She's Mine
Produced by Essential Collective Theatre
Presented by the Four Points by Sheraton: St.Catharines Niagara Suites
Review written by S. James Wegg
Review: "I'm not gay bu my girlfriend is"
FOUR stars (out of FIVE)
"The miracles of Niagara’s arts community continue unabated. Where else in Canada can one take a short drive to a downtown core in search of itself and be captivated for a couple of hours by the world première production of a play that bravely tackles the emergence of a lesbian from a twenty-year relationship with the ever-so-horny boy-next door?
She’s Mine is a work that totally redefines the meaning of “Keeping up with the Joneses.” Stephanie Jones is the troubled mother/wife Sara whose marriage is on the rocks even as her libido is unexpectedly rekindled by Ann (Vicki Jenkins)—a semi-closeted guidance counsellor working in a Catholic school (Why does she remain and risk eternal/paternal/collegial damnation? “I love the club,” she replies unabashedly.). Jones is also the playwright. Mary is Sara’s 15-year-old daughter, trying to pull up her slipping grades, ward off the not entirely unwelcome attentions of Luke (Geoffrey Haney) and take care of baby brother Joey when mom’s at work and her father, Joe, (Jason Cadieux—convincing as the sex-deprived spouse who refuses to believe that his personal property could ever leave him for another woman) sucks back beers watching the not coincidentally titled Lost on TV. Genevieve Jones—yes, Stephanie’s real-life daughter—takes on this demanding/rewarding role and, once she finds her rhythm after a couple of scenes, delivers a first-class performance that is a credit to herself, her family and her alma mater.
Stop the presses.
Frequent readers of these pages will recall a less than satisfactory report when the chamber trio, Triptych, came to town (cross-reference below). Fair is fair. Seeing both Genevieve and Heaney dig deep into everything that was asked of them (Heaney also plays a young seminarian and flirts briefly with the leather crowd in the dream sequence) and producing performances that actors many years their senior could only envy, has restored my faith in the school of performing and fine arts at Brock University—if there’s something in the water only known to the drama class, then let’s share that magical potion with every student in the place and make everyone proud whether attending class or performing in public. With a surfeit of theatre troupes in the region, here’s to more of the same incubation of the next generation of talent. If this keeps up, one civic arts centre may not be enough!"
For the rest of the review, please visit: http://www.jamesweggreview.org/Articles.aspx?ID=917