Local Plays a runnin'

Three quick reviews:
   Dark Owl now on at the glorious dump known as the Mainline Theatre about ten doors north of Schwartz's. The play stars Holly Frankel who bagged a recent local best actress award, Lea Rondot and Michael. C. Hall lookalike Dan Jeannot. There's a well-played dumb younger sister as well as a father and mother who contribute well-acted occasional monologues which unfortunately slow down the frenetic and enjoyable dialogue. Oh and the dialogue is in both English and a French of an Acadian variety which requires a steady ear. Mom mostly complains about her job picking worms from tails of codfish and dad explains why he feels his family was cursed and why he spends his time alone in the shed.The stage is made of 15 old doors laying haphazardly on the floor, which assures the actors will be taking a peek down wherever they traipse. The actors are clad in early-70s rural New Brunswick stylings that entails a record=setting amount of macrame. The four kids are feisty and quarrelsome and spend their time needling and taunting each other. They're clearly going nowhere fast due to what is later blamed on an unfortunate incident in which Dark Owl, a charming stranger came in and disrupted their lives, leaving what they see as a curse on them. When another bad event occurs, they blame him anew. The aging script is captivating but contains a few flaws, for example the three sisters seem strangely oblivious to the fact that their little brother is gay, which he doesn't seem too concerned about hiding and their merciless taunting never makes reference to this. The play runs about two hours and contains an intermission which didn't seem entirely necessary. The cast sparkles and I particularly appreciated Lea Rondot who offered considerable perk in her 70s polyester pants.

The Dieu du Carnage at the TNM on the hard-to-access-due-to-construction St. Catherine and Clark is a 15-year-old Parisian play in which two couples meet to discuss an incident in which one of their sons hit the other in the face knocking out two teeth. The thoroughly-bourgeois professionals negotiate in a highly-civilized manner. The script is acted with juicy gusto that makes it clear from the start that the civilized veneers will peel under the pressure of the chit-chat. One father confesses to having dumped his daughter's hamster into the street to get rid of it, which is eventually used against him as evidence of his lack of humanity. The other father is a lawyer constantly interrupted by his cell phone. One mom is a bossy author who writes about tragedies in Africa and the other is a mother on the verge and who later gets drunk and starts to slur her words. The play is a fast-paced (euphemism for not too long) jaunt with much exploration of gender politics and the challenges of raising children but my nosebleed seats might've detracted from the rich sensual display that was surely delivered more generously n the spitting seats.

Don Quixote at the Centaur. One old trick has it that you stick your coat in your trunk and hit the theatre at intermission and come inside with the people who were smoking outside, thus earning you a half freebie. This would be the play to do this at, as the first half plays a bit like children's theatre in spite of a couple of impressive flourishes from the star, which include a neat trick where he strips naked and does a handstand in a way that skilfully obscures his private parts. The post-intermission section has a couple of slightly irritating references to the play being just a play but the action accelerates, making it a rather rewarding experience.