Continuing in our theme of disfunctional fmaililes, Des Walsh wrote this play about a Newfoundland family that is disfunctional becuase it is not a family - there are no children. Vince and Joan appear never to have discussed whether they want children before they married. She does - desperately; he does not, definitively. What he wants is a house with a wife in it - literally. She should stay home and be waiting for him. The results of this lack of communication are fatal.
The cast was unknown to us as they are generally from the east coast, largely from Newfoundland. But very experienced and very talented.
The staging used a scrim in front very effectively to present weather, windows and to reflect the Newfoundland mummer tradition. I thought it would be irritiating, but it was not.
So, no drugs, no incest, some alcohol and a lot less shouting - more quiet desperation. But still a disfunctional family.
I think the play was alright - although I wasn't well-disposed to another dysfunctional family outing - but, while it explored the wife's perspective, the husband remained an enigma.
ReplyDeleteThe shim was fine, but the crows on lines from fishing rods, and the kite going back and forth on a wire had me tittering. It seemed really amateur and distracted me from the story - I guess I failed my "willing suspension of disbelief" test.
I meant scrim.
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