In this day and age, there is a tremendous amount of pressure put on families. Fathers and mothers must befriend their children like members of a softball league; children, similarly, must take their parents’ respective neuroses in stride, all the while condoning the childishness of their guardians by saying, “Golly, adulthood is tough.” In Brad Fraser’s newest play True Love Lies, currently playing at the Factory Theatre, he presents a caricature of the perfect 2009 family; members who aren’t trying to dodge the foils of family hardship as much as they are trying to catch them and place them on the mantle for all to see, all the while smiling, smiling, smiling.
Set in Edmonton, the play begins with the father, Kane Sawatsky (Ashley Wright) and his wife, Carolyn (Julie Stewart) admitting to their daughter, Madison (Susanna Fournier), and son, Royce (Andrew Craig) that Kane had a two-year relationship with local restaurant owner, David McMillan (David W. Kelley). After the initial shock wears off, the children accept their father’s past for what it is. However, when the parents insist on being more than okay with the problem, they invite David over for dinner and, ultimately back into their lives. David then observes, first-hand, the covering up that all the members of the Sawatsky family are doing in order to sustain a viable family bond.
There are many things that work in this production. Part of this has largely to do with the fact that Fraser directed the play himself and, in this chair, he has done a commendable job. He has fueled the production with its necessary sense of timing and rhythm and, as a result, the performances are wonderful to watch. These are very funny actors who have an innate sense of timing. Most notable is Susanna Fournier, who has a lot of the meatier lines in the play (her character is described as not having an internal filter) and delivers Madison’s questions and observations about life with unapologetic curiosity. The set and lighting, designed by Bretta Gerecke, are also quite elegant. Their simplicity allow enough flexibility to represent a home’s kitchen, a restaurant’s kitchen, a bed, a foyer, outside a club and a garage without the addition or removal of one set piece throughout the play.
Where the play struggles is in its style. Granted, it is very funny, very quick and very slick. However, many scenes are too quick and, consequently, the play becomes too slick. Fraser has embedded his cinematic roots into live theatre, creating quick-paced scenes that are sharp and get right to the point. As a result, he has created, essentially, a mosaic composed of fragmented segments of these characters lives. However, some of those segments are too fragmented and too small for us to really garner a true understanding of what these characters are experiencing. Fraser handles this by having the characters pontificate about their feelings and their emotions at neck breaking speed in order to explain what they are doing and why they are doing it. Fine, but two things emerge from this: a) after all the lying these characters have done, are we supposed to believe them?; and b) why not show us what they’re feeling and why they’re feeling it. It’ll make us feel it too.
3 1/2 stars (out of 5). Until November 1st at Factory Theatre.
