Parfumerie

A lovely Christmas play to get you in the mood. Hungarian Miklos Laszlo wrote this in 1937, and it became the basis for two movies - The Shop Around the Corner, and You've Got Mail.
Oliver Dennis and Patricia Fagan play the unknowing lovers, ably supported by Michael Simpson, Joseph Zeigler and Jeff Lillico as fellow employees.
Lillico is hilarious as the apprentice - he must be older than he looks, as we've seen him in these young roles for years, but he gets funnier all the time.
Morris Panych directed and Ken Macdonald designed a lovely confection of a set.

7 Stories

I am not a big Morris Panych fan, but I thought this was fascinating. The premise is odd - a man standing on a wall planning to jump to his death is interrupted by the inhabitants of the building, all of whom have strange lives to share.

The play is described as a comedy and there is no doubt that it is funny. But it is also an observation on the absurdity of life and the strange ways people try to cope. The use of the Magritte painting of the man in the bowler hat, with the apple in front of his face reinforces the absurdity of it all.

Good cast - especially Peter Anderson as The Man.