Perhaps this play is called (nod) because we all, at some point, nod our heads in agreement. Yes, this is my family.
With a basic and universal plot-dysfunctional family relationships/the journey through life-(nod) speaks to everyone. Yet the combined writing of Rick Roberts, direction of Jacquie P.A. Thomas and acting of the five-member cast give the basic story a unique and unexpected twist.
Roberts, star of CBC’s An American in Canada and playwright of last year’s runaway Fringe festival hit Fish/Wife, creates a shocking story that pulls us into the center of a family that is broken beyond repair. This unnamed family doesn’t go through the calm period that usually follows the death of a member, but instead forces itself through a chaotic memorial where old resentments surface and secrets are revealed.
Under the direction of Thomas, founder and artistic director of Theatre Gargantua, all of the different elements of the play, including song, a short film and movements that can almost be classified as dance, are brought together in one fluid production.
Collectively, the cast, including Theatre Gargantua members Erica Buss and Michael Spence, as well as Marjorie Campbell, balances the extreme personality of each character, making the wacky family believable. As a whole, the play is about the dysfunctions that plague the family unit, which are so embedded in the nature of each character that they transcend distance and even death.
On a character level, the play is about the journey through life, which can be seen by the not-so-subtle metaphorical transformation of one of the props from a cradle to a sailboat to a coffin. This is not to say, however, that Roberts simplifies the stages of life. Rather, the journey begins before birth-Young Brother “appears” in photographs taken before his conception-and certainly doesn’t end with death-Mother returns from the grave just in time for her memorial.
However, not every character has an obvious purpose. The Tenant, the most minor character, does little to advance the plot, and by the end it isn’t clear why she refuses to leave the house.
With a script that nicely unfolds as the characters try to keep their heads above the water that their history has immersed them in, (nod) truly is, as the teaser on the playbill reads, “for anyone who has ever had a family.”
