THE TWO OF US by Tena Stivicic (Red Drapes Productions). At Theatre Passe Muraille Mainstage. July 9 at 5 pm, July 11 at 3:30 pm, Jul 12 at 8:45 pm, July at 13 at 11 pm, July 14 at 7 pm. See listing. Rating: NNN
Good things come to those who wait. Kind of.
Tena Stivicic‘s comedy (first produced in Belgrade in 2003) takes its time following damaged party girls Lena (Shannon Currie) and Anya (Beatriz Yuste), and Lenas famous writer father (John Blackwood) and painter mother (Deborah Grover) in the aftermath of the Serbo-Croatian war.
At 90 minutes, the work doddles along to the point where its lost you, and then resolves suddenly in such a clever way that almost all is forgiven.
Although their dialogue is sometimes snappy, the characters remain cyphers, slaves to a plot that requires them to advance the action and not much more. As the play deals with the complex psychological landscape of post-conflict survival and love, its a bit unsettling that these portrayals feel so shallow. But perhaps that’s the point.
