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Sports

Point-Counterpoint: Elizabeth Swaney

by Gabe Nisker & Ariella Garmaise on

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Among the hordes of world-class athletes at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, one name seemed a little out of place: Elizabeth Swaney, the 33-year old Hungarian halfpipe skier who completed her Olympic runs with a handful of simple alley-oops. Swaney has come under immense criticism for her lacklustre performance, but she has also garnered praise for following her dreams. The McGill Tribune remains divided on the polarizing park rat.

Elizabeth Swaney is good

Gabe Nisker

All Elizabeth Swaney wanted was to be an Olympian. In a run intentionally devoid of many of the difficult tricks her competitors completed, her dreams came true, as she slowly-but-surely made her way down the halfpipe. Swaney qualified fair and square—and therefore had every right to be in PyeongChang as an Olympic athlete and should be treated and appreciated as such.

Beyond rightfully earning her spot, Swaney’s competition accepted her with open arms–their tricks look better with her around. The other Olympians in her event didn’t care that she was there.

“If you are going to put in the time and effort to be here, then you deserve to be here as much as I do,” Canadian gold medallist Cassie Sharpe said of Swaney.

She has a point. Swaney’s work ethic is exceeded only by her fellow Olympians. Even if she cannot perform ridiculous stunts like Sharpe, it still took dedication to do what Swaney has done. It wasn’t easy to consistently travel the world, work with coaches, compete in qualifying tournaments—and not fall down, which was critical to her success—over the past two years. If it didn’t take Olympic-level talent to get to PyeongChang, it still took Olympic-level dedication.

Furthermore, Swaney was a welcome addition because she helped bring Olympic athletic brilliance to full display: Her amateur runs provided a point of comparison to those of the other Olympians. At the peak of competition, the slightest misstep can keep an athlete off the podium. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what separates great athletes from one another when everyone is so consistently amazing. Swaney’s presence provided viewers with the ultimate frame of reference—that of a merely decent skier. Some Olympic spectators like to say they can replicate the athletes’ works without much difficulty, but having Swaney around showed those people they’re wrong.

Swaney can ski, and she can ski well. Her spot in PyeongChang was the result of hard work and dedication. Even if she’s not on the same level as her fellow Olympians skills-wise, she deserves respect—and perhaps even appreciation—for the frame of reference she provided for couch potatoes around the world.

 

I hate Elizabeth Swaney

Ariella Garmaise

Elizabeth Swaney has pulled off the world’s most expensive prank. Exploiting loose Olympic qualifying guidelines, and taking advantage of loopholes like her grandparents’ Hungarian citizenships, the 33-year-old American-born Harvard graduate competed in the freestyle skiing women’s halfpipe. Her qualification strategy was simple: More skilled skiers sometimes fall while executing complex tricks, but by avoiding stunts altogether, Swaney maintained a mediocre score high enough to beat those silly enough to try. Her predictably weak Olympic performance has garnered internet acclaim—Swaney is a skier who is “just like us,” the most relatable athlete among a field of superhuman competitors. However, the Olympics aren’t an episode of Seinfeld. They don’t need to be relatable—their inspiration comes not from the idea that anyone can simply do it, but the hope that anyone can do it if they try hard enough.

If Swaney’s run is supposed to be some sort of societal commentary on the stock we put into arbitrary athletic prowess, then she lacks the self-awareness to effectively pull off that critique. Instead, Swaney’s Olympic journey was wrought with earnestness and indignation. She was consistently offended in interviews by the implication that she is any less talented than her competition.

“I have all the skills that I need to be a great competitor at the World Cup level,” Swaney said in an interview with Squawk on the Street. “I just haven’t been comfortable enough yet to land those tricks on snow.”

I, too, am smart enough to get a 4.0. I just haven’t chosen to study yet.

