If I tell you the word “musical”, what goes through your mind? Music (obviously), dancing, colourful costumes, lots of fun times and annoying catchy songs. You probably think that it’s going to be about a cute love story like Grease or the high school drama that we saw in High School Musical. However, if I tell you that domestic violence and violence against women is the matter of the original musical presented by Unity for Action, what would you say? Unusual is the word that comes to mind when I tell people that I went to see Behind Those Eyes Saturday, March 17th. I didn’t think the cast would pull off this show because of the severity of the topics and how they chose to present it. However, Behind Those Eyes was a great show to watch, and here is why:
The Storyline: Behind Those Eyes is about the life of newlyweds Sophie and Jason who love each other very much. However, it’s not a loving and caring situation we get pulled in to. Jason is a very angry, jealous and insecure man who isn’t ashamed of hitting and making his wife feel less than worse about herself. They get drawn into an alternate reality where gender roles are reserved after watching a television show. Khalid Thomas, a performing arts student at Algonquin College and one of the cast members, said that he “ wants people to walk away from the show with a realization that domestic abuse is a reality for some people and realize the abuse is not only physical but can be verbal and emotional as well”.
The actors: In order to make the show come to life, it needed sixteen actors, three directors and producers. They all did a fantastic job especially due to the fact that they all had to act, dance and sing. Plus, we can’t forget that they all had to memorize their lines (none of them forgot what they were supposed to say).
Chemistry was also an important factor in order to make the show seem real. However, it wasn’t all fun and games- Ashana Sivalingam, fourth year student in criminology and music and who played Sophie, said that “it was a difficult process. I wanted to give life to the character and respectfully represent the lived reality of many women, it was both mentally and physically challenging”.
Emily Cordes, the choreographer and vice-president of operations said that “the cast and crew worked very hard for eight weeks to put the production together. We were lucky to have such a committed and dedicated cast who were happy to spend their weekends learning the music, dances and lines for the show. The crew is incredibly proud of the cast and we couldn’t be happier to have spent the last eight weeks working on this show with them.”
The décor: I must admit that I was a bit disappointed with the decor because there wasn’t any at all. It was very simple which included a few chairs, tables and a TV. Nonetheless, keeping the décor minimalistic let us focus on what was really important.
The music: To get their point across, they used pop hits music like “Blurred Lines” or “Smack that”. The songs were entertaining and the voices of the actors complimented the sound. When the first song began and the realization that there were not original songs, was a bit of a letdown. The theme of the play and with the talent of the team, original songs should have been there.
Overall, the show was great. On top of that, we were all united for a good cause which was the Susan Shirley Program, a maternity house that provides resources to young women during their pregnancy and after giving birth as well. They sure made the centre proud, especially by fundraising over two thousand dollars. I truly recommend that you go see other productions that Unity for Action may organize in the future.
All the pictures were taken by Ahya Kamal, the photographer for Unity for Action.