“The Boy in the Moon,” adapted by Emil Sher from the memoir of the same title by Ian Brown, chronicles a father’s search for the inner life of his severely disabled son, Walker. The book is quite introspective which presents a problem for the playwright. There’s very little interaction between the three actors and the script often feels like a disconnected series of musings and narratives.

Another problem is the casting. Peter James Haworth who plays Ian Brown and Manon St-Jules as Walker’s mother seem out of balance in both age and size. There’s no chemistry between them and we never get a sense of their relationship, only their relationships to Walker. Not only are they not connected to each other, they seem disconnected from their characters, especially Mr. Haworth. Miss St-Jules shows us more levels of her character, but the most realistic and connected moments are provided by Marion Day as Walker’s older sister Hayley, one of her multiple roles.

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Photo Julie Laurin.

Kathi Langston and Megan Piercey Monafu (the playwright) took their show “Mabel,s Last Performance” to the Halifax Fringe where Kathi was just declared  best female performer

Congratulations Kathi!

Mabel’s Last performance with Kathi Langston. Photo: Julie Laurin.

Reviewed by Kate Watson at the Fringe

Kathi Langston gives a riveting performance as an aging actor facing the descent into the depths of dementia. Her face is a canvas that displays the most subtle shifts of emotion, from the utter elation that happy memories bring, to the clouds of confusion and doubt that scuttle across her mind. Her physicality shows Mabel’s state of mind in the bend of her spine or the skip in her step. The subject matter of the play is somber, but there are lovely moments of lightness and humour. An amazing performance in a play that beautifully explores a difficult subject.

Photo. Barbara Zimonick.

“Waiting for the Parade” by John Murrell has become a Canadian classic. First produced in Calgary in 1977, the play looks at WWII through the eyes of five women on the home front, their relationships with each other and with their families. The play’s structure is flowing and cinematic, consisting of slice of life vignettes and presentational monologues. These are connected by songs and sometimes dances of the period that also allow for minimal costume changes and changes of mood.

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Photo. Jay Kopinski. Tess Degenstein as Cecily & Brett Christopher as Algernon.

The comedy, The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde, one of the 19^th century’s greatest wits, is currently playing at the 1000 Islands Playhouse. For anyone unfamiliar with the play, it concerns two wealthy playboys who have been leading double lives to escape their boredom with the restrictions of polite society. When they both use the alias “Earnest,” the plot becomes chaotic and full of twists and turns, all happening in Wilde’s witty dialogue.

This is a very clever and stylish play but this production, directed by Daryl Cloran, seems to be mostly frosting and not much cake. At times, for example with Cecily’s rather contemporary method of serving tea to Gwendolen, it degenerates into slapstick. This play is not a farce and Wilde has written characters that can certainly be played believably. Everyone here, with a couple of exceptions, is working so hard at the style that any element of reality is lost. Style is meaningless if there’s no substance.

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Photo. Andrew Alexander. David Adams as Prospero, Claire Armstrong as Miranda.

The current production of “The Tempest” at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival is a perfect example of a strong directorial and design concept hi-jacking the play. This can happen with Shakespeare and sometimes an off-beat concept works. This one doesn’t. The conceit of a travelling side-show troupe sets a lively boisterous tone that’s completely at odds with the play’s atmosphere of mystery, revenge and magic. Director Craig Walker refers to the troupe’s leader, ultimately Prospero, as “part mystic and part con artist.” This cheapens the character and we’re left with a tawdry mountebank instead of a wise philosopher magician.

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