Laughter relaxes the audience and creates a light-hearted unifying mood. The Gift, now playing at the Old Cycle Building on 118 Avenue, is not one of these shows.
Set in Edmonton during a May snowstorm, it is a tense, disconcerting experience that jars our equilibrium. Just watching the characters vomit suppressed emotion and flay each other raw is similar to a demolition derby where the biggest crashes score the highest points.
The opening scene of this two-act production opens with a confrontational couple in a screaming match about the right to privacy. From then on, the mood spirals into volleys of words that strip everyone bare.
In some ways Edmonton playwrights Collin Doyle and Jeff Page’s script is a bit of a ghost story. And each of the main characters feeds on a complex set of emotions forged out of love, hate, guilt, remorse, anger and compassion.
Page, also wearing the director’s hat, starts the play with Lee (Lora Brovold) and Carson (Chris Bullough) spiffing up their house. An old friend, Greg, committed suicide and in his will left a shared gift to them and his widow Bettina (Amber Borotsik). They plan to open it together.
At one time, the two couples were very close, even to the point of consensually swapping partners. But Greg, the group’s flamboyant risk-taker posted a video of himself on the Internet that crossed the line. He lost his job, marriage and friends.
While waiting for Bettina and her boyfriend Shane (Garrett Ross) to arrive, Carson shouts, “Just a few more hours and we can go back to normal.” But even as he speaks those words, the pulse of impending tragedy beats loudly.
Greg’s past machinations have left the trio damaged and they’ve built an emotional wall around themselves. It’s about to crumble and whether they can heal is debatable.
Ironically, although the deceased Greg never makes an appearance, he projects the most powerful presence. We learn more about him than his living cohorts. In the first act he is lauded as a great lover and one who “took a certain pride in harassing Jehovah’s Witnesses.” By the second act he is dubbed “cowardly” with the “moral propensity of a dog.”
At times the other characters feel like chess pieces doing Greg’s bidding. Even so Borotsik’s Bettina is a sassy broad that takes nothing lying down and Brovold’s Lee is a perfect foil as the more vulnerable, compassionate soul. Bullough once again confirms his status as a leading character actor, shifting Carson’s moods in the blink of an eye. And as the outsider in this drama, Ross’s facial reactions reveal the unspeakable.
The Gift is not for everyone, but those who attend will be rewarded with visceral drama that is guaranteed to provoke discussion.
Review
The Gift<br />Running until May 9<br />Old Cycle Building<br />9131 - 118th Avenue<br />Tickets: $10 to $20<br />Call 780-420-1757 or purchase online at www.tixonthesquare.ca
