A Weekend of Theatre

   This weekend I saw two theatrical performances. The first was a one woman show by Sara Weber at the fundraiser Banter & Bluegrass at The Pearl Company. I had the pleasure of working with Sara on The Metamorphosis and when I finished working on that production with Sara I remember writing in her thank you card that I would help and support her in any of her future theatrical endeavours. She is an absolute delight to work with, and a delight to watch on stage and her performance at Banter and Bluegrass was no exception.

   Sara gave us a glimpse into her childhood which was spent in Alabama and I ate it up like it was a delicious side dish to the pulled pork and baked beans served that night. I'm a nostalgic person, I love hearing the stories of people when they were children and seeing how little they've changed. Highlights for me included a story involving a southern belle and crotch itching, the picture of Sara's father and how he basically spends his days playing 'cowboys', formally known as 'cowboys and Indians', but that's not pc these days, so Sara just calls it 'cowboys'. Also, Sara mentioned drinking sun tea, which reminded me of my mother who is from Michigan, brewing tea in the sun during the summer months. It's too bad this performance was a one time deal, because I know many people that have worked with Sara in the past who would have enjoyed the evening immensely.

   The second show I saw this weekend was at the Citadel Theatre, which was formally known as the Downtown Arts Centre. I saw the first play in the Citadel's season, Mass Appeal by Bill C. Davis. Mass Appeal opened this past Friday but continues it's run next Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm. I suppose I'm making an appeal of sorts to get people out to see this show. Simply put, it is a great production. The production values are high, very strong performances and the script itself is something you shouldn't pass up seeing staged. The very basic synopsis is that of a passionate student working towards becoming a priest who is assigned to a complacent priest comfortable in his position, and the two have vastly different approaches towards leading a congregation. What this play is really about is a dialogue between two people who are constantly engaged in a power struggle, but not always with one another. This theme of a dialogue is introduced within the first scene of Mass Appeal and is seamlessly weaved in throughout the play, and this is not just done with the script but through direction and the performances. The plays I have always loved are the ones in which characters fight for two hours on stage, where the stakes are constantly being raised and each character has everything to lose. I don't see plays for happy endings, I see plays to be engaged, to watch a struggle, to question; this is entertaining to me. And Mass Appeal had all those elements.

Mass Appeal was poorly attended on it's opening weekend, and of course I sympathize because I know what it's like to give a performance to an audience in which the cast out numbers them. You're always extremely thankful to those that have come out, but when you put in so much time and effort and the outcome is something truly wonderful and something that you can be proud of, it's a shame when there isn't an audience there to share it with.

   So, basically what I'm saying here is, if you missed Sara's show at Banter and Bluegrass, you missed out. It was a wonderful performance, extremely entertaining and enjoyable, but it was a one-time event, and it did sell out. But there are three more opportunities to see another wonderful production that hasn't yet had the audiences it deserves.