Guest Column

Mix Tapes stirs deep feelings

Review by Robert Labossiere - Special to The Bulletin

You know what a “sleeper” is, right? It’s a movie or book or play produced on a small budget and without much promotion that achieves unexpected success. 
Mix Tapes From My Mom, a play put on at Sioux North High School on Tuesday, March 5th was, for me, a classic sleeper. It didn’t seem like much to begin with, or even half way through, but by the end of the show you felt grateful, like you’d been let into a special place in somebody’s life. 
The story, told by one actor (also the writer) Cory Wojcik, is a monologue about his mom. Unostentatious in presentation (think 50s rec room) and told in a straightforward manner, the play ingeniously blended the story with the performance of songs from mix tapes Wojcik’s mom loved to make. A cassette player played tracks of drums and base to backup Wojcik and accompanying guitarist, Josh Bellan, and keyboardist Christy Taronno through renditions of many familiar pop hits of the 60s and 70s.
Wojcik, now a paunchy, middle-aged guy, grew on you as a person over the course of the show. The story seemed mundane at first but grew in intensity as it becomes clear his mom has cancer. After a long fight, with relapses and recoveries, she succumbs to the illness. The story peaks dramatically with her final hours being on the very same day, at the very same time that Wojcik’s wife gives birth to their second child, both in hospital but on opposite sides of the city.
This albeit implausible (but apparently true) situation produced some of the best writing in the show. Wojcik eloquently captured the internal conflict he experienced on that day: whether to be at his mother’s bedside or present for his child’s birth; it seemed he could not do both.
Despite being filled with clichés, including fart jokes and sped up movie clips of Wojcik racing between hospitals, the overall effect of the play was one of tenderness. The slide show at the end of the play, family photos of the actor, his mom and other characters introduced over the course of the play, was a revelation: this really was not a made-up story, but all real, very, very real. The audience responded with a standing ovation. 
Mix Tapes From My Mom was a MTC regional tour production staged at Sioux North High School by the Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series. There are three more productions for this season. Confessions of a Professional Dancer will be presented the beloved dance troop Motus O on Friday, March 22nd. A double bill with The Johnny Max Band & the Weber Brothers will rock the house with blazing guitar virtuosity on April 11th. And solo multi-instrumentalist Angelique Francis will perform a seductive mix of blues, soul, folk, jazz, gospel and rock on May 3rd. Tickets are $30 at the door, $25 for seniors and $5 for kids up to high school age.
The Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series is a volunteer-run collective dedicated to fostering the cultural life of Sioux Lookout. Please consider getting involved. Contact Alyson Martin at (807) 737-1677. You can find them on Facebook. And they have a website siouxhudsonentertainmentseries.ca.