
While Whiston controls the narrative of Trace, he’s not alone in bringing it to life. Jeremy Mimnagh’s video designs add lovely visual interest to moments that might otherwise feel static. Trixie and Beever’s set design is just the right amount of nostalgic, though one wonders if there might have been room for just a touch more cohesion between the video design and those striking, striped tents. Jasmine King’s costume design is particularly strong when we meet the Epic Choir of Traceland — the clothes, ranging in texture, colour, and style, nicely play off Whiston’s more muted suit, and the effect is dazzling.
Trace soars because it’s so much more than the sum of its parts, neither solo nor ensemble, neither museum piece nor play. While there might be room for a little more connective tissue between its plethora of ideas — between the boychoir memories and Whiston’s storytelling — Trace is a sentimental, splendid hour of performance.
Trace runs at Theatre Passe Muraille April 21–30, 2023.
Aisling Murphy
Aisling is Intermission's former senior editor and the theatre reporter for the Globe and Mail. She likes British playwright Sarah Kane, most songs by Taylor Swift, and her cats, Fig and June. She was a 2024 fellow at the National Critics Institute in Waterford, CT.
LEARN MORE
iPhoto caption: Photo by David Cooper.
REVIEW: Why Not Theatre’s Mahabharata is a glorious theatrical banquet
This extraordinary ensemble of artists has made something truly harmonious, truly epic: a story that speaks to a mythical past, honouring a range of South Asian artistic traditions while also drawing a direct line to where — and who — we are now.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Jae Yang.
REVIEW: Guillermo Verdecchia’s Feast is a fascinating text, but Tarragon’s new production feels hazy
I found the play really resonant and rich and layered. It’s about globalization, privilege, travel, displacement, and inequity, and it brought up many associations and past experiences for me. But I don’t feel that Soheil Parsa’s production fully comes together.
iPhoto caption: Karen Hines as Pochsy. Photos by Gary Mulcahey.
REVIEW: VideoCabaret’s Pochsy IV is bizarre, vicious, and hilarious
I can confidently say that you don’t have to have a 30-year-plus background with Karen Hines’ clown character Pochsy to quickly understand her mix of oddball conviction, sly wordplay, and bland narcissism.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Chelsey Stuyt.
REVIEW: Ins Choi debuts impassioned new solo musical at Vancouver’s Pacific Theatre
Faith is the message at Son of a Preacherman’s core. Faith in your beliefs, faith in your passions, faith in your calling, and, most of all — faith in yourself.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: How does the American musical Waitress land in today’s Canada? It’s complicated
The Theatre Aquarius and Grand Theatre co-production is fascinating for its attempt to harness the pleasures of the Broadway musical form, while casting an awkward-stepping jaundiced eye at fantasies of American identity.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: A Public Display of Affection simultaneously holds your hand and breaks your heart
Like a disco ball shimmering to a Donna Summer hit, playwright-performer Jonathan Wilson illuminates and refracts detailed memories about absent friends whose names, struggles, and lives have otherwise vanished, while walking through modern streets where a little gay hand-holding in Starbucks goes completely unnoticed.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Aisling Murphy.
In the darkest months of Yukon winter, it’s all about the Sun Room
I’m here for a week in January as a guest of Nakai Theatre, a hub for theatrical experimentation and outside-the-box programming in Canada’s westernmost territory.
Armchairs, tattoos, and an online theatre magazine
When I started at Intermission, my world was limited to the confines of an armchair. Arts journalism was a high it felt dangerously fruitless to chase. The life stretched ahead of me was amorphous and frightening, a chasm filled with hand sanitizer and immigration concerns. It was worth crying over a spilled kombucha and scrubbing at the stain.
iPhoto caption: Liz Appel headshot courtesy of Liz Appel.
Five questions with Wights playwright Liz Appel
Intermission spoke with Appel over email for a brief Q&A about Wights, now playing at Crow’s Theatre until February 9.
Call for applications: Publishing and editorial assistant
Intermission Magazine is seeking a dynamic and collaborative individual to join our team.
iPhoto caption: What Writing Can Do: The 2025 Musical Theatre Critics Lab
Announcing What Writing Can Do: The 2025 Musical Theatre Critics Lab
What Writing Can Do is timed to coincide with the Grand and Theatre Aquarius’ co-production of Waitress, which will serve as a jumping-off point for discussions throughout the Lab.
iPhoto caption: A Christmas Story production still by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: A Christmas Story feels fresh at Theatre Aquarius
If you want to catch A Christmas Story before it closes, good luck — the show is close to sold out, and with the talent on that stage, it’s not hard to see why.
Comments