Delta’s Sidekick Players Club is bringing The Best Brothers, a black comedy by Daniel MacIvor, to the Tsawwassen Arts Centre this month.
When a free-spirited woman dies unexpectedly, her two middle-aged sons bicker over her funeral arrangements, her personal effects and her feisty Italian Greyhound. Unearthing decades worth of buried rivalry, they ponder meaningful questions like “Who did she like best?” and “Who gets the dog?” The Best Brothers is an eccentric, modern comedy by one of Canada’s most celebrated playwrights that touches on life, death, aging parents and dealing with brothers who simply refuse to grow up — or don’t know how to stay young.
The Best Brothers is the first Daniel MacIvor play Sidekick has produced.
“It’s very funny, but it’s a black comedy,” director Carroll Lefebvre said in a press release. “There are times you really want to laugh but aren’t sure you should.”
Brothers Hamilton and Kyle will be played by Jeff Pannell and Todd-Elliot Gates, respectively, with Bernice Fehr serving as assistant director.
“It’s been a real journey for all of us during rehearsals, with lots of discussion and soul searching at times,” Lefebvre said.
In addition to his film and theatrical credits, playwright Daniel MacIvor wrote the libretto to the opera Hadrian, for which Rufus Wainwright wrote the music. His plays include Never Swim Alone, This is a Play, Monster, Marion Bridge, You Are Here, Cul-de-sac and A Beautiful View. Five of MacIvor’s plays were published as I Still Love You in 2006 (Never Swim Alone, The Soldier Dreams, You Are Here, In on It and A Beautiful View) and won MacIvor a coveted coveted Governor General’s Award for Drama. MacIvor has won several other notable awards during his career including two Chalmers New Play Awards, one in 1997 and 1992.
The Best Brothers opens at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre on April 17 and runs to April 27, with evening performances at 8 p.m. and a matinee on Saturday, April 20 at 2 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended as performances sell out quickly. Adults tickets cost $18 and seniors (60+) and students (12-18) cost $15. To reserve, call 604-288-2415.
SEE ALSO: Auditions open for latest play by Delta’s Sidekick Players
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