Drama Beat
The TheatreXtra Production of the Brad Fraser play, which premiered at the David Spinks Theatre last night, is the darker, more disturbed and damaged version of the beloved television characters.
They listen to Nirvana, take
drugs, experiment with their sexuality and try to figure out who they are and who to love while a serial killer runs amok in Edmonton in the early ’90s. A killer who may be among them.Jay Whitehead heads a talented cast as David, who sets the tone for a play about friendship in a pretty dark setting — one marked by AIDS, depression and the serial killer, with the first line of the play “Hello , I’m homo,” which started the audience laughing.
It’s a weird play, which could easily turn into a train wreck without the cast’s impeccable comedic and dramatic timing. The characters sit still on the stage, and emit adjectives and phrases like “Everybody Lies,” and “Love doesn’t exist,’ as a spotlight shines on them and the individual set pieces including a bar and a restaurant table as fast as they can speak.
David is a failed actor turned waiter and ‘professional faggot,’ he is droll, sarcastic, outspoken and kind of sinister, but can break any tense situation with an unusual and hilarious remark, which almost always comes right out of left field. he reminds me of Dave Foley’s character in ‘Blast From the Past.’
Up on the balcony lurks, Benita , played by a Lindie Last, who is a psychic, and possibly a prostitute who sings sinister children’s songs and explains the background of the situation.
omers as well including Meghan Porteous who was last seen on stage with New West Theatre over Christmas for Munsch Time who plays the youngest sister , eccentric artist Jelly, and newcomer Lesley Galbecka, a Calgarian who joined the production through working with director Simon Mallett in his Calgary theatre company Downstage.
