Review: LESSONS IN FORGETTING Fails to Stick in Audience's Memory

As a frequent theatre-goer, there are certain shows you look back on and go, "wow, I really sat through that?" Unfortunately, LESSONS IN FORGETTING is one of those shows.

LESSONS IN FORGETTING or, EXERCICE DE L'OUBLI in French, follows a married couple whose relationship is in turmoil after a serious car accident leaves the husband with practically no memory. Still in love with him, the wife visits her husband every day in hopes of making some sort of connection. In their brief meetings they share comical conversations, intense emotions, and painful memories.

Directed by Jöel Beddows and written by Emma Haché, LESSONS IN FORGETTING is an ambitious, albeit uneventful, entry in Théâtre français de Toronto's 52nd season. The production attempts to craft a moving and impactful story about the horrors of a couple torn apart by a wicked twist of fate but ultimately, the story falls flat. To her credit, Haché's dialogue mines every possible aspect of the situation, earnestly reaching for some nugget of insightfulness, but repeatedly comes up short. With nothing new or insightful to say about loved ones with memory impairment and limited by a feeble and uninteresting stage, it's ironic how unmemorable LESSONS IN FORGETTING is.

To be fair, the show is performed entirely in French, a language I don't speak. However, even with the assistance of English subtitles, I struggled to follow the story. It just wasn't cohesive.

Overly depressing and brimming with expositional dialogue, perhaps the most underwhelming part of the writing were the several seemingly random tangents the wife went on in attempts to jog her husband's memory. Wasa monologue summarizing about their daughter's dance recital and a story on how her mother used to abuse her necessary? While sometimes the writing resulted in heartfelt sentiments, such as the husband telling his wife "you are my favourite thought," more often than not it yielded ridiculous lines like this exchange:

THE WIFE: "I lost it."
THE HUSBAND: "Who?"
THE WIFE: (whispers) "Joy."

Though the performances from its pair of actors are solid, unfortunately LESSONS IN
FORGETTING fails to deliver the liveliness that's required to hold an audience's attention. Even the actor's attempts to spice up the show by utilizing the entire stage with expressive and unique movement, doesn't change the fact that the show as a whole is dreadfully dull. LESSONS IN FORGETTING is appropriately named. After viewing, I need a lesson in how to erase this show
from my memory.

Théâtre français de Toronto's LESSONS IN FORGETTING runs through to February 9 at
Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley St, Toronto. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://theatrefrancais.com/en/lesson-in-forgetting/

Photo Credit: Théâtre français de Toronto

To post a comment, you must register and login.