Ottawa Fringe 2014. Moonlight After Midnight

  Reviewed by Kat Fournier

The play opens with a man seated on a wooden chair, eyes closed, in an otherwise simple setting. A hotel room, we soon learn. A woman enters, and the audience believes they are witnessing a long awaited reunion. Suddenly, the dialogue shifts and from thereon-in it is impossible to know what is real and what is not. This play uses the fictionality of the stage world to keep the audience guessing, and it is a totally mind-blowing experience. The script toys with the audience, constantly shifting the story so that the line between reality and fiction blurs. But there is a constant: These two characters are meeting on a night where a rare comet can be seen just after midnight. The comet will pass by again in precisely ten years, and so they make a pact. Until the final moment, the play delivers no answers and only more questions. This play is everything I’ve ever wanted out of theatre. To say that Martin Dockery and Vanessa Quesnelle’s chemistry is riveting would be an understatement. Don’t miss this play.

Plays at Venu C. Courtroom.

Moonlight After Midnight

Written by Martin Dockery