Hangman

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Reviews

From NOW Magazine

Dust
Company: Jsquared Productions
Rating: NNNN
Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace

Show times:
Friday Aug 08/2008 - 04:00 PM
Saturday Aug 09/2008 - 06:00 PM
Sunday Aug 10/2008 - 10:00 PM
Wednesday Aug 13/2008 - 06:00 PM
Thursday Aug 14/2008 - 08:00 PM
Friday Aug 15/2008 - 10:00 PM
Saturday Aug 16/2008 - 04:00 PM

Reviewed by: Jon Kaplan

Two American soldiers meet and fall in love in Abu Ghraib prison. What's surprising about Jason Maghanoy's play is the tenderness of their relationship, mixed with the atrocities they commit against their prisoners. Under the playwright's direction, Brandon Coffey and Jessica Moss create a nuanced couple, sweet and touching one minute and insensitively right-wing the next.

-


Another review from Megan Mooney, BlogTO contributor and author of Mooney on Theatre

Dust
A love story set in Abu Ghraib prison, only, really, so much more than a love story. The two actors brought this intimate space and essentially bare stage to life. The show is really bloody good. I would even say excellent. The actors were bang-on, the script was interesting, the directing was good.

The show weaves a set of complex and conflicting emotions which are fascinating to watch develop through the nuances of the story and the acting. John (my show-partner) pointed out that the actors not only had the emotional aspects down, but they also nailed the technical parts of acting, things like keeping your cues tight, really listening to the other person talking, things like that. It was very impressive to watch. It's nice to watch actors and end up forgetting that they're actors.

This is definitely one to check out - with the caveat that it's not an 'easy' play. It's great to watch, but sometimes it's hard to hear the words and think about the content. There are laughs, but this show isn't a comedy.

Dust continues at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace on with shows on Aug 14 (8:00PM), August 15 (10:00PM), and August 16 (4:00PM). For more info, visit the Summerworks website.

http://www.blogto.com/theatre/2008/08/thursday_theatre_review_summerworks/

1 comment:

Kendall Hall said...

This play is a "must see" in a festival that is admittedly packed with excellent and diverse plays.

The actors(Jessica Moss and Brandon Coffey)seem to do the impossible. They bring true humanity and a moving love story into an environment that would seem to represent everything that is cruel and inhumane about society.

They are working at a prison where torture and violence is the norm, and yet, the skill of Jason Maghanoy's writing allows the characters to explore the possibility of hope and even beauty in a seemingly hopeless situation.

You know it is an excellent play when you leave the theater questioning your own views on the world we live in. What would you do under those circumstances? How would you cope? Jessica Moss and Brandon Coffey provide two very relatable and powerfully honest answers to this question.

This play is definitely worth making an effort to see.

- Kendall Hall