THE BASICS: James Barrie’s one act play, a rare example of “real time” in the theater, is this year’s Lunchtime Theater selection at the Shaw. It plays Saturdays, most Wednesdays, and some Thursdays and Fridays at the Royal George Theatre, at 11:30 am. It’s a swirling, eventful half hour, to be sure, but you will be out by about 12:05 pm!
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: London, just before the Great War. Lady Lilian, trapped in a painful marriage to the bullying but wealthy Richard Garson, suddenly decides to break free, into the waiting arms of her secret lover. Fate has other plans in store, however…
THE CAST: Diana Donnelly and Peter Krantz play the burnt-out, exasperated couple. Krantz’s superciliousness is wonderfully annoying. Donnelly’s pivotal performance is solid, but I don’t think we feel her inner turmoil quite as much as we should. Veteran Michael Ball is a standout as the wise old butler, Withers, who narrates directly to the audience in Scotch brogue! Peter Millard, another Shaw vet, is in good form as the thoughtful doctor who sees the tale through to its ironic close.
PRODUCTION VALUES: This is a very handsome mounting. The drawing room set with its paired double doors functions as a sort of giant cuckoo clock in the show’s inventive opening moments. The direction by Gina Wilkinson is crisp, and all the other production elements are more than adequate.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Half an Hour is a curtain raiser, a species of theater (analogous to a short subject in film) that vanished long ago. I would have loved to see this in front of Dear Brutus, a bittersweet Barrie fantasy that also deals with second chances. Perhaps that would be asking too much. What’s clear, however, is that Half an Hour needed a partner piece, another incisive little one-act to round out the theater-going experience. The Shaw people have used this formula successfully in the past; I can’t imagine why they didn’t employ it here. On its own, Half an Hour is a little gem, with the emphasis on little. It definitely leaves you wanting more. Yes, it’s Lunchtime Theater, and the price is relatively low, but potential patrons should keep this in mind before making the trek to Niagara-on-the-Lake!
RATING: FOUR BUFFALOS (OUT OF FIVE).
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Image courtesy of The Shaw Festival