All She Wants Is A Bun In Her Oven

Review of the play: The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz (MSBB)

Played at: The Rachel Browne Theatre located at 211 Bannatyne in Winnipeg

Okay, without ruining the entire play for anyone that wants to see it, here’s what went down. MSBB was written by Armin Wiebe and directed by Kim McCaw. This is Wiebe’s first full-length play and is set in a shack in a Manitoba Mennonite community set in the 1930s.

We got Susch (Tracy Penner) who wants a baby and a washing machine. None of which her husband of two years, Obrum, is providing. Obrum (Tom Keenan) doesn’t just bring home a piano, but his friend Beethoven Blatz (Eric Nyland), who is super eccentric and does nothing but try to fix the busted up piano and call Susch Sonia.

Sonia, I mean Susch gets sick and tired of her husband not sleeping with her because of his alleged poison ivy in his crotch, and gets sexually frustrated. At this point Susch may or may not seek company from another man and gets knocked up. Okay, so she sleeps with Blatz and she is with child and happy about it. Not because she cheated on Obrum, but because she is going to have a baby and her and Obrum can be happy. 

Add in a lesbian midwife named Teen (Daria Puttaert) and you’ve got yourself a play. In all seriousness, I thought the relationship Teen and Susch had was very interesting and was curious to see where it would end up. To my disappointment, nothing came from it.

I did enjoy this play a great deal and would recommend it; I laughed at many points and thought the piano playing by Blatz was a great addition and left me wanting more.  

And if you do wanna see it at The Rachel Browne Theatre, it’s too late. You have missed your chance because it is no longer playing, so you will have to be content in reading this review. I know, you are probably pretty jazzed about that. So read on to find out what crossed my mind. It’s what you came here for.

What crossed my mind as I watched MSBB:

1) Soooo, Obrum is encouraging his wife to cheat on him? Do Mennonites do that? I don’t think that’s right, call me old fashioned, but once you get married you stop sleeping around. Not that you should sleep around if you aren’t married.

2) Wow, when Susch wants something, she gets it.

3) Please don’t let her have that baby on the stage. Not that I think it would be gross, but as Karen Press would say, it’s cliché.
4) I wish I learned to play the piano.

5) I lesbian twist. Didn’t expect that.

6) Really, people are leaving? This is a great play. 

7) Blatz is really good at playing the piano; I just want him to go to town on it.

8) No, she’s not having that kid.

9) I want some closure with Teen and Susch. Not even a kiss?

10) Yup, she’s having her kid and she is being suuuper animated about it. It probably does hurt that much to warrant the yells coming from Susch, but I really didn’t need to hear it. I was enjoying the play and it was jarring and disruptive to hear Susch’s screams.

11) So, we end in a group sing-a-long? I was expecting Blatz to play a killer song.

12) I wish I learned to play any instrument.

13) I want a brummtopp.

I also had the chance to be a part of an artistic talkback and the playwright's talk. I feel that while I enjoyed the play, Wiebe didn't do a great job of explaining some things. The thing I had the most trouble with is the lesbian relationship between Susch and Teen. When asked about the relationship, Wiebe didn't answer the questions directly and seemed to be avoiding the word lesbian altogether. He acknowledged that Teen loves Susch, but that was the end of it. 


When meeting Wiebe I was immediately stunned by how much he didn't fit the way he looked in my mind; he doesn't look like someone that would write a play of adultery and lesbian loves. I wanted him to be more comfortable about it though. Those were the two most interesting moments of the play and that I would have liked to hear more about. Turns out those are the two things he didn't want to talk about.