The Stratford Theatre Review: Casey and Diana

By Ross

The word on the Stratford streets rang out strong. That Casey and Diana, the new play written with a truthful heart by Nick Green (Body Politic; Every Day She Rose), is a tearjerker-of-a-play, destined to play havoc with our emotions and our connective selves. But I came prepared, with tissues in hand (and I even handed out a few to those around me who were not as ready as I was). Centering my soul for all that was about to transpire within that room so elegantly laid out before us courtesy of designer Joshua Quinlan (Crow’s Uncle Vanya) on the Stratford Festival‘s Studio Theatre stage, I braced myself.

Obvious pain and heartbreak were in store for us, that was clear, and inside that delicate framework, one that easily could have been overly melodramatic or maudlin was a story that I could easily engage with and utterly comprehend, even though I didn’t know the exact details of this iconic journey. I knew the Princess premise that was at its visiting core and I understood the location where this emotionality was going to unfold, but I had no idea of the journey that Green had in store for us. And in a way, I am grateful, as the unpacking is done to perfection, creating an engagement that rings true and will hang around in my heart for a long time coming.

To be clear, I am a gay male of a certain age, who lived through a time when you went to more funerals on a typical weekend than gay brunches when I was living out my twenties in Los Angeles. I also, years later, did my Masters in Social Work first-year internship in a similar type of establishment in NYC, the well-known Bailey House, and although I wasn’t all that aware of Toronto’s Casey House, I did discover it and all the wonderful things it stands for once I moved back to Toronto a few years ago into a building just a few blocks away from it. That old (and new add-on) structure that I walk by often was and still is a sanctuary and an island of care and hope in a complicated world.

It opened up in 1988 during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic becoming Canada’s first stand-alone treatment facility for people living with HIV/AIDS, and Ontario’s first free-standing hospice. Back in the day, “the average life expectancy for people living with AIDS was nine months. Many people were dying alone, cut off from the support of family, friends, and the medical community because of stigma. Guided by the strong conviction that when a person is dying, they should do so according to their own wishes, surrounded by loving caregivers, [Lead founder,] June Callwood’s goal was to create a place of medical excellence in HIV/AIDS treatment and, most importantly, a place of love and compassion. When the first client arrived at our front door he was greeted with a hug – it was the first time he’d been touched in months” (Casey House website).

That kind of energy, the kind that is brave and loving, hangs in the air of Casey and Diana. It radiates from within, especially after we were formally introduced to resident Thomas, played to perfection by Sean Arbuckle (Canadian Stage’s London Road), as he prepares himself for a historical meeting with a Princess. It’s as monumental a moment for this man as it is for the world. Thomas is the Casey House’s longest-standing resident, and when he is told that Diana, Princess of Wales, portrayed most lovingly well in pink by Krystin Pellerin (Tarragon’s Orestes), is coming in one week’s time, the news shifts the light in the room in more ways than we can imagine. The prospect of spending even one moment with one of the world’s most famous women gives the place a royal burst of energy, fed and led by the trembling super-excited ultra-fan Thomas, and we can’t help but join in.

Poised to perfection, those initial moments, and the play in general, directed most impeccably by Andrew Kushnir (Tarragon/TMU’s The Divison), carry weight and dignity as easily as it does the compassion of its caretakers, their words, and their actions. “Hope has a sound,” we are told, and in this world premiére commissioned by the Stratford Festival, the tilt of that iconic head and the shyness that is in every movement brings forth a tidal wave of emotion and connection. Supported and cared for by Nurse Vera, played beautifully strong by Sophia Walker (Soulpepper’s Blood Wedding), Arbuckle’s Thomas draws us in with his laughter, his nervousness, his honesty, his grass stains of deep shame, and his love of a gay breakfast. It’s an epic portrayal, fully embodied and distributed, even when thrown off by the difficult arrival of his complicated sister, Pauline, played solidly by Laura Condlln (Soulpepper’s Of Human Bondage), and their unresolved past.

The room is alive once again, thanks to the fine work of lighting designer Louise Guinand (Stratford’s Three Tall Women) and composer/sound designer Debashis Sinha (Stratford’s Serving Elizabeth), especially with the hugged and tense arrival of Thomas’s new roommate, Andre, beautifully embodied by Davinder Malhi (Canadian Stage’s Concord Floral), who is struggling with some familiar demons. His anger is palpable and honest, shifting around his troubled heart bitterly, going from fear to frustration in a flash. He lashes out at everyone, including himself, and even with the over-stepping care from volunteer Marjorie, played magnificently by Linda Kash (Tarragon’s Light), he can’t help himself. The dark tale of this disease rings true, and we can’t help but lean in and become as completely involved as Marjorie.

Through love, it softens, with honesty still attached, and, like the exceptionally well-crafted characters, we dig in and can’t let go. HIV/AIDS “is not the villain of the story.” writes director Kushnir. “The villain is how criminally long it took for the world to change.” The framework of Green’s play gives us the idea that it is about one amazing thing when it is really about something far more deep, far more tender, and much more complicated. It’s sharp and touching in its construction, giving us so much more than just a royal visit, but it delivers something that the founders of the Casey House actually believe in, that everyone deserved to be cared for with dignity and compassion. And this play is filled to the rim with that same belief structure, especially around the meaning of living and dying with dignity. It’s clever and truly lovely, while being honest and engaging, never taking us for a ride, while never letting us off the hook. That’s quite the journey, and I can’t stress how lucky I was to have seen this exceptional cast and production of Casey and Diana on their last night at the Stratford Festival. It’s a rare beast, this beautiful play, and I hope it keeps dishing out the love, care, and hope we all felt in abundance that night at the Studio Theatre. Let this visit not end with this solid and hard-to-beat production. Let it live on for years and years going forward.

“We wanted Casey House to be a place where people who were dying would feel loved, and get hugged.” – Margaret McBurney, co-founder of Casey House

Since opening in 1988, Toronto’s Casey House, Canada’s first stand-alone treatment facility for people living with HIV/AIDS and Ontario’s first free-standing hospice, evolved from a hospice to a specialty hospital, providing care and support for people living with and at risk of HIV. Three years after Casey House opened its doors, Diana, Princess of Wales, made a historic and memorable visit helping to change public opinion around people living and dying with HIV/AIDS. “In a simple gesture of compassion, Diana shook hands with a Casey House resident, who was covered in Kaposi sarcoma lesions–a well-known AIDS-related marking. Within days, the photograph of that touching moment appeared on the front pages of newspapers, putting a human face to a pandemic shrouded in cultural anxiety and homophobia.” Today, Casey House remains a warm and welcoming place, where we provide compassionate, judgment-free, and socially-just health care. For more information and to donate, please visit their website, caseyhouse.ca.