Buffoonery leads to thunder of laughs

During the first 10 minutes of Thunderstick now playing at the Roxy Theatre, I wondered if it would flush down the toilet.

But with an off-the-wall script, quirky acting and fast-paced direction, Theatre Network just opened a two-hour-plus comedy that is one gobsmacked laugh after another.

Ultimately, Thunderstick is a chance to see two celebrated Canadian actors of national stature, Lorne Cardinal (Corner Gas) and Craig Lauzon (Royal Canadian Air Farce), at their finest. With natural onstage chemistry and versatile acting chops, they do not disappoint.

Playwright Kenneth T. Williams has given his two First Nations characters deep background stories filled with painful memories. Yet the farcical plot has less to do with aboriginal issues than two men getting reacquainted with themselves.

Co-directors Bradley Moss of Theatre Network and Del Surjik of Persephone Theatre, Saskatoon have gilded the production with the lavish hand of physical comedy. And yes, there are a few poignant moments, but they are few and far between. Thunderstick is played strictly for laughs.

In this two-hander about oddball cousins (both journalists) following a ridiculous trail of political conspiracy, Jacob is an AA refugee with a blistering hangover that he cures by pouring half the medicine cabinet into a cure-all cocktail. After one particularly ceremonious bathroom barf, he grabs a sock off the bathroom wall and wipes his mouth. Cringe. Cringe. Cringe.

At first glance, Jacob is a disgusting creature. But it’s a testament to Cardinal’s skill that he turns Jacob into an endearing, funny, intelligent, stand-up guy that you’d like to have covering your back.

Lauzon’s Isaac instead is the “uptight bastard” incapable of showing emotion. For the past decade he’s been photographing people in war zones hoping those images would make people care. But he’s realized, “War zones are filled with the dead and dying,” and needed to get away from the nightmare.

When their editor sends them to cover a story at Parliament Hill that involves a missing minister, the drunken Jacob upchucks on the prime minister — “assassination by projectile vomiting,” as Isaac bitingly calls it as they languish in jail.

The two cousins — Jacob raised on the reserve, Isaac in a residential school — have grown up behind metaphorical bars. They are imprisoned with ghosts of the past, and are unable to free themselves and move forward.

When released from county jail, the duo, on Jacob’s flimsy lead, tracks down the missing minister. But the political mystery is merely a red herring. The plot’s real core is the road-trip and the ongoing buffoonery that ultimately releases them from self-imposed incarceration.

Marissa Kochanski, known for her innovative designs at St. Albert Children’s Theatre, creates a fluid ambience out of moveable, modular panels of translucent materials. She even brings in a shiny K-car for the road trip, a prop the two actors wheel out.

As a special note, Cardinal and Lauzon alternate roles every night. If you are looking to see the actor in a particular role, check with the theatre while ordering tickets.