MISSING by Florence Gibson (Factory, 125 Bathurst). To April 5. See Continuing. Rating: NNN
A wife vanishes from her southwestern Ontario farmhouse and a detective (Fiona Highet) comes up against the husband (Alan Van Sprang), who’s not happy about having a woman on the case.
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It’s the early 70s, feminism is a dirty word to many, and the detective discovers parallels between the investigation and her own marital problems.
That’s the set-up for Missing, Florence Gibson’s often thoughtful piece about the choices women make and relationships that offer both comfort and distress. Linked to the main story are scenes in a local diner, ruled by the talkative owner (Kyra Harper) with the help of an older man (Guy Bannerman) and a new employee (Shauna Black).
In this busy plot, we’re kept from emotional involvement with the characters in part by director David Ferry’s breaking of the story’s realism his staging of the choral scenes also feels forced. But just as uninvolving is the triangle of the detective, her husband (Andrew Gillies) and the farmer, which holds little anger or passionate fire. Highet’s a fine actor, but with no chemistry between her and Van Sprang, the pair’s taunts, fights and growing interest don’t build the necessary tension.
The diner scenes are more successful, in part because of the repartee between the two women. Harper’s engaging motormouth is able to read those around her perceptively, while Black’s performance as the chameleon-like newcomer doesn’t call attention to itself until a finely written speech near the end.
Gibson’s ideas about love and independence are often intriguing, but the drama that surrounds them needs sharper writing and better staging.
