Review: (Montreal / Theatre) Living Room. Dark.

Living Room or Den?
When depression makes you feel walled in
by Tanya Naami
@TanyaNaami 

Mary (Alarey Alsip) enters the room, wearing old clothing with her hood pulled over her head. Illuminated behind her is a family portrait; husband and wife with a baby. She smiles as she tells the audience a fairytale: there was once a woman, who had a garden. And in this garden, there was a bird whom she loved very much. One day, a cat entered the garden and the woman asked her husband to kill the cat, to save the bird she loved so much. The husband got his rifle and went to shoot the bird. 

The metaphor of this tale drags itself into every corner of the play. Living Room. Dark. written by Leah Jane Esau and directed by Stuart Fink, centres around Mary; a depressive mother with an addiction to prescription drugs after an automobile accident leaves her walking with a cane. Her friend David (Jon Verrall) attempts to help Mary through this difficult period of her life, but fails to grasp the severity of the situation.

The Question... Stuart Fink on inFurnace Theatre and Living Room. Dark.

And Now...?
by Estelle Rosen

Stuart Fink has worked professionally as an actor and director in three provinces so far. Most recently he performed in the Opera de Montréal's production of Porgy and Bess. This past summer he was in productions of Self-Help by Norm Foster and the Wizard of Oz, with Kimberley Summer Theatre in Kimberley BC. He has been directing since 2010 when he directed, produced, and acted in Who's on First's production of Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon. Selected acting credits include Millet in Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire, Jack in the Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde, Juror #10 in 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose and Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. Stuart has a DEC in Theatre from John Abbott College and a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta. 

CHARPO: Your website indicates the goal of inFurnace Theatre is to focus on "now" plays written in the last 15 years that resonate with 18-30 year olds who don't consider theatre as part of their regular activity. Basically to provoke and shake up the status quo. What prompted this focus and how's it going so far?

FINK: The focus for inFurnace's mandate came from my observations of what shows were currently being produced in this country. I've had the privilege to work in the theatre here in Montreal, in Edmonton and in a small town in BC called Kimberley, and everywhere I went I would see a lot of the same works, the same playwrights. And I understood why the companies were choosing those plays. The line between a financially successful show and a failure is always so razor-close, and companies have to bank on the playwright's already established reputation to guarantee ticket sales. (cont'd)