Swaney’s Olympic journey is performance-art-gone-wrong, some sort of meta-commentary on a society so high on entitlement and undeserved self-esteem that they believe anyone can, and should, do anything: A reality TV star can be President, a software engineer recruiter can be an Olympian. Or maybe the takeaway is that talent doesn’t matter, so long as you have the cash to buy unsponsored ski equipment and a flight to South Korea. Neither interpretation is particularly worthwhile. In her time in PyeongChang, Swaney’s presence made a mockery of athletes who spend their lives training.

More importantly, she was boring. Just as she glided down the mountain without even attempting a jump or flip, Swaney’s journey to the Olympics was without tumult or perseverance. Nothing is less interesting than watching someone do nothing on TV simply because she can.

 

Editor’s pick: We hate Elizabeth Swaney

Swaney’s Olympic runs were unremarkable, and she’s been attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. Fans should turn their eyes to someone more deserving and let Swaney’s alley-oops fade into the background.

Commentary, Opinion

Why students don’t care about SSMU

by Kyle Dewsnap on

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It’s that time of year again: Your friends from rez and frosh are inviting you to Facebook events and announcing their candidacy for various Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) positions. But, despite their well-lit headshots and carefully-worded bios and platforms, voter turnout in recent SSMU elections suggests that most students will not bother to vote: In 2017, voter turnout was slightly over 21 per cent. Low voter participation illustrates the extent of students’ apathy toward SSMU. This recurring pattern of voter indifference stems from a fundamental fact of democratic systems: If the government seems broken, then no one will bother participating in it.

Political scientists use the term “political efficacy” to explain a government’s ability to convince its electorate that participating in the democratic process is worth their time. In a democratic system, political efficacy involves voters believing in two things: That the government is capable of governing, and that their ballot has an impact. If voters don’t believe that the government is functioning properly, or if they don’t think that their vote will influence the outcome, many voters simply won’t bother casting their ballot.

SSMU’s lack of political efficacy is why most people won’t care about the elections: A large majority of the undergraduate population is unconvinced that their choice will contribute to making SSMU better. Many people treat SSMU as nothing more than a source of memes; Reddit threads are devoted to tearing apart the Society for its struggle to even find candidates willing to run. Student politics consistently drum up drama, but McGill students seem to take pride in their government’s bad press.

SSMU’s lack of political efficacy is why most people won’t care about the elections: A large majority of the undergraduate population is unconvinced that their choice will contribute to making SSMU better.

It’s hard to blame students for thinking this way. SSMU has a history of repeatedly  screwing up, and these scandals consistently make it to the front pages of every McGill student newspaper. Consider how the Society handled its building closure. In October 2017, SSMU publicly revealed to students that the University Centre, home to over 50 clubs and services, will close down from March to December 2018. SSMU decided that the best way to announce the building closure was to post a Facebook event inviting people to an information session about it. This was widely criticised, with many groups concerned that SSMU’s handling of the closure could force them to shut down.

While it is possible to find humour in such slip-ups, they ultimately desensitize students from caring about SSMU. And when an electorate is disinterested in their political system, it can no longer hold its government accountable.

Meanwhile, SSMU representatives continue to get away with rampant unprofessionalism. In November 2017, this prompted former vice-president finance Arisha Khan to resign. Her account revealed a Society that has become completely polarized by the selfish attitudes of its elected representatives; SSMU’s current climate allows a small political elite to pad their resumes with illustrious titles and positions, while neglecting to listen to student voices.

SSMU’s frequent exhibits of incompetence and illegitimacy lead the student body to view the Society as nothing more than a grooming centre for aspiring politicians, which is not what a student government should be for. Student societies are essential for the health of a student body; they are a unified voice that can further student interests in front of larger university administrative bodies. When the administration infringes on students’ rights, the responsibility falls on a strong student government to fight for its members. Student societies also support their populations by organizing programs and initiatives to provide free or low-cost services to their members, from survivor advocacy to childcare.

