THE TROUBLE WITH MR. ADAMS by Gord Rand (Tarragon, 30 Bridgman). Runs to November 29, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Sunday and November 7 and 14 at 2:30 pm. $28-$60, some discounts, $15 rush if available. 416-531-1827, tarragontheatre.com. Rating: NNNN
Older man, younger woman. A familiar story, but its unnerving when the guys a high school coach in his mid-40s and the womans the star of his volleyball team.
That relationship is at the centre of Gord Rands The Trouble With Mr. Adams, an often wrenching play shaped as a trio of two-person confrontations between Gary Adams (Chris Earle) and his wife, Peggy (Philippa Domville), his union lawyer, Barbara (Allegra Fulton), and the teen Mercedes (Sydney Owchar).
All three scenes are highly charged under Lisa Petersons direction, which doesnt exploit the situations shock value, though at times the conflicts are uncomfortable to watch.
The first, between husband and wife, begins with Gary announcing to Peggy, whos just learned of his relationship with Mercedes, that hes leaving the marriage. Domville, cold and sarcastic, holds the upper hand throughout much of the scene, her anger only exploding toward its end, after she tries a surprising enticement to both belittle and control her wandering mate.
Earle is almost bland here, rationalizing whats happened and given to stock explanations like she inspires me and she brought me back to life, citing the force of Cupids arrow.
But in the next encounter, with his lawyer, he become a credible figure who doesnt initially understand the repercussions of what hes done. Fulton creates a wily character who subtly points out how things might go at an upcoming trial she gradually reshapes the coachs view of his new partner and his version of what happened between them.
In the process, we see how manipulative and astute Barbara is as she coaxes, suggests, goads and even toys with Gary over such legally gray areas as the emails he sent Mercedes and a (maybe) chance encounter in the school parking lot. Context, not perjury, is what she wants to use in court.
Much of the battle, legal and emotional, hinges on Mercedess age at the time: is it 15 or 16? That issue still resonates in the third scene, set several years later, when the sometimes mawkish Gary visits Mercedes after a losing volleyball game. The fascinating meeting shows that the two can still have a laugh and maybe even a suggestive flirt.
But here Mercedes is in control, and Owchar, a fine young actor, reveals the hurt that Gary inflicted on the teen, not in their relationship but in how he reacted when it became public. Hes only Mr. Adams to her, despite his insistence that she call him by his first name her anger and sense of betrayal helps drive the action.
Mercedess growing maturity stands in stark contrast to Garys desperate insistence on his love, grounded in fantasy rather than reality. Hes the childish figure here, living a romantic dream. Whats surprising is that, between them, Rand and Earle give this obsessed character a touch of tragedy, though his actions are still reprehensible.
