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Culture Theatre

Not so Epic Period

THE EPIC PERIOD by Sean
Dixon, directed by Brian Quirt, with
Waneta Storms, Herbie Barnes and David
Gardner. Factory Theatre (125 Bathurst).
Runs to May 27, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm,
matinees Saturday 4 pm and Sunday 2
pm. $20-$28, Sunday pwyc-$20.
416-504-9971. Rating:
NNN

Rating: NNN

quirky comedy is difficult to

pull off. One person’s eccentric and amusing is another person’s pretentious and weird. Fortunately, Sean Dixon’s The Epic Period has enough going for it — including a bit of Canadian history, some religious arguments and a family drama — to make it watchable. Plus, despite the title, the show clocks in at a non-epic 90 minutes.

Trying to locate a missing nun named Moody Hill (Waneta Storms), native lawyer Joshua King (Herbie Barnes) uncovers ancestral secrets that might explain Moody’s problems, including her feelings about her just-deceased mom and her troubled dad (David Gardner).

Dixon’s script is uneven, sometimes precious, at other times truly funny. It’s hard to get a firm grasp on character and situation, though, and director Brian Quirt doesn’t help much, providing a dream-like production that shuttles awkwardly between times, moods and one-liners.

But there’s emotional depth as well, about grief, guilt and healing, and it’s worth waiting for.

Working with an ill-defined role, Barnes goes through the paces, always likeable but never riveting. Storms has more luck, sinking her teeth into her neurotic nun with glee.

And did I mention that the show’s only 90 minutes long?stage reviews

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