Last night I went out to Fanshawe Pioneer Village on the NE edge of London, Ontario, to see Jason Rip's original script about the impact of WWI on a small southern Ontario town. The play is "The Big Lad". It was amazing. There is one final performance tonight. Go see it!
The story is about life in a small farming community from 1914-1917. Young men wanted to go to war, but some were turned down for various reasons while others did go. Meanwhile xenophobia reigned as Canadians feared and resented the Germans in their communities [digression: indeed, the people of Berlin, Ontario, renamed it Kitchener]. Rip, the playwright, and the actors captured so many facets of all these emotions, and more, in a play that lasted only about an hour.... It doesn't matter that it was only an hour --- it was brilliant.
All of the acting was good. I knew two of the actors (Demis Odanga and John Turner) and fully expected the high quality performances from them that I saw; I wasn't disappointed. And I had seen Taylor Bogaert recently and was pleased to see him more than live up to the standards of Alvego Root Theatre (the company that produced the play). But most impressive for me was Shayne Coffin who played the title role, The Big Lad. He was truly brilliant in the role.
Adam Corrigan Holowitz directed and produced the show. His direction and staging were beyond brilliant. The venue is an old barn set up in a mini-proscenium style. It is not the set that amazes, though, because it doesn't: it is simple. It's what Adam and the actors do with the set, the 8' x 8' angled proscenium, the entrances, the exits, and the actions. Just wonderful.
[by the way, I saw this play on the evening of the hottest day we'd had so far in Ontario, and the venue wasn't at all uncomfortable.]
I have seen other plays about WWI and southern Ontario, and I have thought they were really very good. The Big Lad was better.
There is one more performance of this play, tonight. It's only about $17 (with taxes) and well worth it. There are plenty of seats available, so you can buy tickets at the door.
Go see this play. You won't regret it.