So, what are you doing tonight? Say around 8? Or tomorrow, maybe. Tomorrow works too.
I’ve recently rediscovered my love of theatre, and Walterdale always promises a good show with a ticket price I can actually afford. So last night I headed out to Walterdale to catch their evening of one-act plays, From Cradle To Stage. Here follows a brief review of the evening.
Uncle Robert’s Funeral
This short play reading is about a woman who finds herself alone at the funeral of her husband’s best friend’s wedding. It’s probably for the best that it was the first piece of the evening, as it was definitely the weakest of the three. The three actors were all decent, although Joe Silliker, who played Tom, Uncle Robert’s nephew, was probably the most stilted. The piece’s main problem, I think is in the writing: the dialogue often doesn’t sound quite like real people speak.
Kiss Within a Kiss
Kiss Within a Kiss is a really adorable little piece about a girl who is about to have her first kiss — as part of a play. I think part of what makes this piece so charming is the play within a play within a play aspect; the audience is, in a sense, watching three separate performances simultaneously. This becomes particularly apparent during a prop malfunction early on in the piece; it only later becomes clear that this small failure is completely scripted.
The writing here is much stronger than in the first piece, and the two main actors, Stephany Wigston (Kathy, cast in the role of Julie) and David Johnston (Shawn, cast in the role of Ramsey), do an excellent job of balancing their dual roles. Wigston is especially convincing both as Kathy and as Julie.
My main problem with the piece, I think, came from my upbringing in the American midwest: I’m familiar with the real versions of the southern accents adopted by the characters of Julie and Ramsey, so I naturally notice when they aren’t quite perfect. Ramsey’s accent in particular didn’t quite hit the mark. This would be unforgivable if we were actually watching the play within a play, Swindled Love. But because we’re far more interested in the character of Shawn, who I’m willing to believe just can’t quite pull off that southern drawl, it works. And while I’d normally be all for dropping an accent that doesn’t quite work, it does actually add an important element to the play’s final moment, making the whole thing even more poignant and sweet than it might have been otherwise.
The humour throughout the whole thing was well-done; Kathy’s somewhat over-the-top descriptions of first kisses that didn’t quite happen had me nearly on the floor, as did Shawn’s embarrassment over a previous, far more erotic, play he’d performed in. And while Myra (played by Amanda Blair), Swindled Love‘s bitchy stage manager, doesn’t have a role within the secondary play, she does an excellent job being incredibly abrasive, and exceptionally funny.
Sea of Green
As utterly charmed as I was by Kiss Within a Kiss, the main reason you should go see Walterdale’s evening of one-acts is for Sea of Green. Based on the contentious election in Iran last year, I was floored by the performances and writing in this piece. Sea of Green has a much larger cast than the other two pieces, and everyone in it is solid. Especially exceptional performances came from Joel Taras (as Jacob), Elena Porter (as Joanna), and Justin Benko (as Mylo).
It remains a hard piece for me to really sum up in a coherent way. In many ways, it’s a very minimalist play. The set-design is incredibly simple, the actors’ movements choreographed and occasionally almost dance-like. It’s incredibly poetic; not surprising, considering the piece originated as a series of poems. Still, the careful staging of both movement and speech didn’t take away from the sense of urgency that the play is attempting to convey. Indeed, I think the more cautious arrangement is probably more successful than a more realistic set-up might have been.
All I can really say about this piece is this: if you have time tonight, and $15, go see it.
Tags: edmonton, theatre review, walterdale playhouse
