Review: DIXON ROAD at Canadian Stage's High Park Amphitheatre

 

DIXON ROAD, a new musical by Fatuma Adar produced by The Musical Stage Company and Obsidian Theatre in association with Canadian Stage, would not let the burst of rain drenching the High Park stage drown its opening night exuberance. Like the rainbow that appeared as the show was allowed to resume, DIXON ROAD ably balances hope and fear, despair and delight, to create a beautiful show about finding your voice and a place to belong that's a must-see.

In 1990, Batoul Hussein's (Germaine Konji) family is forced to make a tough decision when violence breaks out on Somali Independence Day in their hometown of Mogadishu, Somalia. The attack is representative of the country's increasing unrest, and Batoul's mother Safiya (Starr Domingue) fears for her child's safety. The decision couldn't come at a more difficult time, as her father Zaki (Gavin Hope), a photographer and documentarian, has recently earned a government position that will legitimize his status as an important artist. His warm and puckish mother, Halima (Sakura S'Aida), refuses to leave Somalia, wishing to live out her life in the place she was born.

Arriving in Toronto, the Husseins live in a one-bedroom apartment with family friend Abdi (Michael-Lamont Lytle) and his sardonic son Youssef (Danté Price), both caring but eager to see their naive and privileged friends get taken down a peg once they realize that Canada will not afford them the comforts and status of home.

Adar mines a potent range of emotions and characterizations to deliver a meaningful story. The family is full of well-rounded and nuanced characters that you can't help but love. Everyone's point of view is explored as the characters do their best in a complex and difficult situation. Batoul is a standout, as she experiences both the joys and stresses of choice as a teenager with infinite options ahead of her. Konji is a winning performer, delivering Adar's songs and HAMILTONesque raps with wide-eyed and passionate ease.

The father-daughter relationship is particularly touching, while the relationship between Batoul and Safiya is rockier, as the two clash over generational and cultural expectations for women. Batoul's gradual understanding of her mother, including a song where three generations of women sing about breaking the cycles of oppression in their lives, is a show highlight (though one which could have had a clearer lead-up in the first act).

Adar's music is cheerful and catchy, the refrain of "take a chance" running throughout; her lyrics are thoughtful and clever, skewering the myth of Canada as a truly welcoming and encouraging place for immigrants while retaining affection for the positives.

A scene where we watch Zaki's optimism shrivel and die in front of us in a series of humiliating job interviews is searing; when Safiya tells him, "You and Batul can't both get what you want," the line hits hard with the reality of the sacrifices refugee parents make for the next generation. Through Gavin Hope's assured and sensitive performance, the audience hears Zaki's educated wit, his intense love for his daughter, and his dignified bearing; his interviewers simply ask if he is even speaking English. At the same time, there's plenty of humour, particularly in the show's '90s nostalgia when the family celebrates Eid at a famous children's rodent-themed entertainment restaurant (altered for plausible deniability).

Ray Hogg's direction is entertainingly fluid, in constant motion as actors use the frames on stage to represent anything from a border crossing to Abdi's taxi. The staging is also rich and resonant with symbolism. Adar structures her show around the coincidental link between Somali Independence Day and Canada Day, both on July 1st. The vibrant and beautiful cloth backdrop representing Somalia is ripped away to show the drab gray windows of a Canadian winter. The star on Somalia's national flag as a metaphor for home and one's future path recurs as a visual and lyric motif. Zaki's camera, a focal point, is a representation of his artistic vision that becomes a shattered dream with his declining self-worth. Its cracked lens reminds us of the difficulty of seeing the meaning of the past and the potential of the future when dealing with the realities of the present.

On opening night, we were not able to see the blocking for the second half of the first act after rain made the stage too wet to continue. Instead, we were treated to a plucky staged concert version after a pause, and the show resumed as normal in the second half. This did little to dampen the show's spirit.

A run until June 19 seems criminally short for such an ambitious production, bursting with life. I hope that Dixon Road gets a second life elsewhere, but if not, this is your chance. Take it. Run.

How to Get Tickets:

DIXON ROAD is playing at the Canadian Stage High Park Ampitheatre (1873 Bloor St. W) until June 19, 2022.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 416-368-3110 or visit https://www.canadianstage.com/show/dixon-road

Photo Credit: Provided by the company

 

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