Perfect Wedding: Imperfect Wedding and Production

Perfect Wedding
By Robin Hawdon
Kanata Theatre

Farce must move quickly to amuse, but the early frenzy and constant shouting throughout the Kanata Theatre production of Perfect Wedding by Robin Hawdon are likely to leave audiences with headaches rather than smiling faces.

First-time director Geoff Williams has chosen to have his cast begin at too high a pitch to have anywhere to go. In addition to the corkscrew of frenzied action, repeated movements, looks and voice cadences and the regular brandishing of a toilet brush increase the predictability and reduce the watchability.

The starting point of Perfect Wedding is the morning after the bachelor party, when the reluctant groom wakes up in the bridal suite to find a naked woman (a complete stranger) beside him. Whoops! His bride and her mother will arrive momentarily, expecting to use the room to change for the wedding.

As set up by the English playwright, this is a perfect situation for a French farce. But for greatest effect, this style of comedy requires a more sophisticated approach than is evident here. This means building towards a climax, not creating a non-stop screaming match.

In this production, only Jennie Leaver offers varied levels, including some restraint, in her performance as Judy. Rachel Davies, as the bride, is a little too one-note in her bossiness, while Tara Sisson, peering through overlong bangs, has trouble varying her tone or pitch in the key role of the chambermaid. Tracy Trottier as the ditzy mother of the bride is a little too much of a caricature. Sam McCarthy as the best man and Stuart Benson as a very young-looking groom seem to be following direction well, but Williams does not appear to have extracted top performances from them.

On the technical side, Meghan Lavigne’s wedding dress design serves the purpose of fitting two bodies as required by the script, but Jim Clarke’s two-room set design does not give the impression of being a luxury hotel.

In general, this version of Perfect Wedding is perfectly problematic.

Perfect Wedding continues at Kanata Theatre to February 15.

Director: Geoff Williams
Set: Jim Clarke
Lighting: Alan Quirt
Sound: Tom Kobolak
Costumes: Meghan Lavigne

Cast:
Bill………………………………………………Stuart Benson
Judy……………………………………………..Jennie Leaver
Tom……………………………………………..Sam McCarthy
Julie……………………………………………..Tara Sisson
Rachel…………………………………………..Rachel Davies
Daphne………………………………………….Tracy Trottier