KILL YOUR PARENTS IN VIKING, ALBERTA by Bryce Hodgson and Charlie Kerr (Storefront Arts Initiative/Blood Pact Theatre). At the Storefront Theatre (955 Bloor West). Runs to September 25. Pwyc-$25. thestorefronttheatre.com. See Continuing. Rating: NNNN
To launch its new season, the Storefront Arts Initiative has partnered with Vancouver’s Blood Pact Theatre to produce a superb dark comedy, and Toronto is the lucky site of the world premiere of this collaboration between these young, vibrant indie companies.
Kill Your Parents In Viking, Alberta is set in a rural Canadian town in the middle of winter, where three siblings reunite after 14 years of estrangement to sign off on their deceased grandmother’s will. Frank (Michael Eisner) and Perry (Libby Osler) have travelled from Vancouver to the home belonging to their sister Susan (Allie Dunbar), and they are all carrying emotional baggage. Unpacking it unleashes a whirlwind of dysfunction that worsens when Susan’s husband Paul (Jimi Shlag) arrives for dinner.
Playwrights Bryce Hodgson and Charlie Kerr excel at sharp dialogue and rich subtext. The opening scene places the siblings at a table eating ice cream sundaes, and each character’s reaction to the untimely pre-dinner treat is revealing. Perry, the youngest, clearly feels alienated, a fact that’s highlighted by her persistent need to leave the room and her reaction to jabs about not being old enough to remember important events, despite her insistence to the contrary.
All the characters are well realized and sharply portrayed by the talented ensemble. The clash of their objectives feels relatable despite the increasing absurdity as the play progresses.
Rachel Cairns‘s deft direction allows the dialogue to breathe, with pauses in all the right places. Humour emerges in physical ways, sometimes through an understated moment like Paul’s removal of his winter hat, at others underscoring a whole scene, as when Susan responds to Perry’s angry outburst in the middle of dinner by cleaning the kitchen while blasting Fleetwood Mac. Near the end, Paul’s bizarre slide show evolves into a standout comedic scene.
The play is brief (about an hour), and the opening could be finessed to establish the sibling relationships more quickly, but that’s a quibble. Hodgson and Kerr are excellent storytellers bringing unique, fresh voices to the Canadian theatre scene.
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