The DATE: a well-meaning but uneven work

 

Beginning with a chair, table and a woman anxiously waiting for her date to arrive, Phoebe Webber’s new self-created work The Date starts off promisingly, genuinely piquing the viewer’s interest. ‘How will it go?’ is indeed the question to be asked of the play. The answer, however, is never given-all that the audience is given is the woman’s numerous questions and imaginings of her date’s potential flaws. Initially coming off as indecisive about the type of man she’s looking for, Webber’s character soon spirals into coming up with paranoid scenarios (such as whether he still lives in his mother’s basement) about the guy she’s never even met yet.

While there’s humour to be found in the woman’s worries about dating as an older woman and in some of her paranoia surrounding her date, neither of these things really come to anything in the play-by the end, it’s unclear whether her fears were justified or not, as the guy never shows up.

A peculiar feature of The Date is the operatic arias which Webber sings throughout to dramatize her character’s situation. While she is a competent singer and the arias are enjoyable in themselves (some from classical works), they seem a bit out of place in this otherwise modern production. Adding to this is the short length of the play (only 35 minutes), which doesn’t quite allow for the material to be deeply explored. Webber’s production, though well-meaning, is one which falls a bit short in fleshing out a fully-realized dramatic plot.

The Date continues at the ODD Box in the Arts Court Theatre for the Ottawa Fringe Festival until June 24. For show times and tickets, see http://ottawafringe.com/shows/the-date/