WAITING (Thornhill Theatre Space/Theatre Off-Kilter)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2A42wEBwQw

Available until: Unknown

This is a series of several plays, all related to the pandemic. It’s a very interesting selection because they’re very short and not very much happens in most of them, but every one of these plays made me think about an aspect of the pandemic. They say we’re all in the same situation, but in many ways, we’re not. We’re all at home, but we have different homes. Different lives. And every single one of these characters has an important story to tell.

The writing and acting is of a good standard. DJ Davis is really powerful in Back and Kiera Vinson is great at getting you to sympathise with characters whose behaviour might not be obviously sympathetic. Joe Dallacqua is so convincing, I think I’d have taken his words as a genuine speech from Thornhill Theatre Company if the play didn’t have a title and an actor.

Self-Sacrifice, written by Jill Ellen Summerville and performed by Kiera Vinson, tells the story of a woman who is forced to isolate with her mother-in-law.

It’s Fine… Everything’s Fine is written and performed by Colton Wendell Weiss. He’s trying to convince himself that he’s fine, but he has a lot on his mind which could become a real problem.

Back, written and performed by DJ Davis, is a very powerful story. His life was going so well before COVID, but then everything changed. He just wants everything to go back the way it was before. Or does he?

Waiting is written by Jill Ellen Summerville and performed by Kiera Vinson. The same team as the first play but a different story with a different character. It starts off with a sad situation. It potentially ends with one too.

Neither Here nor There is the final play. It’s written by Cason Morgan and performed by Joe Dallacqua. I’m assuming it’s fiction, but it’s reality for many people. The character works in a theatre. The theatre has gone dark. But maybe there is hope.