Live and in person at the Mandeville Theatre, Ridley College, St. Catharines, Ont. Part of the Foster Festival. Playing until Aug. 25, 2024.
Written by Norm Foster
Directed by Emily Oriold
Set by Beckie Morris
Costumes by Alex Amini
Lighting by Alex Sykes
Cast: Isaiah Kolundzic
Emily Lukasik
Daniel Reale
Kelly J Seo
Playwright Norm Foster’s most famous play about sibling love and rivalry produced with style and gentle humour.
The Story. Brother’s Lee and Owen are spending the weekend at their uncle’s cottage for some fishing and relaxation before Lee has to go back to the city for his ‘treatment.’ The facts are revealed slowly and we learn Lee’s not well and has to get treatment for his condition.
Lee is the foreman at the plant. He is married with children and a responsible man. Owen is a good-time-Charlie, a bit of a goof with little sense of responsibility. He works at the plant but just as a worker. He’s to be married in three weeks but you would hardly know it. He is so over-the-top enthusiastic about this weekend he has no time to actually check in on his brother’s health. It becomes clear. He’s in denial.
They are visited by two local sisters, Mary and Loretta and they match the brothers in temperament. Mary is separated from her husband and she is very responsible, and runs the local convenience store. Loretta is selfish, self-absorbed and doesn’t care about anyone. She does TV commercials of sorts for a local business.
The Production and comment. Beckie Morris has designed a rustic cottage of wood, with clever cut-outs of spruce trees around the property; old fashioned furniture and appliances, and other stuff that packs the place as a family cottage. Alex Amini’s costumes are reflective of the characters: jeans and work shirts for the men, with Lee being neater and more careful than Owen; casual for Mary and seductive for Loretta.
As Owen, Daniel Reale bursts into the cottage with a rifle in hand, pretending to be scoping out the place. He’s exuberant, almost giddy with the happiness of being at the cottage. He’s like a boy-man. Lee, as played by Isaiah Kolundzic is more laid-back, thoughtful. When they meet the two women Owen gravitates to Loretta (Kelly J Seo) and her seductiveness. She is flirty but standoffish. As Mary, Emily Lukasik is a bit awkward—she’s rusty at dating and being seductive since her husband left her.
The pairing of the characters is a natural thing and not forced in Norm Foster’s play. Both Owen and Loretta don’t think of anyone else but their own selfish pleasures and are perfect in this instance. We see their true colours here. Owen might be avoiding his brother’s issues because he really cares, but on the surface he’s still selfish. He does have an epiphany in the play that is heartening for better things to come. Loretta is true to her nature. Director Emily Oriold carefully guides the action and the actors to navigate the many humourous instances that Norm Foster has generously added to The Melville Boys.
Norm Foster does not provide the brothers with great insights about life and the world. These are two men lurching through life, dealing with its difficulties in their own separate ways, as are the women. There are a few changes in some of the characters’ direction, but they are gently natural and not forced. Loretta is wonderfully the same; self-serving and narcissistic. She has never indicated she would be anything but that. I love that honesty in the writing.
Lovey play and production.
The Foster Festival Presents:
Plays until Aug. 25, 2024.
Running Time: 2 hours, (1 intermission.)