Fly ME To The Moon: A fine balance between comedy and serious theatre

Poverty has a starring role in Irish playwright Marie Jones’ newest work, Fly Me to the Moon. If two personal care workers, Frances and Loretta, employed at minimum wage to look after Davey, an 84-year-old invalid, had not been so desperately poor, they would probably not even have considered pocketing his last pension cheque after his sudden demise. And when his last bet on a horse race comes in at 100-to-one, they might not have decided to cash in on that too.

But the cash-strapped women are yearning for a better life for their families, so they try to overcome their scruples, rationalizing that this is what Davey would have wanted.

As demonstrated in Jones’ Stones in His Pockets, the playwright’s greatest strength is in drawing believable people, even in unbelievable situations on the cusp between dark comedy and farce.

In the GCTC production of the Canadian premiere of Fly me to the Moon, director John P. Kelly frequently takes the cast of the two-hander to the brink of farce without losing the script’s serious undercurrent.

As Frances, Mary Ellis is totally convincing as she orders Loretta to deal with the corpse in the bathroom, noting that she “doesn’t do death,” expressing pride in the illegal entrerpreneurship of her son, and dealing with the assorted problems that threaten to bring the schemers to justice.

As Loretta, Margo MacDonald is a good counterpoint to Ellis, but occasionally tips the balance too far towards farce.

While the journey through Fly Me to the Moon is often very amusing — if sometimes giving the impression of being a one-act forced into its expansion into a full-length play — the resolution of the caregivers’ problem is somewhat irritating for the practical minded.

The GCTC production of Fly Me to the Moon continues at the Irving Greenberg Theatre to November 18.

Fly Me to the Moon

By Marie Jones

Great Canadian Theatre Company

Director: John P. Kelly

Set and costumes: Sarah Waghorn

Lighting: David Magladry

Cast:

Frances……………………………………………Mary Ellis

Loretta…………………………………………….Margo MacDonald