Review: THE NOBLE PURSUIT at Ottawa Little Theatre

The Noble Pursuit, by Ottawa’s homegrown playwright and screenwriter, Douglas Bowie, is a farce centering around three, very different, writers. A prolific, but pompous, author, Noble Harmsworth (Bradley Mosely-Williams), is favourited to win the Nobel Prize for literature, which would make him the first Canadian to win this prestigious award. In contrast, Lyle Lemmerman (Josh Sparks) is washed-up, with two book failures and one moderately successful title to his name. Abigail Bliss (Lindsey Keene), Harmsworth’s editor, once had dreams of her own but now satisfies herself with ensuring that Harmsworth enjoys success – a success that may not be entirely well-deserved.

The story takes a lot of twists and turns as we learn about these three characters, how their lives intersect, and as we go along for the ride with them as they come to the realization that Harmsworth has not been entirely honest with anyone around him.

For The Noble Pursuit to work, the actors must deliver rapid-fire dialogue without stumbling while – quite literally – stumbling through slapstick routines, mastering the comedic bits without appearing juvenile. At the same time, there is an element of mystery, suspense, and romance thrown into the mix for good measure. The actors in Ottawa Little Theatre’s production were up to the challenge.

Sparks and Keene have great chemistry, making the interactions between them feel authentic. Moseley-Williams was intensely dislikeable, as called for in the script. Rounding out the cast were Dianna Renne Yorke as Harmsworth’s agent, Jasmine Maxwell, and Stavros Sakiadis, as Percy Fawcett, a television host hoping to unmask Harmsworth as a fraud. These supporting roles were also extremely well cast.

The script calls for an elaborate set, inside Harmsworth’s two-storey home. Most of the play takes place inside, within three rooms: the living room, bedroom, and office (an upstairs and downstairs bathroom are also implied, but not seen). The action is often going on in multiple rooms at once with the characters unable to see one another. The set design, by Kyle Ahluwalia, allows the audience to follow the action without being confusing. The staging during the opening scene and Harmsworth’s aquarium were both cleverly done. There were also a bunch of fun, very Canadian, references that made the audience chuckle.

The story moves at a good pace during the first act but slows down considerably in the second. Despite this, the ending wasn’t quite as satisfying as I had hoped; with the antics on the way to the ending being more enjoyable than the ending itself. There were a couple of loose ends, and I left feeling as though the story could have been more tightly wrapped up. Nevertheless, I still recommend going to see The Noble Pursuit for the fabulous sets, for the actors’ great chemistry, and dialogue.

The Noble Pursuit is in performances through June 24th at Ottawa Little Theatre. Click here for more information or to buy tickets.

To post a comment, you must register and login.