Lion in the Streets

Introduction

Lion in the Street is a two-act performance by Judith Thompson who is awarded for many of her plays in Canada. The play was performed inititailly at the first Public Workshop Venture at the Tarragon Theater in 1990 in Canada. After its premier in the World Stage Festival, this play was translated into French by Robert Vezina as Lion dans les rues and was performed in the 1991.

Central Idea of Lion in the Street

The main idea of this play is revenge of a nine year old girl Isobel. This young Portuguese girl is searching for her murdered by following and sometimes communicating with her neighbor's after 17 years. She revel all her pain in the dark which makes this play a remarkable experience merged with emotions and drama.

Discussion

Like many of Judith Thompson's plays Lion in the Streets is a nightmare, full of heightened surrealistic imagery which derives from the obsessions of her characters - like the expressionistic dream plays of Swedish playwright, August Strindberg. The young protagonist, a Portuguese immigrant to Toronto named Isobel, is a ghost in a purgatorial condition, reliving her past at the moment before she dies, and finally freed from the world's suffering in a moment of understanding and forgiveness. Initially a prey herself to rage and violence, she watches over the living, suffers with them, and finally experiences the possibility of salvation.

Lion in the Streets comprises a series of interconnected episodes which provide graphic glimpses into desperate lives. Although the characters may inhabit different parts of the city on different social levels, they all prey to the evil, or they perpetuate the evil that stalks the streets and invades their homes. The interconnectedness of their lives is portrayed through the movement of one character from each scene into the next scene. Their words and actions carry the residues of their previous experiences. The fluidity of the play's structure also suggests the interconnectedness of every social “level”: no one is protected by economic advantages. The play is constructed like a ritualistic dance - the characters moving through a common theatrical space, their movements underscored by music.

Gradually Thompson reveals the circumstances of Isobel's life and death, and the details about her family. Her father, a Portuguese construction worker, killed himself by jumping in front of a subway train; her mother worked as a cleaning lady for an affluent couple - Laura and George - who also have children. Laura and George are presumably the good friends of Sue and Bill, but when their marriage is threatened, they have no loyalty to Sue. Laura's concern for her children's diet results in an intransigent position on their sugar intake, which results in a confrontation with their “caregiver.” Each family, each relationship, is seen to be conditioned by the others, but only Isobel has the ability to see these interconnections - and through her, the audience. In each of her visits, she tries to find someone to show her the way “home.” But she learns that no one has the ...