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