First Métis Man of Odesa

The Cultch (in association with the rEvolver Festival) to June 4, 2023
Tickets from $25 at 604-251-1363 or www.thecultch.com

Posted May 30, 2023

It’s almost strawberry shortcake season but if you want something sweet and wonderful right now, take yourself to The Cultch for First Métis Man of Odesa where real-life couple Matthew (Matt) MacKenzie and Mariya (Masha) Khomutova tell their story of flight from pandemic-plagued, war-torn Ukraine to Canada.

You will start smiling from the outset when Matt confesses he is not an actor (and he demonstrably isn’t) to the final curtain when it’s obvious First Métis Man of Odesa is a happily-ever-after-love story. And in the middle, you might find yourself cheering enthusiastically when, in the midst of world-wide airline lockdowns, Matt  succeeds in getting back into Ukraine – against all odds – to be reunited with Masha.

Playwright MacKenzie, of Métis, Cree and Ojibway heritage, met Odesa-born Khomutova in 2018 at a theatre workshop in Kyiv prior to the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It was almost love at first sight: he, a not-very-tall, bearded Albertan allergic to wine, horses and grasses (an Albertan, really?) and she, a slender, beautiful, classically trained Ukrainian actor who was obviously taken by Matt’s self-effacing wit and charm. “You conquered me”, she confesses.

He returns to Toronto. She flies to Toronto. “Toronto is amazing”, she says. He’s amazed she thinks so. But, “I’m following someone a world away”, she says. And so back she goes to Ukraine. But now she is pregnant and the only way she can return to Canada is if they marry. Back goes Matt to Ukraine to marry her but now it isn’t easy: airline lockdowns make it almost impossible.

Love prevails, they return to Canada as husband and wife but now the obstacles are different: a perpetually crying baby, Masha’s fear for her homeland, family and friends in the middle of a war, and the omnipresence of Olga, Masha’s mother who has come to live with them.

We find ourselves enthusiastically rooting for them: the self-deprecating Matt and the lovely, elegant Masha who has a twinkle in her eye for the man she describes as, “the peculiar fellow with the kind eyes and the big forehead” – as if the large forehead indicates something, hmm,  completely different.

Produced by Punctuate! Theatre (Edmonton) and presented jointly by The Cultch and the rEvolver Festival, First Métis Man of Odesa is written and performed by MacKenzie and Khomutova and directed by Lianna Makuch. Production design by Daniela Masellis and projection design by Amelia Scott add immeasurably to the story: a proscenium stage complete with red velvet curtains against which images are projected. The grey and white proscenium is very subtly embellished with sketches of birds and flowers and leaves – very pretty, very old World. Two white chairs. A hint of white wall and white, Greek-style columns – the Odesa Opera House, perhaps?

Eventually Matt and Masha’s story evolves into an exploration of theatre itself: as a healing experience transcending pandemics and war. When Matt suggests they write and perform a play together, Masha strongly objects and angrily accuses Matt, “So, this is some kind of adventure to you?”

The fact that First Métis Man of Odesa became a play tells us how persuasive a Métis man from Alberta can be; delighted audiences across the country are fortunate that he won her over.

Their story is not over: the Russians are still bombing Ukraine and a good part of Khomutova’s heart is still there. But they have little Ivan – who finally sleeps, Matt has made his peace with mother-in-law Olga who, I think, is still living with them, and they have the theatre – as do we. Treat yourself to something sweet – sometimes bittersweet – an utterly  charming intercontinental, intercultural love story.