SSMU is in desperate need of an overhaul: It must shift from being a playground for political-wannabes to a legitimate, necessary, and functioning governing body. Like in any democratic system, this kind of political shift requires cooperation between both the electorate and the elected. First, students need to take the time to use their ballots effectively. Next, SSMU’s elected executives must convince each and every undergraduate that they are worthy of their attention, by governing in their voters’ best interests. Right now, a functional Society seems impossible—and it is, unless students take the time to convince themselves that SSMU isn’t just a politician puppy-mill or a meme-generator, but also a vital authority that brings forward students’ opinions to McGill’s attention.

McGill, News

Players’ Theatre closes indefinitely following safety inspection

by Avleen Mokha on

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Players’ Theatre’s office, located in Room 309 of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) building, was closed indefinitely on Feb. 12 after tests performed in preparation for the upcoming building construction showed high levels of disturbed asbestos in the space. Although SSMU staff retrieved musical instruments from the room on March 5, personal property remains quarantined due to health and safety risks of exposure to disturbed asbestos.

“As standard protocol for a construction project, the areas [to] be affected by the construction are tested to determine if they contain materials like asbestos,” SSMU Vice-President (VP) Student Life Jemark Earle said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Other areas of the University Centre have materials containing asbestos, but Players’ Theatre was the only area flagged because of the substantial damage to the materials containing asbestos.”

The entire SSMU building will close to the public on March 17. However, the evacuation of Room 309 was sudden and unexpected, and disrupted the theatre’s 30th annual McGill Drama Festival, which was supposed to run from Feb. 7 to 17. The festival, largely organized by Coordinator Gretel Kahn, had already been rescheduled following SSMU’s announcement of the building closure.

“The McGill Drama Festival is an event that is scheduled in March and April,” Kahn said. “But after hearing about the building closure, we decided […] to move the festival to February [….] I have been organizing this for months.”

On Feb. 14, part way through the festival, SSMU relocated the Theatre to the Cafeteria on the second floor of the SSMU building for it to continue its performances. Despite this, all shows were cancelled that day because the Players’ Theatre executives were unable to retrieve their props, costumes, instruments, and equipment from Room 309.

“Music students left their instruments in the theatre space,” Kahn said. “One of the keyboard players asked me if he can get his keyboard back, because he has a show. I wasn’t able to help him.”

Of all the Players’ Theatre productions, the drama festival draws the largest audience and generates the most revenue. Given how disruptive the sudden closure has been for their operations, Players’ Theatre members have expressed frustration over not receiving advanced notice of the original inspection.

“Our biggest concern is [why] this wasn’t made an issue before we had 50 students working months to put on this show,” Cheyenne Cranston, Players’ Theatre events coordinator, said.

However, Earle stressed that SSMU has the right to conduct inspections without notice.

“Players’ Theatre was not informed of the subsequent inspection by SSMU as it was deemed a safety issue and the SSMU may intervene in any area of the University Centre without prior notification if there [is] a safety or security concern,” Earle said.

It is unclear how significant a health risk the level of contamination in the theatre space poses.

“The material tested contained 0.1 per cent up to 5 per cent asbestos,” Earle said. “We can’t really comment on health risks, [you] would have to consult a medical professional.”

Besides the McGill Drama Festival, the group originally had a co-production scheduled with the McGill comedy sketch troupe Bring Your Own Juice (BYOJ) later this semester. Due to the closure of the theatre, Players’ Theatre was unable to offer a space to BYOJ, forcing the comedy team to relocate its three-day annual event to MainLine Theatre, a venue in the Plateau that is not affiliated with McGill.

While SSMU will be arranging a new theatre space for Players’ Theatre during the building closure, the exact location has not yet been determined.

“We’ve been assured that we will have some type of functional space,” Cranston said. “But we don’t know what that would look like at all. We’re still in the process of figuring that out.”

