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Red noses for a blue lady

BLIND DATE written and performed by Rebecca Northan (Northan/World Stage). At York Quay Centre (235 Queens Quay West). To Saturday (March 7), 8 pm. $25. 416-973-4000. See listing. Rating: NNNN


It’s hard to imagine anyone standing up Mimi (Rebecca Northan), the red-nosed crowd-pleaser who sits in a Paris bistro waiting for her blind date, possibly the man of her dreams, to show up.

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But he doesn’t appear, so Mimi turns to the audience to find a suitable substitute. The resulting encounter, which begins on that café date, travels to her apartment and then moves several years down the road, is a partly improvised, partly scripted look at how a relationship grows and changes.

One of the wonderful things about Northan’s performance is her strong relationship with her audience. She regularly breaks the fourth wall and takes us into her confidence, verbally or with the knowing raise of an eyebrow. We’re always on her side as she works to bring out as much as she can from her new date.

Of course the man is different for every performance, and Northan must be savvy and choose someone who’ll play with her. That’s what the piece is about – tossing lines and emotions back and forth, building on what’s spoken or unspoken, teasing out new ideas to keep the show moving.

To help facilitate, Northan establishes a time-out box on the side of the stage, where she and her date can discuss what’s happening, analyze and look for ways out of dilemmas. Offering a different reality from the world of the play, the space is a clever device to get beyond obvious first-date dialogue.

Her date at the Wednesday opening night performance was Felix, an Armed Forces man attending with his girlfriend. Sweet, initially shy and seemingly up for anything – once invited to be passionate, he didn’t hold back – Felix had to check in with his girlfriend every once in a while to see that things were okay with her. Even Mimi stopped the action to ask for her opinion. Felix’s girlfriend could interrupt, too, though Mimi limited her to a single time-out (she never used it).

I didn’t think the show would last for more than 10 minutes when Mimi revealed her pacifist leanings (in response to Felix’s statement that sometimes the military had to be peacemakers, not peacekeepers) and was clear that she disapproved of Felix’s smoking. But Mimi, knowing that with addressing problems and differences is the way to help a relationship, kept pushing for compromises and understanding. As a result, the show grew into a rich, 90-minute portrait of the pair.

The audience loved the couple, though a few people, judgmental of Felix, were roundly scolded by Mimi. The viewers’ regular laughs and knowing nods proved that everyone was caught up in the action.

When a theatre artist involves the audience that whole-heartedly, the evening takes off. Credit Northan’s warmth, skill and knowing how to connect, both to an individual and a group.

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