Since I’m writing reviews for live theatre again because live theatre is actually happening again, I jumped at the opportunity to take in the opening night of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.
Written by American playwright Terrence McNally and directed by UVic theatre professor Brian Richmond, the play takes many risks, full-frontal nudity being one of them. McNally also takes risks in his storytelling, with dialogue openly discussing the AIDS crisis which was very much a hot topic at the time the play was written, in 1987. However, the fear written into the script is remarkably serendipitous to the fear circling the pandemic we’re dealing with today.
Although we’re speaking of an underlying theme featuring frightened 1980s restaurant workers trying to make it through a tense time, the true theme is an incredibly touching and very real love story.
Frankie (played by Kelly Hobson) and Johnny (Jacob Richmond) are two adults approaching middle age who work in the same restaurant. They hook up in a one-night stand and end up finding in each other the meaning they have been searching for in life.
The two characters are quite different. Frankie has been hardened through abusive relationships and has an air of distrust that surrounds her, while Johnny is sparkling with lively faith and self-education, still believing in love and the good of the world. The two of them, through McNally’s witty, sensitive, and often hilarious dialogue, embark on a one-night party with the hope of a fairy-tale ending. The set is a typical working-class New York apartment: small, tight, with a hideaway bed. The costumes, which—when on—are unremarkable, which is exactly what they were aiming for, because they are just clothes thrown on while heading out the door to work.
Blue Bridge and Richmond really took this play and made it shine. I was astounded by the passion and realism in the whole performance. I left the theatre feeling like I’d been kissed for the very first time.
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Various times, until Sunday, November 7
Various prices
bluebridgetheatre.ca