Norm Foster has been described as Canada’s most-produced playwright and this is no exaggeration.
The Mercury Players joins the club in Duncan with their rendition of Mending Fences.
This year alone theatres in Tsawwassen, Penticton, Orangeville and Burlington have all produced Mending Fences, and it’s not surprising — despite its specificity of place, the show has broad appeal, dealing with themes and emotions that people of all ages and geographic locations can relate to.
The story is set on a ranch in Saskatchewan that was decimated by mad cow disease, leaving its owner, Harry (Michael Terides), bitter and more-or-less wallowing in his misfortune. He’s been living there in semi-isolation since his wife, Laurie, and son, Drew (Brandon Newell), left him 13 years ago and returned to an unnamed city “back east.”
However, Harry does have at least one person in his life: Virginia (Leslie Sanchez), or “Gin,” a widow from the next ranch over with whom he’s developed an intimate relationship.
The show opens on the day Drew has come back to visit Harry, the first time they’ve since seen each other since the family split up. It’s a complicated father-son reunion to say the least, marred by alcohol abuse, infidelities and the kind of entrenched stubbornness that’s only made worse with time. It takes a playwright of Foster’s skill to explore such themes, all the while delivering laughs, and it takes a cast as talented as this to make audiences truly care.
Terides and Newell do a masterful job illustrating the strained relationship between their characters with terse and snappy dialogue, a rapid back-and-forth of barbed comments. It’s obvious from the very start they have a long way to go; when Harry asks his son how long he plans to stay, Drew jokingly asks if he has a special rate for family members.
“I will as soon as one shows up,” Harry responds, without thinking.
Initially, Drew doesn’t reveal his reasons for reconnecting with Harry. The two are at each other’s throats from the moment they meet at the train station, and I was beginning to notice Drew’s face seemed permanently beset with a scowl. Why even bother come back if he was going to be so disagreeable?
“I needed to see if I’m the way I am because of him,” Drew finally confides in Gin. Suddenly his unpleasant demeanour made total sense. Newell never once betrayed his character with even the faintest hint of a smile amidst all his comic dialogue with Harry and Gin.
And while Mending Fences may be the story of a father and son repairing their relationship, the heart of the show has to be Gin with her relentless positive outlook, her (failed) efforts to bring the two men closer together and, of course, her seven bean salad.
Sanchez is incredible, and gets to exercise her full chops as an actor in this performance, comedic and dramatic, as Gin, but also during the flashback sequences when she portrays Harry’s ex-wife and later Harry’s mother. She had me laughing out loud as Gin but gave me chills as Laurie during the scenes in which her and Harry’s marriage disintegrated.
This production marks the directorial debut of Marinus Vesseur, although one would never guess it. He expertly walks the line between humour and tragedy, and has produced a show that moves like a well-oiled machine, never letting the audience’s attention wander or wane.
On its website, Theatre Burlington, which produced this show in September, describes Mending Fences as “a powerful play that uses hockey as the symbol of a powerplay between father and son.” I read this before seeing the Mercury’s version and went into the theatre with a slight feeling of dread. Hockey as some sort of father-son metaphor? Could there be a more tediously Canadian premise for a play?
But that framing does the show a great disservice.
Yes, Harry repeatedly expresses his disappointment that Drew never took to Canada’s national winter sport. Yes, there’s a rancorous game played offstage in Act II. And yes, Harry finally passes his beloved Turk Broda trading card on to his son. But otherwise hockey feels more like a side note.
Mending Fences is about so much more. This is a show that explores the impact of trauma from one generation on to those down the line, the ripple effect from grandparents to parents to children. Intergenerational trauma doesn’t exactly sound like a barrel of laughs but watch The Mercury Players prove it can be done.
The show continues this week, Dec. 1-3. Tickets are $20 for adults, or $15 for students and seniors, available from Ten Old Books, and First Chiropractic Clinic in Duncan, Beachology in Cowichan Bay or by calling 250-510-1746. There’s a special price of two tickets for $25 for the Thursday or Friday show.
