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<b>by George F. Walker, directed by Ken Gass
Factory Theatre, Factory Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
May 5-July 1, 2007
</b>
After last year’s hit revival of George F. Walker’s <i>Escape from Happiness</i>, it’s no surprise that Factory Theatre would revive Walker’s <i>Better Living</i> (1986) that provides the back-story of the characters we meet again in <i>Escape</i> (1992). The problem is that we learn nothing important about the characters in <i>Better Living</i> that is not portrayed with more punch in <i>Escape</i>. Besides that, <i>Better Living</i> suffers from Walker’s frequent bad habit of repetition, while his revision of <i>Escape </i>is a masterpiece of compactness.
Nora (Clare Coulter) and her three daughters Elizabeth (Irene Poole), Mary Ann (Sarah Manninen) and Gail (Lisa Norton) have been living as happily as one can in a Walker play since Nora’s husband disappeared ten years ago. They all hated him so much they tried three times to kill him. Now seriously loony Nora excavating the basement with a jackhammer, terminal worrier Mary Ann had fled her husband and new baby and the family house is decaying. Without warning Nora’s husband Tom (Ron White) returns and institutes a draconian series of reforms in the household to stave off a perceived attack from the Third World.
Walker seems torn between writing a zany comedy of family dynamics and working out a didactic parable about rise of totalitarianism. Too often the parable gets in the way of the comedy and characters act not according to their inner nature but in order to make the parable work. The acceptance of Tom back into the home and the women’s sudden adherence to his strict regime is thoroughly unconvincing.
Coulter is an expert at playing the unhinged and turns in a delectable performance. Norton is very strong and makes Gail’s internal contradictions believable. Brandon McGibbon is realistically goofy as her clueless boyfriend Junior. Walker hasn’t given Poole as much to do as Elizabeth in this play as in <i>Escape</i> and her inability to hold out against Tom tests credibility. Manninen tries too hard to make Mary Ann’s mental mushiness funny, while a mumbling Oliver Becker seems unable to make anything out of Nora’s brother Jack. White doesn’t conjure up the sense of charisma that might explain how so hated a father could once again dominate his family.
Director Ken Gass gives the show a quick pace, but the multiplying inconsistencies and repetitions make the two hours of <i>Better Living</i> pass much more slowly than in the snappy <i>Escape</i>. You can compare the two plays when they run in repertory May 31-June 17. If you can see only one, opt for <i>Escape</i>.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in <i>Eye Weekly</i> 2007-05-07.
Photo: Oliver Becker and Clare Coulter.
<b>2007-05-07</b>
<b>Better Living</b>