We're getting down to the final few shows at this year's Shaw Festival: I'll have two for you this week and two more next week, and then we'll be done for the season. Then, off to Stratford for some of their great offerings this season. But now, as they say, "On with the show..."
The President (Royal George Theatre to October 4th) ****
This hilarious adaptation by Morwyn Brebner of Ferenc Molnar's one act masterpiece is not to be missed. It runs at a breakneck pace for just over an hour, and you come out wondering how the actors get through it, as you're exhausted just watching it! This absolutely madcap romp stars Lorne Kennedy as a fast-talking, fast thinking president of a major corporation in New York City, just preparing for a well-earned vacation. He wants nothing, repeat nothing, to interrupt him while he's away. But alas, the best-laid plans as always go awry. Here, Kennedy is faced with the awful prospect of disgrace when he discovers the sweet young ward he has been looking after has made some unwise decisions on her own. In particular, she has found a boyfriend and is with child; to make matters worse, her parents are coming to visit - in an hour. So, talking faster than anyone in the audience can possibly believe, Kennedy swings into action to transform the pair into a respectable, well-to-do couple before the parents arrive. The hour takes many twists and turns, but Kennedy guides the ship through comedic waters to a triumphant conclusion. He's aided by expert support in the form of David Schurmann as his assistant Bartleby, Chilina Kennedy as the Marilyn Monroe look-alike ward, and Jeff Meadows as her bum of a boyfriend. They are surrounded by a magnificent art-deco set designed by Cameron Porteous, and the whole thing is directed by Blair Williams. If you have an afternoon show planned at Shaw, make the time to catch this one at 11:30 am at the Royal George. You won't be disappointed!
After The Dance (Royal George Theatre to October 5th) ***
This is Terence Rattigan's bittersweet look at two generations: the so-called Bright Young People who put the "roar" into the roaring twenties by partying and drinking much of the time, and the more sedate and practical generation that followed. The play dates from 1937-38, during the Second World War, when Rattigan himself had left his youthful pacifism behind and was a Flight Lieutenant. As director Christopher Newton writes in his notes, the people in this play have a very tenuous grasp on their political world; they are trapped in a social box and they refuse to acknowledge the approaching catastrophe of war. Of course, affairs of the heart figure prominently during any generation, and that is indeed the case here as well. They are no less complicated in After The Dance than at any other time, it seems. Overall, the play is beautifully staged at the tiny Royal George Theatre; it's very elegant, typical of Christopher Newton. But it does drag a little towards the end, I found. Good, solid work from the ensemble includes Neil Barclay as fun-loving (most of the time) John Reid, Claire Jullien filling in for Lisa Horner as Julia Browne, and Patrick Galligan being typically Patrick as David Scott-Fowler, who is being temped away from his wife by a younger woman. This is a charming, lovingly produced play, and proves to be another winner for Shaw this season.
August 25th, 2008.
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