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by George F. Walker, directed by Ken Gass

Factory Theatre, Factory Theatre Mainspace, Toronto

May 11-June 19, 2005

Factory Theatre celebrates its 35th anniversary with two hits from George F. Walker’s six-part Suburban Motel cycle.  Adult Entertainment, now playing, will be joined by End of Civilization on May 14.  Consult the Factory website for the exact schedule.  All six plays take place in the same scruffy motel room perfectly realized by designer Shawn Kerwin.

Adult Entertainment starts out as a dark relationship comedy that soon becomes so dark it leaves comedy behind.  It asks what relationships between people can be based on in a totally amoral world.  Corrupt cop Max (Ron White) and legal aid attorney Jayne (Jane Spidell) re-ignite a fizzled affair less out of lust than for an exchange of extrajudicial favours.  Meanwhile, Max’s alcoholic partner Donny (David Ferry) hits bottom and calls his estranged wife Pam (Linda Prystawska) for help.  Whatever independence the four think they have is shattered when a plan gone wrong binds them inextricably together.

Spidell and White turn in typically intense, multilayered performances.  Ferry gives us a funnyman whose tricks no longer conceal his freefall to hell, but Prystawska  has a hard time giving nuance to her perpetually distressed character.  Director Ken Gass fuses their abundant energy into a dynamic, thought-provoking evening. 

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2005-05-19.

Photo: Jane Spidell and Ron White. ©2005