On a frigid evening after a brutal snowstorm, I filed into Theatre Passe Muraille’s backspace to watch Coyote Collective’s Labour. The theatre is half-full—an impressive turnout considering the relentless snowfall all day.
Directed by Eric Welch, the show delves into the concept of loneliness and alienation in life and livelihood.
“At it’s core, it’s about escaping loneliness,” he says, after the opening night run.
The story follows the “Kid”, as he walks us through a day of working at a warehouse doing menial labour, where he is harassed and hassled by Paul and Gene, who seem to talk only about tits and the union.
The Kid speaks mostly in monologue about the sun exploding, insignificance, and isolation. The Kid meets a young woman who he falls in love with, which is displayed in a powerful series of movements as they sit on a bench and watch the sunset together.
As the story progresses, the Kid becomes more and more disjointed from his surroundings. The other characters develop as well. Paul, a middle-aged divorced alcoholic drunkenly slurs about his ex-wife, the love of his life, leaving him because he couldn’t provide enough for her. Gene stresses about not being able to make ends meet, and ends up killing himself. At the climax, the Kid discovers the young woman he met was, in fact, a prostitute.
Through sparse set decoration and minimalistic lighting, the show reflects on isolation and the overwhelming feeling of being stuck. The commodification of relationships is reflected upon astutely in the characters and the narrative, and comes to a climax when the Kid offers the woman he met $20 to sit with him again and watch the sunset.
The company itself is no stranger to financial struggles. Labour was financed both by the company and crowdfunding. The show is based on the real-life experiences of Welch while working in a warehouse in Brampton, and many of the conversations are verbatim.
The Coyotes manage to create an ephemeral piece of minimalist theatre that resonates universally, but is very much reflective of their own youth in the narrative, characters, and energetic and risky performances.
Their potential to grow both as individual artists and as a company seems exponential from the success of this show. Toronto’s future theatre scene is in good hands.
Marileina Pearson
Photo Editor
