Two plays stand out in The Extremely Short New Play Festival

The Extremely Short New Play Festival
New Theatre of Ottawa

Two plays stand out in the group presented in this year’s Extremely Short New Play Festival. And one speech in one of the two is particularly moving and alone justifies the need to sit through other less worthwhile pieces.

It is the widower’s words about his dead wife in Jessica Anderson’s Terminal Journey, as delivered by Brian K. Stewart, that create a lasting impression and confirm that Anderson (currently with a play premiering off-Broadway) is destined to make her mark as a playwright.

Pierre Brault’s Coach of the Year, which deals with the all-too-familiar topic of sexual abuse by sports coaches, is also a well-constructed drama that creates believable characters.

The most amusing offering is Keith Davidson’s Out of Gas, which depicts a hillbilly/trailer trash couple as incompetent murderers attempting to restart their lives and their vehicle.

The Book of Daniel by Lawrence Aronovitch presents the memories of a comic-book loving teenager recalling his pragmatic rabbi, a Holocaust survivor. It is not entirely successful as a stand-alone piece, but does give the impression that it would be effective as part of a longer drama.

Of the remainder, Laurie Fyffe’s Seeing requires more context to be fully understandable. Tim Ginley’s There’s More to the Picture is too heavily reliant on special effects. (Yes, I know that is part of the point, but it does not achieve its aim.) Caitlin Corbett’s Loyal Opposition is not effective as a dramatic encounter (particularly when the performers are hampered by incredibly ugly wigs) although it might well make quite interesting reading.

Wynn Quon’s Top Job, in which a gorilla is interviewed as a potential head of the Bank of Canada, might have some appeal for those who enjoy the totally silly. Also on the theatre of the absurd theme, Stephanie Turple’s Denial seemed too obvious an attempt to write in the vein of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Finally, a stronger opening than Alice by Karen Balcome, a weak, one-person piece of limited interest, would have been punchier.

As directed by John Koensgen, each of the four-person cast of Eric Craig, Maureen Smith, Brian K. Stewart and Colleen Sutton is effective in multiple roles.

Even though the quality and style of the material are bound to be variable in productions of this type, it is to be hoped that the New Theatre of Ottawa will continue its short play festival in future years.

The Extremely Short New Play Festival completed its run at Arts Court on November 10, 2013.