This might be a bit of a quick one…third post today, it’s gettin’ late, and I got a full, early day tomorrow! Also, just got home to find the merry afterparty of a stabbing right outside my building, and I think that’s about enough theatre for ONE day, thanks very much. Man, them emergency flashing lights are BRIGHT.

But some slightly less fatal, actual theatre for me earlier in the evening, over in the Glebe at the cozy Avalon Studio. Some swell kids by the handle of Boxed Wine Theatre were setting up shop there for the weekend, to put on Amiel Gladstone’s THE WEDDING POOL. The troupe, which grew out of what was formerly known as Ouroboros Theatre (I caught their masked version of AN IDEAL HUSBAND a couple of years back) is young and full of up’n’comers, and it feels like way too long since I covered a show like that. So it was a pleasure to get on out and see what the gang had up their sleeves.

The story follows a trio of thirty-year-olds who are going nowhere fast…David (Dante Tolusso), Sylvia (Robyn Fleury) and Miles (Liam O’Brien), who spend their weekends hanging out, having brunch, and moping about their lack of mobility. It gets so bad they decide to start a pool…everyone tosses in fifty bucks a month, first one to get married takes the pot. It seems like a safe bet that none of these schlubs will get hitched anytime soon, until bright eyed Anna (Chany Singh) enters the picture.

This is a short and sweet play, Fringe-length at just an hour. And while the story itself is no great shakes…fairly standard thirtysomething romantic comedy fare, all told… the gang have good fun with it on stage. Liam O’Brien makes for a solid everyman, and has some nice back and forth banter with Chany Singh in their up and down relationship. Tolusso and Fleury too make for a pretty nice odd couple, and her recurring deadpan gag with the phone was a nice touch indeed. The cast gets rounded out by Andrea Connell in various scene-stealing roles, from a flirty waitress to a particularly nasty bus-ridin’ bum. Director Siobhan Fleury stages things well, and I especially dug the nice flourish in an art gallery (also the dancing). This show might not exactly rock your world, but it really should put a smile on your face. Glad to see this bighearted bunch of theatre delinquents back and making it happen…two more chances to get out to the Avalon and support some true indie theatre! Peace, love and soul,

Kevin Reid, The Visitor (and Winston)