News

McGill Rare Disease Day presents an optimistic future for patients

by Helen Wu on

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The Medical Students’ Society (MSS rareDIG) commemorated Rare Disease Day on Feb. 28 with a cocktail event and speaker series in the McIntyre Medical Building. Rare diseases are defined as those which affect fewer than one in 2,000 people, which often makes finding treatment for them more difficult than it is for common illnesses.

Eight McGill students founded rareDIG in 2017—two of whom have rare diseases themselves—and joined activists in over 80 countries around the world to raise awareness for the millions of individuals affected by rare diseases.

The first speaker was Natalie Cinman, a patient of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease. Cinman explained that this disease is associated with a collagen deficiency, which leads to fragile bones and increased risk of fractures. As a result, she was in and out of Montreal’s Shriners Hospital frequently as a child.

“At Shriners, what was great is that not only did [the medical staff] know how to care for me, but it was a support system and they became a family,” Cinman said. “You know everybody, and they know you, and they know how to take care of you.”

However, once she was transferred to an adult hospital, Cinman found that the healthcare services were not as accommodating as at Shriners. Cinman encourages those suffering from rare diseases to express their medical needs to their healthcare specialists.

“I think it is really important for someone with a rare disease to not be shy,” Cinman said. “We need to be the best advocate for our own medical care.”

Joseph Galli–director of the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (LDS) Foundation of Canada (LDSF Canada)–and his wife Johane gave the second talk. Galli co-founded LDSF Canada in 2011 following his wife and children’s diagnosis with the disease, which affects connective tissues in many parts of the body and causes premature fusion of skull bones, abnormal scarring, and enlargement of blood vessels. LDSF Canada aims to implement a multi-year strategic plan to raise awareness, drive research, and provide support for patients and their families affected by LDS. One of its main goals is to encourage young scientists to take an interest in rare diseases.

“If we were to do a series of grants to young investigators, give them $25,000 for something that was a little outside the box, and then help them with collaborations and getting other grants, eventually, they can make a difference on a global scale,” Galli said. “The idea is to give a whole bunch of young people who have good ideas money and the opportunity to collaborate with other people around the world.”

The series’ third speaker, Adrian Thorogood, a lawyer and academic associate at the Centre of Genomics and Policy at McGill, suggested to clinicians and researchers the promise of using big data to combat rare diseases. Thorogood emphasized that, given the unlikeliness of encountering rare diseases, it is crucial for medical professionals to share what they with each other.

“To establish large enough data sets to better understand the cause of disease, there needs to be collaboration,” Thorogood said.

Eric Shoubridge, a professor and chair of the Department of Human Genetics at McGill, was the final speaker. Shoubridge explained that the peculiarities of rare diseases can provide knowledge about generating a treatment for more common diseases.

“By studying rare diseases, you can figure out how physiology works, how biochemistry works, how the body works,” Shoudbridge said. “Many rare diseases have led to insights into more common forms of disease.”

Science & Technology

Five science documentaries to binge this Reading Week

by Ronny Litvack-Katzman on

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Reading week has finally arrived. For many eager students, this well-deserved break only moves their academic pursuits from the lecture halls and libraries to the comfort of their own homes. While the semesterly grind may leave students feeling bogged-down and stressed-out, kicking back and relaxing with a good documentary, in place of a textbook, is a great way to keep spirits high.

Here are The McGill Tribune’s ‘need to watch’ Netflix documentaries that will keep those neurons firing this Reading Week.

Resistance (2015)
In this multifaceted approach to scientific reporting, Director Michael Graziano uncovers the role of antibiotic resistance in modern medicine. Resistance questions the 80-year-old history of the antibiotic revolution, using the power of hindsight to investigate how the drugs that were designed to save lives are now helping take them by the hundreds of thousands. This documentary features the first-hand accounts of individuals suffering from bacteria that have evolved antibiotic resistance, coupled with expert analysis that provides an in-depth look at the profound challenges that antibiotics have brought into everyday life. The growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance has changed the way hospitals treat patients, and is known to have adverse effects on the food supply. Resistance challenges viewers to weigh the pros and cons of taking antibiotics for a multitude of conditions that can be treated without medication, and the future adverse effects if the industry continues to overmedicate.

