Skip to main content

REVIEW: Baram and Snieckus’ Big Stuff uses improv to explore the materiality of grief

int(111291)
Production photo from Big Stuff at Crow's Theatre. iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
/By / Nov 24, 2024
SHARE

Cardboard boxes housing an idiosyncratic array of objects including a pinprick portrait of a crying orphan, a wooden carving of a hunted owl, and a shiny fleet of toasters provide the backdrop for the world premiere of Big Stuff, produced and performed by married comedy duo Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus in association with Crow’s Theatre. The hour-and-a-half two-hander, directed by co-creator Kat Sandler with set design by Michelle Tracey, investigates how seemingly useless items can serve as conduits for memory, particularly after the death of a loved one. This is charged subject matter — but Baram and Snieckus’ improvisation-infused, Second City-tested comic repartee keeps the show moving with delicious lightness.

The autobiographical premise: In the wake of their parents’ deaths, Baram wishes to trash many of the inherited belongings, while Snieckus is insistent on keeping them. This disagreement yields flashbacks explaining the various items’ significance (or lack thereof), a conceit that lets the couple dramatize key moments in their lives, from their first meeting to the final days of Snieckus’ father’s life.

Pens and paper populate the seats of the Crow’s Studio before the show begins. Once the audience arrives, printed instructions have us write down an item in our living space that reminds us of someone. Baram and Snieckus then collect the entries and incorporate them into the show, splitting up written scenes with brief audience interviews about the objects. 

At the performance I attended, the crowd’s responses were often intensely personal, burrowing deep into family histories and tales of first love. Because of its focus on stuff, the play at first seems aimed at people old enough to have accumulated a large number of meaningful personal belongings. As a younger viewer, I wasn’t sure what to write down, and wouldn’t have had much to say if asked about my eventual choice. But the fact that others held forth with elegance on trinkets of such remarkability — a 200-strong collection of mini-elephants marched ahead of a rose petal enshrined in glass — helped me see relevance in the show’s concept.

A rather American forcefulness combines with a particularly Canadian commitment to self-deprecation in the performances of Baram and Snieckus, who are based in Toronto but recently lived in Los Angeles for several years. The blazer-and-glasses-clad Baram is neurotic and grounded, whereas Sniekcus, in a crewneck and button-down, comes off as compassionate but ever-so-slightly fiendish. The duo’s considerable rhythmic precision and kindly, fluid presence anchor the show, even when the ship drifts off course (at my performance, they at one point got lost in the script, having to converse with the stage manager before going back a few pages; they of course washed, peeled, and diced this mishap into a six-course meal).

The synopsis on the Crow’s website discusses the duo’s “distinct blend of storytelling and improvisation,” and, indeed, Big Stuff owns property near that porous border between comedy and theatre. Baram and Snieckus provide the comic chops, while Sandler brings in much of the staginess, coordinating shifts in lighting (by Emilie Trimbee) and sound (by Tim Lindsay) to signpost the beginning and end of different timelines. The show even draws attention to the tension between the art forms; a few times, after a section of improvisation, Baram and Snieckus return to the text of a scripted scene but act as if they’ve forgotten to do the blocking before hastily acknowledging this discrepancy and returning to the correct physical spot. 

If the show falters, the tumult lies in its conclusion, which seems to me oddly neat, given the show’s discursive structure. In it, Baram and Snieckus appear eager to offer a final argument regarding the usefulness of their stuff. But this spelled-out rhetoric is less powerful than the subtext that’s been building over the piece’s runtime: That these objects are valuable because they inspired this exceptional show.


Big Stuff runs at Crow’s Theatre until December 8. Tickets are available here.


Intermission reviews are independent and unrelated to Intermission’s partnered content. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.

Liam Donovan
WRITTEN BY

Liam Donovan

Liam is Intermission’s senior editor. His writing has appeared in publications like Maisonneuve, This, and NEXT. He loves the original Super Mario game very much.

LEARN MORE

Comments

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


/
Queen of the Night promo photo. iPhoto caption: 'Queen of the Night' promo photo courtesy of Luminato Festival.

REVIEW: Two site-specific Luminato concerts explore the significance of daily ritual

Grounded in a heightened sense of time and place, both Dawn Chorus and Queen of the Night Communion express curiosity about how art can disrupt patterns of living.

By Ferron Delcy
Justin Collette in Beetlejuice. iPhoto caption: Justin Collette in 'Beetlejuice.' 2022 photo by Matthew Murphy.

REVIEW: For a show about death, Beetlejuice is impressively full of life

It's a thoroughly entertaining musical that even improves on the original film, adding a far more cohesive storyline, clearer character motivations, and an updated sense of humour.

By Ilana Lucas
Andrew Penner and Deborah Hay in 'After the Rain.' iPhoto caption: Andrew Penner and Deborah Hay in 'After the Rain.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: After the Rain transforms the Tarragon Mainspace into a passionate folk-rock concert

The performers of this world premiere musical got a lot of laughs from the buzzing opening night audience, but make no mistake, they got quite a few audible tears out of us, too.

By Gus Lederman
Philip Myers as Mamillius (left) and Lucy Peacock as Time in The Winter's Tale. Photo by David Hou. iPhoto caption: Philip Myers as Mamillius (left) and Lucy Peacock as Time in 'The Winter's Tale.' Photo by David Hou.

Stratford Festival reviews: The Winter’s Tale and Anne of Green Gables

A winter story told by a melancholy child and a fanatical Lucy Maud Montgomery book club help frame the final two productions in the Stratford Festival’s 2025 opening week.

By Karen Fricker
Production photo of Globe Theatre's Bring it On. iPhoto caption: The company of 'Bring It On.' Photo by Chris Graham.

REVIEW: Bring It On sticks the landing at Regina’s Globe Theatre

As a whole, the Globe’s Bring It On does everything this musical was designed to do: it’s fast, funny, and fun for the whole family.

By S. Bear Bergman
Members of the company in the Stratford Festival's production of 'Annie.' iPhoto caption: Members of the company in 'Annie.' Photo by David Hou.

Stratford Festival reviews: Macbeth, As You Like It, Annie, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

While the four productions I reviewed spanned different genres and styles, the presence of household-name director-designer Robert Lepage led me to reflect more broadly on the craft of directing, and how the demands of specific shows shift what’s entailed in that intense, wide-reaching job.

By Liam Donovan