ACT’s Looking a fun night out Review by Craig Bradford of The Aylmer Express Aylmer Community Theatre’s (ACT) latest production, Norm Foster’s Looking, is a frothy romantic comedy with a bit of sauciness, appealing to a slightly more mature audience. Directed by Aylmer’s Barbara Warnock, the Old Town Hall Theatre play debuted with a preview on Thursday night, Oct. 23 with opening night the following evening. Performances were also held Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and the play will be performed three more times: Thursday, Oct. 30, Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1, all starting at 8 p.m. Running time, including an intermission with complimentary refreshments, is about two hours and 15 minutes. While there were some rough corners to be ironed out in the preview, the four actors had the audience laughing out loud not long after the curtain rose. Kevin Byerlay starts as Andy, a romantically challenged rental storage business owner who takes out an advertisement in a newspaper’s personal section seeking a date. Val (played by Sandy Beacom) answers Andy’s ad but insists that their first date be a “double”. So Andy drags along his best friend and tennis buddy, Matt (played by Don Fonk), and Val brings her best friend Nina (Annette Dennis). The one-liners and funny quips are bounced fast and furious by the characters in Mr. Foster’s tell-tale down-to-earth style. Memorable lines included Nina referencing a classic rock band. “What is it with middle-aged men and Pink Floyd?” she asked at one point. “Get over it already!” Nina also had an opinion on their dates regularly playing tennis together. “That’s one door down from lawn bowling,” she quipped. Without spoiling the outcome of the dates between the couples, many romantic hijinks ensue as Matt and Nina, the tag-alongs, first hit it off while Andy and Val languish with her high expectations and his pretending to be what he’s not in an effort to impress his date. Matt is especially impressed with Nina being a police officer which provides some laughs later on. “Is this a strip search?” he asks loudly when they embrace. “I want you to Miradize me!” Mrs. Warnock’s keen direction was especially evident when all four actors were on stage during separate telephone conversations held between the male and female friends but at the same time. The audience could still follow along. The simple yet effective set design was also delivered by Mrs. Warnock. Ms. Beacom and Ms. Dennis were especially noteworthy for their high energy and snappy dialogue and had the best lines (and audience laughs) of the evening. Both Mr. Byerlay and Mr. Fonk were slower off the start with their timing but eventually found their pace. All of this season’s ACT productions are Norm Foster works, the next being a reprise of the popular Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out in January.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 15:55:56 +0000
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