Into the Inferno (2016)
Ever thought about climbing up a volcano? This daring activity is just part of a day on the job for Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist at Cambridge University. In Into the Inferno, acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog follows Oppenheimer, documenting their around-the-world trip to some of the planet’s greatest volcanoes. Herzog takes the audience on a journey of personal, social, and scientific discovery. With inspiring images and sublime footage, Herzog engages with the large community of volcanologists scattered across the globe. The film also includes various indigenous groups such as the Melanesian Ni-Vanuatu, whose religious and spiritual practices are centred around volcanoes. Herzog refers to the volcanoes as “magical”—a sight that must be seen to believe, and one which the director captures exquisitely throughout the film.

Terra (2015)
According to the film’s official website, Terra explores humanity’s existence on Earth. A story told in the first person from the perspective of humanity itself, this documentary searches to define the relationship between modern humans and our ancient ancestors. The film address prevalent social and conservation issues from across the world, including poaching on the African savannah, pollution of heavy metals into the atmosphere, and the rise of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food supply. Through an optimistic lens, the film’s directors Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot show audiences that in order to dictate our futures we must first understand the past, including not only the origins of the human race but every other species we share this planet with. By furthering our understanding of the world, from the soil beneath us to cultural phenomena, Terra takes no prisoners in its starkly beautiful depiction of human life on Earth.

The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms (2015)
This tongue-in-cheek BBC documentary special demystifies the hidden world of algorithms hard at work under the noses of the unsuspecting public. Marcus du Sautoy, a professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, takes the viewer on a 2,000-year journey to uncover algorithms used by Euclid, a Greek mathematician of the fourth century B.C., moving forward until the present-day, explaining the inner workings of Google, the world’s most popular search engine.

“Algorithms run everything,” Sautoy narrates in the film. “From search engines on the internet to satellite navigation systems and credit card data security,they even help us travel the world, find love, and save lives.”

Sautory also explores the future of algorithms, using interactive explanatory shorts to show the audience everything from the achievements of algorithms to how they can even self-program. This is a sure-to-thrill film for any aspiring programmer or mathematician.

BBC’s Planet Earth, Episode Four “Caves” (2006)
Having won an Emmy award for Outstanding Nonfiction Series in 2007, BBC’s Planet Earth is a classic nature documentary that refuses to be forgotten. The 11-episode series, which was rebooted on its 10th anniversary in 2017 for a second season, includes everything there is to be admired about filmmaking in the wild. Episode four of the original series takes its audience to new depths, exposing the inner workings of our planet, descending into the biological time machines that are caves. The episode showcases caverns around the world, both remote and well-known. From the 400-metre vertical shaft at the Cave of Swallows in Mexico to the crystal-filled chambers of Lechuguilla in the United States, Caves gazes deep into our planet and the beings, both human and animal, that call it home. Viewers descend with the cameras as they capture underwater caverns, bats in the millions, and diverse, complex ecosystems previously unseen by the human eye. With breathtaking visuals that will leave the audience stunned, Planet Earth maintains its magnificence over a decade after it was filmed.

Arts & Entertainment, Creative

Is the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing bogus?

by Dylan Adamson & Ariella Garmaise on

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In celebration of the 2018 Oscars, Arts & Entertainment editors Dylan and Ariella try their hand at sound editing (or “foley”) to see if the profession really deserves it’s own Academy Award, or if it’s as “dumb, bad and also easy” as Dylan says.

Footage shown from The Secret World of Foley
Featuring Dylan Adamson & Ariella Garmaise
Video by Noah Sutton
Music by Ryan Little

News

Students angered by Grad Ball ticket confusion

by Tianyu Zhang on

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The process of buying tickets for the 2018 AUS x SUS Graduation Ball at Le Windsor proved controversial after many students were unable to secure tickets in the first rounds of sales. The event, hosted by both the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS), saw rapid sell-out rates and technical difficulties with the payment system used, inconveniencing students and organizers alike.

