Charm not enough to carry Old Love
December 10, 2011 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Old Love by Norm Foster, a Presentation House Theatre production at Presentation House to Dec. 18. Box office: 6049903474.
MOST of us have someone in our pasts that “had things been different” we might have connected with more fully.
Some nurse that ember of an old flame through the rest of their lives. Such a man is Bud. He and his wife are divorced and his late50s/early-60s mind is obsessed with Molly, the wife of his former boss.
We learn pretty quickly that Bud’s competition is completely out of the picture when Bud turns up at the funeral to romance the widow! The rest of Old Love moves backwards and forwards across three decades as Bud and Molly offer us different perspectives on their handful of meetings over the years as well as on their respective marriages. The play’s title works on two levels: reconnecting with old feelings for someone special, and old people experiencing or re-experiencing romance – or even passion. The first concept drives Bud forward, while the second pulls Molly back.
The theme of an old love has inspired a heap of songwriters and poets, but despite the universality of the truth he touches on, prolific Canadian playwright Norm Foster mines the material for cubic zirconia rather than gemstone. Once you figure out what is going on, nothing changes thematically. The first act is extended exposition and the more interesting second just repeats Molly’s basic tenet: old people aren’t supposed to be in love or make love, and what will people think of her if she carries on like that.
Oh, please, Mr. Foster. I hate to admit it, but I’m Bud’s age – and I felt like I was too young to invest in the paper tiger of propriety that Molly manufactures just so Bud can tilt at it. While Bud is an unusual modern-day romantic, nicely played by Vince Metcalfe, Foster’s premise for Molly just feels dated.
That North Vancouver’s Suzanne Ristic almost succeeds in creating a Molly that Bud might care about – and a contrasting and more interesting Kitty, Bud’s former wife – is a credit to her talent as an actor. But the only way I can conceive of Old Love ever ringing true would be for director Jay Brazeau to toss playwright Foster’s conceit that this is a romantic comedy out the window and play it for the tragedy that is Molly’s lost life with her former husband. I’d rather have a true story that hurts than a thoughtless laugh any night in the theatre.
I suspect, however, many people will be charmed by the very inoffensiveness that bored me and I have no doubt that Old Love will play in cottage-country dinner theatre for years. Lines like “It was so hot I saw a dog chasing a cat . . . they were both walking” probably kill in Muskoka. If it works for you, ignore my desire for stronger fare and go enjoy some inoffensive entertainment.
Brazeau’s production benefits from Pam Johnson’s simple yet striking design that evokes time passing: an oversized alarm clock with a clock face that incorporates a variety of projections and Eugene Mendelev’s excellent lighting.
mmillerchip@nsnews.com
