Soulpepper & Obsidian Theatre Firm/Desk for Two, written by Akosua Amo-Adem, directed by Djanet Sears, Younger Centre for the Performing Arts, closes Mar. 2. Tickets right here.
Merely put, the world premiere of Desk for Two is without doubt one of the finest productions of the season.
On the centre of this glorious new play is the blazing expertise of Akosua Amo-Adem, who’s each author and lead actor.
Background
Amo-Adem tells us in her program notes that the play grew out of a theatre task when she was one of many promising younger artists on the Soulpepper Academy a decade in the past. Now she is again in triumph on the very place the place her profession started.
The trainer was the late nice man of theatre, Daniel Brooks, and on the time, the Academy members have been engaged on Samuel Beckett’s Ready for Godot. Brooks’ problem to the category was to write down and carry out a chunk about ready that was both extremely political or extremely entertaining.
Amo-Adem selected entertaining, and 17 drafts later, that monologue grew as much as turn into Desk for Two. Brooks could be beaming.
The Play and the Plotline
Extremely entertaining doesn’t start to explain the play as a result of it’s far more than that. Desk for Two is each humorous and poignant, tender and provocative, emotional and dispassionate, all on the identical time.
Amo-Adem is Abby, a profitable 35-year-old who owns her personal apartment and may afford designer garments. To her Ghanaian mom (Bola Aiyeola), nonetheless, Abby is a failure as a result of she is single and childless. This play ought to ring a bell with anybody who has an ethnic mom be they Black, Jewish, Italian, Chinese language, or no matter. Moms are all the identical.
Abby’s pal Janelle (Meghan Swaby) may be very joyful as a swinging single, however Abby is hesitant about embracing that way of life. As an alternative, she embarks on the tortuous journey of on-line courting, trying to find Mr. Proper, and it’s these hilarious and never so hilarious encounters that make up a lot of the play. Ryan Allen performs all of the unhealthy dates and the opposite males in Abby’s life.
The play, with its intelligent title, is structured round Abby narrating the occasions, and her wry commentary contributes to the frothy veneer of Desk for Two. Even at critical moments, Abby by no means loses her sense of irony.
The play, nonetheless, will not be all enjoyable and video games, as a result of beneath the floor is a really critical take a look at relationships, the lady/man dynamic, the must be in a twosome, and the way all this impacts on private id. Even when Abby does meet Mr. Proper, issues will not be excellent.
I ought to add that I’ve intentionally not described the assorted on-line courting adventures as a result of I don’t wish to spoil issues for the viewers. I’ll nonetheless reveal that the play has one of many funniest opening scenes in theatrical historical past.
Suffice it to say, Desk for Two is a uncooked, trustworthy and truthful take a look at societal stress on singlehood. As Amo-Adem says in her notes, the play is her love letter to what she calls the perpetually single girl.
The Manufacturing
The play is directed by veteran Djanet Sears who actually is aware of transfer her proficient solid across the stage. The play is made up of a sequence of brief scenes, and Sears has ensured that the stream between them is seamless. She is aided by the intelligent set items of veteran designer Astrid Janson. Janson additionally did the costumes that are nothing wanting sensible in portraying character, notably for Abby.
When skilled veterans are known as upon to train their appreciable expertise, it actually reveals.
Nick Blais deserves every kind of kudos for his intricate lighting that rigorously pinpoints the actors. Equally, Maddie Bautista’s well-defined sound design gives intelligent results for conditions each huge and small.
In brief, the manufacturing works on each stage as a result of honest performances of the actors, the well-thought-out theatrical values, and most of all, Amo-Adem’s impressed writing and the freshness and vibrancy of the play itself.
Desk for Two is a not-to-be-missed exhilarating expertise.
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Paula Citron is a Toronto-based freelance arts journalist and broadcaster who hosts her personal web site, paulacitron.ca. For over 25 years, she was senior dance author for The Globe and Mail, affiliate editor of Opera Canada journal, arts reviewer for Classical 96.3 FM, and dance previews contributor to Toronto Life journal. She has been a visitor lecturer for varied cultural teams and universities, notably on the function of the critic/reviewer, and has been a panellist on COC podcasts. Earlier than assuming a full-time journalism profession, Ms. Citron was a member of the drama division of the Claude Watson Faculty for the Arts.