I’ve read the story that the play The Shop Around The Corner is based on, Parfumerie, years ago, and recall enjoying it, although I’d be hard-pressed to tell you any of the finer details. As such, I had very little in the way of concrete expectations as I headed down to the Phoenix Theatre on the UVic campus on Saturday night, for which I am glad. Had I expected this Blue Bridge Theatre production to be read in the style of a radio play, with little set design and nearly no stage action, I may have decided to give it a miss. This would’ve been unfortunate, as I would have missed out on what turned out to be a delightfully quick-witted Christmas story brought to life by a talented stable of actors (many of whom were portraying multiple characters, using only subtle shifts in their intonation to convey this new personification).
By the time intermission came about, I was thoroughly enthralled by this rollicking tale, rife with wacky misunderstandings and witty repartee. I found myself wishing the play would be longer.
The production was scored incredibly well in real time by multi-instrumentalist Masae Day, and Foley artist Jack Storwick, both of whom plied their craft adeptly, bringing the hustle and bustle of 1940s Budapest to life through the sounds and music of the day.
Our leading lady Amanda Lisman and leading man Jonathan Mason have the surreal ability to speak in that peculiarly singular inflection that seemed to dominate cinema and radio in Hollywood’s Golden Era and helped to transport us all to that place and time. Brava and Bravo to these two rising stars. The rest of the cast were no slouches either, and I found myself looking forward to each cast member’s next line, whether it be the pompous shop owner, portrayed by veteran actor Brian Linds, or the young errand boy, enthusiastically brought to life by Andrea Lemus. Really, I could rhapsodize about each individual actor, such was their vim and vigor in bringing this production to life.
Perhaps most brilliantly on Andrew Bailey and Brian Richmond’s part (playwright and director, respectively) was the fact that, in the true style of a radio play, the entire production was occasionally interrupted with advertisements. These ads were anachronistic in nature, as they were all for present-day charities here in Victoria that the play was supporting. Having them performed by the cast members helped to subvert the spell being broken, and before you knew it, the announcer (Trevor Hinton) was drawing us back into the past and setting the scene for the story to get back on track.
The show closed with the entire cast singing the classic Christmas carol “Silver Bells,” with audience participation.
Every bit of this show was dripping with humour and good cheer, and I left the theatre greatly excited to go back and watch the talented troupe’s next endeavour. I would highly encourage anyone interested in the performing arts to do the same.