Since 2016, the AUS and SUS have used a multi-tiered ticket sale scheme in which tickets are sold in three rounds, each at a different volume, with a different price, and on a different date. This year, tickets for the gourmet dinner and dance were sold first at $98 in tier one on Feb. 18, then at $103.20 in tier two on Feb. 21, and at $108.35 in tier three on Feb. 23. Students also had the option to buy tickets for the dance alone for $62, but these were only made available in the second and third tiers.

A different quantity of tickets were sold in each tier; only 70 out of 500 total dinner and dance tickets were made available for purchase in the first tier, which sold out within 16 seconds of going live, sparking outrage among prospective attendees. Claudia Belliveau, U3 Science, was among them: After she was unable to buy one of the first 70 tickets, she grew concerned that the limited number sold in tier one indicated that the planning committee had underestimated the number of students who wanted to attend the ball.

“I think [AUS and SUS] should try to find a venue that can hold at least all the graduates, because only having 500 [dinner] tickets for two large faculties’ graduates is crazy,” Belliveau said.

In an email to The McGill Tribune, AUS Vice-President Social Nathan Greene clarified that there are 500 dinner and dance tickets, 300 dance-only tickets in tier 1, and 400 more dance-only tickets, adding up to a total building capacity of 1,200 people.

Greene explained that the value of selling tickets in tiers is twofold: First to create interest in the event, and second to encourage students to buy their tickets as soon as possible, leaving organizers with more time to plan.

“Firstly, and most obviously, the tiered ticket system generates buzz,” Greene wrote. “It is [a common misconception] that Grad Ball reaches all ears as soon as the event is dropped [….] There are a fair amount of people who miss the first ticket tier, only coming in time for second and third tier tickets. The buzz generated around the event helps us sell tickets for both dinner and dance, thus maximizing our chances to sell out.”

Several students who secured their tickets in the first tier reported further difficulties with payment. While some students were charged twice for single tickets, others reported that they had been charged without receiving their tickets at all. Emily Stimpson, U3 Arts, was part of the former group.

“[The Graduation Ball website] did bill me twice because there was a PayPal issue, which I know a lot of other people experienced,” Stimpson said.

According to Greene, the high frequency of PayPal purchases overloaded the system, affecting approximately 15 students. His team has since taken steps to address the issue.

“For Tier 3, we made sure to up our server capacity and also switched our payment service provider to Stripe,” Greene wrote. “These changes remedied the issue.”

While frustration over ticket purchases was most prominent among ticket purchasers, Greene noted that the confusion has taken a similar toll on the event organizers, who are all unpaid student volunteers.   

“There has been a recent, reoccurring rhetoric of entitlement that has taken hold around the purchasing of Graduation Ball tickets, which has [led] to the dehumanization of Grad Ball organizers,” Greene said. “I get frustrated when I hear individuals on my committee telling me stories of how they had to return home from a rough midterm only to face an inbox full of misdirected hate mail. We are students too, we are working on this event for [students’] sake, so please do us one courtesy and think before you send that angry message.”

Representatives from the SUS did not respond by publishing time.

Creative

Solin Hall is the rez we should all want to live in

by Tristan Surman on

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Maxime Lakat, an entering student in U1 Management for Sustainability and the VP Environment at Solin Hall talks about his recent collaborations with Student Housing and Hospitality Services to make the residence more sustainable.

The large scale project will include revamping thermostat and tap systems to reduce energy and water waste. Lakat talks about the process of moving forward on such a project, and how it benefits the students, McGill, and the environment.

How can we, as students, push for a more sustainable McGill? New progress at Solin hall provides a map to collaborating with McGill and making our residences, and our school, more sustainable.

