I once embarked on a road trip through the snowy wastes of Canada. We stopped at a roadside café. There was an eerie muffled silence, a magical light which only snow can reflect and so may stars in the sky. It seemed as though life was, on a cold night, suspended. I share this with you as this experience allows an understanding of why the inhabitants of a town that is not quite a town, on a cold midwinter’s night with the Northern Lights in the sky, behave the way they do. Almost. A suspension of belief is advisable as the series of vignettes unfold. And perhaps a healthy dose of love for fairy tales. Because if you allow yourself to believe, there is magic a plenty in store for you.
On entering the theatre, the set is bare save for a bench suffused in a cool violet light. This bench and the surrounding white blocks with one lone snowball are cleverly used by the cast to create the setting for all the following scenes. Set and costume designer Alice Kim has cleverly depicted a vast snowfield which, with smooth choreography from the eight members of the cast, rapidly provide the scene changes. Slick direction from Lydia Sax and an evocative soundscape from Gabriel Burns enhance these changes enormously, although coming up for the seventh or eighth change it begins to feel too repetitive and needs some sort of build towards a climax to justify all the action.
The writing by John Cariani is soul searching and, although often absurd, also achingly realistic and natural. However, it does depend on a cast of actors who not only commit to the characters but also convincingly deliver their lines. And with a Maine accent to boot. This ensemble of actors rise to the challenge with panache and skill.
Drew Cleveland, who is actually from Maine itself, is first on. He delivers a refreshingly sincere portrayal of a young man who thinks he has a convincing argument for love but fails to impress his desired girlfriend. Or does he? As the play introduces us to the town’s “misfits” this first couple provide the link which binds the piece together.
Each fairly short vignette is introduced with a title during the set change which helps piece everything together. We meet such wonderfully eccentric characters with names like Glory, Hope, East, Randy and even Villian. Yes, Villian not Villain. Which does make sense. Honestly. These townsfolk all face their own challenges and display quite extreme quirks of behaviour. Such as carrying the pieces of your broken heart around in a paper bag and collecting all your love in big red sacks. The discovering and death of love and feelings are all illuminated by flashes of the Northern Lights. Loathe to criticize a production which has been so lovingly put together I would have to say that these lights could be a little more obvious and perhaps more magical in order to entirely convince.
Whilst all characters are confidently played, I was particularly impressed with the scene titled “They Fell”. Andre Bullock and Joel Horwood excel in depicting what is at the heart of the whole show. Believing you have lost in love, only to quite literally fall into something better.
What better way to look at our current world? Take this play to heart and hope for a better world. For a couple of hours, we can wallow in a little bit of whimsy and sentiment to make ourselves better people. Almost.
Four Stars
Review by Linnie Reedman.
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