Lessons in Temperament: it is impossible to fully tune a piano
12 Nov 2021

by Drew Rowsome - photos by Dahlia Katz

Is there anything as hauntingly beautiful and full of potential as an empty theatre? Especially after the deafening silence that our stages have been subjected to the last long months. Outside the March (Stupidhead, The Flick, The Tape Escape, Dr Silver, Mr Burns) is a theatre company dedicated to using unusual environments to accentuate theatrical experiences. With Lessons in Temperament they have taken the disadvantage of the pandemic and bent their mandate to their will, using theatre's sibling art form film to bring the theatre to that most usual environment, our homes. All the moving moments in Lessons in Temperament, and there are many, are framed by the ghostly and evocative imagery of many of our finest theatres waiting patiently to spring back to life.

We begin in the apartment of James Smith, our narrator. He immediately breaks the fourth wall, we are in a space, an acknowledged hybrid, between theatre and film. He is tuning his piano and, as anyone who has experienced a piano tuning raconteur, his explanation of the process, the art, expands into a myriad of metaphors and family history. Because of the pandemic, Smith's theatre-making work dried up and to fill his time and finances, he keeps the pianos in various theatres in tune. As he notes, a piano is constantly, inevitably slowly going out of tune, even when it isn't being played.  

Smith is an amiable narrator and, this having been an award-winning one man show, modulates his theatricality for a conversational tone. The foibles of piano tuning lead seamlessly into a recounting of his three brothers and their lives. All four of the brothers are neurodivergent and the pain of their story is mitigated, and made more horrible, by Smith's matter-of-fact narration. The stories are lived in and feel achingly real. The narrative is teased out with subtle foreshadowing to keep us keenly attuned, and the build to a climax and the central metaphor's delivery is inexorable and mesmerizing.

The filmmakers, director Mitchell Cushman and director of photography Gabriela Osio Vanden, for the most part keep it simple, but Lessons in Temperament is far from a taped version of a theatrical production. Aside from moving from theatre to theatre there is the advantage of editing, close-ups and cutaways to symbolic moments. The occasional moments of theatricality come across almost as special effects. Lights change in intensity or as emotional markers, sometimes enhancing, sometimes distracting. One dramatic cut involving pages of musical notation is breathtaking and stunning. The simplicity adds a gorgeous texture to foreground the words and text, a novelty in current cinema.

Equally lush is the score of piano wires tuning and detuning. It is impossible to tell how much of the sonics are courtesy of Smith as he works, and how much was added in post-production by Bram Gielen who is the credited composer. What results is a slightly dissonant and unsettling soundscape that hooks the ear, a sparser Keith Jarrett, and illustrates the central theme concisely. One never knows, much like the narrative or a neurodivergent family member, where it is going next, but the experience is so enveloping that one doesn't want to, one can't, turn away. When the narrative resolves and Smith launches into a test performance using a perfectly tuned piano, the effect is as tragic as it is ecstatic. Just like life. Smith's final statement is profound, obvious and gut-wrenchingly beautiful. But far better to let Lessons in Temperament evolve one to that catharsis than to state it here, the experience of tuning makes the final chord more powerful.

Lessons in Temperament is part of Outside the March's Solo Together series so instead of a conventional film release, there are multiple opportunities to experience:
World Premiere Nov 13th 7:30pm live at The Meridian Arts Centre, presented by TO LIVE, proceeds donated to Homes First 
Nov 18th 7:30pm virtual, presented by Crow’s Theatre, proceeds donated to CAMH
Nov 22nd 7:30pm virtual, presented by The Stratford Festival, proceeds donated to CAMH
Nov 23rd 7:30pm live at The Rose Theatre (Brampton), presented by The Rose Theatre, proceeds donated to EveryMind
Nov 24th 7:30pm virtual, presented by Theatre Passe Muraille, proceeds donated to Stella’s Place
Nov 27th 7:30pm live at The Young Centre, presented by Soulpepper, proceeds donated to Kerry’s Place
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