Aside from musical hits like Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd, it is a rare occasion to catch one of Sondheim’s lesser appreciated works these days. Assassins is one of them: an American satire/semi-revue that is imagined as a sinister purgatory where historical figures (assassins and wannabes) explore their place in history and muse on their ideals. It is a timely programming choice to make in the dawning of a new fascist age south of the border, and there is much philosophy to chew on, parallels to draw and a lot of dark humour to sink into as an audience.

For a show that is so musically challenging and packed with nuance, I felt as though the venue was seriously working against the fine work of these performers. The venue at Artshub Ortona has vaulted ceilings and hard brick walls that aren’t ideal for a musical with a live orchestra or actors who are amplified by a sound system. This reviewer has an audio processing disorder, so I perhaps caught 25% of what the performers were saying. The reverb was off the charts, and the addition of some soundproofing could’ve helped mitigate that.

The lighting situation was also incredibly distracting for myself and those around me. For one, there is a large blackout curtain attempting to block out a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Since there is an emergency exit on that wall that can’t be blocked, there was enough light spilling in that there were effectively no blackouts to cover scene changes. Aside from the natural light outside, there was also a rogue sensor in the building that thrice set off lobby lights that shone brightly into the auditorium. All of us sitting on the left side of the house found it incredibly distracting. Front of House had no control over it.

This ensemble is full of talent, and I wish I’d been able to follow and focus on their non-linear storytelling. It is a shame that I can’t personally recommend it, for the team clearly invested a lot of time and labour into this mammoth undertaking.