A quick stroll through the neighbourhoods of Toronto and it’s not hard to see which ones are getting the big makeovers.
Places that were once down-at-heel are now all gussied up with more bells and whistles than a porn star on the Fourth of July. A recent article in the Globe and Mail had a list of signs your neighbourhood has “made it” to the cool places to live, the #1 indicator being a Starbucks.
Well, I can’t say for certain whether the addictive coffee chain has made tracks to Parkdale yet or not, but if no, it must be on its way.
Thelon Oeming’s new play, Lullaby, is about the changes and tensions that occur with neighbourhood gentrification.
One of its featured actors, David Ferry, says the push-pull of old and new in the neighbourhood is reflected in the play.
“The character I’m playing, Kenny, has different politics than the yuppie couple that move into his old digs,” he explains, “All the husband is interested in is increasing value of the house -that’s his interest. Not in community. And if there’s one thing that’s clear with Kenny, well, he may have lived in rooming houses, he’s had a rough life a dangerous life, but he still believes in community. He constantly talks about the old Parkdale, the place where you knew people, trusted people. The character who owns house has none of those interests.”
Politics is something never far from the surface of Oeming’s work, as Ferry notes.
“No level of government has really dealt with the challenges of Parkdale properly,” he says passionately, “The problems have been met in much the same way as they were in places like Vancouver when the Expo was coming -you know, this attitude of, ‘just get rid of those people.’”
Ferry says that there have only been “band aid solutions” offered to the original inhabitants of areas seeing gentrification, noting that ” historically, the changes that happen that push people out into community leave those people with no place to go-they weren’t properly planned, there was no oversight.”
There are, however, still traces of the rough old Parkdale, if you know where to look.
“Lastnight the writer and I went out to do publicity photos. He took me to a pretty rough bar around queen and roncesvalles, and there were characters from the old Parkdale there. I heard so many of my lines from the play there. One guy’s been in Parkdale for few years -it was really interesting to his concerns and in-the-moment rants.”
Clearly, there are no easy answers for dealing with the marginalized in society, particularly those left behind in newly-gentrified areas.
And though Lullaby takes place in a furniture store, not a newly-renovated house, the themes are no less obvious.
“When the character who owns house finds out it has termites, he wants to do a fast quick-finish to the renovations, selling it to someone else so they can deal with it.”
“That, right there, is a strong poitical statement.”
Lullaby opens November 3rd and runs until November 18th at Simone Interiors, 1690 Queen Street West.
For more information, go to www.darkhorsetheatre.ca