Featuring Maxime Lakat
Video by Tristan Surman

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

TNC’s ‘Autobiography of Red’ is enchantingly poignant

by Sophie Brzozowski on

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Adapted by writer/director Phoebe Fregoli (a fourth-year Concordia student studying women’s studies and creative writing) from the Anne Carson novel-in-verse by the same name, Tuesday Night Café Theatre’s production of Autobiography of Red is a Greek myth transposed to mid-20th century rural southern Ontario.

According to ancient legend, the play’s protagonist, Geryon, is a fearsome monster with one body and three heads who is brutally killed by the divine hero Herakles. In Red, Geryon, played by musician and actor Mich Cota, is reimagined as an artsy, sensitive, teenage boy, burdened by a pair of red wings that he hides under his trench coat. He is moody but endearing and feels sorely misunderstood by almost everyone. He’s the kind of guy who’s always being interrupted in the middle of his contemplative inner monologues. His self-documentation becomes a recurring motif throughout the play. When we are first introduced to Geryon, his autobiography is a sculpture that he’s making out of things he finds around the house.

Geryon lives with his naïve but well-intentioned mother (Annah-Lauren Bloom) along with his cruel and tactless big brother (Connor Miles, Year 2 Building Engineering at Concordia University), Geryon first meets Herakles, played by Stephen Lawrence (in his final year of a Communications Masters at Concordia), at a bus stop and falls deeply in love with him. Learning about photography from Herakles, Geryon decides his autobiography will instead become a photographic essay, excerpts of which are projected onstage throughout the play. Years after Herakles breaks Geryon’s heart for the first time, the two men reunite in Argentina and Geryon finds himself the unwitting third member of a tempestuous love triangle made up of himself, Herakles and Herakles’ sexy Peruvian boyfriend, Ancash, played by José Carmago.

Driven by language and emotion rather than plot, Geryon’s story unfolds slowly and carefully. In place of sensationalism and theatrics, Red has a placid, introspective quality that allows the viewer to absorb the play in all of its complexity. Both the setting (Terrance Richard) and costuming (Ali Hendra) are muted yet elegant, their simplicity only serving to make Geryon stand out, rendering his character all the more otherworldly. His red wings punctuate the otherwise neutral-coloured and prim dress of the characters around him. Despite the second half of the story taking place in Argentina, the set maintains its campy, small town aesthetic, with vintage memorabilia cluttering any available surface.

Apart from the set, Fregoli uses other visual components to play up the magical-realist elements of the story. In one scene, a drunk Geryon is passed out face first on a table in a hole-in-the-wall Argentinian café while a velvet-clad flamenco dancer tangoes seductively around the dimly lit stage. The dancer, of unknown name and gender, then proceeds to speak with Geryon once he awakes about a school trip he once took to an aquarium where he saw a tank full of beluga whales and how guilty they made him feel. Whether the dancer is real or imagined is unclear, but, in Red’s juxtaposition of Greek myth with southern Ontario environs, it feels entirely beside the point.

Although each actor delivered an even and moving performance, Cota was the undeniable standout of the show. Cota brought to life a winged red monster who speaks only in poetry in an entirely believable and human way. Geryon’s character is loveable and complicated—heartbreaking and hilarious all at once. Although his grandiose monologues almost always contain some flowery musing about the ocean or the stars, and he speaks at length about his love of German Stoicism and other such pretentious subjects, it is difficult not to be completely enthralled by whatever Geryon happens to be saying, so absorbing is Cota’s portrayal of him.

Autobiography of Red is the story of a soulful Greek monster who grew up somewhere between Hades and the Kawartha Lakes. It is a strange and intricate tale of love, trauma, and the peculiarity of growing up. Geryon’s story will undoubtedly worm its way into the audience’s hearts, and stick around for days after leaving the theatre.

TNC’s Autobiography of Red is playing from Feb. 28 – March 3 at 8 p.m. in Morrice Hall in the Islamic Studies Building, 3485 Rue McTavish. Tickets are $6 for students and $10 general admission.

 

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