If you only see one show at the Chemainus Theatre Festival this season, you should make it Home to Roost.
This new production, which runs until Oct. 19, is the best work of the theatre this year.
From the script by Kristen Da Silva, to the perfectly cast leads Sabrina Prada and Sharon Crandall, to the beautiful set, Home to Roost all comes together in the perfect package of heartfelt and wildly funny.
Director Jessica Schacht masterfully gets the most out of this superb script, where the serious drama is punctuated at just the right moments with laugh-out-loud comedy.
Home to Roost will go down with Glory, Tracey Power's play about women's hockey in Canada, as some of the finest writing in Canadian theatre today.
Home to Roost tells the story of sisters Glenda (Prada) and Suzanne (Crandall) welcoming home to Manitoulin Island Suzanne's daughter Beth (Evelyn Chew), a doctor who is at a crossroads in her life. Filling out the cast is Frankie Cottrell as Patrick, the local vet and the sisters' neighbour who has had some romantic setbacks.
The show digs deep into their past, present and complicated relationships, all with a deft touch that carries the audience through both tears and a lot of laughter, sometimes together.
Prada and Crandall are masterful as the sisters who sell jam and live on their front porch. It's a case of casting magic, as these two women share the vulnerable, beautiful ups and downs of everyday life in such convincing fashion that the audience will leave with the feeling they just made a pair of new friends. Crandall, as the free-spirited one of the pair and Beth's sometimes overbearing mother has impeccable comedic timing in her no-holds-barred portrayal of Suzanne's relationships with her sister and daughter.
Prada is a warm and welcoming presence on the stage, portraying with seamless ease the glue holding the family together, and she's no slouch when it comes to timing either, whether it's with a facial expression or the next line.
It cannot be overstated just how great Prada and Crandall are together, managing to elevate an already excellent script with timing, heart, authenticity.
Chew and Cottrell as Beth and Patrick are a whole lot of fun as the younger generation trying to get over their respective heartbreaks. Their inevitable romance is hilariously awkward and handled with the perfect light touch.
Home to Roost is small town life and family drama in all its messy, complicated, simple and absurd glory, with the show striking right to the heart with a bunch of stops at the funny bone.
There are some surprises in the script that this review won't spoil, as part of the fun is discovering these characters and their stories as they unfold. But suffice to say that the opening night audience roared with laughter and "awwwed" audibly on multiple occasions. Seldom has a standing ovation been more well-deserved.
A shoutout must be given to set designer Hans Saefkow, who has knocked it out of the park with this one. Numerous people were commenting on just how wonderfull the set is for this production.
Chemainus Theatre Festival Artistic Director Mark Dumez said tickets are scarce for the matinees, but there is still plenty of room for the evening performances. You'll want to snap up one of those tickets. You won't be disappointed.
