A new company named wheelwright appeared on the Halifax theatre scene last night with a production called M is for Drowning. Co-written by the wheelwright’s founders Bryn McLeod and Patrick Blenkarn, the play “explores an explosion of memory”, including the literal (with all guts that entails) and figurative fall-out from such an explosion. The audience is seated around the Bus Stop stage which is bedecked with an attractive and eclectic mix of objects. And while there are seven actors on that stage, only five actively take part, with one of the remaining two picking out tunes on the piano while the other sits high above the action and knits. The other actors perform a complicated dance of words and movement. The dialogue flows and overlaps in an almost musical way. However, the heightened poetic language begins to wash over the listener in a manner that hypnotizes rather than engages. Moments of humour provide wake-up calls, but are perhaps too few. Still, this play is certainly an interesting concept and is given an interesting treatment, which bodes well for wheelwright’s future works.
WHEN: February 2-5 at 8pm (doors at 7:30pm)
WHERE: The Bus Stop Theatre
TICKETS: $15 general/$10 students.
Reserve tickets for the show by contacting [email protected] or calling 902-448-7275.
