Visual language prevails in The Corpse Bride, now playing at Toronto’s Harbourfront as a theatrical part of the Ashkenaz Festival.
A young man, walking to meet his bride in a neighbouring village, accidentally marries a corpse. This is The Corpse Bride, a classic Jewish folktale. Theatre PANIK’s The Corpse Bride, which is co-presented with the Harold Green Jewish Theatre, plays at the EnWave Theatre at the Harbourfront Centre, as part of the Ashkenaz Festival.
This story is most certainly not the Tim Burton version. The focus is predominantly on the bride, Gumpcha (Jennifer Balen) who is the only girl for miles. Her future husband Pinkel (Andy Trithardt) has been pre-selected by her overbearing mother (Sarah Orenstein). The bride runs after learning that there are no women being born because any girl who marries is immediately murdered by “the soldiers” – and therefore any women left are too scared to have baby girls. She runs into the woods, as do most of the other characters in the show, and chaos, as well as a murdered bride, ensues.
