The Arts Club Theatre Company is presenting the Canadian premiere of acclaimed playwright Lloyd Suh’s Franklinland until April 5, at the Lindsay Family Stage at Granville Island.
Omari Newton directs this production starring Brian Markinson as Ben Franklin, Luc Roderique as William and Jakobe Jenkins as Temple. Franklinland is a imaginative, witty and modern interpretation of the fraught relationship between Ben and his son William. Despite being born on the wrong side of the blanket, William gained a good education and achieved much political success. While it is known that father and son had differing loyalties to crown and republic, the play humourously examines their relationship behind closed doors. Like many stories of fractious relationships between high-achieving public figures and their offspring, theirs is a tale of verbal abuse, petty jealousy and manipulation. Was Ben really a genius, scientist and nation-builder or was he a chauvinistic, shallow parent prone to emotional manipulation with good PR?
From the early day of electrical experiments to European courts and New Jersey, Kimira Reddy’s sparce but creative set design allows the it serve multiple locations and periods when the audience’s imagination is nudged in the right direction, aided by Rick Colhoun’s sound and Johnathan Kim’s lighting. Costume Designer CS Fergusson-Vaux blends modern with period reflecting the overall style of the play and dialogue.
Excellent sparing partners, Markinson and Roderique carry the bulk of the story, with Jenkins not appearing until late in the 75 minute one-act play. From the opening minutes the audience get a sense of sharp-tongued humour that is going to come throughout the show. Markinson cracks up the audience, while breaking the long established historic statesman persona of the iconic Founding Father, creating an arrogant misogynist who treats his son in an aloof, insulting and dismissive manner. Despite these character flaws, Markinson’s Ben is somehow charming and endearing in his gleeful Machiavellianism. Rogerique takes William on a broad character arc, starting the show trying to soak in the elder’s greatness and knowledge, however as he grows to sees his father’s flaws – usually at his own expense – William’s personality develops as he steps out from Ben’s shadow and makes his own mind – much to his personal detriment. While Benjamin Franklin is well known for his science, statesmanship and nation building, Franklinland’s Ben is more slipshod, pessimistic about the success of the revolution and plans his own utopia surrounding himself with more like-minded thinkers, in the wilds of Nova Scotia. Will his plan come to fruition, will the revolution succeed, will his family relationships flourish or falter?
Find out where Lloyd Suh’s Franklinland can take you with a visit to The Arts Club’s Lindsay Family Stage on Granville Island until April 4. Visit artsclub.com for tickets and showtimes, including Talkback Tuesday March 31, Vocal Eye performances March 31 and April 3.