A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR
Tarragon Extra Space
Rating: NNNN
See show info here
In this fine two-hander, a woman (playwright Rachel Blair) tries to tell a joke and a man (Blue Bigwood-Mallin) “helps” her tell it properly. Actually, his coaching becomes more and more intrusive, especially when the two become the characters within the joke.
Blair’s intelligent examination of male-female relationships is full of humour and subtle gender politics in this well-paced production, directed by David Matheson. Moving in and out of the frame, the actors generate a potent chemistry as they explore the shifting nature of power between the pair flirting becomes something much more tense and dangerous by the too-abrupt ending.