Take two brothers, two sisters, lock them away in a cottage for a weekend and you’ll be sure to hear more than the birds chirping at any given time of day. And that is precisely the premise for Norm Foster’s play, The Melville Boys now playing at Drayton Festival Theatre.
In a classic exchange of male bravado, brothers Owen and Lee Melville must come to terms with each other’s polar opposite personalities.
Owen is a bombastic, narcissistic yet fun loving character, whose only desire is to live it up one last time before his pending nuptials by fishing and drinking beer, while the more sober Lee (married, father of daughters) contemplates serious aspects of his life.
Add Mary, a female equivalent of Lee (minus the children), and Loretta, a cheeky and sharp-tongued sprite who had the audience laughing and wondering if romance was in the air.
Pair Owen and Loretta and Lee and Mary and you get the picture; a “date” night ensues along with a bit of lust.
The chemistry between Brad Austin and Shauna Black is instantaneous in their roles as the impetuous Owen and the alluring, sexy Loretta. Black’s performance was absolutely salacious.
Austin’s youthful and somewhat rebellious appearance kept audience members holding their breath in anticipation of what Owen would say or do next. His comedic timing was bang on.
Anita La Selva’s role as Mary, the ever proper and conservative woman, was delightful as she bemoans her “marital” status while shoveling “turnip cake” down her throat.
Richard Quesnel’s stoic portrayal of the responsible brother, Lee, when combined with Mary’s character, reminded viewers that he is more complex, in their “Would they? Wouldn’t they? Should they? Shouldn’t they?” contemplations.
Although somewhat halted in the first set, Quesnel and La Selva legitimized the developing relationship of Lee and Mary.
The classic statement, “I laughed, I cried, it became part of me” is an accurate description of the wide range of emotions audiences experience during the two-hour production and easily mirrors any given family situation.
All four cast members gave a passionate and convincing performance, however, as a sister to two brothers and mother to three sons myself, it was the brash and caustic interaction of Owen and Lee that convinced me these two were indeed brothers – right down to the whipping of bread and beer cans.
The classic northern cottage set design was superb, including fine details right down to a deer head mount and potbelly stove.
Set designer Stephen Degenstein and lighting designer Steve Lucas convinced audience members they had hiked along a northern lake shore and stumbled upon an unfolding family drama.
Norm Foster’s play flirts with all aspects of humanity, including death, adultery and sexuality in a way that one wonders where this play is heading – yet he manages to do so in an edgy, “sort of” reverent way that leaves one embracing both the dark side and lighter side of the human experience.
The play does not resolve all the conflicts faced by the foursome, but when in life does that ever really happen?
The Melville Boys is on stage at The Drayton Festival Theatre until Sept. 1.
For tickets call 519-638-5555 or visit www.draytonfestival.com for more information.
