Review: BEOWULF IN AFGHANISTAN at Great Canadian Theatre Company

Great Canadian Theatre Company opened its 50th anniversary season with a world premiere from Ottawa playwright, Laurie Fyffe. Fyffe's Beowulf in Afghanistan is a thought-provoking drama that challenges the audience to reflect upon our history and decide who the heroes and villains truly are.

Grant Cleary (Micah Jondel DeShazer) is a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan. We meet him in the midst of a traumatic event, after which Grant reflects on Beowulf, the epic poem he studied in school about a warrior who persevered through battles centuries prior. Grant’s professor, Louise Flynn (Michelle LeBlanc), sporadically appears alongside him in the unrelenting desert to both encourage the reluctant student and to challenge his understanding of the ancient text. Grant becomes Beowulf and, like the hero, must fight if he is to survive.

In the second act taking place several years later, Grant reconnects with Louise at a conference and, later, in her office, Grant shares his thesis on Beowulf with his former professor. There is a palpable shift in their relationship. Grant is now the scholar, and his lived experience allows him to dig beneath the surface and ask penetrative questions: were the monsters of Beowulf's ancient text actually monsters? Or was it their way of dehumanizing the enemy in order to justify their slaughter? Since the victors are the ones who write history, perhaps we need to take a step back and challenge the text. Do we need to rethink our own history? Are we the monsters, and those that we thought were the monsters actually the victims?

Performances by both actors are outstanding. As Grant, Jondel DeShazer is mesmerizing and the first half of the play flies by. LeBlanc’s Louise counters Jondel DeShazer’s intensity with an almost uncanny calmness at times, and the two play off each other to maintain a delicate balance.

The performances are further enhanced by the sound and lighting design (designed by Ali Berkok and Martin Conboy, respectively), especially in the war scenes and reenactments of the Beowulf story. With a minimalist stage and limited props (set design by John Doucet), the items that are used are impactful and the direction, by Kate Smith, adds to the ethereal atmosphere. The second act has an entirely different feel, losing a little bit of the momentum built up in the first half, but it is used to fully develop the ideas brought forward in the first part and provide a satisfying end to the story. 

The costumes (designed by Bonnie Garland) are as symbolic as they are utilitarian, with Grant wearing a combat uniform representative of the Canadian soldiers who fought in Operation Medusa in 2006. Louise gradually transforms from a typical university professor to a Norse Storyweaver in the first half of the play. Notably, the large poppy on the back of her costume is a dual symbol representing Canadian veterans and the crops used by the Afghan people in opium production.

Fyffe doesn’t provide an answer in Beowulf in Afghanistan, deliberately allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions based on their interpretations and experiences. You may leave the theatre questioning what you thought you knew, not only about past wars Canadians in which have fought, but also about wars currently being fought around the world, as well as similarities with the forced colonization of Canada’s Indigenous population. Beowulf in Afghanistan may not be everyone’s cup of tea (several people did not return after intermission), but I highly recommend this show for those who enjoy theatre that challenges its audience and forces them to reflect long after the play is over.

Beowulf in Afghanistan is on stage at Great Canadian Theatre Company through November 24th. Click here for more information or click the link below to get tickets.

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