The View From Above

By James Long. Directed by Diane Brown. Script commissioned by Ruby Slippers Theatre and Théâtre la Seizième. A Ruby Slippers production. At Performance Works on Saturday, April 12. Continues at Performance Works until April 27. Plays at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts from April 30 to May 3

It’s hard to build an engaging story without meaningful conflict or sympathetic characters. Without them, you get something that looks like The View From Above.

In playwright James Long’s View, it’s three years after the cancellation of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Rain has been pouring down all of that time. The junkies and other undesirables, who have been warehoused in the grain silos on the North Shore, have escaped and are rooting their way through once-tony neighbourhoods.

Marsha and Stuart’s North Shore house is teetering on a muddy slope, but Stuart refuses to sell, since he’d only get a quarter of the million bucks it was once worth. So they’ve holed up, even though they’re on the brink of starvation and Marsha, whose feet are rotting, has started to have ecstatic religious visions. Marsha is delighted when their son Roland, who was one of the incarcerated users, shows up with his girlfriend, Trish, and a baby in tow.

Most successful dystopian tales include at least one character with whom the reader or audience member can identify, but none of the characters in this play allows access to the story through empathy. That’s partly because none of them feels emotionally authentic. Roland’s addiction and its impact on the family are dealt with glibly, Trish is a cipher, Stuart is an asshole, and Marsha is nuts.

Nobody’s goals are compelling, so their attempts to win them lack suspense. Stuart hatches a nasty money-making scheme but, because none of the relationships that are at stake feel real, there’s no reason to care about his plan.

As Marsha, Karin Konoval offers superficial attitudes rather than persuasive pain or beatitude. Tom McBeath brings some welcome weight to Stuart. Playing Roland, the gifted Kyle Rideout works hard to bring life to a sketched-in character, and Donna Soares does what she can with Trish.

Yvan Morissette’s set cleverly anticipates the painful exposure of private possessions that will result when the house finally lets go.