Crow's Theatre could not have chosen a better way to launch its shiny, new space than with the world premiere of Kristen Thomson's wonderful, hilarious new play The Wedding Party. This new work manages to deftly tow the line between sharply written, contemporary comedy and absolute Three Stooges-esque slapstick. And one is left at the end exhausted physically from full belly laughs as well as being put through the emotional wringer. Do not think about missing this play. This kind of laughter can erase all winter blues in a few short hours. It is a gift.
The characters in Kristen Thomson's The Wedding Party are familiar, not exact matches perhaps but exaggerated versions sending up the kind of character flaws that tend to come through when heightened moments of emotional anxiety are combined with liberal amounts of free booze. Yes, weddings. And we've all been to this particular wedding, in one way or another and we are so very happy we don't have to do through it again.
The cast — Jason Cadieux, Virgilia Griffith, Trish Lindström, Moya O'Connell, Tom Rooney and Kristen Thomson — displays truckloads of talent with each playing numerous roles, including both genders and even a dog, to maximum comedic effect.
The plot is standard wedding party fable: two families from very different backgrounds come together to celebrate the union of a happy couple that neither side can really understand. And both families come with their own tragic back stories: one filthy rich patriarch who seems to have it all but underneath the caviar lifestyle is in reality estranged from his own brother as his marriage falls apart; one has a history in the circus who has her own insecurities and a propensity for the drank that has caused her own family to come apart at the seams. And it all comes out in front of 300 people. Oh man, does it. It is an absolute train wreck of a wedding and we simply cannot look away.
Yes, there is a little plot device at the beginning of the play and at the end that links the family and it's all well and good. And, there is a crazy bit when one of the brothers is sawed in half in some sort of nightmarish delusion that could be more clear. But, the real power of the play is in the characters at the wedding as they slowly descend into madness.
And, how the actors keep it all together as they run off stage as one character only to return moments later as another, perhaps even another gender or species, left the audience in awe of their talents. It was an incredible display of acting as one character could be playing a bit of slapstick only to return to an emotionally heightened scene that required much more than just a costume change.
Crow's Theatre has trucked their stage talents from theatre to theatre over the past couple decades. And, they finally have a well-earned permanent home at the base of a condo at the corner of Dundas and Carlaw in the burgeoning east end of the city. And if The Wedding Party is an indication of the quality of production, audiences will surely be beating a path to their door.
The Wedding Party runs until Feb. 11. Go, have your fun.
