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Culture Theatre

Sugar rush

SUGAR by Rosa Laborde, directed by Ian Carpenter, with Lina Felice, Veronika Hurnik, Carlo Rota and Christopher Sawchyn. Presented by Laborde, the Fringe and the Centre for the Arts. July 2-13. $8. Rating: NNNN

Are all our happiest moments and deepest relationships tied to alcohol, sugar and caffeine? That’s one of the major questions posed in Sugar, Rosa Laborde‘s clever look at two couples who give up all three substances while on a summer cottage vacation.

There’s a slick, breezy quality to the script, which is – in the best sense of the term – a situation comedy.

Laughs arise out of the interaction among the characters: couple number one, a psychologist ( Veronika Hurnik) and an agent (Carlo Rota), and couple number two, a cosmetician (Lina Felice) and an actor (Christopher Sawchyn) who’s the psychologist’s brother and the agent’s client.

Sherri Hay‘s set captures the Ontario cottage feel so well, you expect mosquitoes to be buzzing around the room, while Ian Carpenter directs the play’s quickly mounting tension – and the crackerjack cast – with ease.

Though there are lots of laughs, the script poses serious questions about how we treat others and ourselves in the pursuit of happiness.

As one of the characters says about an actor, “She’s commercially viable.” So is Laborde’s play.

jonkap@nowtoronto.com

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