The Art Of War At The Stratford Festival
SPOILER ALERT: The Art of War, the lyrical and elegiac new play by Yvette Nolan, has nothing to do with Sun Tzu.
The Art of War, now playing at the Stratford Festival’s intimate Studio Theatre, is part art history lesson, part meditation on man’s inhumanity to man, part Canadian boosterism, and altogether splendid.
In both World War One and World War Two, Canada dispatched artists to the trenches and the front to record the reality of war and the day to day life of those fighting. These “war artists” were able to convey something of the truth of combat in ways that mere photography simply couldn’t.
A few of these artists were members of Canada’s fabled “Group of Seven.” Others went on to distinguished careers after the wars in which they served.
The Art of War focuses on the figure of Nick (Josue Laboucane), presumably a composite rather than a specific war artist, who was originally enlisted in WWII as a soldier but transferred to put his artistic gifts to use documenting Canada’s role in the Allied war effort in Europe.
Nolan uses a kaleidoscopic sequence of vignettes that involve both gritty realism and magical surrealism to not only chart Nick’s harrowing journey but also to illuminate the elusive but vital role art plays in our ability to make sense of human experience, even at its most extreme.
It is a not insignificant accomplishment and Nolan’s writing is masterful. She has an uncanny ability to shift from the most poetic of language to the hard-edge reality of men at war. Every character in The Art of War speaks with his or her unique voice. It made me realize how pro forma so much dramatic dialog really is.
Nick may have worked with brushes rather than bullets, but he saw plenty of combat. In Nolan’s most inspired conceit Nick experiences repeated deaths of his friend Newman (Jordin Hall at his best), with whom he has far-ranging discussions about his role as artist.
Nolan makes her points and explores her themes in Nick’s brief encounters with a range of characters.
There is Magda (a haunted Jenna-Lee Hyde), a gypsy refugee begging for food, who feels more secure hiding among the cows of the forest than taking her chances in a refugees camp. Dennis (a terrific Rylan Wilkie), an arrogant war photographer, mocks Nick’s art, pointing out that artists often simply paint photographs they have seen, while acknowledging that he, too, will soon become obsolete when technology advances to allow film cameras on the battlefields.
As Heather, a singer sent to entertain sex-starved troops who has a keen eye for art, Julie Lumsden gets to showcase her terrific singing voice. Matthaeus (Wilke again) is a German painter hoping to escape the Gestapo after refusing to paint a portrait of the Führer; he carries with him fragments of a large triptych called “The Crucifixion.”
Each encounter deepens Nick’s understanding of his commitment to his art and our appreciation of the contribution he is making, culminating in his witnessing the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp. It’s powerful stuff.
Laboucane, who was such a great Dogberry in 2023’s Much Ado About Nothing, is the rock solid centre of The Art of War as the modest but quietly heroic Nick. His performance is deceptively simple, yet it speaks volumes.
Simple sets by Teresa Przybylski and masterful lighting by Logan Raju Cracknell under the fluid direction of Keith Baker bring a world of war to vivid, often harrowing life.
Sound designer Adam Cambell makes Nick’s war so palpable that it literally shakes the seats. He also brings a wonderfully otherworldly quality to the snatches of popular songs Lumsden sings late in the proceedings.
There is sweet coda to the play. It takes place well after the war and I won’t reveal what happens, but it brought a tear to this old soldier’s eye.
At just ninety minutes, The Art of War is essentially a one-act play. Yet it manages to be one of the most towering achievements of the Festival’s 2025 season.
The Art Of War continues at the Studio Theatre through September 27, 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Stratford Festival website.
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