The Da Vinci Code

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – The Da Vinci Code

Playwright – Adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel from the novel by Dan Brown.

Production Company/Theatre space – The Playhouse, Vertigo Theatre,

Length – 2 Act (2 hours 55 mins – one intermission)

Genre/s – Mystery

Premise – A professor of historical symbols is conscripted to solve puzzles leading to the whereabouts of the chalice and a possible lineage for Jesus after a dead man in the Louvre leaves a secret message for his grandchild with the professor’s name attached.

Why this play? Why now? – The Da Vinci Code was a bestselling novel and successful film, and after whodunits a whereisit is a fun mystery to solve.

Curiosities – I wonder if this play resonates more deeply with the devout?

Notable Moment – Hard to pick from the cacophony of self-flagellating monks, caretakers of museums and cathedrals, and a billionaire with a cane and a plane.

Notable writing – The novel would take the average reader 9 ½ hours to read (Brysbaert, 2019). Compressing 689 pages of prose into a nearly 3 hour play makes for puzzle saturation. In the set up, the police put a tracking device on the professor suspecting him of being implicated in a satanic death. If the prof can solve the mystery of the secret messages, he will vindicate his innocence. However, those stakes become buried under puzzle solving mania. This twisty plot, jumping back and forth in time, becomes an urgent frenzy decoding clues found on walls, paintings and floors of churches, cryptic puzzles to be solved, code breaking, bank password guessing, secret societies, and a mysterious key.

Notable performances – This production is found under a shroud of accents. Graham Percy, a Vertigo favourite, plays the everyman who struggles with extraordinary circumstances, and he does it well. His partner in (non) crime, Isabella Pedersen, often mistakes volume for intensity but carries the play. Calgary veterans Joel Cocrane, Valerie Planche, and Duval Lang are what makes this quest exciting and along with Mike Tan, Christopher Clare, and Matthew McKinny they unlock the treasure in this complicated play.

Notable design/Production – Anton deGroot (Set Designer), Andy Moro (Projection Designer), and Darren Young (Sound Designer) are gods. They bring creative clarity to this convoluted story making it less cryptic. Shoutout to Kennedy Greene for calling what must be a thousand cues.

Notable direction – Thank god this behemoth was led by a director as strong as Simon Mallett. We would be in hell if it wasn’t for his talent for managing a show of this scope.

One reason to see this show – This film coming to life will take you on an epic adventure.