Review: TRUE LOVE LIES at Calixa Lavalée

Touted as a dark comedy, True Love Lies is a bold and refreshingly candid piece that traverses every emotion in the spectrum as the surprising story of the Sawatsky family unfolds. Husband and wife, Carolyn and Kane Sawatsky (Noelle Hannibal and Michael Aronovitch) are your typical nearly empty-nesters, living with their young adult offspring, the sexually charged Madison (Kristina Sandev) and flippant loner Royce (Bryan Libero). As Madison pounds the pavement looking for a waitressing job to make some extra cash, she coincidentally applies to work for the renowned chic and openly gay restauranteur, David McMillan (Izak Benrobi) who turns out to be her father's longtime college flame. (No spoiler alerts here; this is the engaging catalyst that sends the audience down the rabbit hole in the first ten minutes of the play.)

Playwright, Brad Fraser, leaves you with a lot to gnaw on with his script, which can best be described as a journey in self-discovery, as each of the play's characters finds room to emotionally evolve as their innermost secrets are exposed. But why does he call this piece "True Love Lies"? Is it a warning to viewers that everyone has a past? That true love is a fallacy? If Fraser is trying to drive a point across, I'm afraid it gets a little lost in the melodrama and comedic one-liners.

With a barebones set, seasoned director Davyn Ryall shows some fun creative staging in bringing us into the Sawatsky home, McMillan's restaurant, and the streets of Yorkville, although a few extra props could help with the suspension of disbelief.

It was great seeing some fresh Montreal faces onstage, most notably Bryan Libero as Royce, who showed tremendous range in his performance, deflecting with comedy then showing real angst and vulnerability as his shocking story is revealed. Also enjoyable was the rapid-fire banter between Noelle Hannibal and Michael Aronovitch. Hannibal, who played a twenty-something in a recent production of Hair was a surprising choice as the doting middle-aged mother of two night-owl kids, but moments into the her opening dialogue, all preconceptions drifted away as she became a familiar and relatable mom. Kristina Sandev gave the stage a little sass, her best scenes playing off of Izak Benrobi in the restaurant. Portraying the illustrious tour de force David McMillan, Benrobi still has room to grow as this reviewer envisioned the restauranteur to be a bit more suave with a commanding charm.

Overall the performance, albeit tentative in places, was a thought-provoking evening of theatre and a fun pre-Valentine's outing.

Presented by Acts to Grind Theatre, the Quebec premier of True Love Lies continues at the Centre Culturel Calixa Lavallée Paul Buissonneau Theatre (3819 Ave. Calixa Lavalée, Parc LaFontaine) for seven more performances:

Saturday, Feb. 10th at 8:08 PM

Sunday, Feb. 11th at 2:02 PM

Wednesday, Feb. 14th at 8:08 PM

Thursday, Feb. 15th at 8:08 PM

Friday, Feb. 16th at 8:08 PM

Saturday, Feb. 17th at 8:08 PM

Sunday, Feb. 18th at 2:02 PM

For tickets: http://www.lavitrine.com/activity/True_love_lies

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